It’s a long title for today’s blog, but it was one of THOSE weeks. I’ll get the neat stuff out of the way first.
One of my fellow Solstice authors, Penny Estelle, came up with this great idea on her blog. She’s celebrating Christmas in October! Head over to her site and see what it’s all about. It’s going all month, but my book is one of the featured ones for today. I believe you need to leave a comment about a specific book to be eligible to win a copy. Here’s her site: http://www.pennyestelle.blogspot.com/ Be sure to visit a lot this month!
I had someone ask what I thought made a good book. First and foremost, the writing and editing must be good. I want to be drawn into the story, feel the nip in the air if winter is coming. Or smell the pot roast cooking as you walk into a home, your shoes muffled by the carpet. I want a book where the author thinks you’re intelligent enough to remember something said on page 9, even if it doesn’t become relevant until page 99.
What I don’t like? Repetition, constantly reminding me that a character holds a specific job, faith, or facial feature. Condescending tones where the author feels they have to explain something over and over because I might have forgotten it from two pages (or even paragraphs) ago. And a lack of detail about the world around the character. No one lives in a sterile environment, so why not describe an apartment that has a bookshelf full of comic books or classics even if there’s no relevance to the story.
It’s a personal preference, once shared by the majority of my friends. I like to think I’ve written something intelligent, and the small amount of feedback I’ve gotten seems to support this. Writer’s ego be damned – I wrote a decent if not good book.
Which is why I got a little frustrated this week. It can be very disheartening to know you’ve written a good book only to see sales stagnate. Solstice has done a terrific job in my opinion in trying to get the word out on ‘Daughter of Hauk’. I’ve tried to do my part, though I still feel like I’m stumbling in the dark some days.
I can’t force anyone that follows me here, on Twitter, or on FB to buy my book. I know that. But, had even half the people who’d claimed to be excited for me etc bothered to spend under $5 to support me, I’d have sold 100 copies by now. I don’t think I’ve sold half that.
Ok, enough whining and feeling sorry for myself. Time to stiffen my backbone, grab some coffee, and try my best to get people to consider giving a new author a shot. Going to put the link to my book on Solstice’s awesome new site down below.
BB
K. M. Warfield 