Apparently with the growth of book clubs, publishers realized that book discussion questions could be a tool to help readers think and talk about a book. I think that if publishers think book discussion questions are a good idea, I should think about them. And I've not only thought about them, I've had them written for all three of my novels. Indeed, I posted questions for the brand new book yesterday, and if you click on the button above this entry, you can find them.
I had no idea whether the questions for the earlier novels were used or useful. No reader has ever written to say, "Boy, your discussion questions really enriched my experience of your book." But thanks to Blogspot, I can track page views, and I've been interested to see how many page views the discussion questions for Getting Oriented and The Girl in the Photo have accumulated. I would like to think that most of those visitors have read about the book, read the sample chapter, read the questions and bought the book and thereby had the complete experience. I would like to think that, but I know better.
Nevertheless, I believe discussion questions are a valuable adjunct to a book. They are not easy to write. I have not written mine because, I suspect, I am too close to the book. If you can write them, do so. If you cannot, find a careful, thoughtful reader who can. They are one more tool in your box, one more arrow in your quiver, one more . . . But you know what I mean.
Friday, August 28, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
My experience with Kindle Scout
As I wrote in an earlier blog post, Kindle Scout is an opportunity for writers to receive a $1,500 advance and have their books electronically published by Kindle Press. I learned of the program just as I was about to independently publish my mystery, Death in a Family Business, and felt I had nothing to lose by participating.
I uploaded my cover, text, my carefully crafted book description, and answers to three questions about the book. (You may still be able to see my entry here, although my campaign ended.) Once you've uploaded your book, you have 30 days to get as many relatives, friends, and strangers to nominate it as possible. I wrote everyone I knew, posted on LinkedIn, on Facebook, and asked for nominations.
The book was not selected. I don't know why. Not enough nominations? A weak cover? First chapters too slow? The Kindle staff's judgement of its potential? An Amazon algorithm that forecasts sales? Who knows?
I do know that my book was Hot & Trending 18 percent of the time it was up (130 hours out of 720) because after the campaign Kindle Scout gave me access to the statistics with two attractive charts:
Kindle did not, however, tell me how the statistics relate to their decision whether to publish the book. I do know
that 214 page views came from external sources; 356 from Kindle Scout,
but how many of those Scout page views turned into nominations? That is, I am sure
that my relatives and friends nominated my book, but how many Scouters read the blurb, scanned the first couple chapters, and then
took a pass? I have no idea. And would it make any difference in the selection?
Nevertheless, I believe the Kindle Scout program is worth a writer's consideration. It costs nothing to enter. Whether a book is selected or no, what you have to do amounts to a pre-publishing publicity campaign—a good thing. If you are not selected and go ahead and publish on Createspace (another Amazon company) as I have done, Kindle notifies everyone the book is available. If people buy, read, and review my book, that would be even a better thing.
I uploaded my cover, text, my carefully crafted book description, and answers to three questions about the book. (You may still be able to see my entry here, although my campaign ended.) Once you've uploaded your book, you have 30 days to get as many relatives, friends, and strangers to nominate it as possible. I wrote everyone I knew, posted on LinkedIn, on Facebook, and asked for nominations.
The book was not selected. I don't know why. Not enough nominations? A weak cover? First chapters too slow? The Kindle staff's judgement of its potential? An Amazon algorithm that forecasts sales? Who knows?
I do know that my book was Hot & Trending 18 percent of the time it was up (130 hours out of 720) because after the campaign Kindle Scout gave me access to the statistics with two attractive charts:
Nevertheless, I believe the Kindle Scout program is worth a writer's consideration. It costs nothing to enter. Whether a book is selected or no, what you have to do amounts to a pre-publishing publicity campaign—a good thing. If you are not selected and go ahead and publish on Createspace (another Amazon company) as I have done, Kindle notifies everyone the book is available. If people buy, read, and review my book, that would be even a better thing.
Monday, August 24, 2015
And now for another point of view . . .
A good friend passed along Us by David Nicholls, saying she thought I would enjoy it. She knows my taste. The book is laugh-out-loud hilarious, interestingly constructed, and ultimately satisfying. I wouldn't go as far as the Independent's blurb on the back cover ("A perfect book"), but I recommend it for the story and for the way Nicholls tells it. I'm not alone. Other readers enjoyed Us. At this writing, the novel has something like 240 five-star reviews on Amazon. Which made me wonder about the opinions of the handful of people who gave it one or two stars. Did they read the same book?
One reader wrote, "I found this book to be long [almost 400 pages] and boring and the main character to be pathetic."
