Taking a Break

No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. - Elbert Hubbard

Due to circumstances beyond my control…OK, maybe that’s a little dramatic. I could have been and should have been in control, but I let things get away from me.

I’ve been out of town for a week and away from the internet. It was wonderfully liberating, but now I am so far behind, I don’t know where to start. Since my energy levels are down, I am going to take a two-week blogcation in order to catch-up on health issues, taxes, family matters, etc.

I do appreciate you stopping by. I hope to see you in a couple of weeks.

My apologies for not having more to offer today.

Tags: Elbert Hubbard, blogcation,

Good News About Bad Reviews

I never read a book before reviewing it – it prejudices a man so. – Sydney Smith

I’ve been pleased with the reviews I received on The Ride. Yes, I paused here to knock on wood. OK…it was the side of my head, but let’s not worry about details.

Recently I read about an interesting study, Positive Effects of Negative Publicity: Can Negative Reviews Increase Sales? Don’t get me wrong, I am not asking for someone to write a bad review. In fact, I’m hoping that doesn’t happen. I’m only saying the results of the study were intriguing.

The report scrutinized the effects of a New York Times review on the sales of 244 fiction hardcover books. A negative review for established authors led to a 15% decrease in sales. A negative review for unknown authors increased sales by 45%. That’s quite an increase.

For unknown writers, I’m wondering if the increased sales have more to do with being reviewed by the New York Times than the actual content of the review.

Honestly I think a bad review would make me think more like Steve Lehto in his article, “When an Author Meets His Critics.” After receiving positive reviews in the New York Times, Vanity Fair and The Wall Street Journal, he talks about how bad a one-star review on Amazon made him feel.

He went on to check the reviews on some classics. He says:

“To Kill a Mockingbird was called "A BORING, WORTHLESS WRECK OF A BOOK" -- yes, in ALL CAPS -- by one reader, and "one of the most overrated and hyped books of our time," by another. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling better already.”

I suggest reading the entire article, especially if you need a few chuckles after receiving a bad review.

Have you ever given a book a one-star review? How do you handle negative reviews? Would a positive or negative review in the New York Times influence your decision to purchase a book.

Tags: Sydney Smith, negative reviews, New York Times review, Steve Lehto, Amazon, To Kill a Mockingbird

Book Piracy

Piracy has taken a hit, but it’s always going to be a problem. It’s human nature to find ways around paying. – Jimmy Schaeffler

My first encounter with book piracy occurred when I lived in Taiwan in the early 80s. The large bookstores were stocked with inexpensive books—because many were pirated. I admit I didn’t think much about it at the time. I was more concerned about keeping my daughter in reading material. She’d go through books like I’d go through potato chips.

I’m also guilty of passing along favorite books to friends and family which I know deprives the author of royalty. So I guess you could say I should go around with an eye patch and say, “Arrgh, matey.”

However, I think the problem of printed book piracy pales in comparison to illegal e-book downloads. According to an article the Guardian.co.uk:

"A campaign is needed to educate the new wave of e-reader owners that downloading illegal ebooks from torrent sites is theft, amid signs that the piracy of books is increasing, authors claim.

“Crime writer David Hewson, author of the Italy-set Nic Costa novels, said a campaign along the lines of "People Who Love Books Don't Steal Books" was urgently required – because readers who consider themselves his fans are downloading pirated copies of his ebooks and audiobooks.”

The article goes on to say:

“Authors' incomes – never sizeable, except for a lucky minority – have been squeezed over the past two years, with the drop in publisher advances. Hewson said authors now face an erosion of their earnings from multiple directions, whether from the fact that library Public Lending Right doesn't cover the loans of ebooks and audiobooks, or the new practice of "Lendle-ing", joining ebook communities to take advantage of Amazon's US free loan facility on Kindle. "What we earn is being chipped away," he said. "I do know people who are thinking: 'Is it worth carrying on?'"

By the way, for those like me who didn’t know, “torrent,” according to eHow , is a type of computer file that usually ends in the extension .torrent and allows a computer to track files and download pieces of the files from other users across the Internet using a BitTorrent client. I understand you pay to join these sites and can then download books, music, videos and games without the author/creator receiving a dime.

An article in the wsj.com addressed the online clubs such as BookLending.com and Lendle.me saying:

“Previously, Kindle and Nook readers were largely limited to sharing e-books with friends because two users needed to know each other's email address to initiate a loan. The new sites give e-book readers access to a larger network of people and a larger selection of books.

“The lending sites have drawbacks. One is limited selection. Most major book publishers haven't made their e-books lendable, and the books can be lent only once and for only 14 days. That means that with every successful loan, the sites' available library shrinks unless new users with books to lend join.”

The article has a detailed chart showing how these clubs work.

Are you guilty of book piracy? Would you join an online e-book club? Do you consider piracy a problem for writers? Do you have any solutions?

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next week.

Tags: Jimmy Schaeffler, book piracy, torrent files, booklending.com, lendle.me

A Novel Use of Lampposts

Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does. - Steuart Henderson Britt

Marketing, as many of you know, is not my strength. I use some of the tried and true methods such as book signings, conferences, book fairs and so on. Therefore I’m always impressed when I read about an author who thinks outside the box.

For instance there was Tao Lin who offered a ten percent share of the royalties of his unfinished second novel for $2,000 to six investors. He thought it was an idea which would have people talking and that in itself is promotion. The six investors would also have incentives to talk up the book and promote sales. You can read more here. (By the way, Lin’s book Richard Yates was released in September 2010. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes for his investors to make back their investment.)

Then there’s author R. N. Morris who began posting his crime novel, A Gentle Axe, on Twitter in 140 characters or less a few times a day. He hoped to keep old fans happy and pick up new readers while waiting for the release of his next book. You can read more here.

The latest innovative idea involves an anonymous author and his or her unpublished book, Holy Crap. This author is serializing his work by sticking pages on lampposts in the East Village in New York. Each page has directions to the next section of the book. According to the article in the DailyMail.co.uk, “No author has come forward to take credit for the story, but it is the talk of the area.” You can read the entire article as well as bits from the novel here.

Though this is an interesting concept, I don’t think it's something that would work in Fort Myers. Our downtown area is small and there 's probably some ordinance against posting anything on lampposts.

Would you be willing to read a novel posted in short bursts on lampposts? Would you be more likely to buy a book from one of these creative marketers simply for their originality? Have you heard about or tried other innovative marketing methods?

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next week.

Tags: Steuart Henderson Britt, Tao Lin, R. N. Morris, innovative marketing,