Geoff Habiger's Blog
April 25, 2020
Juggling
Growing up I tried to learn how to juggle. I didn’t buy any books or take lessons, and there was no YouTube to turn to. (Yes – I’m that old!) I didn’t get very far (probably for obvious reasons). I used tennis balls and just sort of mimicked what I saw from watching jugglers on television or how I pictured in my head you should do it. I never could get the hang of the thing. I would start tossing balls and inevitably (and quite quickly) a ball would go too high or too far away from where it was supposed to go, and they’d all fall into a bouncing pile. The best that I could do was to toss a single ball in the air and catch it. It was at this point (after one or two attempts) that I would get frustrated then go and tramp through the woods around my house, play basketball, or build Legos. Given all of that, it’s more than a bit ironic how I must (metaphorically) juggle so many things these days. I have so many different balls in the air that at times it is hard to keep track of them all.
I work a full-time job. It’s not a bad job, and I (mostly) enjoy my work and my co-workers, but if given the chance to quit and work only on my passion, I would. Unfortunately, I don’t earn enough as a writer (yet) to quit my job, and I’m pragmatic enough to know that my job is what pays the bills, keeps a roof over our heads, and food on the table. (My wife also works, so I’m not the sole breadwinner in the family. And no, she doesn’t earn enough to let me work full-time as a writer. Besides, my job is the main source of financing for the publishing company. Which gets us to…)
I’m a partner and the senior editor (plus accountant, marketer, web designer, social media specialist, book designer, etc.) for our publishing company – Artemesia Publishing. I oversee all our publishing projects (including the books that Coy and I have published) from start to finish. Artemesia Publishing has been around for 16 years now and we’ve published over 30 books from over 16 different authors. I love this job and would love to earn enough from publishing to do it full time, but for now, while sales continue to improve, we’re not quite there yet. But I still love doing it and happily work the weekends and nights to get books published.
I’m a writer, with three published, and one forthcoming, novels, co-written with my best friend, Coy. We are working on the draft of our fifth novel (the third book in the Saul Imbierowicz trilogy). And we have a lot of other projects too. I have several short stories that I write and try to sell, and Coy and I have so many ideas waiting to be worked on that I know we won’t be lacking for ideas for a while. I write when I can, in between publishing projects for Artemesia, and in the spare time I can find. (Usually while my son is at taekwondo practice.)
I’m a book reviewer, book promoter (in my own small way) and part time editor for other projects, usually involving indie authors. I review every book that I read, posting my reviews on Goodreads and at Library Thing. When I write reviews for books published by indie authors, I will also post the review here on the blog. I’ve started doing interviews as well to help promote indie authors. I have two interviews to date with more planned. I also volunteer my time as an editor for SciFi Lampoon magazine, working with a few other like-minded (i.e. a bit crazy) authors and editors to get funny sci-fi and fantasy stories out into the world.
On top of these things I’m also a husband and a father, taking the time to do things with my wife and son. Family activities, trips, and supporting them both in their own pursuits. (Which usually involves taking my son to taekwondo or scouts.)
For somebody who could never juggle a few tennis balls (and I still can’t) it amazes me how many things I have been able to metaphorically juggle in my life. And you know what – I’m pretty darn good at it. I’m energized and excited by the things that I do. I enjoy all the work and I don’t mind the long nights and weekends it takes to keep it all from crashing to the ground. I love the projects, the challenges, and the people I meet and work with – whether at my day job, as a publisher, as a writer, promoting other writers, or with my family.
Is there a lesson in all of this? Is there some great take-away that you, fair reader, can glean from this? Something that will allow you to improve your life, handle more work or challenges you are facing? Probably not. This wasn’t intended to be a self-help post, or a list of ways you can do more in your own world. I know people that take on a lot more than I do, or who have different priorities, and I know people who would be totally overwhelmed if they tried to do what I do. We are all individuals, and we each need to find out how many balls we can juggle. We all have the capability to juggle the things in our lives, even if it’s just tossing a single ball at a time.
I work a full-time job. It’s not a bad job, and I (mostly) enjoy my work and my co-workers, but if given the chance to quit and work only on my passion, I would. Unfortunately, I don’t earn enough as a writer (yet) to quit my job, and I’m pragmatic enough to know that my job is what pays the bills, keeps a roof over our heads, and food on the table. (My wife also works, so I’m not the sole breadwinner in the family. And no, she doesn’t earn enough to let me work full-time as a writer. Besides, my job is the main source of financing for the publishing company. Which gets us to…)
I’m a partner and the senior editor (plus accountant, marketer, web designer, social media specialist, book designer, etc.) for our publishing company – Artemesia Publishing. I oversee all our publishing projects (including the books that Coy and I have published) from start to finish. Artemesia Publishing has been around for 16 years now and we’ve published over 30 books from over 16 different authors. I love this job and would love to earn enough from publishing to do it full time, but for now, while sales continue to improve, we’re not quite there yet. But I still love doing it and happily work the weekends and nights to get books published.
