Following is my Goodreads review on South of Broad by Pat Conroy, which I gave 2 stars. Just so you know, I don't make a habit of advertising when I read a disappointing book, and never when it's a debut author or a friend. But sometimes we all need to be reminded that the bestsellers out there aren't necessarily the best books. And that rich and famous authors like Pat Conroy can put out a stinker same as the rest of us nameless newbies toiling away in our back bedrooms, wondering if we will ever get good enough for publication.
"After reading The Prince of Tides, my first and only Conroy novel, I had great hopes for this one. It disappointed me. There were some serious problems-- shallow character development, contrived scenes, many things alluded to but never explored like the brother's suicide and the evil stalker guy's drowning. How do you take a villain and solve the problem by having him drown off scene in a hurricane? So much better in The Princeof Tides where the heroic brother lets the tiger into the house and thus destroys the stalker/villain. My recommendation is to read the prologue and forget the rest. The prologue is pure brilliance, the rest of the book is a weak follow up."
An interesting note about Goodreads reviews: Many of the reviews on this book had similar complaints as mine (and much more thorough and cleverly written)-- written by ordinary readers, not professional reviewers. In fact, the professionals gave South of Broad glowing reviews. Sometimes you wonder if these media people even read the books they review? Or do they just look at the author and say, "Oh yeah, he's good, here's my canned bit of praise for the back of the book"?
Have you ever read an acclaimed, bestselling book that got stellar reviews only to say "HUH?"
I am in love. With books. It's true. They are my passion, my life, my compass. I have other things I love, too, of course, like husband, family, God-- you know, the usual. But books!! Without them, I can't imagine who or what or where I would be in this life.
The fact that I can be one small part of the grand and glorious process of reading, writing, publishing, buying and selling books makes my skin tingle.
Today we have the very nice Terry Lynn Johnson visiting on my blog. Welcome, Terry, and thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions about the writing and publishing of Dogsled Dreams. And at the end is the summary of Terry's promotional campaign so don't miss that.
How long have you been writing? I started writing magazine articles a few years ago. I have several non-fiction articles published in outdoor magazines such as Adventure Kayak, as well as being a regular contributor to Dogs In Canada Magazine. Two years ago, I tackled my first novel and was lucky to find a publisher quite quickly--4RV Publishing.
Lucky you! Or should I say "talented you"!! Is Dogsled Dreams your first published book?
Yes, Dogsled Dreams is my debut novel. My second one is on sub right now with my agent, Caryn Wiseman of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. It is also a dogsledding adventure story.
How do you fit writing into your routine of work, family, book promotion, etc? Sometimes, this is difficult. I work full time, but I have a very supportive family. I don't write every day, but when I get on a roll, I tend to write for long periods of time. Unfortunately, my dog doesn't like that too much since our hiking time is greatly reduced.
Well, you must make time for hiking with your dog, as clearly he gives you story ideas! What was the time frame like, from editing to publication? The turn around time was speedy in publishing terms. It took me a month to write my first draft of DogsledDreams, then another month to finish polishing. I submitted it to twelve small presses, but received rejections or no responses. I then took another look at it, and revised my first chapter again. The next round of submissions I got a contract within six weeks. It took another year from that time to the release date - three months of that time spent working with the editor.
Thanks Terry, this is really interesting. I am wondering a few more things if you don't mind. When did you get your agent? After I got my contract for Dogsled Dreams, I wrote my second book, ICE DOGS, and really fell in love with it. I submitted it to a handful of agents, and received three responses within an hour of submitting! I signed with my agent four weeks later.
Wow, that is incredible! So maybe dogsledding stories are the new vampires? What kinds of marketing are you and your publisher doing for Dogsled Dreams? (Pay attention to this list, people)
My publicist, Kirsten Cappy of Curious City, has been very creative in her marketing ideas. So far, this is our list: 1. developed a booklet with the first chapter of Dogsled Dreams, jr. musher contest announcement, and a few reviews, and sent 1500 to many dogsled races throughout Canada and the States for distribution.
