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It is utterly impossible to find GOOD newly released novels by independent authors. Impossible.
Oh, yes, I get the barrel-full’s worth of “check out my book” over on Facebook…and most of the books being promoted by their authors are absolutely dreadful. Yes, I get submissions through our long form, some of which are pretty good, but most of which are likewise dreadful. I can make the rounds of independently published book review sites, but most of the reviews say that the books are dreadful. I can check out the press release sites for indie author releases, but most of those are…dreadful…upon reading what excerpts I can find.
I KNOW that there are, in fact, good novels and books being released by independent authors, but, you know what? It’s impossible to find them unless I know the author personally.
Originally, The Deepening was designed to promote books–all books regardless of who and how published. Unfortunately, it seems that the good books and novels published by indie authors aren’t coming to my attention. Why is that, do you suppose? Is it because those who make the most noise have the least to offer?
Come on, indie authors who write top notch books (emphasis on top notch), send me your submissions. I’m tired of the dreck and having to resort to promoting only traditionally published books.
Tags: book promotion, indie books, indie novels, novel promotion
I’ve got to make some decisions about this enterprise soon. I’ve got to decide if I really want to continue pouring time, effort, and money into continuing to promote books, especially since nobody seems much interested in helping, not the authors, not the publishers, not the audience. Speaking of audience, we’ve got a pretty good sized one, both new and returning visitors. We’ve also got huge “time on page” numbers, so visitors are reading our features. Problem is, though, that, regardless of monetizing schemes, via memberships, sponsorships, advertising, and asking for donations, our monthly income doesn’t meet monthly expenses–not even close. So, regardless of how successful the site seems with its audience, I’ve got to face the reality that both the audience and those who benefit from that audience–authors and publishers–just aren’t willing to support it.
Some say to me, it’s the economy. Others say it’s the industry. I say, gee, well, I can’t afford to just keep promoting books and novels out of my own pocket. If it didn’t cost me, then that wouldn’t be a problem. But it does cost me out of pocket, and, if I can’t even cover my costs, then it’s just a hobby, and an expensive one at that. So I’m considering the future, a future that, despite our top-of-the-heap ranking and our excellent traffic and committed audience, is beginning to look pretty grim.
Why should someone consider reading your novel?–that’s the question you as an author need to answer when soliciting an agent, a publisher, a reading audience…or me. Instead of “check out my book,” do tell me why you think your book stands out as a book I really, really should want to read.
When you, author, ask me to consider your novel, you need to do a bit more than simply say, “check it out.” You absolutely need to provide me with some tantalizing reason why I absolutely would hate myself if I didn’t. So why, oh, why do you persist in simply offering me the generic, ubiquitous “check out my book” message in email, in private messaging via social networking venues, in comments posted publicly around the Net? If you can’t figure out a way to present your book to me in a way that commands my attention, then how do you ever expect that you’re going to grab hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, and even millions of other readers? So, when you ask me to “check out your book,” give me some reason why, a reason that really engages me, peaks my interest, encouraging me to do so.
Tags: check out my book, check out my novel, effective novel promotion, novel promoting, promote your book, promote your novel, promoting your book, promoting your novel
Some folks love our book picks; some love the honest reviews. Some don’t, especially if they’re the author or publisher who’s received a less than positive response. Tastes in literature are many and varied. We make no apology for our choices and our ratings of the books we feature or are requested to review.
Independent authors and publishers are especially touchy when they receive a less than glowing review or when their book is declined for a feature spot. We make our judgments as fairly and with as much open-mindedness as we can, but ours is only one of many venues where you can get your book in front of potential buyers. Many of these are, in fact, open venues, available to you for the cost of “signing up.” There, your book won’t have to go through an evaluation like it does here on The Deepening. What could be easier than that?
Please don’t gripe to us with hate-email when your book doesn’t make it onto our pages or when it receives a less than five-star review. Our tastes in what’s appropriate literature for readers and visitors to this website isn’t open to debate. In fact, I believe we’ve made it abundantly clear that erotica for the sake of sexual titillation isn’t welcome and badly written books and novels won’t get a second glance, no matter how you rant, rave, and throw a tantrum. Here, readers come first, and neither the ivory tower politics of literature, nor the weight of any rabid mob pressure tactics is going to change that.