I’m a writer, with three published, and one forthcoming, novels, co-written with my best friend, Coy. We are working on the draft of our fifth novel (the third book in the Saul Imbierowicz trilogy). And we have a lot of other projects too. I have several short stories that I write and try to sell, and Coy and I have so many ideas waiting to be worked on that I know we won’t be lacking for ideas for a while. I write when I can, in between publishing projects for Artemesia, and in the spare time I can find. (Usually while my son is at taekwondo practice.)
I’m a book reviewer, book promoter (in my own small way) and part time editor for other projects, usually involving indie authors. I review every book that I read, posting my reviews on Goodreads and at Library Thing. When I write reviews for books published by indie authors, I will also post the review here on the blog. I’ve started doing interviews as well to help promote indie authors. I have two interviews to date with more planned. I also volunteer my time as an editor for SciFi Lampoon magazine, working with a few other like-minded (i.e. a bit crazy) authors and editors to get funny sci-fi and fantasy stories out into the world.
On top of these things I’m also a husband and a father, taking the time to do things with my wife and son. Family activities, trips, and supporting them both in their own pursuits. (Which usually involves taking my son to taekwondo or scouts.)
For somebody who could never juggle a few tennis balls (and I still can’t) it amazes me how many things I have been able to metaphorically juggle in my life. And you know what – I’m pretty darn good at it. I’m energized and excited by the things that I do. I enjoy all the work and I don’t mind the long nights and weekends it takes to keep it all from crashing to the ground. I love the projects, the challenges, and the people I meet and work with – whether at my day job, as a publisher, as a writer, promoting other writers, or with my family.
Is there a lesson in all of this? Is there some great take-away that you, fair reader, can glean from this? Something that will allow you to improve your life, handle more work or challenges you are facing? Probably not. This wasn’t intended to be a self-help post, or a list of ways you can do more in your own world. I know people that take on a lot more than I do, or who have different priorities, and I know people who would be totally overwhelmed if they tried to do what I do. We are all individuals, and we each need to find out how many balls we can juggle. We all have the capability to juggle the things in our lives, even if it’s just tossing a single ball at a time.
April 12, 2020
Dynamic Writing Duo
We’ve all seen the memes and jokes on social media. Being an author is great except for…editing, re-writes, plot holes, characters who misbehave, marketing, dealing with writer’s block, and the list goes on and on. We laugh, maybe a little self-consciously, because deep down we know there is a little grain of truth in the humor. Being an author can often be (and is usually portrayed – at least in movies, television, etc.) a solitary profession. The popular image we are given is of the lone author sitting in front of (insert notebook, typewriter, computer here) and pouring out their soul into the written word. And for many authors this is true. But there is a small group who write collaboratively as co-authors. I know of several co-authors off the top of my head (A.E. Lowan, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Kathleen and W. Michael Gear, Angella Cormier and Pierre Arseneault). On Twitter I recently asked for people to name co-authors and people there were able to identify many others.
Being an author can be a hard, lonely struggle, but being a co-author is actually great, at least in our opinions. Coy and I enjoy being co-authors, even though we have a long-distance relationship. (He’s in Kansas City. I’m in Albuquerque.) As co-authors, we have a built-in support network, and we can keep each other motivated and can avoid some of the more common obstructions to writing – like writer’s block, plot holes, editing, and characters who don’t want to listen to us.
So, what is our process? How do we get from idea to a finished book? We have known each other, and been friends, since high school, and this really helps in our writing. We started out doing game design together, developing role-playing games, and card and board games. This allowed us to develop our skills while working together and made it so that when we started writing fiction, we knew what our strengths and weaknesses were. I tend to be the more creative one and I do the bulk of the initial draft for each story, while Coy is the one that keeps me on track and the continuity flowing. I’m not an editor (I’ve never met a comma that I either put in the wrong place or didn’t put where it belonged) while proofreading, dialogue, and story and character continuity are Coy’s strengths.
We start with an idea or a concept. The Saul Imbierowicz trilogy started from an idea we had while driving back from Chicago. What vampire tropes hadn’t been done to death? (Pun intended.) What if the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre had been done to take out a group of vampires? From that little nugget we’ve created a whole noir/pulp world of gangsters and vampires. During the idea phase – which we usually do when we are in the same place – we can bounce our ideas and thoughts off each other. We can come up with a cool idea, then reject it for something even cooler. We can block out the basic plot and story structure, identify characters, and get a feel for what the story will be about.
Then I take that little nugget and write the first draft, usually (but not always) alone. If I get stuck or hit a plot hole, I send a text to Coy and he can straighten me out and get me back on track. Once the first draft is finished, I send it to Coy. He does the polishing – fixing the plot holes, bad grammar and spelling, and making sure that the character’s voices remain true to who they are.
