When is a Book Too Good?

This Week's Book Review:

Everyone looks for good books to read -- however they define that. The Serpent's Shadow by Mercedes Lackey is definitely a good book. I reread it over the weekend because I needed a comfort read as I tried to labor, unsuccessfully, through another book. Lackey had me reading until almost 3 AM after the nightly news ... on a re-read, no less. --  [A big pain since my head was so fuzzy the next day I couldn't write. Didn't get much else done either except two naps. Don't think I remember any of the web stuff I read either.]

The Serpent's Shadow follows Maya Witherspoon's move to England escape from the evil magic that killed her mother and father. Maya fights to establish her medical credentials in an Edwardian world in spite of being mixed English-Brahmin ancestry. The book is part of Lackey's Elemental Magician series, and Maya is triply handicapped by not knowing how to work in the magical tradition she inherited until the love interest finds and teaches her. -- [It's also a take-off from Snow White. Not the Disney version, thank the-powers-that-be.]

Love the way Lackey had separate conflicts for each important secondary characters to solve in this book. Yeah, seemed like every meaningful character each had his/her own problems, and Lackey managed to delineate and solve all those loose ends without pages of back story clogging the pace of the story. I thought it a masterful performance that lured me to read waaaay past my bedtime. [Like, 3 AM.]

Even the villain had problems with incompetent help ... but then, that's the kind of weakness that enables the heroes to defeat the villains. In this case, Lackey created a wonderful straw-villain who was a delight to watch.

Yeah, her characters are well rounded enough to have angles you don't expect.

Grumbling About My Reading: 

Is social networking a mystery to you? Thanks to all the people I've been reading on Twitter and the blogosphere, its not a mystery to me ... but I'm sure as h**l  rebelling.  Still, the social networking titles keep jabbing their hooks into me. 

Michael Barrett has a blog with a marvelous pre-primer on social networking which includes a list of all the stuff I should be doing on Facebook and Twitter. Only problem I can't ever get things to work right without lots of trial and error.

Case in point, my marketing guru [Actually, there are many, but only one talks to me.] told me to set up a Facebook page for Taking Vengeance. I did ... and even came up with a gimmick to add content in spite of my slooooow writing/publishing rate. Then, I did a test on Twitter looking for likes. Score: 1 person shows up on the page and 3 people emailed me it works, but didn't show up on the page.  Oh well, back to the drawing board someday. -- Hey, I got a Twitter post. Maybe one of them can help me?

Hey, maybe I should share a bit of marketing the guru gave me -- a way to update your book Facebook page. You should have quotes from the book or, maybe, a character[s] making comments about what happens in the book.  So, once a week ... if I can remember ... I've decided to write a Mariah grumble. This week's has her commenting that cleavage is more attention-getting than bells sewn to the hem of your skirts.  --  Why a grumble? Grumbles are one of my favorite things. 

One guru suggestion I'll gladly ignore: Having my name in the title of my blog. My name is in the sub-title. Sufficient. As I said, I'm in a rebelling mood. More important. Seeing my name first thing just plain annoyed me.

If you're caught in the marketing scene, what is your favorite way to make sales? Is it effective?

Trivia:

I can see the end of the endless drops in the old man's eyes.

Only putting them in every two hours now.

It used to be every hour with up to three meds needing five minute breaks in between.

The doctor visits were the worst time-wasters, though, since they always took about three hours.

"Changing of the Guard" and Perspective

Bad Haiku:

Sorry.  My lips were
zipped for proprieties' sake.

I've been good too long.

I think my psyche's telling me it's time to create.  Maybe I shouldn't inflict my fun on you, 
but here it is. 

"Changing of the Guard"

War’s winners force change.

Old King chained to dungeon wall.

Faces hide secrets.

 New ruler’s goons prowl,

Steal in the name of taxes.

New fortress needs built.

Press gangs haunt the night,

Collecting poor men and boys

for work crew fodder.

