Hey, There's A Dead Guy in the Living Room

Money vs. Time

    It never occurred to me until this year to  keep track  of the number of books I will  read or listen to over the course of the year.    My current tally  confirms what I had pretty much suspected - I average a  respectable two books plus two audiobooks per month.    However, forty-eight books sounds like a lot only until I take a look at the two  single spaced pages  of  "Dale's reading wish list" that sits on the hard drive of my computer at work.    What's frightening about this wish list is that although I only began compiling it in January, it  already contains more titles than I can read in a year; it grows by at least a title or two nearly every week after I have perused the latest Publisher's Weekly. 

    Like most avid readers, I keep a mental list of favorite authors whose works will automatically get bumped to the top of my queue; my co-workers fully expect me to call first dibs on new works by Philip Roth, Jonathan Safran Foer, Tom Perrotta, Stephen King, Nathan Englander, Elisa Albert and Malcom Gladwell.  Other authors who automatically make my list  (but without my  necessarily calling first dibs) include Mary Gordon, Marilynne Robinson, Chris Bohjalian, Allan Bennett, and John Irving.  However, at least two thirds of the titles on my list are by authors whose work I have not yet read but who have been given intriguing reviews in PW.   Watching this list grow beyond all reasonable proportion is maddening and yet also strangely comforting.

And yes, thanks to my participation on Dead Guy,  crime fiction is also being included on that list. Plugged, by Eion Colfer; Never Knowing, by Chevy Stevens; You're Next, by Gregg Hurwitz; and The Sixes, by Kate White are  just a few of the titles that come readily to mind.

    As I mentioned in previous postings, one of the perks of being a librarian is that we often can gain access to ARCs, not only by our favorite authors, but also by any number of new and/or relatively unknown writers whose works are being promoted by their publishers.   But in spite of the fact that a book may have come to me for free, my free time for reading is at a premium.  The library's book group meets nine or ten times a year and even though I choose almost all of the books that the group reads, many of the titles on my reading wish list are not necessarily books that would be good choices for the group.   I am also a member of a very small book  group that meets three or four times a year to exclusively discuss the works of Philip Roth .   That leaves me with only eleven books to read that are totally "free choice" in addition to  the 24 on audio that I listen to in the car.   Another of my problems is that  many of the titles on my wish list are not available on audio.

So just because someone gives me an ARC for free doesn't mean that I am going to be willing to make an investment of my time to reading it.

And here is where the discussion comes back to e-books.   As I reported last week, Eli Neiburger predicts a future in which e-books will be free, but come with advertising.  (It might be fun to try to figure out which authors might be sponsored by which products, but I will leave that to a future posting.)    However, I am hearing more and more about e-books that are being made available, if not for free, then for a nominal price that would likely not be an obstacle for a large number of people.  The fact that an e-book may be had for free (or really cheap), coupled with the instant gratification of being able to download it  virtually anywhere does seem to be getting a lot of people very excited.

But not me.  I already have free access to the books I want to read because I borrow them from the library;  I also  strongly suspect that a majority of  the books that are  on my wish list are not the ones that are going to be given away  free to e-reader users.  And until someone can figure out a way for me, short of retirement,  to expand the amount of time I have for reading, the simple fact of a book being free is not going to be enough of an incentive for me to invest my time in reading it.

But that's just me.   What say the rest of you?  

Some summer reading

Robin Agnew

With a whole, hot month left in the summer, here's a few books to tote to the beach or the woods or wherever you might go in August to relax, read, and recharge.  No fair ordering these titles on your kindle...find a nice bookseller near you who pays taxes in your town (just paid my summer city taxes myself) and perhaps employs a few folks and buy a book from them.  These are all paperbacks so none of them will break the bank - you'll need six,as I once unwittingly told the wife of the governor of Michigan, not recognizing her in a book signing line.

Silencing Sam, Julie Kramer.  I LOVE Julie Kramer.  Are you sick of Janet Evanovich?  Meet Minneapolis TV reporter Riley Spartz, who as always is in the thick of the action, this time looking into the death of a notorious St. Paul gossip columnist.  She's funny and her plots are terrific, as is Riley.

The Killing Song, P.J. Parrish. This isn't in the Parrish sisters' terrific Louis Kincaid series, but it's a wonderful standalone serial killer novel, cleverly using songs and music as clues, taking you all over the globe (Miami, London, Paris, Scotland) and winding up in the ultra creepy Paris sewers.  Give those a google...Meanwhile you'll fall for the main character, reporter Matt Owens.

The Hidden Man, David Ellis.  Intelligent thriller writer, thy name is David Ellis. While Ellis has won an Edgar he's still not a giant besetseller but his whip smart thrillers sure should put him on top.  This one is about a bereaved Chicago attorney who's asked to defend an estranged childhood friend in what looks like a hopeless case.  If you thought Mr. Jeffrey Deaver was the King of the Twist, give Ellis a try.

Wanting Sheila Dead, Jane Haddam.  Ihave a little love hate thing with Jane Haddam. Some of her books make me want to shriek in frustration, while others, often the ones hewing most closely to the traditional mystery format, are a delight. This one falls into the "delight" category as super sensitive sleuth Gregor Demarkian tries to figure the ins and out of a murder on the set of a reality TV show. If Peter Winsey came back as a 21st century Armenian detective, he might be Gregor Demarkian.

Buffalo West Wing, Julie Hyzy.  I read this in, I think, two hours (so pack 2 or 3).  Hyzy's entertaing and well written mysteries set in the White House kitchen hit a new high with this one, as a new first family is ushered in and a bumpy adjustment is had by all.  Hyzy's plotting, pacing and characterization skills are all on display.  Fun!

A Hard Day's Fright, Casey Daniels.  I usually steer clear of anything "paramormal", but I enjoyed this one, where an insistent ghost accosts cemetary worker Pepper Martin on the bus and demands her help in finding her body.  Setting her story partly in the past - this ghost died happy, after a Beatles concert - Daniels delivers a smooth and easy read, perfect for the back porch and a glass of lemonade.

Happy Reading!

 

 

 

Navigating the Wilds of the Blogosphere

By Erin Mitchell

Disclaimer: Book Country is a client of the agency for which I toil. I asked permission to use the tips below, but Book Country didn’t ask me to post this. My opinions, as always, are my own and are unfettered.

If you’re an author, you have a website. Right? Or a blog that serves as a site? (same difference, these days)

Assuming you do—or if you don’t, you’re going to set about establishing one—the below tips from Colleen Lindsay, community manager for Book Country, are invaluable. Of course, I can’t resist a bit of commentary!

1.  ALWAYS have contact information on your website or blog (and not one of those contact forms).

I actually don’t mind contact forms so much…as long as they work. When a reader takes the time to write to an author, even a brief “thanks for writing” response goes a long way to building positive word-of-mouth. But please, no automatic replies. Form replies are worse than no response at all.

2.  Create a downloadable press kit for your site, w/ high-res photos, book jackets, bio & press clippings.

Like #5 below, I recommend getting professional advice on this, and I prefer a link to downloadable press clips.

3.  Don't make it hard for readers to leave comments and engage you in conversation. Allow use of Open ID, etc.

…because if you make it difficult, readers will go away frustrated.

4.  Have a separate area on your site for appearance information, and make sure it's up-to-date.

…and has a distinct URL that people can share, one that leads directly to this page.

5.  HIRE A DESIGNER. Make an effort! It's not super-expensive these days to hire a blog designer.

Add to this: Buy a URL. One that makes some sense and is consistent. And that includes your name (if YourName.com is not available). Really, it costs less than $20.

6.  Don't be afraid to take control of your comments and delete the assholes. It's YOUR blog.

Remember that your site (and your Facebook page) is a community, a place for your readers to gather and interact with you and each other. Bullies and meanies need not apply. It’s possible to disagree constructively.

7.  Make sure your agent and publicist's contact info is on your blog/website.

Email and phone, please.

8.  Avoid graphic-heavy landing pages; they add nothing and just piss off people with older browsers.

Remember, too, that an increasing number of readers are looking at sites on a mobile device. Make sure yours works on at least iPhone and Android, if not Blackberry.

9.  For the love of GOD, don't put auto-play music on your blog or website!

Amen. Can I have a hallelujah? Really, this applies to everyone. Also, don’t put auto-play video on your home page.

10.   Make sure you add links to all your (public) social media presences on your blog/website.

And make them easy to find. Buttons on the home page work well.

11.  Add your bibliography, in the order that the books were published, so new readers can read in order!

If it’s critical to read your books in order, be sure to note that. If not, it’s helpful for readers to know that too. If you have multiple series, group them together in date order.

12.  List any and all awards you've won, whether you're a NYT, USA Today bestseller, etc.

I actually don’t see this as so important, because these lists are so long as to have become less indicative of a great book, one that people enjoy. But if you have it, no harm flaunting it, I guess.

13.  Write about other writers you love to read. Pay it forward, especially if you have a strong platform.

Ask any successful author. In this industry especially, karma matters.

14.  If you're going on vacation or need a break, ask a friend to guest-blog for you so content stays fresh!

…especially if you have a new book out.

Got all that? Good. Here’s one extra, just for kicks:

Don’t rely solely on your publisher/publicist when it comes to your website.

Remember, authors are both brands and entrepreneurs. Your publicist, assuming you’re lucky enough to have one, has a bunch of books to promote, and only so many hours in the day. It need not take you a ton of time to create and maintain your author site, and it’s worth every moment.

Colleen shared these tips during the #bookcountry bi-weekly TweetChat held on July 28.

 

Trust

 

by Alison Dasho

 

So the Bookends agency launched an ebook publishing arm, Beyond the Page publishing, and it's got people on the internet talking.

 

One of those people is author Courtney Milan, who keeps a wonderful and informative blog (bookmark it!). Her response to Bookends becoming a publisher is clear and convincing, and the full post is here.