Good grammar and punctuation? Why bother, right? How about spelling? Naw. Screw it. It’s all too constricting. It’s too confining. It stifles creativity. I mean, why pay copy-editors. Don’t need ‘em; don’t want ‘em. The public is too dumb to notice, anyway.
Bunk. It’s pure laziness on the part of independent authors, and, in the case of big publishers, it’s pure greed.
Tags: bad everything, bad grammar, bad spelling
There’s a new measure of whether or not a book is a book, and that’s: “If it’s on Amazon.com, then it’s a legitimate book.” Notice that it’s not Barnes and Nobles, not Bowkers, not available via Ingrams or any other measure, but AMAZON.COM. Okay. Well, in that case, all books on The Deepening will henceforth be linked to their Amazon.com page instead of their author’s or publisher’s website. (No, I’m not going back through all the titles and featured books and changing the links. But, all books featured in the future will link to their Amazon.com page…if they have one.)
Tags: book, books, fiction, legitimate books, legitimate novels, non-fiction, novel, novels
Authors are a dime a dozen. Authors of good books and novels, though, well, those are a bit like trying to find a contact lens in a swimming pool…unless you know where to look…like some of the major publishing houses and a few select small presses, avoiding, of course, the vaunted and flaunted…for the most part, anyway. (I’ll admit there are a few of the vaunted that make my personal “okay” list, but nowhere near the number that vie with each other for the list top.) Still, in the midlist, there are some real gems. Heck, even at the top and the bottom of the list there’s gold in them thar catalogs (…and a lot of schlock). And all the necessary “stuff” is there for the picking so I can easily feature the book in just a few minutes. (Professional publishers KNOW that, to sell their books, they must provide as much “promo stuff” as possible, you see…so they do. 
)
Then there’s the indies….
In truth, I’d like nothing better than to consistently favor independent authors by featuring their books on The Deepening. But. And here’s the problem. They just don’t seem to want to be featured. They want me to find them (as in track down and tackle, maybe lasso and hog tie, maybe even make use of one of those S. American bolo things used to nab Rheas). Then these same authors, once I do get their attention, seem to want me to beg them for their book’s promotional materials like book descriptions, author bio-, good-sized cover art, reviews, and excerpts. They seem to want me to work at it, spending innumerable hours just collecting and soliciting them (again, the word “begging” comes to mind) for the “honor” of featuring them and their books on TD.
It’s exhausting, and, well, um, I’m sorry. I just don’t have that much time or energy. (It takes a LOT of energy to chase down the fleet of foot once you flush them from their hide, you know.) I mean, if an author doesn’t want to provide me with a nice, high-quality, bigger-than-a-postage-stamp book cover, a description, some review links, a nice excerpt, then, well, obviously, I do get the hint that they’d really rather I go away so they can keep their tome all to themselves and a select few friends and associates, that they really do not want me…or anyone else with whom they’re not on intimate terms to feature their book. Have I got that right? I do? Ah, okay. Sorry for intruding. Go on back into the Facebook fray, and the hollering and waving of hands like crazy for individual notice, then disappearing when someone actually says, “Sure, I’ll take a look. Where’s the goods?” when they find that the “goods” aren’t there like they’re supposed to be.
Tags: indie authors, indie books, indie trouble
There’s one major publisher who, lately, I’m purposely featuring their book catalog. That publisher is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. What I find so very encouraging about their present catalog is that I have yet to find one book that isn’t worth a good, solid look and, usually, is definitely worth buying and reading, cover-to-cover, too. Their standards of quality are above par–far above par. No trashy, poorly edited books, no semi-literate trash. That’s saying a lot. It also speaks hoards, I think, that HMH is, of all the major players in the publishing industry, the one that is suffering the most, losing revenue and on the brink if not already headed into bankruptcy, while Harlequin, purveyor of slurpy-panty pulp and decadent sex novels is thriving. Shows us where much of our society puts their values, doesn’t it? I really think we need to put our money where it counts the most, not throw it in the sewer to support the bottom feeders. Think about it. Buy quality, not trash.
