An Open Letter to Authors

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000,000 books are published each year in the U.S. alone. That's more than 83,000 a month.  2,700 a day.

114 books a minute. Every minute. In the time it takes you to read and comment on this post, more than 1,000 books are likely to have been released.

Is it any wonder that it's difficult for new authors to get noticed?

The internet, which has given us wonderful things like Google and Amazon has also given us social networking opportunities like Facebook and Goodreads. There's Twitter and Pinterest and LinkedIn and new things popping up almost every day. As authors, we're are using these things like crazy to try and get the word out about our books.

There's nothing wrong with marketing ourselves. We all have to do a certain amount of promotion regardless of whether we're traditionally published or independently published. Doing nothing pretty much guarantees that your books will languish at the bottom of the pile. And the pile just keeps getting bigger.

Most of us are learning that a constant blast of "notice me" in any form is sure to backfire. But there's more than just the one-dimensional person who is only about Blatant Self Promotion, there are those who are so desperate to get attention they'll do almost anything, including buying followers on Twitter.

Are you kidding me?

There are so many Don't Go There possibilities we've all heard about. From writing fake reviews (positive for you and negative for an author you consider competition) to spreading rumors to calling yourself a "bestselling author" because your book hit the top 10 when it was free.

Here are some of my personal requests to all of my fellow authors:

1. DON'T ask me to vote for your book if I haven't read it. I'm constantly asked to vote for a book or a short story in one competition or another and I'm pretty darned sure the author knows I've never read anything they've ever written. They're desperate and I understand that, but don't ask me to sacrifice my honor for your fake moment of pride. Because it would be fake, wouldn't it?

2. DON'T offer to trade reviews with me. What if I don't like your book? Are you going to dis mine? And don't give me a great review, then send me your book expecting the same in return. That just feels sleazy. And once again, you could be asking me to basically lie.

3. DON'T ask me to "like" a review for a book I haven't read. I hereby announce that I will no longer trade my self-respect for one stupid "like" just because someone I truly do like asked me. And by the same token, don't ask me to say a bad review wasn't helpful for a book I haven't read. Between you and me, those bad reviews can be goldmines for sales. Something to think about.

4. DON'T ask me to "like" every Facebook page your mind can dream up. Some of you caught me unaware and it took me five or six pages before I finally realized you were in serious need of an intervention.

5. DON'T ask me to read your manuscript with the idea you can save money on an edit. I'm not an editor. You need to hire one. Sorry, but you do. And don't go cheap.

These are mostly Facebook and Amazon things, but I'm sure there are plenty of Twitter issues along the same lines.

As a new author, I appreciated the support of those who had gone before me, and I want to do the same. But desperate to the point of total crap doesn't cut it with me.

Authors—what have I missed? What requests or other things make you cringe?

Readers—have you come to be able to see through a lot of these ploys? Is there anything you trust any more?



It's all better with friends.

Shelter In Place

A term I'd never heard before. A term I've heard countless times today. Shelter in place. A term I hope never to hear again in my lifetime unless it applies to weather.

I think a side-effect of Boston is exhaustion. Did I sleep last night? Yeah, no better or worse than usual. So it isn't lack of sleep. It's Boston.

A friend of mine went on Facebook and said that she'd been watching the news and felt like she was living in a Bruce Willis movie. And she was very sad. I couldn't disagree.

As human beings I think we can all agree that we're both exhausted and saddened over the events of the last few days, whose violent beginnings were at one of the preeminant marathons in the entire world. And, as of the time I'm writing this post (five o'clock Friday evening in Colorado) it's not yet over. I want it over. I want the authorities to bring our world back to normal and I want to move on.

As a crime fiction writer, I have a lot of questions.

Focusing on the youngest brother, what happened between the time he was in high school and a year or so later? What event or idea or influential person took this normal to great kid (from all accounts) and changed his course completely?

How did these at one time engaged young men walk among the spectators at the Boston Marathon with bombs strapped to their backs and not think about the lives of the people they passed?


What abou you? What are you thinking and feeling and wondering about?



It's all better with friends.

Dreams

It's a short post. It's at Crime Fiction Collective.

It's about not giving up on your dream.


And truly, it's all better with friends.