And not only the main character. Another disappointed reader asked, "It is not enough to have a son raised without discipline and as a result no respect for himself or anyone around him? Add to it a wife who has no respect for her husband and constantly teams up with their son to demean him . . . "
A similar opinion: "I found the main characters unrealistic, particularly the husband. Nobody can be passive and agreeable . . . "
One more: "Slow-moving anti-capitalism and anti-child discipline novel written by a disgruntled Brit. Waste of time and money, and highly over-rated by the media." Oh, sure; blame the media.
I like to read Amazon's one- and two-star reviews because (a) you can be pretty sure that in their way they're objective; the author's friends didn't write them, and (b) these people say what they truly think: "Boring writing. Boring protagonist. Couldn't wait to finish this book so that it was over."
As a response to all this negativity, let me give you a few examples of why I thoroughly enjoyed Us. We are at a vegetarian buffet in Amsterdam with the narrator, Douglas; his wife, Connie; his son, Albie; and taken there by Cat, a girl busker with whom the son has connected: "'Isn't it incredible? Who needs meat?' said Cat who, the last time I saw her, had been stuffing her rucksack with bacon like some crazed taxidermist."
In the course of the novel, the Douglas flashes back to memories of his marriage: "Connie was an undeservedly confident driver and owned a battle-scarred old Volvo with moss growing in the window frames and forest floor of crisp packets, cracked cassette cases and old A-to-Zs. She drove with a kind of belligerent sloppiness, changing the music more often than she changed gear, so that tensions were already quite high as we pulled up outside my family home . . ."
And sprinkled throughout are Nicholls' observations that caused me to stop and reflect: ". . . it occurred to me that perhaps grief is as much regret for what we have never had as sorrow for what we have lost." "We think we have independence and imagination, but we have no more freedom to roam than trams on rails." "From an evolutionary point of view, most emotions—fear, desire, anger—serve some practical purpose, but nostalgia is a useless, futile thing because it is a longing for something that it permanently lost . . . "
I am delighted my friend passed Us along to me. I can only recommend it to you.
One reader wrote, "I found this book to be long [almost 400 pages] and boring and the main character to be pathetic."
And not only the main character. Another disappointed reader asked, "It is not enough to have a son raised without discipline and as a result no respect for himself or anyone around him? Add to it a wife who has no respect for her husband and constantly teams up with their son to demean him . . . "
A similar opinion: "I found the main characters unrealistic, particularly the husband. Nobody can be passive and agreeable . . . "
One more: "Slow-moving anti-capitalism and anti-child discipline novel written by a disgruntled Brit. Waste of time and money, and highly over-rated by the media." Oh, sure; blame the media.
I like to read Amazon's one- and two-star reviews because (a) you can be pretty sure that in their way they're objective; the author's friends didn't write them, and (b) these people say what they truly think: "Boring writing. Boring protagonist. Couldn't wait to finish this book so that it was over."
As a response to all this negativity, let me give you a few examples of why I thoroughly enjoyed Us. We are at a vegetarian buffet in Amsterdam with the narrator, Douglas; his wife, Connie; his son, Albie; and taken there by Cat, a girl busker with whom the son has connected: "'Isn't it incredible? Who needs meat?' said Cat who, the last time I saw her, had been stuffing her rucksack with bacon like some crazed taxidermist."
In the course of the novel, the Douglas flashes back to memories of his marriage: "Connie was an undeservedly confident driver and owned a battle-scarred old Volvo with moss growing in the window frames and forest floor of crisp packets, cracked cassette cases and old A-to-Zs. She drove with a kind of belligerent sloppiness, changing the music more often than she changed gear, so that tensions were already quite high as we pulled up outside my family home . . ."
And sprinkled throughout are Nicholls' observations that caused me to stop and reflect: ". . . it occurred to me that perhaps grief is as much regret for what we have never had as sorrow for what we have lost." "We think we have independence and imagination, but we have no more freedom to roam than trams on rails." "From an evolutionary point of view, most emotions—fear, desire, anger—serve some practical purpose, but nostalgia is a useless, futile thing because it is a longing for something that it permanently lost . . . "
I am delighted my friend passed Us along to me. I can only recommend it to you.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Kierkegaard and murder, a gratifying combination
Daniel Peters tells his own story in Thom Satterlee's novel, The Stages, which is an interesting story even without the murder of Daniel's boss and former girlfriend—although of course that's the thread that pulls us through the pages.
Daniel is a middle-aged American man who has lived in Copenhagen for twenty years where he works as a translator at the Søren Kierkegaard Research Center. An extremely circumscribed life with minimal human contact and a rigid routine suits Daniel who suffers from Asperger's syndrome.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, "Asperger syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder characterized by social impairment, communication difficulties, and restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Asperger syndrome is . . . synonymous with the most highly functioning individuals with ASD. Two core features of autism are: a) social and communication deficits and b) fixated interests and repetitive behaviors. The social communication deficits in highly functioning persons with Asperger syndrome include lack of the normal back and forth conversation; lack of typical eye contact, body language, and facial expression; and trouble maintaining relationships." It makes Daniel a brilliant translator but hobbles him as a freelance investigator. He cannot tell when someone lying or speaking ironically.
