News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #43…
#241: Who’s the reader? I’ve heard that 60% of readers are women. I suspect that percentage goes down if we eliminate genres like romance and erotica or combinations like vampire-horror-erotica. Still, authors better not ignore women readers just like politicians better not ignore women voters (authors probably commit that sin much less than politicians).
Another class of readers I’d like to know more about is baby boomers, maybe distinguishing between retired and not-retired. Presumably, retirees have more time to read than working stiffs. I think it’s a myth that everybody retires to play golf or tennis. I count many ex-colleagues who are readers. I don’t know what percentage of all readers are retirees, or boomers. You’d think traditional publishing would do something useful for once and determine these statistics.
Nevertheless, in lieu of concrete stats, I’ll assume many of my fellow boomers are either retired or looking toward retirement. Since they’re a well-schooled group in general (maybe the last generation to be better educated than their parents because of the economy and the cost of a college education?), I’ll also assume they’re readers.
You’ve all seen those ads on TV directed to boomers. From reverse mortgages to erectile dysfunction, Madison Avenue has discovered that (1) boomers have money and (2) they spend it. Maybe it’s high time to create books featuring boomers and their struggles?
That’s about the longest segue I can manage to my new book The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan. It’s about a retirement plan for ex-agents and ex-scientists who have too many government secrets in those silver-haired heads. This plan might not be quite as bad as a reverse mortgage, but it will perhaps make you think about retirement in a new way. Consider it a how-not-to book about your retirement if you work for the government or hush-hush industrial projects. Only $4.99 at Amazon and Smashwords.
#242: Where are you headed, Lee Child? First, Lee Child writes a clever little piece on how to make people interested in your writing, comparing it to a mother baking a cake for her family (NY Times a few months ago). I even quoted from it in a past “News and Notices” because there were some nuggets of wisdom there for all writers. But now Lee is endorsing new writers. The latest? A double-page ad in the NY Times Book Review section last Sunday where he endorses Roger Hobbs’ Ghostman: “An amazing debut full of intrigue, immediately.”
I’m an admirer of Mr. Child’s opus (his books, even ebooks, are now too expensive for me, though). Jack Reacher is a character for the ages and will continue to be so in spite of Tom Cruise’s dismal job portraying him—talk about miscasting (my perception is that the movie Jack Reacher completely flopped—how dare Rolling Stone declare he nailed it!). (To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen: I know Jack Reacher; Tom Cruise, you are NOT Jack Reacher.) I’m also an admirer of Mr. Child’s pithy, lean writing style, so much so that a quote from one of his many Reacher books scrolls across my website’s banner.
Famous writers endorse less famous ones all the time, of course, but nowadays I consider it a more egregious offense than previously. Here’s why. Invariably, the endorsement is for a new writer who has succumbed to the temptations of traditional publishing. Traditional publishing traditionally ignores new writers, nowadays more so than ever. The fact that traditional publishing chooses one new author among so many good ones to become their new poster boy is worthy of celebration, I suppose. If one makes it through the hallowed portals of big-time publishers, he has to be good, right? I don’t know. Lee Child says Roger Hobbs is amazing. Maybe Lee even read the book. (By the way, I’ve ignored Mishiko Kakutani’s review of this same book, also in the Times. He sells himself as an expert on just about everything. That’s fine, but I don’t have to read or listen to him.)
So, let me list my two questions and be done with this. (1) Is the choice of Mr. Hobbs’ “amazing debut full of intrigue” simply a statistical anomaly artificially generated by traditional publishing as a way of proving people wrong when we say that they don’t support new authors? (2) Does Mr. Child’s endorsement represent new pressure on senior authors brought by their traditional publishing masters as another way to try to slow traditional publishing’s rush to obsolescence? I’m not sure what to think, but I wouldn’t even have thought about it if I hadn’t seen Lee’s endorsement. (As usual, I’m open to your comments.)
#243: My review policy—a reminder. As readers of this blog know all too well (I applaud your patience in suffering through my marketing barrage), I’ve just released a new sci-fi thriller, The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan. This ebook is available at Amazon and Smashwords (and at all the online retailers Smashwords distributes to, like B&N, Apple, Sony, Kobo, and others), for only $4.99.
Think that price is too expensive? I don’t. I’ll pay up to $10 for an ebook simply because it provides hours of entertainment. But if your answer is yes, just remember you can get it for free—ask for your free review copy. Along with that, I will gift to a shut-in or invalid or charity of your choice (Kindle required) a copy of ANY ebook from my opus (only one book doesn’t exist in ebook format—I’m working on that). Just query me via the contact page at this website and also include the e-mail and title of your bonus gift to one of your needy friends.
Why do I do this? In the old days, I received hard bounds and trade paperbacks as a reviewer and made a habit of giving them to people or organizations similar to ones I mentioned above. I also have given trade-paperback copies of my own books to public libraries. That’s hard to do now with the ebook paradigm. I feel guilty. The above policy reduces some of that guilt. (Yeah, I know, public libraries lend ebooks—just try to donate one to them!)
In libris libertas….
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