Audio Interview

Bill Thompson, of The Bookcast and Eye on Books, interviewed me Wednesday regarding The Missings.  

I was nervous but in the hands of a professional interviewer, I don't think it really shows. Too much.

I submitted the information Bill requested for consideration for an interview and to my delight I was accepted. We scheduled a time for his Skype call and that was about it.

When he called Wednesday, we chatted a few minutes for a couple of reasons: 1) he could check our audio; and 2) he could put me at ease enough so I wouldn't throw up in the middle of the interview.

Afterward, we chatted a few minutes while he confirmed everything was a go. A twenty to twenty-five minute easy conversation was distilled into a fifteen minute interview.

Here's the direct link.




It's all better with friends.

Generosity

Thanks to the generosity of several fiction authors, some beautiful auction items have been put together to benefit a very special organization. Visit Crime Fiction Collective for the details.

It's all better with friends.

Left Coast Crime 2013

On the first full day of the conference, I sat in on a very interesting presentation. Even more interesting were the two women I sat next to.

They each looked like everyone's favorite aunt, maybe even grandmother. I overheard part of their conversation. Knitting, patterns, a craft magazine. I fell for it. 

After saying hello, I asked them what type of crime fiction they most enjoyed reading. The woman nearest me answered, "I like a little violence in mine." Then she thumbed to her friend, "She likes even more."

Since my mama didn't raise me to be stupid, I immediately handed each of them a bookmark. Lo and behold, one of them had The Missings on her phone. How cool was that?

Here are a few photos:

LJ Sellers, Marlyn Beebe,
Gayle Carline, Andrew E. Kaufman, moi, and Jodie Renner

At my first ever signing table!

Fellow Colorado author, Chuck Greaves and I 

at the Sisters in Crime reception.

L.J. Sellers talking to a fan.

Mark Stevens and Darrell James

Laura DiSilverio and a nice looking guy.

The Awards Banquet

Toastmaster David Corbett

Guest of Honor, Laura Lippman

Guest of Honor, Craig Johnson

NOTE: The new season of Longmire begins in June!

Special Guest Lou Diamond Phillips who plays
Henry Standing Bear in the Longmire series.
(Thanks to Lourdes Venard for the photo.)

It's all better with friends.

When Someone Dies Suddenly

No, this isn't a plot point. It's a life point.

A friend of mine died suddenly on Sunday night. I think it was Sunday night. I can't remember much about the phone call I received this morning and I don't have any of the details.

I just know

she's gone.

In a blink.

Caron and I have had some pretty intense and deep conversations. Life issues (work, that drew us together to begin with; then an unfaithful spouse—hers not mine) followed by both religion and politics. Once we were no longer dependent financially, we were free to become connected spiritually. It would be a perfect world if every financial partnership included spiritual conversations, but ours did not. Once the financial pieces were behind us, a whole new world opened up. Complicated, but good.

It was liberating to have a relationship with someone where I could tell her she was way off base. Of course I always tried to do it diplomatically. From a place of love. And she responded back with the same love I threw at her.

Caron always excelled. If she wanted to be something—anything—she wanted to be the best. A musician? First chair in the orchestra. Loved animals? A vet. Sell real estate? Number one. Make money? Millions.

Then some tough lessons hit the fan. And because Caron was Caron, she had a really big fan.

One of the last conversations we had related to where she found herself at this point in her life. I think she finally got it when I told her she was in the perfect place. That everything that had happened had not been a mistake. Those things weren't against her, but for her. She fell completely apart and I knew she heard the words God was trying to send her through me.

Oh, God. I feel right now like I'm talking to her again. You know?  Right this minute. She's poked her lovely head in and I can hear her voice. She's sending me love vibes, the way only Caron could send them.

So here are my words to you. Take the time. Make the connections. Never walk away. Always be as honest and truthful as you can. Sometimes you have to throw off the detritus to get to the soul, but hey… we all have detritus. It's the soul that survives. It's the soul that understands and matters.

Caron/Karen Andrews/Richardson, child of God, you were perfect and beautiful. You are perfect and beautiful. You touched lives. You changed lives. I know you blessed mine. You were always exactly what I needed, even when I didn't think so.


It's all better with friends.