The Stages opens with the funeral of Matte Rassmussan, the director of the Søren Kierkegaard Research Center. She's been brutally hacked to death; Daniel had seen her the night of her death; the Copenhagen police have no suspects although they certainly have questions for Daniel. Adding to the mystery, recently-discovered Kierkegaard manuscript has gone missing from the vault where it was stored. Fortunately—or not—Daniel had already translated the contents.
As an amateur translator myself, I was interested in Daniel's description of the work: . . . "[I] pay attention to words, hear what they say and say back what they mean, what they could mean or most likely would mean in English rather than Danish; what the words mean, in some sense, beyond both languages, in another more essential language, which is like a sea I cast into and draw out words—some I throw back, others I keeps; and I do this over and over again in my mind, until whole sentences of the right words are strung together with a rhythm that holds them like a taut wire—and these word-strung wires I place carefully on the lines of my exercise booklet, one after another, down the page and onto the next."
Because of the story Satterlee is telling, the reader learns a great deal about Kierkegaard's life and work, including how to pronounce his name ("Kyerk-ah-gore"). Because of the setting, we learn something about Danish life and culture. For example, "If I have to be the suspect in a murder case, let it be Copenhagen where a senior officer brews fresh strong coffee and offers you sugar from a crystal bowl." Because of Satterlee's skill, we never leave Daniel's point of view, and reading what Daniel does, and why and how does it seems entirely plausible and convincing. I'll second Publishers Weekly's blurb: "A deftly crafted mystery that will leave readers curious and surprised." I was surprised and satisfied.
Daniel is a middle-aged American man who has lived in Copenhagen for twenty years where he works as a translator at the Søren Kierkegaard Research Center. An extremely circumscribed life with minimal human contact and a rigid routine suits Daniel who suffers from Asperger's syndrome.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, "Asperger syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder characterized by social impairment, communication difficulties, and restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Asperger syndrome is . . . synonymous with the most highly functioning individuals with ASD. Two core features of autism are: a) social and communication deficits and b) fixated interests and repetitive behaviors. The social communication deficits in highly functioning persons with Asperger syndrome include lack of the normal back and forth conversation; lack of typical eye contact, body language, and facial expression; and trouble maintaining relationships." It makes Daniel a brilliant translator but hobbles him as a freelance investigator. He cannot tell when someone lying or speaking ironically.
The Stages opens with the funeral of Matte Rassmussan, the director of the Søren Kierkegaard Research Center. She's been brutally hacked to death; Daniel had seen her the night of her death; the Copenhagen police have no suspects although they certainly have questions for Daniel. Adding to the mystery, recently-discovered Kierkegaard manuscript has gone missing from the vault where it was stored. Fortunately—or not—Daniel had already translated the contents.
As an amateur translator myself, I was interested in Daniel's description of the work: . . . "[I] pay attention to words, hear what they say and say back what they mean, what they could mean or most likely would mean in English rather than Danish; what the words mean, in some sense, beyond both languages, in another more essential language, which is like a sea I cast into and draw out words—some I throw back, others I keeps; and I do this over and over again in my mind, until whole sentences of the right words are strung together with a rhythm that holds them like a taut wire—and these word-strung wires I place carefully on the lines of my exercise booklet, one after another, down the page and onto the next."
Because of the story Satterlee is telling, the reader learns a great deal about Kierkegaard's life and work, including how to pronounce his name ("Kyerk-ah-gore"). Because of the setting, we learn something about Danish life and culture. For example, "If I have to be the suspect in a murder case, let it be Copenhagen where a senior officer brews fresh strong coffee and offers you sugar from a crystal bowl." Because of Satterlee's skill, we never leave Daniel's point of view, and reading what Daniel does, and why and how does it seems entirely plausible and convincing. I'll second Publishers Weekly's blurb: "A deftly crafted mystery that will leave readers curious and surprised." I was surprised and satisfied.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
What's wrong with Times New Roman?
In a discussion I follow about self-publishing and book design, a knowledgeable participant wrote: "But whatever you do, DON'T EVER set a book in Times New Roman or a comic font. . . ."
What's wrong with Times New Roman? She cited three reasons: "First, it's a narrow font, designed to make newspaper columns work better. On the wider page of a book, with the longer line length? It makes your eyes get tired faster." Second, "it makes your book look subtly 'wrong' to those who are less clued-in." Third, "MS Word uses it as a default font, and beginners always use it, because they're used to it. It's acceptable for basic word-processing documents, but not for books. Using it labels you as not well-informed, leading those who can do your book a lot of good (or not) to put the book on the 'ignore' pile."
