Item: Looking for MJM?  You’ve seen her diary entries.  Now you’ll know Mary Jo’s entire story.  Muddlin’ Through has just been released and is available on Amazon.  (See below for more info.)

Item: Book bundles.  Some authors are releasing ebooks chapter by chapter.  Others are bundling several previous novels together in one ebook.  What’s going on?  What works?  Do readers want this?  I read an ebook recently that I thought was a full novel, but it turned out to be a novella.  Dumb me!  A reviewer warned about this, but I didn’t look at the reviews before I bought the book.  I rarely do.  I prefer to buy ebooks for my casual reading based on the blurb and the excerpt—that useful “peek inside” on Amazon.  I don’t care much what reviewers think, especially in those many reviews of only a few lines or so (see below for more on reviews); these are often written by family and friends.  Too many reviews are like endorsements on LinkedIn, i.e., mostly worthless.  (You might pay attention to only the number of reviews.  If so, I’ll warn you: that’s worthless too, for many of the same reasons.)

But those bundles are intriguing, especially when multiple authors get together to bundle.  It’s a good way to leap into a new genre.  The problem is that they’re a bit like those features on new cars—to maybe find or enjoy one book in the bundle, you’re stuck with reading material you can’t even use, i.e. you don’t want to read other books in the bundle.  On the other hand, I can see an author bundling a trilogy together (my sci-fi series, “The Chaos Chronicles,” would be one huge ebook, though) or a short series (I could bundle the Chen and Castilblanco mysteries in one bundle, the Chen and Castilblanco thrillers in another, for example).  The implication, however, is that there’s a strong nexus between the books in the bundle.  In my case, that’s not true.  Sure, there’s a commonality between some of the characters in a series or trilogy, but I write each ebook to stand alone.  You can jump in anywhere, so I won’t bundle.  My ebooks are inexpensive enough anyway—I might do some sales from time to time, but each one is already a bargain.

Item: The Konrath Solution.  Joe Konrath has proposed an interesting way to resolve the Hachette-Amazon skirmish.  Amazon should just stop discounting Hachette books!  You see, publishers like to put high list prices on their books.  You’ll find them on the fly-leaves of the hardcovers…I don’t know where list prices appear for ebooks (usually NOT on Amazon).  For example, that venerable Princeton U. Press has a list price of $29.95 for The Cosmic Cocktail (Katherine Freese’s book about dark matter and energy that I recently reviewed).  Last I checked, Amazon lists it for $21.18, still expensive, but quite a reduction below list.  (The ebook is far too expensive, but the book is non-fiction, so I wouldn’t recommend the ebook version anyway, because of the extensive graphics.)

This is what Hachette is complaining about; they want to determine that reduced price, while Amazon traditionally determines it, often operating at a loss to sell more books (Hachette’s price would be higher, of course—they won’t want a loss).  Joe’s conclusion?  Amazon should list Hachette’s books at retail list price, then.  Wonder if that would affect Hachette’s book sales?  They’d probably care about that.  Patterson, Preston, et al, those one-percenter spoiled authors who Hachette coddles, would probably complain about that too.  Or, would it shut them up?  That would be a good thing!

Item: Writing contests?  I’ve said it at least once, but I’ll say it again—if the contest isn’t “free” (I put that in quotes because you usually have to send them your book at least), don’t bother.  The orgs or people sponsoring them are just out to make money off unsuspecting, ingenuous authors.  Judges are often only paid with books, so don’t think you’re hot stuff if a contest asks you to be a judge either.  In fact, I’d venture a guess that many authors entering the contest know more about writing than the judges, but authors are thinking these guys can actually critique their books fairly.

My negative opinion applies to all WD contests and many others who claim to have prestige—you know, the ones that bombard you this time of year with ads about entering.  Don’t believe the hype.  They only want your money.  BTW, I’ve never paid any special attention to contest winning books as a reviewer or casual reader.  On the contrary, I think the evidence you entered a contest is a negative for your career as an author because you don’t understand how this profession works.  Exceptions might be a Nobel or Pulitzer Prize, but I’d still reserve judgment until I read the book (I knew One Hundred Years of Solitude was something refreshingly new and special before Gabo received his Nobel, for example—but I read it in Spanish, so maybe that was an advantage).