 

I don't want to weigh in on the agents-as-publishers discussion today. But I do want to pull out and talk about a couple paragraphs that Ms. Milan wrote about trust:

 

 

The way I often hear this come up is often as follows: “But if you can’t trust your agent, why have them?” Or: “I trust my agent, and I don’t believe she would screw me.” I can’t argue with someone who trusts their agent -- that’s your decision and your choice. I also think that people who claim that you should trust nobody are just as bad as the ones who say you should repose trust blindly -- the complete skeptic is as good at figuring out the truth as the gullible person who believes everything. I don’t have a problem with trusting people.

But for me, personally, it’s just not that simple. Here’s the thing about trust: as a personal matter, I trust people who demonstrate that they understand the process by which good intentions get fouled up, and take steps to insulate themselves from the worst temptations. I don’t think people are “good” or “bad” and you trust the good ones and consign the bad ones to hell. I think most people are well-intentioned but prone to mistakes, and the reasons why some screw up and some don’t is (a) luck, and (b) some people recognize that they are fallible and just don’t put themselves in that position to start with. The person who says, “I’m not going to take that chance” is the person I trust, because I know they’re aware of the risks.

More than that. I believe that the person who says, “It’s not going to be a problem” is someone who is not self-aware enough to avoid problems. And even though I may trust that person’s intentions, I don’t trust their results. I’m fundamentally a process person. I think that people are more likely to save money if they transfer it into a second account, instead of telling themselves not to spend it unless they really need it; I think that the best way to avoid eating too many cookies is not to buy any; I think it’s a good idea to take away someone’s keys before they start drinking; and I think people are more likely to do good because they make themselves keep away from temptation entirely. Process leads to prophylactic rules–meaning they’re by necessity cut larger than they need to be, to avoid harm. They may seem stodgy and weird, but the rules of agency relationship have arisen out of long experience.

...

When someone says, “I trust my agent,” in response to a conflict of interest that arises, I feel like the person who helplessly watches her best friend get in the car with her drunk boyfriend. He might not crash. Most people who drive drunk don’t. But he also might kill her, and I want to scream, “Look, if your boyfriend was worthy of trust, he wouldn’t be behind the wheel.” And the instant someone says to me directly after consuming a six-pack, “Look, I’m good to drive, I don’t know why you don’t trust me,” is the point when I stalk away in a blind fury. If you want to make sure harm doesn’t arise, you don’t put yourself in a situation where your reflexes are slowed, your senses dimmed, and you’re directing a multi-ton vehicle at high speeds.

Agents can be good people, who want to help their clients, and can nonetheless do harm to their clients by creating conflicts. I’ve just seen too many examples in too many other fields for me to simply say it’s a matter of trust. I trust process, and I trust people who believe in good processes.

(Again, full blog post here.)

(Bold emphasis mine.)

 

Now read the above once more, but instead of thinking about agents and contracts and conflict of interest, think about writers and manuscripts and distance in editing.

 

Do you trust yourself to have enough distance from your manuscript to handle the editorial side yourself, honestly and fairly? Are your manuscripts edited by family members or close friends who are perhaps too in love with you to tell you the truth about what works and what doesn't? Or to even *see* what works and what doesn't? (Love is blind, they say ...)

 

Some authors -- usually those who've been writing a long time, and who have a large backlist to show for it -- are absolutely capable of being writer and editor. Other authors benefit from the distant, outside input of a professional. Editing is part of the publishing process for a reason (beyond "gatekeeping," which, you guys, if I had a real, fancy gilt gate that term would be so much more appealing to me).

 

Like Ms. Milan, I've become a person who trusts process, and trusts in the people who believe in it. I've been on the too-trusting-of-good-intentions side of business deals, and I've always been disappointed (but I've also learned lessons, so maybe it's a wash). Trust in the editorial process, and know when you (or your mom) are too close to your work to critique it completely. Don't let conflict of interest creep in through the door of best intentions. 

 

 

Crimes Against Humanity

Lynne Patrick

Inspired by Jeff’s explosion of ire against shortsighted bureaucrats on Monday, today I’m going to veer away from crime fiction and head towards crime fact.

OK, maybe not literal crime. At least, not in the sense that they can go to jail for it, or even be led away in handcuffs, hanging their heads in shame. And if I start using too much emotive language, the handcuffs could be on me as I’m banged up for libel. So I need to watch my words.

But you tell me if this is a moral crime – a bad thing which will affect the future of a lot of people if it’s allowed to go ahead.

I live in a village: a concept which American Dead Guy followers may interpret differently from us Brits. I’ve visited cities in the US which had populations in the low hundreds. Over here, a small independent community is a village, usually surrounded by countryside: in this case woodland and agricultural fields, with moorland not far away.

Village is only a label – something administrative, I think – and not an indication of the number of people who live there. Ours has a population of several thousand, and in the thtymumble years I’ve lived here, it has just about doubled in size. In number of houses and people, anyway. In terms of facilities like shops, schools, medical services and leisure, it’s hardly grown at all.

And now a developer wants to expand it still further – not on to scrub land or the site of old farm buildings, as has happened before, but on to one of the lovely green fields which surround us, and provide us with some fresh air and breathing space before the urban sprawl which lies a mile or so away.

That mile or so matters to us. We live on a small island, not much bigger than South Dakota, but with a population the size of Texas’s and California’s combined. So unlike South Dakota and Texas, where you can drive (or better still walk) for dozens of miles and not encounter another human being, much less arrive at a town, fresh air and breathing space are at a premium. We need to preserve as much of it as we can. Didn’t somebody say the countryside acts as the lungs of the world?

Of course people need houses – but there are plenty more available spaces, already eaten into by previous construction work. One of our key arguments is that there’s a space like that just a couple of miles away.

Battle commenced a couple of weeks ago, at a public meeting; we expected only a handful of people to come, but the hall was packed out. People care about this stuff.

A month ago I’d have said the biggest crime people commit against themselves is apathy. The average voter turnout in elections is less than 50% – even lower than that when it’s local administrations rather than national government. But an issue like this brings people together.

So we’re fighting. For the right to fresh air; for the good of our community; for the sake of the little people against the big corporations.

And if we lose... well, if I’m missing without explanation one Wednesday, look out for the newspaper headlines and the picture captioned WOMAN PROTESTOR LIES DOWN IN FRONT OF BULLDOZER.

Packing for Camp

Josh Getzler

In a couple of hours, my wife and I will be loading our middle daughter onto a bus that will take her to Paradise in the Berkshires for the next month. It’s her first year at sleep-away camp, so she’s only going for a month, though given the opportunity she would have left the day after school ended and come home September 1. Our other two children talk about whether we’ll try to buy the apartment next to ours in order to give them places to live when they get older; this one says she’ll post updates from California on Facebook.

I remembered, as we were helping her pack (actually as my wife and I packed and my daughter discussed with her sister which of the Bieber posters would look best over her bunk), that when I went away for the summer, figuring out what to read was a Thing. It was a combination of what I was required to read from school, what I had started just before I was supposed to leave, what would signify to the other kids that I was not a dork even though I read—a lot. I remember going to an outdoors-y camp in the middle of nowhere and bringing ONLY Lord of the Rings--figuring it would take me the month to get through them--then having to write begging my folks to include some Agatha Christie in their package with the sweatshirt and extra underwear when I realized I simply was never going to appreciate LOTR no matter how many times I tried, and was going to memorize the months-old Creem magazine I'd brought if they didn't send reinforcements. And I remember frying my body next to a pool in Israel because I couldn’t stop reading O Jerusalem. And I remember five of us, boys and girls alike, sneaking out near the lake at Camp Redwood in 1978 because Beth Wachtel had her older sister’s well-thumbed copy of Forever and we’d all HEARD about it…

Which brings me back to last night. I guess the thing that made me happy was that my daughter did in fact WANT me to give her books, that she intended to read during Flashlight time (funny that what used to be illicit is now mandated!), and that what she wanted was books. But in this case, the interesting part was that we were loading Monster High, Dork Diaries and Who was Queen Elizabeth (prep for late August England trip) into her hand-me-down first generation Kindle. And that it was normal.

Our kids are 8, 9, and 12. They have bookshelves full to bursting with printed books, and e-readers loaded with electronic editions (frequently duplicating what’s on their shelves, Dan Gutman and Andrew Clements and Judy Blume will be happy to know—though not Forever, as far as I know!). They are happy to pick up a printed book and are comfortable navigating their way through the menus. They spend hours every week at Barnes & Noble, but also get a real thrill out of the ability to push a button and have a book appear.

They are a transition generation, as mine was with computers, and it will be interesting for me to see what their apartments will look like—will they need to place a premium on wall space for bookshelves, as my wife and I did every time we moved? Or will built-in bookshelves go the way of milk crates filled with LPS or CD racks? My brother-in-law the techie says he sees it happening by 2020. I see it taking longer (but that’s another column).

I look at my daughter’s duffel bag with her sleeping bag, sunscreen, ponytail holders, box of already-addressed envelopes for letters to her parents, grandparents and BFFs (no emails allowed) and Bieber posters (sigh). The Kindle (with the name tag taped to the back) is perched on top of it. I hope she doesn’t drop it in the lake. But I also hope she takes it there. 

 

Hell YES, I'm Angry!

Jeff Cohen

I am appalled.

June 30 saw the end of New Jersey Network, the public broadcasting entity run in part by the state of New Jersey. Some 40 years ago, someone smart decided that the Garden State, with its 8-million residents, might benefit from having television and radio stations that were not primarily concerned with our evil overlords, New York and Philadelphia. And so NJN was born, and there was a nightly newscast about--what do you know--New Jersey, among many other fine programs the ensuing four decades have brought.

On election nights, I would check in with Kent Manahan and her colleagues at NJN News for results and analysis. My pal the late Dusty McNichol was a frequent guest on some public affairs programming. The first time I saw The Road to Morocco it was on NJN. I actually own a DVD copy (which I made myself, because as far as I know a commercial one is not available) of an NJN special Jean Shepherd did for the network, "Jean Shepherd on Route One." Genius.

Enter Our Beloved Governor Chris Christie. 