Once that is done, we then work together to edit the whole story. We get together via video chat or sometimes (gasp) even in person if we can time things right, and we then hack away, continuing to revise and polish. We often read aloud during this phase to help catch the little errors. Our strengths are very complimentary and when we work together it is like our powers merge and we become super-writers.
And it’s that simple. It may not be how other co-authors work, but it works for us. And so far I think it has worked out quite well.
Being an author can be a hard, lonely struggle, but being a co-author is actually great, at least in our opinions. Coy and I enjoy being co-authors, even though we have a long-distance relationship. (He’s in Kansas City. I’m in Albuquerque.) As co-authors, we have a built-in support network, and we can keep each other motivated and can avoid some of the more common obstructions to writing – like writer’s block, plot holes, editing, and characters who don’t want to listen to us.
So, what is our process? How do we get from idea to a finished book? We have known each other, and been friends, since high school, and this really helps in our writing. We started out doing game design together, developing role-playing games, and card and board games. This allowed us to develop our skills while working together and made it so that when we started writing fiction, we knew what our strengths and weaknesses were. I tend to be the more creative one and I do the bulk of the initial draft for each story, while Coy is the one that keeps me on track and the continuity flowing. I’m not an editor (I’ve never met a comma that I either put in the wrong place or didn’t put where it belonged) while proofreading, dialogue, and story and character continuity are Coy’s strengths.
We start with an idea or a concept. The Saul Imbierowicz trilogy started from an idea we had while driving back from Chicago. What vampire tropes hadn’t been done to death? (Pun intended.) What if the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre had been done to take out a group of vampires? From that little nugget we’ve created a whole noir/pulp world of gangsters and vampires. During the idea phase – which we usually do when we are in the same place – we can bounce our ideas and thoughts off each other. We can come up with a cool idea, then reject it for something even cooler. We can block out the basic plot and story structure, identify characters, and get a feel for what the story will be about.
Then I take that little nugget and write the first draft, usually (but not always) alone. If I get stuck or hit a plot hole, I send a text to Coy and he can straighten me out and get me back on track. Once the first draft is finished, I send it to Coy. He does the polishing – fixing the plot holes, bad grammar and spelling, and making sure that the character’s voices remain true to who they are.
Once that is done, we then work together to edit the whole story. We get together via video chat or sometimes (gasp) even in person if we can time things right, and we then hack away, continuing to revise and polish. We often read aloud during this phase to help catch the little errors. Our strengths are very complimentary and when we work together it is like our powers merge and we become super-writers.
And it’s that simple. It may not be how other co-authors work, but it works for us. And so far I think it has worked out quite well.
March 27, 2020
Identity Crisis
I am an author – I have three published books, one book coming out later this year and some short stories published – but I do not have an agent and I am not published with a large publishing company. I am also a publisher, but I am not self-published as my publishing company and its imprints (Artemesia Publishing) publishes other authors (currently at 16+ at last count). I fit somewhere in between and that often gives me an identity crisis.
Publishing is changing. The self-publishing revolution that started in the last 10-15 years has had an impact but based on the number of people I follow on Twitter who are seeking representation and getting contracts with publishers, self-publishing hasn’t taken over the industry. Meanwhile, traditional publishing is changing as well. Big publishers are shortening the time they keep a title on backlist – culling titles to make room for newer books. So, your window to “make it” is shrinking. At the same time the big publishers are adding clauses to their contracts requiring authors to do their own marketing. You might as well be self-publishing.
But self-publishing is still a hard gig to make it in. I have several friends who self-publish. Some do it full time, some part time. None of them have made it “big”. (And not because of their writing. Check out my reviews and you can see most of their works. They are all worth reading.) Most self-published authors spend 20-25% of their time (an unscientific poll based on having beers with my writing friends) doing marketing. And marketing isn’t cheap. It takes time away from writing and money (you may not have) to do it right and make it pay off. But it also takes titles. Effective marketing requires that you have several titles already published and that you are putting out titles frequently. It can be a hard balancing act.
Being self-published also means a limited audience. Sure, there’s the 8,000-pound monster gorilla in the room *cough*Amazon*cough*, and that gets you a worldwide audience, but it’s not “wide”. You won’t be in indie bookstores or libraries – unless you do the legwork to make that happen. And maybe you are fine with that. But if you want to go wide, self-publishing probably isn’t the answer. Being traditionally published (especially with a medium to large “Big 5” publisher) will get your books everywhere. You’ll be on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and other chain and indie bookstores, probably libraries and maybe every Walmart and Target too. But even with this wide net only about 10% of books from traditional publishers will earn out their advance. It can be a hard row to sow no matter which path you take.
So, what am I? Am I an author or a publisher? It could be argued that I am a self-published author since I am my own publisher but technically, I am a traditionally published author. Since my publishing company is small (I think by definition we are a “micro” publisher) I don’t always have the same advantages that a larger publisher does (like big budgets, advances, marketing teams, etc.) but I do share some of the benefits (like wide distribution). I occupy a middle ground that sits – sort of like the Twilight Zone - between self-publishing and traditional publishing. One foot firmly place in both camps.