#

Progress:

The "Taking Vengeance" trailer is in draft form.  [It's up on YouTube, if you can find it.]  I rather like it in spite of the anachronistic armor and wrong type of sword fighting.  Music for the trailer is slowing things down because my daughter is painting her new apartment instead of arranging the score.  Not that I mind, but the trailer producer might.

Then, there's "Cavern Between Worlds".  The cover and formatting are almost done.  Now is the time for the computer klutz to try and upload the stuff, and build an author's page, and ???? --  It's going to be another free story, for awhile at least.  "The Foiling of Gorsfeld" is the other free fantasy story I have up on my website. 

Ugh.  Two things to promote.

Have I mentioned I hate marketing?

Still, I forgot how good it feels to see your name in print -- 

even if it's self-published.

Trivia:

Am reading Social Marketing for Dummies, wondering whether I wasted $27.00 because it seems focused on business.  I'm hoping it's got ideas I can apply to my own marketing since buyers seem to keep the book.  I've looked in six used book stores without finding a copy.

"Taking Vengeance": Questioning Book Trailers and Genres

Slowly goes the e-book promotion efforts ... and

everything else.

No wonder old people think time flies by.

The book trailer for Taking Vengeance is progressing slowly.  The maker, Big Burrito Media will be giving me some places to market  So where do you place your trailer ... if you have the bucks to buy one ... or have the time to create your own?

So far I've found the following:  YouTube [the obvious, but you gotta be there] -- Vimeo [no separate listing for books in the drop down, but they have a tag for book trailers] --  Channels [way beyond my level of sophistication, but take a look to see what the publishers and others are doing].

In case you think trailers are only for e-books, take a look at this short trailer on buying used books [produced by Big Burrito Media].   I thought it was sort of cute.

More time is being consumed by thinking about my author's page.  I've been reading the pages at Amazon and Barnes & Noble where I guess I can put my trailer up ... provided I can upload it or whatever I should be doing.  I'll keep you posted on what I manage to do.

Actually, my big question is how do people find you when they don't know you exist?  I can Google/search my name [M. K. Theodoratus], and Smashwords has my stuff all over the place.  I can see two problems here:  1) spelling my last name ...  and 2) the different first names.  Guess this is a case of learning after the fact.

Then, there's the question of what sub-genre I'm writing in...
[Yeah, I know I should know what I'm doing at this late stage,
but my evaluation of things doesn't always agree with
mainstream thinking.]
   

So, now that I'm trying to promote Taking Vengeance, I'm trying to figure out what type of fantasy I'm writing.  Stacey O'Neale at YA Fantasy Guide has a nice list of fantasy genres: Identifying Your Fantasy Novel's Sub- Genre.   Unfortunately, I still feel in the dark because "dark fantasy" comes the closest, but I don't think I'm a particularly dark writer.  

Can anyone who read Taking Vengeance, give me some insight? At the moment, I'm wondering how that plays to middle grade.  --  I hate questions.

Wish I had some answers to all my questions.

How do you feel about your own writing?

Finally! I'm Published -- Again.

Excuse me while I sit back and stare at the book cover.

I'm still somewhat amazed that the cover is done,

&

you can

access a sample of the story -- Taking Vengeance -- at

Smashwords. 

You can even buy the story ... if you are so inclined.
[I won't object.]

If you like it, would you please forward it to friends, family, etc who might enjoy it too.
Then, there's the Twitter and Facebook thing.
Thank you.

So, my fifth career as a published writer has begun.  This time as a fantasy writer.  Consider this my first promotion effort.  Now, my work begins.  I need to study what I'm going to do next to market the novella ... and do it.

[I also think I'm supposed be writing something new somewhere around in my copious free time.]

Promotion alert, in case you don't do it already:  

Do you Google your name and/or the titles of your books and stories.  You should for two reasons.  One, of course, is if someone out in the  "web-o-sphere" takes your name in vain.  The other is in case some good news is lurking out there without you knowing it.  I knew WolfSinger Publications would be publishing the novella soon, but I didn't know it had until I checked my "Googles" Saturday night.  There was a link to Smashwords ... and there I was:  published again.

Excuse me while I go check my name on the other major search engines.