Christie, with whom I agree on... let me check... nothing, decided that the budget crisis in our state was so bad that we needed to stop funding NJN. Now, I know that the budget crisis in New Jersey (and a lot of the other 49, truth be told) is pretty severe, but the total $4-million per year spent on NJN might have easily been offset--and then some, by a large margin--by increasing taxes on our millionaires, of whom we have quite a few. Not so, says Our Beloved Governor. Millionaires are "job creators." (If that's true, they've been doing a lousy job and don't deserve tax breaks.) We can't tax them. Better we should do without a presence on the public airwaves.

Of course, those who are more politically cynical than I might believe that Mr. Christie, like many in his party, believes that public broadcasting has a "liberal bias" which makes its funding unfair to people like, say, him. One tends to think that if Fox News had offered to provide a New Jersey newscast, Our Beloved Governor would have found the extra cash under the sofa cushions at Drumthwacket.

What I know is that since NJN's television signal has been effectively given to WNET (which is technically listed in Elizabeth, NJ, but is also known as Channel 13, New York's PBS station) and its radio signals to WHYY, both of which promised to include some New Jersey broadcasting (nice of 'em), all decisions on the programming we Jerseyans will get are to be made by executives in... wait for it... New York and Philadelphia.

Thanks, Chris. Nice work. As usual, you got what you wanted (and helped out a few of your wealthy pals) without actually considering what the people of your state want. Bravo.

Adding insult to injury was the fact that before NJN was officially killed off, a plea went out for donations to the station to keep things going, and I contributed. I hate to think one of Christie's pals dined out (albeit cheaply) on my dime.

Meanwhile, I'll be missing NJN, particularly its Nightly News. Somehow, reruns of Masterpiece Theater on yet another PBS station won't really fill the void.

Rest in peace, New Jersey Network. I--and a lot of other people--will miss you.

More on ebooks

Eli Neiburger, Associate Director of IT and Production at Ann Arbor Public Library, was the lead speaker at last week's E-Summit sponsored by the New Jersey State Library and the New Jersey Library Association.  Here is a list of some of the main points of his speech:

1.    Libraries are screwed, thanks to the growing popularity of ebooks and the restrictions that publishers place on them.

2.    Ereaders are a flash in the pan, enjoying their moment of superiority in the marketplace.

3.    People mistakenly use the term obsolete when what they really mean is outmoded; something becomes outmoded when it is no longer wanted in the marketplace because it has been replaced by a more  efficient technology.

4.    The audience for ereaders is different than the audience for smartphones.

5.    Recreational readers are not interested in paper.

6.    Kindle owners don't actually own the books they have downloaded; the content has only been leased.

7.    The price of ebooks will drop to 99 cents.

8.    In the future, the people who will make the most money are those who give their content away for free but  thencharge for extras in the app stores and online; these additional products will be bought by an author's "superfans."

9.    It is only a matter of time before we see ad sponsored books that will be given away free to the people who want to read them.

10.    Publishing houses will go the way of ice houses.

His recommendations for libraries not to be screwed are as follows:

1.    Build storage infrastructure - servers and technicians to take care of them - so that libraries  will have the mechanisms in place to own rather than lease the content of the ebooks they pay for.

2.    Make deals directly with those who hold the rights to the content that a library would like to own.  He offered Barry Eisler and Amanda Hopkins as two authors who are successfully and profitably self publsihing.

3.    Libraries should leverage the fact that they represent the aggregate buying power of the communities they represent.

4.    Libraries should emphasize the unique content created by the people  who live within the community that the library serves; libraries will  therefore need to  set themselves up as the place within the community where people can have access to the necessary tools to create and publish their own content.

5.    Libraries should also provide a range of experiences that members of the community cannot get elsewhere.

    Neiburger is an engaging and energetic speaker and his presentation was definitely one of the more upbeat talks about the future of  libraries that I have  heard in quite some time. 

 His comments were not so upbeat, however, if you happen to be in the publishing business.

I also hope Mr. Neiburger will accept my apology for spelling his name wrong in last week's post.   I( need to take more to heart Lynne's advice about proofreading.

So, Borders is gone

Robin Agnew

A few years back I would have cheered the demise of Borders, a super store that viewed us as ant like detrius, ready to be quashed.  We surely couldn't match the magnitude of their book orders, or the magnitude of their author star power.  We had to operate like guerilla fighters, thanks to Borders.  And in fact I talked to a fellow bookseller this morning who WAS delighted - citing the aformentioned quashing of many, many independents.  The thought of this particular bookseller was that they got what they deserved.

And yet.  My husband's first job in Ann Arbor was as a Border's employee, back when they were one of the greatest bookstores on earth, with backlist so deep it and clerks so intelligent (they had to take a very difficult test to become one) that there was no comparison.  We still know folks who are working there who are going to lose their jobs.  That is beyond sad.  Borders is an anchor of our downtown, and one of the last local standing businesses in the university saturated part of town they are in, which is filled with chain restaurants and even a Rite Aid and a 7 Eleven.

I am hopeful of course that we'll benefit by picking up some of their mystery readers.  There are plenty of them.  But it still seems like a sad day for bookselling in general, and probably not a good sign for the future of bookselling.  The bookseller I talked about in the first paragraph thinks the benefits will out weigh the negatives.  I guess that remains to be seen, but I love books and bookselling.  I hope my fellow bookseller is right.

Adios, Borders.

 

 

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Book Blog

By Erin Mitchell

You know book bloggers, right? Those tireless women and men who devote countless hours to sharing their experiences with books for....what, exactly?

I’ll tell you this: It is not for the money. While some book blogs generate a little income through advertising, all the book bloggers I know (and I know quite a lot of them) have day jobs. They blog for the love of reading, not for untold riches.

And another thing: This is no small part of what makes their enthusiasm for (or, sometimes, their condemnation of) books they read all the more credible.

I was, therefore, more than a little horrified this week to see this Tweet:

Anyone who knows Jenn online or off knows that she’s as authentic a book blogger as they come. She writes at the incredibly well respected Jenn's Bookshelves and tweets about books she likes. She shares her sons’ experiences with books. She talks about her book club and local bookstore.

All for free.

(I know she doesn’t make a living from her blog or tweets because she also shares tidbits about her uber-annoying day job co-workers, like the woman we’ve dubbed Smelly Candle Woman or the one who was asleep at her desk the other day. Oh, and it’s in her bio, which Ms. Hall obviously didn't bother to gander.)

The simple fact is that Jenn really enjoyed MAINE. So much so, that she had to tone down her review of it. Her enjoyment—and her sharing of her joy in it—was completely genuine.

Which brings us to Kathryn Hall, whom I don’t know and had never heard of before I saw this tweet. Ms. Hall is, apparently, a book publicist, which troubles me greatly because this puts her in a club to which I also belong.

I took a look at her site, and, wow…it has a lot of words. And yes, I’m restraining myself there. Suffice to say that I have an extremely low tolerance for the appearance of pretension, especially when it comes to anything related to books.

So what’s the point here? Simple. Authors, publishers, book marketers and all those involved in creating and selling books need to understand that book bloggers are people too. People who are an important part of the book ecosystem. People who do what they do for the love of books.

Take a moment and thank a book blogger. It matters. A lot.

 

Bikram Writing

 

by Alison Dasho

 

Okay, you guys, inspired by my experiences this week, I'm going to start a new business. For writers who need a place to write, editors who need a place to edit -- basically, anyone working from home who needs a non-home environment.

 

It'll be a third floor attic apartment (much like the one I'm working/living in now), and it won't have air conditioning, and it'll be 8 billion degrees outside.

 

I'll call it Bikram Writing. Sweat more than deadlines!

 

Unlimited water, access to a yoga mat on the floor and a little stool to prop up a laptop, and a two plug spaces in a power strip (one for a computer cord and one for a phone charger).$10/day, $50/week, or $175/month.

 

I feel like this business will make millions! But that could just be the heat talking...

 

In the next few weeks, we're moving to a new apartment with a luxurious second bedroom, which I'll be converting into an office -- so I'm thinking a lot about my ideal work space. Right now, I work in the kitchen, on a laptop on an old(ish) square kitchen table, with a paper daily planner at my side, a notepad and pen, and my cell phone. Oh, and my Kindle, for reading submissions/doing first-pass and last-pass evaluation reads. I have a small drawer behind me for important papers and records, and my Chicago Manual is all the way in the other room on the regular bookshelves. But if I have a whole room dedicated to working, and I don't have to pack up and put away all my work stuff each evening so the kitchen can go back to being a kitchen ... my mind is spinning with possibilities!

 

So I ask you: What do you love about your workspace? What do you wish you could change? Should I invest in a small desk from St. Vinnie's, or should I try some IKEA project? Drawers or no drawers? Won't I just fill them with stuff I don't need? How do I hide all my ugly power cords, now that I don't have to move them every day? And do I need to get a beanbag chair? Because I'm leaning in that direction. It will help with submissions, probably!

 

 

 

Spot the Deliberate Mistakes

Lynne Patrick

This week I’m wearing my editorial hat. The one with the Kevlar pad right where my forehead meets my hair, to absorb the thumps of despair. In the life I’ve just moved back into, post-publishing, I offer feedback to aspiring novelists on the standard 10,000-word submission package. Like this one.

Dear Sir or Madam...
I would like to send you my first novel to be published by your company. It is an action-packed thriller, 240,000 words long, and is about all the adventures in four years in the life of an American spy working in the USSR during the Cold War. I know it will be a bestseller.
Since you have an office in New York, it will be easy for you to bring out the book in America as well as here in England, and though I have never visited America, I will be very pleased to come there when you have arranged an appearance on Oprah or something like that.
I am enclosing a 5000-word synopsis and some sample chapters – the first, so that you know who the main character is, and two from the middle, because that’s where the book begins to gather pace and become really exciting. Also enclosed is a CD of the whole book, along with the cover design I have chosen, made by my friend who has been to art college.
I look forward to receiving my contract and advance in the next few days.
Yours sincerly
Bill Smith.