And I am okay with that.
Publishing is changing. The self-publishing revolution that started in the last 10-15 years has had an impact but based on the number of people I follow on Twitter who are seeking representation and getting contracts with publishers, self-publishing hasn’t taken over the industry. Meanwhile, traditional publishing is changing as well. Big publishers are shortening the time they keep a title on backlist – culling titles to make room for newer books. So, your window to “make it” is shrinking. At the same time the big publishers are adding clauses to their contracts requiring authors to do their own marketing. You might as well be self-publishing.
But self-publishing is still a hard gig to make it in. I have several friends who self-publish. Some do it full time, some part time. None of them have made it “big”. (And not because of their writing. Check out my reviews and you can see most of their works. They are all worth reading.) Most self-published authors spend 20-25% of their time (an unscientific poll based on having beers with my writing friends) doing marketing. And marketing isn’t cheap. It takes time away from writing and money (you may not have) to do it right and make it pay off. But it also takes titles. Effective marketing requires that you have several titles already published and that you are putting out titles frequently. It can be a hard balancing act.
Being self-published also means a limited audience. Sure, there’s the 8,000-pound monster gorilla in the room *cough*Amazon*cough*, and that gets you a worldwide audience, but it’s not “wide”. You won’t be in indie bookstores or libraries – unless you do the legwork to make that happen. And maybe you are fine with that. But if you want to go wide, self-publishing probably isn’t the answer. Being traditionally published (especially with a medium to large “Big 5” publisher) will get your books everywhere. You’ll be on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and other chain and indie bookstores, probably libraries and maybe every Walmart and Target too. But even with this wide net only about 10% of books from traditional publishers will earn out their advance. It can be a hard row to sow no matter which path you take.
So, what am I? Am I an author or a publisher? It could be argued that I am a self-published author since I am my own publisher but technically, I am a traditionally published author. Since my publishing company is small (I think by definition we are a “micro” publisher) I don’t always have the same advantages that a larger publisher does (like big budgets, advances, marketing teams, etc.) but I do share some of the benefits (like wide distribution). I occupy a middle ground that sits – sort of like the Twilight Zone - between self-publishing and traditional publishing. One foot firmly place in both camps.
And I am okay with that.
March 25, 2020
The Review Paradox
Recently a good author friend and I were chatting over pizza and beers. Like my blog posts our conversations tend to meander and head on tangents. We just talk and let the conversation flow. On this occasion our talk turned to book reviews – and our collective lack of them.
First, some background. I have co-written (along with Coy) two novels with two more coming out this year. We have received positive reviews from such illustrious places like Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, and notable bloggers. We have received mostly positive reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. Our sales have been good. Not great, but not piss poor either, and on sales (especially free promotions) I know that our titles have been downloaded thousands of times. Yet despite all of this we have very few reviews on Amazon. (As of this writing 12 for Unremarkable and 11 for Wrath of the Fury Blade.)
My friend Eric is a lot more prolific than I am. He has the luxury of being able to write full time. He has nine books released with several more coming out this year. One book (the first one in his first duology) has 46 reviews. But book two in that series only has 11 reviews. The books in his next series (a cool sci-fi trilogy) have 19, 5, and 4 reviews respectively for each book in the trilogy. His next series (currently five books with number six coming soon) have 3, 1, 1, and zero reviews (#5 was JUST released).
I have another friend (yes, I do have more than one friend, thank you very much) Zachry, who is also an author. He has two main series of books plus some short stories all available on Amazon. Series one has three books in it, plus three short stories and has 67 reviews for book one, but then the reviews drop off rapidly to 9 and 9 respectively for books 2 and 3, then 4, 4, and 2 reviews for the shorts. His other series (two books currently, book 3 coming out this year) has 42 reviews for book 1 and just 12 for book 2.
Now, I know that both of my friends have spent a lot of time promoting their titles. Eric runs Amazon ads and has his own newsletter and does newsletter builders. Zachry does book sales and combines those with ads and newsletter promotions. So, I know that they both have sold hundreds, if not thousands, of their books. Yet despite really good sales (heck, even great sales in terms of downloads of ebooks) our review numbers seem to be pathetic, anemic even.
Why is that?
How can a title with large sales figures have so few reviews, while another title by other authors (not counting books by “big time” authors published by large publishers – those numbers are skewed) can have hundreds of reviews?
Is it a time issue? Maybe people have bought the book but haven’t read it yet? Their TBR pile is so huge that they’ll be lucky to finish reading it by the time hell freezes over. I know that my own TBR pile is starting to rival Mt. Everest in scale.
Is it a time management issue? Are our lives so busy that we can’t take a couple of minutes to leave a review? I always leave a review for books I do read, but sometimes it can take me a few days to find the time to log onto Goodreads and Amazon to leave a review. (I also post my reviews on Bookbub when I can and on LibraryThing.)