2. librarian listserve giveaway of Dogsled Dreams 3. junior musher video contest to be revealed on my website February 1, 2011. Winner will be voted on by teachers and readers. Hope to generate much interest! 4. press release distribution, sell-sheet distribution to bookstores and libraries 5. facebook ad campaign 6. other - blog tour, goodreads giveaway, book signing events at dogsled races, school visits, library readings, book trailer, bookmarks, Skype visits with classrooms via the Iditarod Education Department
You can learn more about Terry and her books at www.terrylynnjohnson.com and you can purchase DOGSLED DREAMS through the following links:
If you want to be famous then run for office and be a politician
If you want to be rich then become a plastic surgeon.
If you want to have people know your name then be a teacher.
If you want to make a difference in someone's life then have children.
If you want to work alone, feel like a freak, be misunderstood, wonder what the point is, always come up short of time and money, while writing stories that bubble up from within about characters you have never met but are strangely in love with, then be a writer.
I went back to finish my bachelor's degree at age 50. No real reason, just thought I should. My major was English and American Literature, because I love it and because studying great literature inspires me to write more than anything else.
My last semester, I took a folk lore class to fit in a requirement for my English major because I thought it would be something different than the usual English & American lit classes.
It led to interviewing my mom for a couple of folklore assignments, which led to Farm Girl, which led to getting published, which led to getting my novel, Uncut Diamonds, published 2 years later, which led to editing for WiDo yadayadayada. But it all began in that folklore class.
Last night I completed the final edit of House of Diamonds and emailed it to my editor. He has a new Nook and wants to review it on his Nook, so I sent it as a pdf. file. This is when I change from Published Author and Thoughtful Editor to Eager Writer.
Has he opened the file yet? Will he like it? I think it's perfect, it's done, complete, ready to go-- I hope he agrees! This is when time drags.What, it's only been 24 hours since I emailed it? How long should I wait before asking him if he's read it? Would Monday be too soon? This is when I need to chill. Who else can I get to read it while I'm waiting? I wonder how the cover design is coming? Should I start planning my blog tour?
This is when I find something else to occupy my time or I go crazy.
My dear mother, who was born January 18, 1917, saw the dawning of 2011. And then she passed away peacefully early on New Year's Day. I had hoped she might make it to her birthday, but at least she made it to 1/1/11. I congratulate her on a life well-lived. I feel very fortunate to have been her daughter.
Now she is once again with my dad who died 8 years ago, and with her parents, grandparents and many other loved ones on the other side.
This is Mother and me on the signing and speaking tour for Farm Girl in Nebraska, two years ago.
Lucille and Bill Jones, together again.
Little Lucille
She loved Christmas her whole life and always made it special.
Lucille on the fence that surrounded the family farm.
She adored her dad, who died when she was only 30. What a joyous reunion it must have been with so many loved ones welcoming her home.
Until we meet again, farewell to my beloved mother of infinite grace and beauty.
10. Most accept unagented submissions, which cuts down the time element on submissions. Important for those like me who see time running out like the sands in an hourglass and hey I know that's a cliched phrase from a soap opera but it fits here!
9. Direct relationship between writer and editor with no layers in between.
8. You have a small but experienced support team-- editors, designers and marketers to guide you toward publication.
7. My publishing contract is only two pages, simple enough to figure out on my own.
6. Creative control, not feeling like you're at the mercy or whim of big business.
5. Willing to work with inexperienced and debut writers, giving voice to those who might not have a chance otherwise.
4. Time is cut from submission to release since there's not a zillion other titles ahead of you.
3. They are committed, dedicated and passionate about their work, doing it for love not money, and it's exciting to be part of that.
2. It's still traditional publishing, only on a smaller scale and without an agent.
1. The personal feeling that you're working with real people who care about your book as much as you do.
Several of the arguments against the small press are becoming obsolete. Like-- they don't have the clout to get you into major bookstores. Well, if fewer and fewer people are even walking into bookstores to browse and discover the unknown novelist, what difference does it make?
And like-- the big publishers have the big marketing dollars. Don't get excited about that, it's reserved for celebrities with their tell-all books and proven best-selling authors.