OK, that’s an exaggerated version – but not that exaggerated – I did get submission letters which weren’t a million miles from this, and they still come in at the rate of two or three a week, from people who misguidedly don’t keep in touch with developments. So let’s look at it all the same. You never know, it might contain some enlightening moments.

First mistake is mine: nothing in this specimen letter is deliberate. The author really believes it.

Second mistake: Dear Sir or Madam. Grrrrrr!

Third mistake:all he has to do is send in his manuscript, and a few weeks later receive a life-changing cheque and box of free copies. Amazingly, some people still think this. It’s an illusion I came across quite often back in the 1990s when I ran creative writing classes at a local education centre, but you’d think aspiring writers would be more clued up these days. Evidence points to the contrary.

Fourth mistake: 240,000 action-packed words... a contradiction in terms, wouldn’t you say? Hard to maintain packed action much beyond 100,000. And a four-year span? Hm.

Fifth mistake: Cold War thrillers are so last century. Literally. They fall into that nomansland between historical and contemporary; neither publishers nor booksellers know where to slot them in.

Sixth mistake: it’s his first book; how on earth does he know how it will sell? It’s a question which makes strong marketing men gnaw their fingernails. (The subtext of the sentence is because books like this always are – that’s why I’ve written it.)
That’s six mistakes in the first paragraph. I don’t think I need to go on, do I?

Well, OK, then, just one more tiny point – HE DIDN’T PROOFREAD HIS LETTER! I know how to spell sincerely. So will the editor.

And one more – no one who has done their homework would ever submit chapters from the middle of the book as a taster package – much less admit in the cover letter that it doesn’t get exciting till then. But you knew that, didn’t you?

Some people still don’t, though. In my feedback role I’m constantly amazed by the number of people who think a synopsis is an optional extra, or not necessary at all; and astonished by the ones who cherrypick chapters.

I suspect I’m preaching to the converted here, so I won’t go on any longer.
Except to say thanks again to the phantom blog repairer, who sorted out the recurring glitch for me again last week and still hasn’t told me who s/he is so I can thank him/her properly. I tried a different approach this time: I typed directly into the Compose box. As before, the word count still registered zero after two paras, so I’m assuming the problem still exists, and am taking alternative action as before.

Technology does not like me!

The Death of Borders

Josh Getzler

It came as little surprise yesterday that Borders announced that it was liquidating its stores and laying off all 11,000 of its workers. It’s been a company in death throes for a couple of years, and the question  was really when it was going to go, not as much if.

The press releases, and indeed much of the reportage about the cause of Borders’ decline, as been the all encompassing “because of ebooks.” And while certainly the growing market penetration of electronic distribution of books cost Borders market share, it’s not the only reason.  It also has to do with the price of real estate, and the fact that Borders decided to hitch its wagon to three forms of entertainment that would all be slammed by alternative distribution methods: Books AND video AND music. The trifecta.

Every time I went to the Borders near my parents’ home in New Jersey over the last 10 years or so, I was struck by how…empty the store seemed. There were large swaths of empty space between the three unintegrated sections of the store. It didn’t lend itself to shopping for multiple media—If I wanted a CD, I could go into the store, go to the music section, pick out my album, and go to the front and pay with a minimal need to pass a book or a DVD. On one hand, it led to an efficient purchase (when they actually had the album in stock, which was rarer and rarer). But they lost out, oftentimes, on the impulse book purchase. Now it’s not that I’m saying that they needed to put comedy DVDs next to rock CDs next to thrillers. But integrating the display tables, not the general racks, would have been useful.

But that, of course, is only part of it. As first the music industry, then the video market, became progressively more digital, both in its distribution forms with mp3’s and streaming video; and in its retail outlets, with itunes and Amazon in particular grabbing market share; the tripartite superstore became less efficient. When Borders didn’t really adjust, but rather simply made the other sections more barren while not contracting, their ultimate failure was assured. And this is where real estate came in—they simply couldn’t sell enough books to justify rent in superstores that were intended for revenue on books to only make up 1/3 of the total. And when you combine that with the fact that their in-store sales had plummeted because of the online distribution outlets (whether physical or digital), it was really over.

So what are the lessons? There will clearly be multitudes of articles about this, ranging from “forget it—first it was indies, then Borders, next it’ll be Barnes and Noble and you won’t be able to go anywhere but Target and WalMart to buy a book;” to “bookstores can survive if they play to niches—whether children’s stores, or outlets dealing with crime fiction or fantasy or romance.”

What’ll be correct? Too soon to tell. But one thing that appears certain is that the bricks-and-mortar businesses will need to integrate themselves with electronic distribution. That could mean, as some outlets are starting to do, that you can look through their books, then download right there through them onto your Kindle or iPad, with the store getting credit for the sale. Or perhaps they need to expand the “neighborhood bookstore” feel (particularly regarding children’s books) in order to drive greater foot traffic into perhaps somewhat smaller spaces. Or in fact it could mean a return to the indie model, if publishers will be willing to give smaller stores favorable rates (which could have an impact on royalties to authors, but which many authors I know would be willing to sacrifice if it meant the overall survival of bookstores). I had lunch last week with an editor at one of the biggest houses in New York, and he was saying “look, times are hard, but that’s partly because we haven’t figured it all out. We’re in an industry in flux. But it’s not a dead industry. Not as long as authors are still writing and people are still reading. We haven’t figured out how to deal with a new business paradigm that will take us more efficiently into the next 10 or 20 or 50 years. But that doesn’t mean that the world is coming to an end.”

That’s not a lot of comfort to the 11,000 laid-off Borders workers. But they’re not out of work because of publishers any more than the folks who worked for Blockbuster Video are out of work because of Warner Brothers. They are the victims of innovation, which is inexorable.

 

More Lists To Annoy You (Revised)

Jeff Cohen

A little while back, I got a new comment on my lists of best and not-best things. And since it seems at least some people are still interested in a post that went up last October, I figured I'd get the arguments started once again with a few new topics that might veer a bit from the subject of crime fiction writing in spots:

Again, these are in no particular order. #1 isn't necessarily better than #8 in any category.

Best Songs Built on a Guitar Run

1. Day Tripper
2. Up Around the Bend
3. I Feel Fine
4. Satisfaction
5. What Is Life?
6. A Hazy Shade of Winter
7. Born to Run (with obvious saxophone assist)
8. Oh, Pretty Woman
9. My Girl
10. Layla

Best Actors To Watch in Anything

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Gene Wilder
3. Bob Hoskins
4. Cary Grant
5. Harpo Marx
6. James Stewart
7. Sidney Poitier
8. Peter O'Toole
9. Alan Arkin
10. Tom Hanks

Best Actors To Watch In Their Signature Roles

1. Alan Alda (Hawkeye Pierce)
2. Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal Lecter)
3. Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones)
4. Groucho Marx (Groucho Marx)
5. Alec Baldwin (Jack Donaghy)
6. Marty Feldman (Eye-gore)
7. Robert Vaughn (Napoleon Solo)
8. Martin Sheen (Josiah Bartlet)
9. Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates)
10. Kevin Costner (Ray Kinsella or Crash Davis)

Best Actors Not To Watch in Anything

1. Zeppo Marx
2. Stewart Granger
3. George Lazenby
4. Desi Arnaz
5. Keanu Reeves
6. Ben Affleck
7. Chris Farley
8. Leonardo di Caprio
9. Keir Dullea
10. Adam Sandler

 

Best Actresses To Watch in Anything

1. Katharine Hepburn
2. Frances de la Tour
3. Jean Arthur
4. Julie Andrews
5. Mary Louise Parker
6. Barbara Hershey (except Beaches)
7. Madeline Kahn
8. Cloris Leachman
9. Mary Tyler Moore
10. Karen Allen

 

Best Yankees I Have Seen Play Live (Go ahead--argue with THIS one!)

1. Mickey Mantle
2. Thurman Munson
3. Derek Jeter
4. Ron Guidry
5. Mariano Rivera
6. Reggie Jackson
7. Willie Randolph
8. Tino Martinez
9. Graig Nettles
10. Don Mattingly

 

English Phrases That Must Be Eliminated

1. Man up
2. But yet
3. Awesome
4. Instant classic
5. Death benefit
6. Hells yes
7. Folks (this is aimed at politicians, especially when referring to terrorists)
8. Hubby (Ask your spouse if he likes this one. But make it clear he can answer honestly.)
9. All-Star Game
10. Word (as if saying, "Yes, that is true. I agree.")

Movies That Could Be Watched Once A Week

1. Horse Feathers
2. North By Northwest
3. Galaxy Quest
4. The Stunt Man
5. Casablanca
6. A Hard Day's Night
7. Diner
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark
9. Young Frankenstein
10. The Maltese Falcon

Brilliant Comedians

1. Jon Stewart
2. Groucho Marx
3. Bill Cosby
4. Lewis Black
5. Elayne Boosler
6. Steve Martin
7. Richard Jeni
8. Robert Klein
9. Bugs Bunny
10. Mel Brooks

Libraries and ebooks

I've spent a lot of time lately worrying about the impact that ebooks are going to have on public libraries over the next couple of years.  Although I have not yet seen a great deal of demand for ebooks in the small town where I work, I know that it is only a matter of time before that changes.   With an operating budget that has plunged by roughly 20% since 2009 and with the spector of further significant cuts on the horizon for 2012, I spend a considerable amount of time stressing over the impossibility of having to somehow come up with money and staff time to accommodate the growing demand for yet another category of library materials.

I had my first encounter with the World Wide Web back in 1995 when I was director at a different small library; I remember telling people who hadn't yet experienced the web that the ability to use a desktop computer to search what appeared to be - even then - a limitless source of information felt almost as if I were dabbling in a type of magic.  I recognized immediately that the Internet had the capacity to turn librarians, in the eyes of the public, into information wizards.   Although  searching the web has become just another part of the daily routine, because of my training and experience, I can even now still  sometimes manage to amaze myself with the stuff I am able to locate online for my patrons with relatively little effort.