Is there another reason? Do readers not know what they should say? Do they think a review isn’t needed? Do they personally not look at reviews, so they don’t think a review is needed? (And for the record you can keep your review as simple as you want – “I loved/liked it” is acceptable. Reviews are always needed, especially for small/indie/self-pubbed authors. And for the last one…I got nothing there.)
Reviews are very important for an author. Especially for indie, self-published authors and especially on Amazon. Amazon is the 8,000 lb monster gorilla in the publishing world. Reviews on their site go into their black box algorithms that Amazon uses to determine a book’s ranking, where it appears in searches, cross-promotions (if you like this, then try that), the winner of the next Eurovision contest, the presidential election, and whether it will rain on your birthday. (Okay – those last few probably aren’t determined by a book’s ranking on Amazon, but you never know. Heck, I don’t think even their programmers know. “Hey, Alexa! What cryptic algorithms do you use for ranking books by unknown authors?” Well, maybe I don’t want to know the answer to that.)
I don’t have an answer to the Review Paradox. I wish I did – I could write a book and make hundreds. Short of holding a gun to people’s heads there is not a way to force people to leave a review. (NOTE – do not EVER hold a gun to someone’s head. That’s dangerous and just makes you an asshole.) But…if YOU want to help fix the Review Paradox there are some things you can do.
1. If you read a book – leave a review. It’s very easy, takes less than five minutes (depending on your internet connection and how well you remember your passwords) and can be very simple. Here are some examples, so feel free to cut and paste for reviews you leave: “I loved this book!” “Worth reading.” “I couldn’t put it down.” “So good that I am now going to stalk the author until they write another book in this series!”
2. Share your reviews and tell others you reviewed a book. Even if you are not writing the next New York Times book critics review, or a Kirkus masterpiece, sharing your opinion helps spread the word about a book. Plus, guilt can help get others to leave reviews.
3. If you are a reader, you probably know other readers. Encourage them to leave reviews. If peer pressure can get your friends to agree to try that new Greek/Indian/Sushi Fusion restaurant you want to eat at, then it can work on leaving a book review. Besides, you are a cool person, and people like to do things that cool people do, so if you leave a review they’ll want to mimic you and leave reviews too.
4. What are your suggestions. Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
The Review Paradox may never go away. But with some simple steps maybe we can at least all get to double digits for the number of reviews on our titles.
First, some background. I have co-written (along with Coy) two novels with two more coming out this year. We have received positive reviews from such illustrious places like Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, and notable bloggers. We have received mostly positive reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. Our sales have been good. Not great, but not piss poor either, and on sales (especially free promotions) I know that our titles have been downloaded thousands of times. Yet despite all of this we have very few reviews on Amazon. (As of this writing 12 for Unremarkable and 11 for Wrath of the Fury Blade.)
My friend Eric is a lot more prolific than I am. He has the luxury of being able to write full time. He has nine books released with several more coming out this year. One book (the first one in his first duology) has 46 reviews. But book two in that series only has 11 reviews. The books in his next series (a cool sci-fi trilogy) have 19, 5, and 4 reviews respectively for each book in the trilogy. His next series (currently five books with number six coming soon) have 3, 1, 1, and zero reviews (#5 was JUST released).
I have another friend (yes, I do have more than one friend, thank you very much) Zachry, who is also an author. He has two main series of books plus some short stories all available on Amazon. Series one has three books in it, plus three short stories and has 67 reviews for book one, but then the reviews drop off rapidly to 9 and 9 respectively for books 2 and 3, then 4, 4, and 2 reviews for the shorts. His other series (two books currently, book 3 coming out this year) has 42 reviews for book 1 and just 12 for book 2.
Now, I know that both of my friends have spent a lot of time promoting their titles. Eric runs Amazon ads and has his own newsletter and does newsletter builders. Zachry does book sales and combines those with ads and newsletter promotions. So, I know that they both have sold hundreds, if not thousands, of their books. Yet despite really good sales (heck, even great sales in terms of downloads of ebooks) our review numbers seem to be pathetic, anemic even.
Why is that?
How can a title with large sales figures have so few reviews, while another title by other authors (not counting books by “big time” authors published by large publishers – those numbers are skewed) can have hundreds of reviews?
Is it a time issue? Maybe people have bought the book but haven’t read it yet? Their TBR pile is so huge that they’ll be lucky to finish reading it by the time hell freezes over. I know that my own TBR pile is starting to rival Mt. Everest in scale.
Is it a time management issue? Are our lives so busy that we can’t take a couple of minutes to leave a review? I always leave a review for books I do read, but sometimes it can take me a few days to find the time to log onto Goodreads and Amazon to leave a review. (I also post my reviews on Bookbub when I can and on LibraryThing.)
Is there another reason? Do readers not know what they should say? Do they think a review isn’t needed? Do they personally not look at reviews, so they don’t think a review is needed? (And for the record you can keep your review as simple as you want – “I loved/liked it” is acceptable. Reviews are always needed, especially for small/indie/self-pubbed authors. And for the last one…I got nothing there.)
