News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #15…
#97: I received a very nice review of Survivors of the Chaos from Kellie Sheridan of Sift Book Reviews (www.siftreviews.com), which posts honest reviews of science fiction and fantasy books. Thank you, Kellie. Just a reminder: This book is available in trade paperback and all eBook formats. You’ll want to read it before the sequel, Sing a Samba Galactica, comes out—a teaser for this sequel is included in Survivors of the Chaos.
#98: As a follow-up to my blog post “Antisocial Networking,” I have finished my experiment with Google Adwords. My conclusion: Google’s program doesn’t work, at least for this author as a method for selling books (for me, one of the many ways to reach readers). While I saw a temporary increase in the number of visitors to my website, over time, the number of readers of my blog held study and there was never a marked increase in book purchases. I wonder if any other authors have (1) tried Adwords, and (2) had an equally bad experience. Comment if you have.
#99: There was an interesting article in Thursday’s NY Times about “The Great Escape,” the real-life 1944 events surrounding the allied POWs escape from Stalag Luft III, a Nazi POW camp designed to contain hard-core “escape artists” that had driven the krauts crazy up until then. A special task force of old vets, present RAF members, and assorted engineers tried to duplicate the tunnel constructions performed by the POWs and couldn’t, making the escape all the more remarkable.
This is the ultimate McGyver story where a band of men with handmade tools and a desire for freedom not only escaped but kept the Nazis busy tracking them down. Paul Brickhill, a POW in the camp, wrote the original non-fiction story lauding their achievement. The Great Escape was turned into the 1963 film starring Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, James Garner and a host of other actors you will recognize. The Steve McQueen character in the movie is pure fiction and none of the POWs escaped by motorcycle. While there were Americans in the camp, the escape was largely a British affair. Canadians and Americans helped build the tunnels but the Nazis wisely had separated the British and Americans before the escape.
Still a good read, still an exciting movie with a great score, and still known for McQueen’s performance that established his star power in Hollywood. For those who say WWII stories are passé, revisit this one—it’s based on true events. By the way, most of the POWs who escaped were recaptured—only three survived on the outside, two Norwegians and a Dutchman. Of the 76 that escaped, fifty were murdered by the Gestapo. Brickhill’s book is dedicated to “the fifty.”
#100: See my review of Steven M. Forman’s Boca Daze at Bookpleasures.com. I’ll remind everyone of the rules for these reviews: they are completely honest and I receive no money from either Bookpleasures or the author, his publisher, or publicist; and they appear on Amazon and/or as a review here in my blog only at the request of the author, his publisher, or publicist. If you would like to have your book reviewed, try Bookpleasures.com. Go to the site and follow the rules for a query.
Be forewarned that your book might not be selected for review. This is not related at all to the quality of your book—there are just not enough reviewers. In particular, I review about as many self-pubbed books as books from legacy publishers (Forman’s is a Forge book) and have no biases towards either one. However, if your book is not ready for prime-time, I’ll tell you so.
In libris libertas….