So now that I have established that I am not a Luddite, I feel a little more comfortable about coming clean regarding the level of unease I feel about ebooks.   First off, I am afraid  that some patrons are going to expect the library to provide them not only with ebooks but with ebook readers as well.   To be fair, it is legitimate for a library to loan out an ereader if a book is available only in an electronic format.  Also, given that ereaders grant people the ability to  increase the font size of whatever they are reading, libraries that loan out ereaders to the visually impaired can greatly expand the amount of materials that these patrons will be able to read.   However, in all other instances, I am not sure that our patrons have an unalienable right to read anything they want in electronic format  if they  do not already own their own ereaders.  After all,  nobody's ever expected us to loan out VCRs, DVD players, or diskmen even though  the library circulates videos, DVDs and CDs.  Somehow, though, what's going on now  with ebooks   just feels different.  And as the number of people who purchase ereaders grows exponentially, it is going to be suicidal for libraries not to comensurately grow their ebook collections.

The biggest fear of many librarians is that as prices continue to fall for both ereaders and ebooks, there will no longer be much of an incentive for people to use the public library, especially if publishers' ebook licensing plans continue to artificially restrict ebook usage to one patron at a time, resulting in long wait times for popular titles.   It is  a case of extremely bad timing that this ebook explosion is coming at precisely the same time that our economy has tanked and so many libraries are having to deal not only with cuts to their materials budget but  also with significant cuts to their personnel budgets.  Maintaining an ebook collection, downloading books onto ereaders, and instructing patrons in their use are  all extremely labor intensive tasks.  How are we going to do  all this with less money available to us?  Could this possibly prove to be the library community's own perfect storm?

This past week, the New Jersey State Library and the New Jersey Library Association co-sponsored an event they called an "E-Summit."  Approximately 250 librarians attended this all day program which featured a panel  that included Eli Neiberger, Sue Polanka, Joseph Sanchez, Robert Miller and Mary MInow, all nationally known speakers.  I'll be blogging more about what I learned from them over the coming weeks.                                   

 

 

Deep into Summer

It's deep into summer - days are hot, there's ice cream to be had - and the town feels like it's in a bit of the doldrums, but luckily here in Ann Arbor we get hit next week with one of largest street art fairs on the planet.  I love it.  Other buisness owners, not so much - my hairdresser leaves town, for example - but I look forward to it as a week long off loading of, ahem, older merchandise.

It's a week when driving through downtown just isn't possible - over four days, 500,000 people visit the Ann Arbor Art Fairs - and it's almost a guarantee that one day it will pour buckets and one day at least will be sweltering.  I don't mind, I'm in an air conditioned store, but I feel for the artists siting on concrete for four days.  I only let artists and customers use our bathroom!

This week my husband has spend culling unloved books from corners of the store, from our store basement, and next week he and my son will haul them upstairs in readiness for selling on the street.  The first couple years, we actually paid someone to sit outside with the dollar books, but it no longer seems worth it.  If someone feels moved to steal a tattered Sidney Sheldon paperback, there's not much I'm going to do about it.

This year though we've tried to put out some better material - newer hardcovers that have gone paperback, for example.  For a dollar, they're a bargain.  We also have - the box.  The box has books we've been hauling up and down the basement steps for 18 summers now.  I think soon we need to have - a bonfire.

While I love books, and have made my life about them, the darn things replicate like crazy and it seems almost unstoppable.  Somebody cleans out their basement, and we get the fruit of their labors, recycling old books back through the community.  Sometimes there are certain treasures that it takes an odd ball to truly love, and frankly, there's always a few of them I sell during art fair where I mentally think -"Really?  You want THAT?"

But often the pleasure of art fair, as it so often is during the summer months, is meeting people from out of town, including artists, who only come to town once a year and have made us one of their stops, where they can check in, re-fuel their book habit, and have a chat.  I look forward to all those returning travellers.  They make my July.

Yesterday, as it's the week before art fair, the store was full of regulars, getting their fix before the town is taken over.  At one point I knew the name of every shopper in the store (and one on the phone).  I'm not sure if that means the readng community is a small one, or a communal one, or both.  Either way, July is full of pleasures not often found in January.  I may as well enjoy it while it lasts.

 

 

 

 

Introduction to BSP

…that’s Blatant Self-Promotion for those lucky enough to not have encountered the acronym before.

‘Ya know how some authors make a book and then go onto the Twitter and the Facebook and post the same thing over and over, which basically says: Buy my book! It’s wonderful!

That.

Or how other people co-opt content and tack on promotional messages that make no sense at all?

That.

Or those folks who never talk to people via anything online (including email and blogs), but rather treat it as though they’re sitting in a tree shooting spitballs at passersby?

That.

Here’s what irks me most about BSP: sometimes smart people do it. Good people. People who just don’t know any better. Even people who have actually written great books that deserve better. Yep BSP persists, because, I guess, it must work for some people. I have yet to find anyone who actually purchased a book because of BSP, but it must happen. Or else people wouldn’t do it, right?

I was recently talking with a couple of Very Smart People about an author who desperately needs a BSP intervention. He’s one of the afore-mentioned good guys, with a new book out (like, from a real-live publisher and everything), who, for reasons I’ll never understand, is misusing social media.

I’m not going to name names because, like I said, he’s a good guy and a skilled author, and it’s not necessary to name him here to learn from him.

Specifically, a while back he got himself a Facebook Page (good), but then his Twitter feed degenerated into daily messages that said nothing more than “If you like my books, please follow me on my fan page” and a link. And every day, a scheduled message that says, “For more information on my books and appearences [sic] check out my website.”

Typo aside, what’s wrong with this? Isn’t social media—Twitter especially—a viable means to drive traffic to pages and sites? Yeah, sure it is. But if you’re not creating content, you’re missing a huge opportunity. The tweets and posts above give nobody an actual reason to visit the page or site.

And there could be lots of reasons…a contest, an essay, even just a picture. Something that gives people a reason to care—and not just the people who already know who you are.

If you’d like to get a sense of whether your social media presence is too BSP heavy, Klout can be a useful tool. Like any social media tool, it’s not exact—and this is a qualitative, rather than quantitative issue—but looking at your retweets, mentions and post likes can be useful.

But the reality is, if you think yourself guilty of BSP, you probably are. Good news is, it’s not hard to fix.

The Value of Revisions

 

by Alison Dasho

 

I am brain-fried today after a long daytrip to Chicago (congrats, Cousin Emma, on getting into Columbia! Hey Chicago friends, please be nice to my cousin!), so I'm just going to share two quick links about the value of revision.

 

The first I found via The Passive Voice blog, which, you guys, you have to be reading. It's fantastic. He linked to a post on David Farland's blog, about Farland's revision process:

 

There's a certain part of me that hates studying a piece of writing over and
over, but it's not until I've been through it a certain number of times that
I feel good about it. For me, that number is something like 5-7 times.

 

 

Now, are you wondering what revisions might look like? How much they might change the face of your manscript? I posted a two-page spread of revisions I've recently gotten back from an author over here, and you can see how she's putting a spit-shine on her prose and cutting unneccessary words.

 

And with that, I'm back to clicking little "accept change" checkmarks on this revised manuscript, then I'm going to work on an edit letter and judge some short story contest entries.

 

I love my job.

Getting To Know You

Lynne Patrick

First of all, thank you to the kind, generous and technologically literate person who sorted out the glitch on my last week’s post. (Jeff C, if it was you, you’re a star. In fact, whoever you are, you’re a star.) I can’t promise it won’t happen again this week, because I have no idea what I did wrong and therefore no idea what to do/not to do to prevent it; all I did was exactly the same as almost every week for the past four and a quarter years.

And so to the business of the week. It’s been one of those weeks when a lot of brain-racking has taken place in order to find something to post about. Not that nothing’s happened; the past few days have been pretty action-packed. But not with crime-fiction-related matters; the threat to build a small housing development in the lovely green field opposite our house may be a crime, but it’s not fictional. And though it’s occupying a large portion of my mindspace, it doesn’t really qualify as a Dead Guy topic.

So, from my reinvented position of voracious reader of crime fiction – the final link in the idea-to-bookshelf chain formed by my fellow bloggers (you’re all OK with me taking on that role, are you guys? Please say yes; I need to feel useful) – here are a few thoughts that came up as I indulged in my second favourite activity this week.

Series. Ongoing backstory or not ongoing backstory?

I have divided loyalties and mixed feelings. On the one hand, take Jack Reacher. You kind of feel he doesn’t really have a life outside the books. He drifts from one town and one adventure to the next; he has no roots, so nothing to grow from. Between books he digs swimming pools, works as a nightclub bouncer, anything to pay his motel bill. And in his case it doesn’t matter, and certainly doesn’t detract from my reading enjoyment. In fact it makes it easier. I often pick up a book at random and find I’ve begun reading a new series somewhere in the middle, then once I latch on to it, I go back to the beginning and read them in order – but I know I can pick up a Jack Reacher at any point in the sequence and just enjoy the ride.

On the other hand, I love watching protagonists grow, and their lives move on. I ached for Maureen Carter’s Bev Morriss through a broken love affair, rape, family trauma, pregnancy, a burgeoning relationship with... no, read the books for yourselves... and a wealth of other character-building life crises. I cheered when Roz Southey’s Charles Patterson was finally backed into a corner by the woman he loved but dared not marry. I followed with held breath when Mark Billingham’s Tom Thorne found himself entangled in a relationship which didn’t involve a football team or a cat. And I cheered when my brilliant family tracked down every single one of the hard-to-find early titles which fill in Charlie Fox’s pre-bodyguarding history in Zoë Sharp’s action-packed series. I love that sense that my favourite series characters go on living their lives between books, and my visits to their worlds cover only a small part of those lives.

Which brings me to the technical stuff. Well, story construction. Does that count as technical?