Reviews are very important for an author. Especially for indie, self-published authors and especially on Amazon. Amazon is the 8,000 lb monster gorilla in the publishing world. Reviews on their site go into their black box algorithms that Amazon uses to determine a book’s ranking, where it appears in searches, cross-promotions (if you like this, then try that), the winner of the next Eurovision contest, the presidential election, and whether it will rain on your birthday. (Okay – those last few probably aren’t determined by a book’s ranking on Amazon, but you never know. Heck, I don’t think even their programmers know. “Hey, Alexa! What cryptic algorithms do you use for ranking books by unknown authors?” Well, maybe I don’t want to know the answer to that.)
I don’t have an answer to the Review Paradox. I wish I did – I could write a book and make hundreds. Short of holding a gun to people’s heads there is not a way to force people to leave a review. (NOTE – do not EVER hold a gun to someone’s head. That’s dangerous and just makes you an asshole.) But…if YOU want to help fix the Review Paradox there are some things you can do.
1. If you read a book – leave a review. It’s very easy, takes less than five minutes (depending on your internet connection and how well you remember your passwords) and can be very simple. Here are some examples, so feel free to cut and paste for reviews you leave: “I loved this book!” “Worth reading.” “I couldn’t put it down.” “So good that I am now going to stalk the author until they write another book in this series!”
2. Share your reviews and tell others you reviewed a book. Even if you are not writing the next New York Times book critics review, or a Kirkus masterpiece, sharing your opinion helps spread the word about a book. Plus, guilt can help get others to leave reviews.
3. If you are a reader, you probably know other readers. Encourage them to leave reviews. If peer pressure can get your friends to agree to try that new Greek/Indian/Sushi Fusion restaurant you want to eat at, then it can work on leaving a book review. Besides, you are a cool person, and people like to do things that cool people do, so if you leave a review they’ll want to mimic you and leave reviews too.
4. What are your suggestions. Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
The Review Paradox may never go away. But with some simple steps maybe we can at least all get to double digits for the number of reviews on our titles.
August 3, 2018
Powerful debut novel
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi AdeyemiMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This debut novel from Tomi Adeyemi struck a powerful chord with me.
The story follows Zélie Adebola as she and her brother and father struggle to survive in the Kingdom of Orïsha. Zélie is a Diviner, a person with links to a magical heritage and connection to the Gods. However, 11 years ago that connection to the Gods and magic was taken away by Orïsha's king, and at the same time all maji - people who could wield magic - were killed, including Zélie's mother. Now the Diviners are attacked, abused, and taxed heavily by the king and his guards. Facing a higher tax that they cannot pay, Zélie and her brother, Tzain, travel from their small fishing village to the capital to sell a prized fish, and hopefully earn some much needed silver to keep the taxman at bay. But things do not go according to plan, as Zélie encounters Amari, a fugitive princess who has stolen a sacred artifact from her ruthless father. Now on the run, Zélie, Tzain, and Amari are pursued by Amari's brother, Inan who will stop at nothing to get the sacred artifact back for his father. Zélie is thrust into a fight for survival, not only for herself and family, but also for the very survival of magic in Orïsha.
Adeyemi has created a wonderful world filled with myths, legends, ancient Gods, and magic. The world is rich, filled with descriptions of the smells of the villages, cities, and wilderness, as well as weaving deep connections of family. It was easy to picture the locations and people in the story and feel their joy and pain as they struggle on their quest.
The story is told in the first person from three points of view: Zélie, Amari, and Inan. While a bit disconcerting at first, this triangle of perspectives allows the reader to identify with each character and to understand what drives each of them, and through them, what drives the motives of the larger forces - from the struggle to complete the quest to bring magic back, as well as King Saran's motives - funneled through his son's actions - to keep Orïsha safe by eliminating magic entirely. It is a complex web of emotions and motives, and it is well done. By the end I was hanging on every word, every action as the climax of the story was reached.
I do have some quibbles, mostly around character growth. Not necessarily 'development', as I think all of the main characters were well developed and 'made real'. I understood the characters and felt they had depth. However, with Inan and Zélie I did not feel there was a lot of character growth. Zélie starts as a young girl who is hot headed, quick to anger. She yearns for her mother, whose death has left a massive hole in her life. As the story progresses Zélie's anger and fury serve her well, but at the end she continues to yearn for her mother in a way that seems selfish and childish. To me this continuity may present the emotional burden placed on Zélie, but does not allow for any growth of her character. I felt that was a missed opportunity. At the same time, Inan seems to make the most growth and change of the three main characters, yet he makes a complete reversal back to his old self at the end, and that too was disappointing. Of the three main characters, Amari struck me as the only one who made the most growth and development as a character, changing from a meek, shy, and very timid girl, to a powerful woman capable of ruling as Queen. She makes sacrifices, and does the most to change herself for what she knows to be the right thing to do.
