“Liking” that means really liking, not just Liking

Silent Symmetry received a very short, but positive review today.

The reviewer wrote that she (I think it’s a she) likes “getting free books to see how I like the author.” At first I glossed over this, but then realized that she had managed to succinctly encapsulate the entire raison d’etre behind running free Kindle promotions like mine for Silent Symmetry that ends today.  It’s to give readers an opportunity to get to know you as a writer, as simple as that. If you’re an unknown author, then by definition they don’t know you. And the reality is that people buy a novel because of the author’s name as much as because of the story or the reviews. (I, for example, am still waiting with baited breath for Cervantes to come out with a new book because I thoroughly enjoyed his last one. Come on, Miguel, get a move on…)

Cervantes was, quite literally, an egghead.

Actually (thinking aloud here, as per my typical blogging methodology), it’s not so much the author’s name, but what that name represents that matters. Maybe an author makes a reader laugh out loud, or feel warm and fuzzy, or excited, or sexy, but whatever that feeling is, it’s exactly what a reader hopes will be repeated with the author’s next book. And THAT is what my new reviewer was talking about. If she likes the feeling, she’ll come back for more.

Maybe I should get a T-shirt made with a big Facebook Like logo on it…

Blogging about talking on video about writing a novel

The video interview about The New Sense is now on YouTube and the BBC. Oh wait, just YouTube:

Watch it for some insights into the ideas behind my upcoming novel, what inspired it, whether (or not) it reflects my personal life and what makes me laugh out loud. (Hint: it’s sex-related.)

Thanks to my publisher Chris Trudeau of Second Generation Press for doing such a great job!

The eBook Deluge

Anyone who has ever searched on Amazon (not searched for a specific book, just clicked around until they wonder how on earth they got where they’ve gotten to) knows that there are a lot of ebooks out there. However until I found out just now that there is not only a monster sex ebook series called Cum For Bigfoot, but at minimum eight of them, I had no idea how far the rabbit hole went. Then again, who hasn’t been on a “flirty, fun filled trip (that) soon turns into a nightmare, when an ape-like creature kidnaps a group of young women with the purpose of procreating with them.”? In fact, that was precisely why I quit the cub scouts at age 9. Because ape-like creatures sometimes don’t know the difference between young women and men, as anyone who’s ever been incarcerated in Turkey could probably testify. Happy trails!