In the second case, the not-Jack Reacher style of series, how much backstory does an author need to include for the benefit of readers who dive in somewhere in the middle? How much does it matter that we know how the protagonist met his/her partner in book 2, what happened to the pregnancy in book 5, who killed his/her best friend back in book 1, setting the scene for an ongoing hunt-down-and-destroy strand?
A lot? A little? Not at all? Or what?

What do you think?

Lessons of ThrillerFest

Josh Getzler

I love ThrillerFest, the crime fiction conference just concluded over the weekend. As a fan of thrillers, it’s a chance to walk down the hall of the Hyatt and see, say, MJ Rose chatting with Steve Berry, or watch the crowds part as Ken Follett and his agent Al Zuckerman stride across a ballroom, their marvelous twin white manes  almost shimmering in the dim light of a cocktail party. They do not wear nametags.

There are many such sightings at ThrillerFest, amidst the panels and hallway rendezvous with friends from around the country and business done over cocktails in the bar while watching THAT agent chat up THAT editor to impress THAT author sitting two tables away. For me it’s also a chance to see clients like Keith Raffel, in from San Francisco for a panel and to see his daughter who works for some new agency down in Soho--and also to discuss submissions and strategies and to see his friends from the thriller writing community.  I also had the pleasure for the first time of having two clients on panels this year. Both Keith and Nancy Bilyeau—who got to discuss historical thrillers with Katherine Neville, David Liss and Steve Berry (among others)—appeared. (Unfortunately, simultaneously and on Saturday morning, which prevented me from seeing either. Gotta wait for the podcasts...).

And I think that one of the pleasures of ThrillerFest (perhaps more so now than it would have been 15 or 20 years ago) is that with the proliferation of social media, it’s not simply that I’ve read these folks’ books or perhaps an interview in a magazine or a review in a newspaper. Now I may be Facebook friends with them or read their blogs or follow them on Twitter. So when I connect a face with a name, I feel I’m meeting someone I kind of know already. There are some people who feel pretty uncomfortable about this somewhat artificial intimacy, but it’s a pretty self-selecting group. Even the folks who are only expanding their online presence for commercial reasons put up with strangers asking them for their peach pie recipe they’d put up on Facebook a month ago.

But my other role at ThrillerFest is as participation in the literary speed-dating exercise AgentFest. Bescause ThrillerFest is in NYC, the organizers are able to gather (con…rope…threaten..wheedle) 50 or so agents to accept 3-minute pitches from mostly first-time authors for two hours on the Thursday of ThrillerFest. The agents are then invited to a cocktail party. That usually does the trick. AgentFest is the difference between ThrillerFest and any other conference. It has both the Joe Finders AND the science teacher from Morristown who has written her techno-thriller in the Starbucks after classes. Most conferences are one or the other—they are either pitchfests with only a few well-known writers, editors or agents, or industry conferences without the pitch sessions.

What I have found most interesting about AgentFest over the years is that, for whatever reason, there seems to be a theme to the pitches; a particular kind of thriller that is the hot trope of the year. Last year, for example, I stood up at the break midway through, turned to my friend Alex Glass of Trident, and said “Wow, lot of Nazis this year, eh?” And there were—not WW2 spy novels, though, but grandchildren of Austrian Jews, say, going back with a scrawled diagram to find the Monet hidden in Tati’s old woodshed, watched by a wizened caretaker whose own family had harbored fugitives…or had they?

This year, there were two themes. The first is what I will call the Viral Thriller. In some ways this is the return of the techno-thriller. But now, rather than the nukes and subs and F-96 fighters of the 80’s, the technology is used to spread viruses, either actually—terrorists disseminating germs throughout a city/country/continent/planet—or virtually, where terrorists knock out electrical grids or the World Bank or the security system at the Pentagon.  The protagonists, now, are doctors and hackers as often as CIA agents, and are more often female than they ever have been.

The second theme, which has recurred since Jack Reacher hit the scene, is the loner, almost always a veteran back from Afghanistan,  returning home in the US to find something needing to be cleaned up in his hometown. He doesn’t want to do it—he wants to sit by himself and drink whiskey and forget about the desert—but he’s talented and well-trained, and when his teenage cousin is kidnapped, he takes his traumatized body out of the double-wide and kicks ass.

Both of these subgenres are what I call Crowded Rooms right now—there are so many examples of them out there that in order to get a nibble with one, an author really needs to be a standout writer, with protagonists or plots that so exceed the others that Alex or Diana Fox or Yishai Seidman or I need to take it on and believe in it.

But the marvel and lesson of ThrillerFest is that when you’re done with your pitches, and have dragged yourself to the bar to commiserate with the other aspiring thriller writers, you can see Robert Crais chatting with JT Ellison or Andrew Gross having a drink with up-and-comer Kira Peikoff, or Al and Ken graciously holding court in Ballroom 2, and understand well the possibilities of this art, of this business.

 

No, I'm Serious. Seriously.

Jeff Cohen

In a recent interview in Entertainment Weekly, the actor Gene Hackman, now 81 and apparently retired from acting and writing thrillers (who knew?), lamented, "I don't think I'll ever be considered a serious writer". (It's possible "lamented" is an overstatement.)

Wow. All I could think when I read that was, "I hope nobody ever considers me a serious writer."

I mean that. If people read my books and come away thinking deep thoughts about the nature of life and how it's all hopeless, complex, depressing and above all, serious, I have badly screwed up the mission with to which I have assigned myself. I'm trying very hard to be the antidote to Serious, the kind of writer whose readers--and I know who both of you are--look forward to with a smile of anticipation. I want you to think, right before my novel is checked out at the bookstore or the library, or shows up in your mailbox, "Now, this is going to be fun."

It's easy enough to be convinced of the Serious of life. In fact, it's damn hard not to be overcome with it; Serious is everywhere. Serious lives in hospitals, in nursing homes, police stations, unemployment offices, homeless shelters, on 24-hour news stations, in courtrooms and barrooms and back rooms where deals are made. Serious is what most of us spend the larger part of our lives either trying to contain or trying to deflect. When your doctor informs you that you need tests for something, your first question is usually, "Is it serious?" You never tremble while asking, "Is it SILLY?"

Those of us who traffic in comedy are doing our very best not only to avoid Serious, but if possible to deny its very existence. We don't avoid TRUTH, mind you--comedy is at its best when it tells the truth. What we do is take Serious and make it look silly. 

Nobody believes that there are talking rabbits wearing white gloves who outwit hunters and feud with ducks. No one thinks a French detective so inept that he can't open his own apartment door without ripping his pants to shreds can constantly prevail in solving crimes. There isn't a soul on this planet who is truly convinced that a man with a greasepaint mustache and eyebrows can be president of a country or a college.

But when they think of Bugs Bunny, Inspector Clouseau or Groucho Marx, people smile fondly and they remember. They don't need to be reminded.

Everybody believes that white blood cells are called leukocytes. They're certain that Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania. They know for a fact that Congress is going to raise the country's debt ceiling before August 2. And yet, when they consider any one of these serious matters, is there a fond smile on their faces? There is not.

For some inexplicable reason, people are convinced that Serious things are more important than the things that lift their spirits and make life the kind of experience it should be--an enjoyable one to be cherished. They say that things which make us laugh are "silly," as if that was a bad thing. If you say something they think is wrong, they'll tell you to "be serious." And, more to the point, if you proclaim your intention to make them laugh, they might smile and nod at you, but their respect will go to the others, who do their best to depress with Serious. It is an interesting commentary on our society that there are at least six awards in the United States for best mystery novel of the year, and a grand total of one for funniest.

I celebrate those who can successfully amuse  me. In fact, I tell others about them as a fan of opera might spread the word about an exciting new tenor. Finding someone who can make us laugh is a huge stroke of luck; it is something that must be shared. I speak their names with awe and reverence, two things I almost never exhibit. I thank them for their efforts, especially the ones that can make me laugh no matter how many times I've seen them do the same thing before. I have a great deal more respect for a good comedian than I do for any head of state I have ever observed.

So please don't ever tell me I'm a serious writer. Do I work hard at my craft? I certainly do. Do I respect the work I'm trying to create? Absolutely. Will I toil and sweat to give you a reading experience that seems like it flowed naturally and never show you the seams and the stitches? I will do my very best to achieve that goal. Will I ever write something Serious?

My god, I hope not.

Two in a row!

        When trying to figure out what mystery to read (or listen to) next, I'm as likely to pick something off the library shelves after extensive browsing as I am to rely on book reviews or word of mouth.   After recent experiences with books that were either gratuitously violent or gratuitously cutesy, I checked out the audio book version of Lisa Gardner's Love You More, tantalized by a blurb that described two female law enforcement officers, (one of whom is a battered wife) a dead husband and a missing child.   It appeared to be a safe bet that I would not be encountering any wedding planners, flower arrangers, former SAS officers or victims of political oppression.  

        And I was right - I loved this book, and here's why:

1.    The story is told in the alternating voices of 40-something Boston detective D.D. Warren and twenty-something Massachusetts state trooper Tessa Leoni and the contrast between these two characters is very effective.  D.D.  is a seasoned professional, good at what she does and more or less married to her job, even in spite of the fact that she's pretty happy in her current relationship with Alex, an instructor at the police academy.    Tessa is fairly new to her job, mother to six year old Sophie, and recently (and somewhat impulsively) married to Brian whose job as an engineer on a cargo ship keeps him away from home for two months at a time.  Complicating matters is that not only was Tessa's childhood extremely disfunctional but  also that it included at least one very traumatic event, leaving the reader to ponder whether Tessa survived her childhood intact or as damaged goods.   Both D.D. and Tessa are sympathetic characters but in very different ways and the conflict and tension between them is the underpinning for this story.

2.    There were not a huge number of characters for me to keep track of and Gardner adds just the right amount of additional tension by requiring D.D. to work on a  difficult case with Bobby Dodge, a former lover who is now happily married to someone else and the father of a two year old daughter.    It is obvious that Bobby and D.D. respect each other on the job and do their best not to let the awkwardness of their situation affect their work, even when spending vast amounts of time together working the case.