Regardless of my quibbles, the characters are still well developed and portrayed. Adeyemi has created an epic world that is a joy to explore and I want to learn more about it. I highly recommend this book to anybody who has a love of epic fantasy, enjoys the struggles of faith and family, and relishes an epic quest. This book has it all.
I listened to the audio production of this novel, read by Bahni Turpin. She does an amazing job of bringing the world or Orïsha to life, and making each of the characters stand out and shine. There was no problems with the audio production or the narration, and Bahni's accent is a perfect fit for the story.
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June 6, 2018
The Librarian from Pratt
This past weekend my Coy and I attended the Wichicon comic convention in Wichita, Kansas. It was the second year for the con and our first year of attending it. It was a small con, though it benefited from being attached to the much larger Wichita Riverfest, a 9-day long event with live music, fairs, and other fun activities.
Coy and I had a great time for the two days of Wichicon. Traffic was steady both days with a great mix of genre fans and just regular folks who came in to get out of the heat. We made a lot of sales - selling out of the card games we brought with us - and met a lot of wonderful people.
One of those people was a librarian. I am a bad author, because I did not catch her name, but I know that she works at the library in Pratt, Kansas. (Pratt is a small town about 80 miles west of Wichita.) This librarian was filled with enthusiasm for the comic con, and was very interested in our games. She explained that she has been getting the kids in town to come to the library in the afternoons and weekends to play games. They play board games and card games, and they have even been playing Dungeons & Dragons. The library purchases the material (the games, the books, the dice...everything) and makes it available to the kids to use. I don't know about you but I think this is a great use of a library. What a wonderful way to engage with kids (and adults) and provide them a fun place to interact.
Coy and I had a great time meeting everybody at Wichicon, but I will remember our interaction with the Librarian from Pratt the most. It was great to experience her enthusiasm and interest for games and gaming, and a lot of fun to talk with her for those few minutes at the con. We hope that she continues with her library gaming and that other libraries out there think about starting up a similar program if they haven't already.
Coy and I had a great time for the two days of Wichicon. Traffic was steady both days with a great mix of genre fans and just regular folks who came in to get out of the heat. We made a lot of sales - selling out of the card games we brought with us - and met a lot of wonderful people.
One of those people was a librarian. I am a bad author, because I did not catch her name, but I know that she works at the library in Pratt, Kansas. (Pratt is a small town about 80 miles west of Wichita.) This librarian was filled with enthusiasm for the comic con, and was very interested in our games. She explained that she has been getting the kids in town to come to the library in the afternoons and weekends to play games. They play board games and card games, and they have even been playing Dungeons & Dragons. The library purchases the material (the games, the books, the dice...everything) and makes it available to the kids to use. I don't know about you but I think this is a great use of a library. What a wonderful way to engage with kids (and adults) and provide them a fun place to interact.
Coy and I had a great time meeting everybody at Wichicon, but I will remember our interaction with the Librarian from Pratt the most. It was great to experience her enthusiasm and interest for games and gaming, and a lot of fun to talk with her for those few minutes at the con. We hope that she continues with her library gaming and that other libraries out there think about starting up a similar program if they haven't already.
May 1, 2018
Wonderful Retelling of Old Myths
Norse Mythology by Neil GaimanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I just finished this wonderful collection of Norse myths as retold by Neil Gaiman. This is a truly amazing collection of stories about the Norse gods. From Odin and Thor, to Loki, Freya, and all the other gods, this collection covers the broad swath of the Norse mythology from the creation of the universe to the end of days, Ragnarok.
If your only experience with the Norse gods has been the reinterpretations of Thor, Loki, and Odin from the Marvel Cinematic Universe then do yourself a favor and pick up this book. These are not Stan Lee's gods of Asgard. Did you know that Sif is married to Thor? Did you know that Hel is the daughter of Loki, or how Loki plays an important role in Ragnarok? All of these legends are brought to life in the amazing way that only Neil Gaiman can do it.
Through Gaiman's retelling of the old legends (he did a lot of research on the stories and blended some of the legends together to make his own interpretations) I learned a lot about the Norse gods. I learned how Loki, trying to save his own skin, caused the greatest treasures of the gods - including Mjolnir - to be created. I learned about the adventures of Thor and Loki, and how Thor created the tides as part of a drinking contest. One of the biggest things I learned - and it really shouldn't have surprised me - was how much the gods of Asgard were really a bunch of a-holes. They really were. They were bullies and thugs on a good day, and generally did whatever they wanted, slew anybody who ticked them off, and generally acted like they owned the place. Which they did, in a sense. But it is a hard juxtaposition when your only frame of reference for the gods of Asgard has been what the MCU has churned out.
I highly recommend this book to anybody with an interest in mythology, old tales, or just a really good story. And I very much recommend that you get it as an audiobook. (I checked the book out from my local library.) Neil Gaiman, as usual, does a wonderful job of narrating the stories he has crafted. I really can't think of actually "reading" a Gaiman story anymore as having him read to me is so much better.
