Tuesday, November 26, 2013

What new authors can learn from reading Storm Front

John Sandford’s Storm Front

What new authors can learn from reading Storm Front







            I’ve been a Sandford fan from day one. His Prey series has been my favorite; I eagerly awaited each new release. Unfortunately, some of his later works have not been favorites, and with Storm Front, Sandford’s latest, the author has hit an all time low. If I hadn’t been a long-time fan, I’d never have finished the book.
            Since The DaVinci Code became a blockbusting success, everyone’s writing books about an ancient relic that if made public, would change the world of religion, as we know it. For me, most of them are nothing but 400 page chase scenes. Not my personal taste, but they have become extremely popular.
            Who could imagine Sandford fitting this type of storyline into a Virgil Flowers novel! Storm Front stars Virgil Flowers, a character who, like Lucas Davenport before Sandford married him off, is a super-sleuth, and super-successful womanizer. The story opens when Flowers is assigned a case involving an ancient inscribed stone, whose message, if shared with the world, would create chaos in the middle east. The man who stole the stone from a dig in Israel is from Minnesota and is known to have returned to the US with it. Flowers is assigned the case, begins looking for the man, finds the thief missing (of course!) and within a matter of days, he encounters at least four factions (all armed and dangerous) that are also in pursuit of the stone, which is estimated to be worth millions of dollars.
            Now, despite the theme of the book, the story does captivate the reader. Flowers is an interesting character, and I did enjoy his investigation and interplay with the people seeking the stone. About halfway through, however, something happened, that if I weren’t a devoted Sandford fan, I would have quit reading the book.
            When Flowers finally gets the stone in his possession, did he find a vault to put it in? A bank? A police station? A Brinks truck? People have been shot at, nearly killed, assassins are part of the chase, (not to mention, once more, the thing is worth millions), and Flowers takes it home with him and stores it in his dishwasher. The reader is expected to believe this character, solver of all crimes, would be that stupid. It’s no surprise to the reader that the stone is stolen during the night.
            After that I had a hard time forcing myself to finish reading the book, but I finally made it through, extremely disappointed with the story.
            I couldn’t help but think of the valuable lessons new authors can learn from Storm Front.
1.    Sandford’s writing has two huge strengths: interesting characters and rich dialogue. These two things that can go a long way toward making a so-so story an interesting read.
2.    No matter how hackneyed the theme, Sandford, at least in the first half of the book, captivates the reader, proving once again the old adage: there are no new stories—just new ways of crafting them for the reader.
3.    Be warned that the John Sandfords of the literary world are the only ones who can get away with a character doing something as idiotic as storing the relic at home. Beware of making your characters behave as if they had an IQ the size of their waistline, or as a fellow writer puts it, too dumb to live.

Dear Readers,
Long before I became an author myself, I was a reader, and still am. I love suspense and follow most of the great suspense authors. I’m making an effort to learn from the books I read and to share these lessons with you.
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful Thanksgiving,

Marla

Monday, November 4, 2013

DO FREE-DAY eBOOK PROMOTIONS STILL WORK?

DO FREE-DAY eBOOK PROMOTIONS STILL WORK?
 

The death of the free days benefit


  



  
I’ve watched my free downloads during a three-day KDP free-days promotion drop from totals as high as 20,000, to as few downloads as 9,000 in my most recent attempt last month. The first few times I used free days, I sold as many as 500 books post-free-days, and my latest promo sold almost none. And since I’ve been an advocate of paying for ads which promote these free days, this latest one not only sold no books, it cost me money!
            Why aren’t the free-day promotions benefitting authors anymore? There are multiple reasons for this change, among them:
1.     More and more authors are becoming independent publishers of their books. The competition for eBook sales has increased exponentially over the last two years.
2.     All the doomsayers who were against using free promotions began to see the amazing results other authors were getting and jumped on the bandwagon. The bandwagon crumpled!
3.     New online sites promoting free eBooks have sprung up like a crop of mushrooms during the rainy season. Readers looking for free books have become overwhelmed with choices.
4.     This wild expansion of promotional sites for free eBooks diluted the benefit of advertising free-day promotions.
5.     Over time, readers who’d been snarfing up free books by the dozens, discovered their eReaders packed with choices; why, they asked themselves, should I keep adding titles when I don’t have time to read the ones I have? The exhilaration of accumulating free eBooks has waned with the over-saturation of free eBooks.
6.     Since the inception of their KDP Select free day promotions, Amazon has changed how it calculates the benefit of free sales versus paid sales. I cannot tell you how Amazon does does it, as they hold this information rather close to their large vest!
Is all lost for the independent author? It’s hard to say, although as it becomes more and more difficult to promote one’s work, the pendulum will likely swing the other way as many authors get discouraged and drop out of the sales arena. Those who prevail will be the ones with the fiercest determination, the thickest skin, and the best product.
            Amazon’s KDP Select program is trying to help authors by instituting a new promotional plan called the Countdown. Rather than promote books free, authors will be able to promote them at discounted rates over the period of a few days to a week, until the cost of the book resumes its original price. Will this bring new life to book sales?

Dear Readers,
Many of you are fellow authors with the same marketing struggles. It’s easy to get discouraged, if not downright depressed. It’s an ugly place to be. I know, because I’m stuck in that place right now.
My spouse has reminded me that any business, (which we are if we’re trying to sell our writing) will have its ups and downs. Success is seldom on a constant, upward plane.
            I’ve picked myself up with this thought; now is a good time to focus on my writing, my newest novel and my bi-weekly blogs. It may be a good time to step back, regroup, and develop a plan for 2014!
Stick with it!

Marla