Ouch. My three novels are set in Times New Roman. Not much I can do about the first two, but I could still change Death in a Family Business type, so I experimented. Here are the results:
What's wrong with Times New Roman? She cited three reasons: "First, it's a narrow font, designed to make newspaper columns work better. On the wider page of a book, with the longer line length? It makes your eyes get tired faster." Second, "it makes your book look subtly 'wrong' to those who are less clued-in." Third, "MS Word uses it as a default font, and beginners always use it, because they're used to it. It's acceptable for basic word-processing documents, but not for books. Using it labels you as not well-informed, leading those who can do your book a lot of good (or not) to put the book on the 'ignore' pile."
Ouch. My three novels are set in Times New Roman. Not much I can do about the first two, but I could still change Death in a Family Business type, so I experimented. Here are the results:
While the Goudy and Baskerville faces are somewhat more open than Times New Roman, they do not seem different enough to make the effort to change the entire book.
Bookman, however, is both more open and more readable and if I were starting from scratch I would use it. Unfortunately because it is more open it adds space, and I calculated that it would add enough pages to the existing text file that the cover's spine would no longer fit. I'd have to return to my jacket designer to have it adjusted, which I believe is more expense and trouble than the change is worth.
Nevertheless, this is one more reason why anyone who plans to publish independently needs solid professional counsel.
Monday, August 10, 2015
The challenges of writing a plausible mystery
This is the week I should learn whether Kindle Press will be publishing my mystery, Death in a Family Business. I have billed the book as "A Tommy Lovell Mystery," intending to continue Tommy's adventures. During the past month, I've been distracted by the Kindle Scout competition and lining up reviewers for the trade paperback edition of the book rather than beginning a new book.
After all, by creating Death in a Family Business I created Tommy Lovell, his father, and two potential love interests. I gave Tommy a back story—dropped out of college, married his college sweetheart and started a restaurant with her, lost the restaurant and the marriage—and I set him in a place and a milieu with which I am comfortable. The challenge is to invent another plausible murder mystery in which Tommy can be enmeshed.
First problem: Who is the murderer and what is his or her motivation? What drove him to kill another human being? Was it deliberate, a spur-of-the moment act, or an accident? In the mysteries I prefer and would prefer to write, the reader can understand and even, possibly, sympathize with the killer.
Second problem: Why are the police baffled?
Third problem: What can Tommy do that the police cannot? He's not a cop or a detective, so he's limited in what he can reasonably investigate, even by what the police will tell him about an ongoing investigation.
I think I have solutions to some of these challenges, but not all. I suspect that once I know whether Kindle Press is publishing my book, I'll be able to focus on Tommy Lovell's next adventure.
After all, by creating Death in a Family Business I created Tommy Lovell, his father, and two potential love interests. I gave Tommy a back story—dropped out of college, married his college sweetheart and started a restaurant with her, lost the restaurant and the marriage—and I set him in a place and a milieu with which I am comfortable. The challenge is to invent another plausible murder mystery in which Tommy can be enmeshed.
First problem: Who is the murderer and what is his or her motivation? What drove him to kill another human being? Was it deliberate, a spur-of-the moment act, or an accident? In the mysteries I prefer and would prefer to write, the reader can understand and even, possibly, sympathize with the killer.
Second problem: Why are the police baffled?
Third problem: What can Tommy do that the police cannot? He's not a cop or a detective, so he's limited in what he can reasonably investigate, even by what the police will tell him about an ongoing investigation.
I think I have solutions to some of these challenges, but not all. I suspect that once I know whether Kindle Press is publishing my book, I'll be able to focus on Tommy Lovell's next adventure.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Hot and trending again! What fun!
This morning I posted another request that people nominate Death in a Family Business for the Kindle Press program on LinkedIn where, to my surprise, I am linked to something like 270 people. Some of the must have responded because a minute ago, I was "Hot and Trending," and the book's cover was one of the first site visitors see.
If somehow you haven't been to the site or been able to nominate my book, here's a link to the site:
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/21DVR6I44MV2K
Kindle Scout asks people who nominate a book to sign in to Amazon, a way I suspect to keep authors from stuffing the ballot box.
For those who have nominated my book, many thanks. For those who haven't (and have an Amazon account), I will be eternally grateful if you do.
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/21DVR6I44MV2K
Kindle Scout asks people who nominate a book to sign in to Amazon, a way I suspect to keep authors from stuffing the ballot box.
For those who have nominated my book, many thanks. For those who haven't (and have an Amazon account), I will be eternally grateful if you do.
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