And this one-- you need an agent to maneuver you through the contract. Maybe so, but...*see #7 above*
Or-- you don't have to market yourself with the big publishers. hahahahahahahahahahahaha
So clearly I'm a big fan of the small press. Not that everyone has to agree with me, of course, because this is how I see it not how you have to see it. Plus there are many paths that lead to publication. Good thing or we'd all be crowding on the same one and people could get hurt.
While agents and editors can lay it all out in their blogs and say pretty much anything, writers have to think about getting readers and followers and fans who will buy their books-- thus we are nice and pleasant. As I wrote about here. After all, we're writers, we hate rejection. Our entire careers are based on avoiding it.
Have you ever wanted to post something but feared going too far? Do you ever hold back thinking, "Better not say that. People who matter might get upset. What if AN AGENT reads this"?
I used to read a book to my kids called Worried Walrus, and when anyone in our family got excessively worried about something, we'd say they were a worried walrus. I think sometimes we writers are worried walruses, afraid of saying, doing or writing the wrong thing to hurt our chances at publication, attracting readers, or achieving success in our careers.
Yesterday I read a post that was brutally honest in expressing what the industry has done to this writer's head since she began. I won't summarize but you can go here to read it yourself if you haven't already. Altho many have looked up to Natalie Whipple as having it all-- the dream agent *no longer in the business*, an editor at a dream publisher who loved her story *didn't work out*, and now still out on submission *where many would kill to be*-- still, the entire process put her through hell and back until she had to pour it all out on her blog.
And as she wrote it I'll bet you anything she worried about saying "too much"--about sounding whiny or ungrateful, about offending someone in the industry, perhaps alienating her blog readers. But she had to let it out, so she wrote the post and struck a chord, getting a zillion comments.
Let's pretend there'd be no repercussions if you wrote a post like Natalie's. What would be on it? What would you say about the industry? What's on your worried walrus writer list?
By now you've heard about an exciting new release, Perilous (WiDo Publishing) by Tamara Hart Heiner.
Tamara Hart Heiner takes 4 teenage girls with their ordinary lives, and turns it all upside down for them. Jaci, Callie, Sara and Amanda get trapped into a wild ride that takes them from an everyday trip to the mall to a fight for their lives through the Canadian wilderness. You have no idea how this will play out. It's unpredictable. Tamara Hart Heiner knows how to plot and to write action, how to keep you turning pages when you should be turning out the light and going to sleep.
The story is told from Jaci's viewpoint, and she works well as a main character, especially when something turns up about her own family that makes you wonder who is her dad and what connection does he have with The Hand? The Hand is the villain you love to hate. He doesn't show up a lot but his power is far-reaching, and the scenes with him are chilling. Then there's the two surprise characters thrown in half way through to spice up the mix.
A major character is the detective following the case. I really enjoyed getting his viewpoint. I liked how Heiner developed him, making Perilous more appealing to those of us who tend to grab a detective mystery before a YA novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed Perilous, even when my heart was racing at each new twist. It is only $4.99 on Kindle, here's the link to purchase the ebook: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0045JLQCI
And Tamara is offering a contest where some lucky winner will get a free Kindle! Here's the details:
Book giveaway: The winner of this contest will be randomly chosen. Every
person who comments on any post during the blog tour will be entered into
a random drawing for a book. Which I can autograph, if they want. The
contest begins on Nov. 16 and ends on Dec. 15.
Kindle giveaway: This contest is point-based and begins Oct. 15 and ends
Dec. 15. Whoever has the most points wins the Kindle. There will only be
one Kindle given away.
Here are the points:
1 point: blog comment (can comment on all the blogs, multiple times, on
the tour)
1 point: follow my blog (http://tamarahartheiner.blogspot.com)
1 point: retweet
2 points: blog about the blog tour
5 points: purchase the book (ebook or paperback, must email me the
confirmation email) if you actually buy the book in the store you can
mail me a copy of the receipt.
Add up all your points as well as your proof (links, etc) and
email it to Tamara at the end of the blog tour (tamara at tamarahartheiner dot
com)
What are you waiting for? Buy a copy of Perilous and start reading, you will love this book! And maybe even win a Kindle!