Item: The reviewer’s life.  If you’re an author and haven’t done so already, check out some reviewers and their review websites (often no more than blogs).  They now have slush piles.  I have no problem with that per se.  We’re living in an era where there are more authors than reviewers (maybe soon more writers than readers?), so reviewers are in demand.  If said reviewer makes the effort to clear out his or her slush pile, that’s OK.  If she closes her reviewing site to further reviews, though, because that slush pile is too big, and she still leaves her name on sites listing reviewers, she’s acquired some bad karma (I’d say at least 20% of the review websites I’ve looked at are like that).  And, if he asks for a book and doesn’t review it, pox on his house.  Moreover, if he tells me he’ll put my book on top of the slush pile for a fee, double pox on his house.  And, if he equates a review query to sending a free ebook—in other words, there is no guarantee of an honest review in return for the free book—he’s also added to my black list as a moocher, not a reviewer.

It used to be that only places like Kirkus charged for reviews (I’m talking about indie authors, but I suspect the Big Five bankroll Kirkus in some way to get their authors reviewed).  Now many online reviewers do so—that is, charge—some with the added condition that the author’s book already have N four- or five-star reviews on Amazon, where N is five, ten, or even fifteen.  This creates a vicious circle that no sane author should enter.  The answer I’ve read for jumping into that circle?  Get family and friends to write a bunch of four- or five-star reviews to meet that N-requirement.  There’s grade inflation and there’s Amazon review inflation, both perpetrated by uneducated guttersnipes.  Whatever you do, you, the author, should NEVER pay for a review.  And the author should remember that “honest review” means that a reviewer has the right to mention things she finds wrong with your book—learn from that if possible and NEVER respond in anger (if the reviewer’s an ass, people reading the review will know it, even if Amazon doesn’t—another reason I don’t read reviews, of course).

When I review a book (usually an ebook these days), I try to point out something that will help the author improve his next book.  Even Patterson or Preston can improve (especially Patterson and Preston, who now churn out formulaic drivel, the former using a team of sycophants aka co-authors!).  I do this even for books I’ve casually read and just feel like writing a review for (Amazon applies the spurs here, but I can and do ignore them if I want to—I hate to say really bad things about a book that I’ve just casually read for my own enjoyment).  On the other hand, books I review for Bookpleasures.com (my review of Freese’s book only appears there—Princeton U. Press is so aloof that they haven’t responded to my offer of reposting to Amazon, maybe for the reasons I mentioned?), they usually receive more detailed reviews—I often have to pare them down to fit into Amazon’s 500-word req (which is also stupid on the part of Amazon, of course).

I might be cynical, but I’m not an arrogant reviewer, and I’ve never received a dime for my reviews.  I’m an honest reviewer.  And, because I’m also an author, I can and will put your book under a microscope—even if I just read it casually (in that case, I only read it just once, though).  I wish other reviewers did the same.

Item.  Announcing the release of Muddlin’ Through.  Mary Jo is framed.  Mary Jo seeks revenge.  Mary Jo finds love.  Mary Jo is all woman…and a real woman.  Mary Jo Melendez is my new protagonist in my new stand-alone thriller.  This ex-USN Master-at-Arms is just hitting the start button for a new life outside the Navy when she takes a high security job at a top secret facility and is framed.  She spends the rest of this story trying to figure out why she was framed and paying back those who did it.  In the process, she also figures out a lot of personal issues, hurtling around Europe, South American, and the U.S., and she finds romance.  She’s like Heinlein’s Friday and Jolie’s Salt, only better, because her personal issues make her more human instead of an automaton.  Available now on Amazon.  (As usual, you can have a free copy of this ebook in return for an honest review.)

Item. World Enough and Crime.  We don’t see many anthologies now.  I don’t know if short story writing is becoming passé, or all the good ones are destined for magazines, traditional or online (Ellery Queen and Analog, for example).  But here’s one collection of short stories worth your while.  OK, there’s a Chen and Castilblanco story in it, but I’m the peon compared to some great crime and mystery lords who have written stories for this anthology.  Coming soon!

Item.  And speaking of Chen and Castilblanco….  The clock’s ticking on my offer (see my blog post on casting Castilblanco).  There’ll be a similar offer at the end of The Collector…coming this fall!  For the many readers who haven’t tried any books in this series, they bounce around between the mystery, thriller, and suspense genres.  Even though The Collector is a mystery, there’s mystery and suspense too, for example.  Aristocrats and Assassins, mostly a thriller, has mystery and suspense too.  If you like genre hopping, you’ll find it in most of my books.  I just write to entertain you…the labels come afterward, mostly for retailers’ sakes.  Exciting books provide healthy highs.  Read a book this week!

In libris libertas….   

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