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April 18, 2018
Author Interview
Coy and I were interviewed by Emit Blackwell for his podcast. You can listen to the interview on Emit's YouTube channel. Coy and I talk with Emit about both of our novels, Unremarkable and Wrath of the Fury Blade. Check out the interview and subscribe to Emit's channel so you can stay up on all the cool author and book related podcasts. (Oh, and if you haven't yet, pick up a copy of our books too!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq2FW...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq2FW...
Dresden Series Gains Traction
Summer Knight by Jim ButcherMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This fourth installment of the Dresden Files series finds our hero essentially strung out and on the verge of a break down after the traumatic ending from book 3 (Grave Peril). Once again Harry Dresden is called upon to solve a murder, but this time his client is none other than the Faerie Winter Queen, who has bought Harry's debt from his Godmother and now wants his help to find a murderer and recover something that was stolen. That might be easy enough to do, except the vampires of the Red Court are gunning for Harry, and the White Council has basically given him one more chance to prove his worth, or be thrown to the vampires as a peace offering. It's never easy being Harry Dresden.
As with all of Butcher's books about the troubled wizard in Chicago, I loved this installment. The gritty, noir world that Butcher creates is always fun to visit, and the characters are top notch. In Summer Knight I really like that Harry finally gets it through his stubborn head that he can't always do this on his own. Yes, he is chivalrous to a fault, but he's learning that people (friends - gasp) are willing to help him. And this time he needs all the help he can get.
I also love that we learn a lot more about Harry this time, about his past, and what happened with him after he fought his first master, Justin. The interactions that Harry has with the White Council were quite fun, and it was nice to see the larger wizard-world being shown. I also liked that characters that have appeared in the earlier books were making a return engagement, helping to create a living world.
My one quibble comes at the end of the book when the events have been resolved. Harry was given a task by the White Council, which he completed, but there was no resolution with the Council. You assume that there was a conclusion, and that Harry at least passed the test given him, but I really wanted more interaction - especially between Harry and the Warder, Morgan. I wanted to see that interaction play out, as well as the reaction of the senior council, and that didn't happen in this book. That was a disappointment for me and why I knock a whole star off my rating.
I "read" the audio version of the book, narrated by James Marsters. Marsters does an excellent job of making Dresden's world seem real. He is engaging, and his narration really makes Dresden and the other characters come to life.
Despite my quibble, this is a wonderful installment in the Dresden Files series. If you've read the previous books you probably know that already. If you've never picked up any of these books I highly recommend that you do.
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April 10, 2018
Wrath of the Fury Blade now released
Just a brief note to let you know that my book, Wrath of the Fury Blade, co-authored with Coy Kissee, was released today and is now available!
Synopsis:
The brutal murder of Lavalé fey Avecath, the King’s First Magistrate and advisor, interrupts Constable Inspector Reva Lunaria’s day off. The victim’s status makes this a high-profile investigation, bringing with it unwanted attention from Senior Inquisitor Ailan Malvaceä of the Sucra, the King’s secret police. The manner of the victim’s death makes this case even more intriguing. A body cut perfectly in half – from top to bottom – is a rare occurrence, even in a city filled with all manner of magic weapons. All of this would be challenging enough, but Inspector Lunaria must also deal with a new partner, Seeker Ansee Carya, who is clearly not up to her standards.
As Reva faces a growing body count, Senior Inquisitor Malvaceä undertakes his own mission to find the same killer, but with a very different agenda. Reva’s investigation takes unexpected turns as wild conspiracies, hidden addictions, and Dark Elf soldiers all threaten to distract Reva from tracking down the killer. Reva’s only hope of stopping the serial killer from cutting more prominent citizens of Tenyl in half is to figure out how to work with Seeker Carya and overcome her own weaknesses.
We hope that you will pick up a copy, and if you like it, please let us know.
Synopsis:
The brutal murder of Lavalé fey Avecath, the King’s First Magistrate and advisor, interrupts Constable Inspector Reva Lunaria’s day off. The victim’s status makes this a high-profile investigation, bringing with it unwanted attention from Senior Inquisitor Ailan Malvaceä of the Sucra, the King’s secret police. The manner of the victim’s death makes this case even more intriguing. A body cut perfectly in half – from top to bottom – is a rare occurrence, even in a city filled with all manner of magic weapons. All of this would be challenging enough, but Inspector Lunaria must also deal with a new partner, Seeker Ansee Carya, who is clearly not up to her standards.
As Reva faces a growing body count, Senior Inquisitor Malvaceä undertakes his own mission to find the same killer, but with a very different agenda. Reva’s investigation takes unexpected turns as wild conspiracies, hidden addictions, and Dark Elf soldiers all threaten to distract Reva from tracking down the killer. Reva’s only hope of stopping the serial killer from cutting more prominent citizens of Tenyl in half is to figure out how to work with Seeker Carya and overcome her own weaknesses.
We hope that you will pick up a copy, and if you like it, please let us know.