3.    I know absolutely nothing about police work; all of the forensic details sounded credible to me. 

4.    The story was extremely well plotted and paced.  I especially liked the fact that certain  plot details that at first seemed kind of weak to me actually became much more plausible as the story was developed.    Even under the extraordinary circumstances described in the novel, characters' motivations and actions were consistently believable.

5.     Love Your More is actually the fifth in a series of titles by Gardner that feature D.D. Warren but I was not aware of that fact until I checked the author's website  just before starting to write this.  While listening to the audio book, I never got the sense that I was stepping into D.D.'s life in the middle of things or that there were necessary details of her back story that I was missing.   I so liked D.D. as a character that I will probably be going back to sample more of this series.

6.    The two readers who did the audio book, Kirsten Potter and Katie MacNicholl, were simply outstanding; their voices provided an excellent contrast between Tessa's  youth and vulnerability and D.D.'s mature and no-nonsense persona.  They each put in a bravura performance, alternating between the voices of males and females or children and adults while throwing in strong New England accents as necessary.    As is not always the case, the audiobook version of Love You More, definitely provided added value to my experience with this book.

I'd like to throw in one additional observation at this point.   One of the main pieces of advice given to anyone wanting to try their hand at writing fiction is to "show, not tell."  However, it has been my experience with the mysteries I've read during the past year, including Love You More, that the reader eventually arrives at that spot where it is necessary for one of the characters to provide a verbal explanation of how and why the crime was committed, something that I'm recognizing as the "tell, not show" moment.  It is at this point that the flow of the story comes to a halt as I find myself working to mentally chart these newly explained details to make sure that they match everything that I thought I knew from the story up to that point.  Not being a writer of mysteries, I don't know if it's even possible to find a way around this.   Any thoughts from you writers out there?

A Few Great New Characters

Robin Agnew

There are numerous reasons to read - a sense of place, story, characters - all are important but I think one of the major reasons mystery readers love their books are the characters they find there.  There are many characters in mystery fiction that seem almost real, that readers will visit again and again.  I know I personally have re-read Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver mysteries countless times, not least because I so envy Miss Silver's ability to manitain a pleasant conversation in the most difficult of circumstances.

When a few new characters enter the mystery arena that are pretty memorable and make you want to read more, it's something to take notice of. There are a couple of new series I've really enjoyed, and much of the reason are the main characters in the books.

Detective Darko Dawson, Kwei Quartey's memorable creation,is an inspector in the Ghanaian police force, working out of the capitol of Ghana, Accra.    Darko works some tough cases but he has a stong relationship with his wife and an adorable son who suffers from a heart problem.  He also has the unique ability to spot a lie by listening to the timber of someone's voice.  He's smart and relentless, but he's also compassioante and willing to learn.  Quartey's so far two novels, Wife of the Gods and Children of the Streets,  are knockouts.  Get to know "Dark", as he's called by his friends.

Ruth Galloway is someone I wish I knew in real life.  The creation of the gifted Elly Griffiths, she's an unapologetically overweight forensic anthrologist, who eschews fashion of any kind but is so much herself and so comfortable in her own skin that she's irrisistible.  Her bravery is of the regular human variety, not the super human kind (see Jack Reacher).  She lives alone in the most deserted, desolate place imaginable with her two cats, and is neither lonely nor seeking a man.  There are two books so far, The Crossing Places and The Janus Stone, with a third to come in January.

Willis Gidney, the P.I. at the center of Thomas Kaufman's two novels, Drink the Tea and Steal the Show (the first one was the St. Martin's PWA contest winner), has so many quirks it's a wonder he's walking around.  He grew up rough in the tough foster care sytem of Washington D.C., so normal social cues are sometimes foreign to him.  As he's always worn hand me downs, new clothes feel scratchy and weird, and his girlfriend, instead of being a babe like Susan Silverman, is instead a computer geek with dreadlocks and piercings.  He's a bit overweight and makes plenty of wrong choices, but he's only trying to do what's right.  Check him out.

Will Magowan, Ken Mercer's former cop-junkie-grieving dad, is pretty unforgettable.  Mercer may be feeling his way in  terms of the direction he wants his series to head - the first was set in the wilds of California, the second in LA - but if he keeps things anchored with Will, all should be well.  Will is damaged - he's a recovering addict, grieving the loss of his son, who's trying to get back with his estranged wife.  In the new novel he works security for the LA Dodgers, in the first he headed up a tiny police department.  Mercer writes like a dream, and Will is a big reason why.  His two books so far are Slow Fire (a top 10 pick for me last year) and East on Sunset.

I'm sure you have your own favorites, but it's great to welcome some new faces to the party.  I've spent the early part of the summer handselling The Crossing Places with great success.  Here's a toast to Darko, Ruth, Willis and Will.  

 

To Speak or Not to Speak

by Erin Mitchell

First off, a huge thank you for your warm welcome to this living room. I'm very grateful!

This week, the news—specifically, the Casey Anthony verdict, incited strong emotion (understatement of the century, right?). Whether you followed the trial or not, we all had an immediate reaction. Many among us chose to share that reaction, via Twitter, Facebook, blog posts, and water cooler conversations.

For authors, situations like this can be tricky. Just like sharing opinions about politics, art, or popular culture can incite battles around the Thanksgiving dinner table, they can also attract or repel readers. Which is not to say writers—or any entrepreneur, for that matter—should not give readers (or customers) a peek into their inner psyche, but doing so can be a double-edged sword.

It’s easy to go too far.

For example, I’ve never read one of Brad Thor’s books. And thanks to his politics, I never will. He might write the best books out there, but I’ll never know. I simply can’t stomach his politics, which he shouts from every platform available to him. He holds beliefs I don’t cotton, but I’m sure he also attracts many readers via his political and pseudo-sociological rhetoric as well. To be clear, I’m thrilled to live in a society where he’s as entitled to his opinions as I am; I simply choose not to read his books because I disagree with him. Hooray for having that choice.

On the other hand, some authors take the hermit act a wee bit too far. Your readers—us folks who buy your books—want to know you. We want to know what inspires you. Where you get your ideas. What process you follow to create the books we read. And sometimes, we also want to know your take on news or culture.

Hence the double-edged sword reference above.

My best advice? Remember that as authors, you are a brand. If you have something to say about a topic that incites strong emotion, pause and consider your platform. If, for example, you have a personal Facebook profile where your friends are people who know you—that is, not readers whom you don’t know—fire away. If you’re using a public forum, think for a moment about how your comments might feel to your readers.

If an author has a life outside of writing—like, say, you are or were a lawyer, private investigator, or medical examiner—using your expertise to comment can be a great way to build your brand and attract new readers. Or if you do a great deal of research, us readers like to understand how you go about gathering the information that makes your stories compelling.

Every brand makes mistakes. Every. One. The ones who learn early to pause and consider before commenting, though, are those of which marketing dreams are made.

One Room. Two Men. Lots of Guns.

 

by Alison Dasho

 

I recently rewatched one of my favorite mystery/crime movies, Deathtrap.

 

(Yes, it remains a favorite despite all the annoying Dyan Cannon screaming.)

 

I first saw Deathtrap as a stage production, sometime back in the early 90s, with my mom. I remember being uncomfortable, seeing a stage dressed with hundreds of weapons, knowing that all the action would play out in that single room.

 

In the first act, the singular goal of Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine, above) is clear: I want to kill this man, take his script, and get away with it. The tactics Sidney employs -- slowly, assuredly, diabolically -- build on one another to confirm his goal in the eyes of the viewers and the eyes of his wife and victim, Clifford (Christopher Reeve, in the movie, who is spectacular). Inviting him to visit the isolated country home. Asking after his family and friends, and whether they expect him back. Finding out if anyone else has read the play, and if copies exist other than the copy Clifford brought with him. Showing off his collection of memorabilia, and goading Clifford into putting on a pair of Houdini's handcuffs...

 

The tension-building is wonderful. With simple, clear changes in Myra and Clifford's reactions to Sidney, the play scales up from "What's he up to?" to "He can't be serious." to "Is he really going to go through with this ?" to "Oh my God, I am in genuine fear for my life."

 

It's a beautiful example of the goals and tactics I'm always blabbing about.

 

The small, closed setting and intimate number of characters allows for a great deal of attention to tactics -- it becomes a game of chess, played out for the audience. I love a good one-room mystery. (See also: Sleuth)

 

Do you guys have any more recommendations?

 

Hello, 21st Century, Part 2

Lynne Patrick

Wouldn't you just know it? There I was last week, in shock because the website I'd set up actually worked, amazed because I'd actually achieved something technological - and when I tried to get my post up on the Dead Guy site, which I've been doing for more than four years now, so you'd think I had it sussed, it all went pear-shaped on me. A little lateral thinking provided a solution of sorts, but the post appeared without a heading, so something had clearly gone wrong. Probably me. Serves me right for being ambitious. Fingers crossed it all goes according to plan this week; I've applied some more lateral thinking, but if that doesn't work I'm out of options.

Meanwhile, back at the cyber-face... I did it, guys. It's up there on the web for all to view. You can look if you like: www.mysterynights.net . I still haven't got to grips with hyperlinks (which is why everyone else's posts have pictures and bits of video and sounds, even smells for all I know, but mine are just plain text) so you may need to type it into your search box, but if you do, the website comes up. And the e-mail works too.

It's far from perfect. Actually, it's far from finished. Call it a work in progress. But all the essential information is there, and at least I now have something I can direct people to if they ask about the murder mystery evenings.

So Mystery Nights is open for business. (Not that it ever really wasn't: just that until now you had to know about the old version.) Have entertaining evening event, will travel. Though not, alas, to the USA, which is where I gather a substantial proportion of Dead Guy followers live.

Then again, the deal is we'll go anywhere as long as the customer pays our travel costs, so if you want to make us an offer...

Who said publishing was going to be my last big adventure? There's life in the old girl yet!

