News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #121…
May this Friday the 13th bring you good luck! (Sorry, PowerBall already has a winner.)
Goodreads polls. They can be a lot of fun. But I often start a discussion thread there that could be reduced to a simple poll because because I prefer to know the hows and whys from readers, not just a simple vote. I’ll be reading or writing and certain questions will start haunting me that only readers can answer. (Yeah, I know, I’m a reader, and I don’t have the answers, so maybe this isn’t too logical.) So have some fun and join me at Goodreads, the place where the readers are.
Social media for authors. First choice: Goodreads (see above). That’s where the readers are. Other authors want to sell THEIR books or capture YOUR readers, you’re supposed to also be a reader, so Goodreads is the place to spend your time over any authors’ forum, etc.
Choice to avoid: IAC (Indie Authors Coop). More on this next week.
What about Facebook and Twitter? Way down the list too. People who spend 50 hours per week on Facebook aren’t reading many books, and both sites are dominated by narcissistic people climbing their soap boxes and e-shouting. LinkedIn? OK, some interesting discussion threads on book publishing have appeared there, but recently comments are cut-off or censored, and there’s a lot of soap box activity too. Instagram? Worse than the three just mentioned.
If you want to use FB, keep it restricted to close friends and family—or restrict it to an author page (what I do now). Same for Google+ (I just share posts there, nothing else, because I can’t do that on FB anymore).
Best bet: Always go where the readers are. Besides Goodreads, try out some lesser known sites where you can participate as a reader who also happens to be a reader. You’re an author and not a reader? How’s that work?
Classics. A colleague in my old day-job once remarked that a “book is a classic when no one reads it anymore.” He might have been referring to some of those tomes forced down his throat in high school English class. Or simply to the idea that readers don’t relate well to books written before the 20th century. A rereading of some of those tomes you struggled through in high school or college might be in order, though. I’m currently in the middle of A Tale of Two Cities, reminding myself why I liked it so much. While Dickens’s other novels rate high on the blah and blah-blah scales, this is a good one. A good film (The Count of Monte Cristo, The Jungle Book) can revive a classic; a bad one can remind one of the painful experiences in the past (Moby Dick, Les Miz, or any Jane Austen films).
Shakespeare is always an exception. Although he wrote in a foreign language, his plays and sonnets seem to be eternal and universal. Once you learn the vocabulary (which can be fun, like “codpiece”), most of the plots in the dramas are pretty damn good and have often been gently plagiarized to generate new books. Cervantes is another exception. Man from La Mancha resurrected his Don Quijote. Both Bill and Mickey died in April in 1616, one day apart (23 and 22, resp.). Now that’s weird! Bill changed English forever; Mickey likewise changed Spanish forever. And, in April, 2016, we looked back over their illustrious careers. (Did you forget Mickey? Shame on you!).
Reviews for you. I’ve received a lot of queries lately. While I could take comfort that other authors are also in a bind searching for reviewers, meaning I’m not alone (too many good books and good authors, not enough readers and reviewers), I don’t. But I don’t accept queries. I do my “official reviewing” at Bookpleasures.com. Query there. I might agree to review your book, but there are many other reviewers at that site too. BTW, when I review a book there, you get a real review, not one of those one- or two-liners you’ll see on Amazon. It’s completely honest too, because I’ll talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Reviews for me. Like those authors who query me for reviews, I need reviews too. I’ve pretty much given up on begging for reviews, especially to bookbloggers (Simon Royale’s list is pretty useless, by the way—too many sites are closed, others ask for the book but don’t review it, and still others just want you to send the book and then they’ll decide). But here’s an enticement: you can read two of my books for free if you write an honest review for one. Query me at: steve@stevenmmoore.com. (Rogue Planet, my new sci-fi release, is an example—see below. You might want to combine that with Pasodobles in a Quanum Stringscape.)
Ghost writing. Forget about it! Because I have this budget crunch, I decided to examine freelancing, ghost writing in particular. My opinion of humanity dipped to a new low. There are many freelancing and/or ghost writing offers. But (1) they pay squat, (2) many are more research than writing (the “author” should do his or her own damn research at least), (3) many are just requests for porn (they call it erotica, but an emphasis on “juicy sex scenes” is questionable), and (4) many want a fiction book written they can put their name on and sell.
There is a place for ghost writing: celebrity X can’t write worth beans, has pages and pages for her or his memoir, or has some great self-help ideas. Putting order in a morass of notes and turning it into something readable is more the province of a non-fiction writer. I could do that if the pay day were OK. But #1-4 above don’t work for me.
The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan. This novel, which is a bridge between the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series” and the “Clones and Mutants Trilogy,” considers the following question: how will the U.S. government in the future handle all those old people with classified secrets in their head? This is just a Smashwords sale. The book will be priced at $0.99 until June 1, reduced from $2.99. The coupon code is MP45S (type that in when you order—be sure and specify the format you want). Pass the word to your relatives and friends. (The link here is to Smashwords, but the book is also available on Amazon. OK, some kind soul can correct me if I’m wrong, but my interpretation of Amazon’s ebook policy is I can play around with prices on Smashwords and maybe they’ll match it or not. Otherwise, I can’t do a sale on Amazon if a book is retailed somewhere else. So…this is a test! BTW, you can buy Kindle mobi files on Smashwords.)
Mary Jo Melendez series. Mary Jo Melendez is unhappy. You didn’t take advantage of her May Day Sale (there was a bit of Cinco de Mayo thrown in there). Muddlin’ Through and Silicon Slummin’…and Just Gettin’ By have reverted to their original price. Still a bargain and still great spring and summer reading. But Mary Jo is sad for you: You might never see her books on sale again.
Prince Kaushal is a rogue too. Speaking of great spring and summer reading, try Rogue Planet. Think of Game of Thrones or Star Wars with high tech in place of magic. Set in the same universe as my “Chaos Chronicles Trilogy” and the Dr. Carlos stories, the prince and his friends will take you through many swashbuckling sci-fi adventures that have a lot of relevance for present day. (Doesn’t all sci-fi?)
This book is available for review, either by querying me at steve@stevenmmoore.com, or via Net Galley (if not up yet, it soon will be). With the first option you can ask for another freebie—two free books in return for an honest review. (Sorry, I can’t make this offer if you use Net Galley.)
Dr. Carlos. And speaking of Dr. Carlos Obregon, the starship Brendan’s chief medical officer’s adventures are found in Pasodobles in a Quantum Stringscape and Fantastic Encores! He’s often Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes wrapped into one! The first book has never been reviewed—be the first, and you can have the second book for free, or any other in my catalog.
In libris libertas….