Reading for Fun When You Read For Work

Josh Getzler

Like many of you, I am back today from three days off filled with family time, a bit of culinary overindulgence, and heat (and in the case of the New York area, quite a bit of rain as well, although yesterday was stunningly beautiful). And like many of you reading a blog that’s fundamentally about books, before I left my apartment on Friday for the weekend away, I thought about what I was going to read.

For people in the book business, this is a fraught decision. On one hand, I have a somewhat ridiculous number of client and potential client manuscripts to read, dealing with a pretty wide variety of topics and genres—it’s an embarrassment of riches, really, when your reading choices for work include several mysteries (both cozy and procedural), an historical thriller, two literary novels and several middle grade and young adult books of high quality.

And on some level, that opportunity is there every evening, every vacation, every subway ride. But then the question starts to nag: Well, what about all the material that is actually out there, that my colleagues and wife and friends are excited about? Didn’t I get into this business partly because I have spend my life reading books simply to get lost in them; not also because I was analyzing them for potential marketability?

Before I go further, and make my clients and potential clients think that I’m not enjoying reading their work, or immersing myself in their stories, let me go back to that: I do love reading manuscripts. And it’s one of my life’s great pleasures reading new material from people I know and respect and work with. But there is also strategy oftentimes invading those readings. I often sit with notes, or scratch out submissions lists at my desk as a particular project takes shape. And, by the way, you’d want me to do that anyway, if it helps sell your books. Right? So then the question comes back: What do I take with me for three days, when I want to put away the pen and read next to the pool or while waiting for rain to stop or before bed?

Well, there are a number of authors I read whenever they release a new book, simply because I follow their series or careers and love them. This brings in Donna Leon, Daniel Silva, Linda Fairstein, Steven Saylor, John Feinstein…many others. Then there are the books, both nonfiction and fiction, about topics in history or politics I particularly dig. Right now I’m on a British history jag (as you might have realized!), and also reading a bit about late 19^th Century New York. But my son is about to take a two week course at Symphony Space where he reads five YA books a week , discusses different themes of each, and meets several of the authors. He just got a large box filled with books and ARCs from the course, and many of THEM look very interesting. Since my YA and middle grade list has expanded in the last year, it’s always good to see what’s chosen on a list like this, and I like to be able to discuss books with my son anyway. So perhaps one of those…

Finally, every so often there’s a zeitgeist book where everyone you talk to is reading a particular book, and you feel silly if you haven’t as well  (Harry Potter, Hunger Games…Game Change was like that for a little while and to a lesser degree; also Wolf Hall.) I’m thinking about Tiger Mother, particularly since we just received report cards…

And then there are the classics that I feel I ought to read, to fill up some of the many gaps in my personal list. I’ve always wanted to read Les Miserables, and, I mean, it’s about a Revolution…or The Brothers Karamazov..or Infinite Jest. But July 4 weekend around a pool with three kids of my own and a number of in-law adults and children didn’t seem to be the right time or place.

So where did I end up? In the middle, as always! I read the first 100 or so pages of The Serpent’s Tail by Ariana Franklin, the first 150 pages of a promising YA manuscript by a potential client, and the first 75 pages of three clients’ new manuscripts. I never had enough time to lose myself in any one book—though I had moments—and enjoyed all of them. It was a little bit of a shame that there was no extended period to sit and immerse myself in one thing or other, since there are few greater pleasures. But it was a lovely weekend, with family and friends. And now it’s the beginning of a lovely week in publishing, culminating in Thrillerfest, one part of which will comprise next week’s column.

Happy Birthday, JJ!

Happy 4th, Everybody!

"Is anybody there?

Does anybody
care?

Does anybody see what I see?

I see fireworks!

I see the pageant and pomp and parade!

I hear the bells ringing out!

I hear the cannons roar!

I see Americans--ALL Americans--free forevermore!"

--John Adams in the musical 1776, written by Sherman Edwards

 

 

It ain't just about fireworks and cook-outs, people! 

Have a great 4th!

That's Entertainment...

        Every year, the New Jersey Library Association holds a three day conference that provides scores of programs and workshops on a variety of topics.  In keeping with my Dead Guy duties, not to mention my librarian duties, I attended two  sessions that focused on soon to be published crime fiction.   One of the most hyped books at both sessions was Before I Go to Sleep, by British author S.J. Watson.  Having procured an ARC of this title at the second workshop, I presented it to my husband for his vacation reading, telling him that it was likely to be one of the more talked about books of the summer.   It should be noted here that my husband is about as cranky a critic as I am when it comes to books so I made the decision in this particular case to let him be my literary version of the canary in the coal mine.  When, after finishing the book he told me that it was pretty good, I decided it was safe for me to go in as well.

(Following Jeff's lead, I should probably have my husband make an appearance on Dead Guy discussing the perils and pitfalls of being married to a highly opinionated librarian who is constantly trying to put books into his hand.  But I digress.)

        The premise of Before I Go to Sleep is intriguing because of the peculiar circumstances of its main character. As the result  of a head injury sustained roughly twenty years earlier, Christine Lucas' existence is that of a middle aged amnesiac who awakens each day with no knowledge of who or where she is;  each morning she must also be taught all over again that the man lying next to her in bed is her husband, Ben.   By evening, Christine is acutely aware that whatever knowledge of her previous life she has gained during the course of that day will be erased when she sinks into a deep sleep at bedtime.  After Christine becomes a patient of Dr. Nash, a young psychologist, she begins keeping a journal in which she records the events of each day along with those things she has learned about her past life during the course of that day.  It is Dr. Nash's belief that, by writing in the journal each day and continuously reading previous entries, Christine will eventually be able to retain at least some memories from her past.  Complicating matters is the fact that both Christine and Dr. Nash have reason to keep their work together a secret from Ben.     It is the journal that Christine keeps during  two weeks in November  that forms the  heart of the novel. 

    The author does a masterful job of creating a consistent and believable voice for Christine as a person with no memory  and whose damaged brain  may or may not  also produce a certain degree of paranoia.   At first, unsettling details are allowed to poke through the surface -  but only just barely - as  I found myself no more able to piece things together  than Christine is able to.  Only as Christine begins to reclaim some of the details of her past life did my vague unease develop into a growing sense of horror as I too was able to start figuring out what was actually going on.   There are some unanticipated (at least by me) twists to the plot and while I knew that somebody out there most definitely had to be the bad guy, my sense of who it might be kept shifting.  

                So yes, dear Dead Guy readers, I did actually like this book; it was well written and well plotted.  I have already begun to recommend it to some of my patrons at the library.   And if it had not been for all the hype at the library conference,  it probably would not have caught my attention as something I might  want to read.    Am I contradicting what I said about hype last week?   No, because when hype is justified, it is a good thing.

        But here's another question: is this a book I will remember and continue to recommend to people five years down the road?   As I'm fond of pointing out to the people in my book group,  in order for me to love a book to the point that the experience of having read it will stay with me for a long time, the book has to have memorable characters, a well plotted story, and beautiful language.    A book also has to push at least some of my internal emotional buttons  and this did not  happen for me when I read Before I Go to Sleep, putting it into the category of entertainment rather than lasting literary experience.

        Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Independence Day holiday!

 

        

       

    

 

 

Food for thought

created by Jamie Agnew

Advice...from Strippers

By Erin Mitchell

Hi…(taps mic)…this is on, right?...(clears throat)…(takes a breath)…

I’m honored to be here. No, really. I am genuinely honored to have been asked by Dana Kaye, for whom I have utterly unbridled respect, to join this group whom I have been reading for quite some time now. So first: thank you to the Dead Guys for letting me join in the living room.

One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about Hey Dead Guy is that it is, in a word, interesting. So I wasn’t surprised when Jeff’s only instruction to me was to pick a topic and be interesting about it.

Then the panic set in.

Then I remembered the best marketing advice I’ve ever heard, the advice that I return to with clients and colleagues daily. Advice from a musical, no less. About strippers. The advice that with one word, makes people sit up and pay attention:

You gotta have a gimmick.

 

Why is this great advice? Because it’s been true throughout these interesting times in which we live. From the olden days when we pecked on IBM Selectrics and toted hefty Rolodexes from one desk to another to today, when having a theme for your content is the single most important way to build your brand—and to drive sales. We might not be bumping and grinding (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but we are all creating content. We each have audiences. So we need to have a gimmick…a theme…or, in journalism terms: a beat.

Why does this matter so much? Because content today is LOUD. Every person, brand, cause, candidate and pet is vying for attention every minute of every day. It can be exhausting. But if you give your audience something to focus on, you gain attention and trust.

And it doesn’t even necessarily have to be tied to your product. In some ways, it’s better if it’s not, because you avoid the dreaded BSP (blatant self promotion) sinkhole.

For me, this means that I talk about crime fiction more than I talk about marketing. Sometimes, when I’m very lucky, the two overlap, but no matter what I’m doing to pay the bills, I am always a reader. And I’ve found thousands of other readers around the world who share my passion.

Author Jael McHenry is an amateur cook and author of THE KITCHEN DAUGHTER, which met with much acclaim when it was released a few months ago. But when Jael jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, she didn’t just yammer on about her book—or, for that matter, cooking. She started contributing to each clever cultural or literary hashtag that popped up, and by doing so, has shared with readers her wit and humor via an entirely non-BSP gimmick.

Lawrence Block really gets this, too. First on Facebook and more recently on Twitter, Mr. Block (I can’t bring myself to call him Larry) shares news about his books, yes, but in a way that draws on his long history as a writer and in dealing with publishers. He offers a daily affirmation for writers and also discusses the ever-nascent ebook landscape. He is, in the best ways, a visage gris.

Alafair Burke understands the value of online community as well as any author I know. From her Facebook “Kitchen Cabinet” (whom she thanks in the acknowledgements of LONG GONE) to a Twitter feed that connects with readers daily, she understands that word of mouth isn’t spontaneous; it must be carefully cultivated.

Ultimately, each of these authors has a gimmick that works. And I'm so glad they do.

Ok…I’ve gone on too long. How’d I do?