Eldon Farrell's Blog: The Writer's Craft

Here at the start of another new year, as we all set goals we’d like to accomplish in 2019, I’d like to suggest something a little different. Throughout this year I will be participating in a genre challenge. What is that, you ask?

All too often, I find, readers settle into what they like to read—what’s comfortable for them. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, it does leave so much untouched. As a thriller writer, I read, not surprisingly, thrillers. But in order to grow as a writer, and as a reader, this year I’m challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone.

This year I will attempt to read four books outside of the genres I normally read. I will be reading one per quarter and I challenge any other writer or reader who views this post to do the same. Expand your horizons beyond the familiar and who knows what you might find? What you might learn? Or what you might love?

To start things off, here in the soon-to-be season of Valentine’s Day, I’m reading a romance book. This is far afield from my normal reads, but I look forward to seeing how a romance writer maintains a reader’s interest when the “happily ever after” is never in doubt. And without a doubt, given the size of the market, many readers interest is maintained.

Check out my genre challenge shelf here on Goodreads to keep up to date with the books and genres I choose. And by all means, join me on this journey. If you can’t commit to four books, commit to one. Comment below if you’ll join me on this reading odyssey, and if you do, I look forward to hearing what you thought of the books you chose outside your own comfort zones!!

While I can certainly understand the desire to sell books, I have to wonder if this is a new low for authors out there?

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

As you can see at that link, I reviewed a book by the esteemed journalism icon Bob Woodward. I gave it five stars. As you can also see in the comments, one Michael Hughes, took it upon himself to pitch his book to me. Never mind the fact of who Bob Woodward is, and the absurdity of comparing yourself to him, the genre doesn't even match. You're pitching me a fiction novel on the review of a non-fiction book.

And, I'm not alone in this. From what I can see, Michael Hughes has spammed any and all authors who happened to review this book on Trump. And spam is what it is. Take note of what not to do. If you're starting out and desperate for sales (we've all been there) don't pitch your book on someone else's review. It's sleazy. It's cheap. And it won't get you a sale.

It will get you disregarded.

I’m going to set aside my author hat, if I can here for a moment. I’m writing today as a reader and a lover of words.

I’ve been a member of Goodreads for almost three years now, and have found there is a lot the site does well. The groups, or communities, I’ve discovered on here are all outstanding and a lot of fun. The support and sense of belonging, not only makes reading more enjoyable, but goes a long way towards helping to find that next great read. All that said though, there is one way the experience could be improved.

I don’t know how many of you receive the updates from the official GR blog—maybe everyone does by default. About once a month, I find a list of book recommendations in my inbox based on my genre preferences. It’s nice, but, honestly, it rarely helps me find that next great read. The reason why, is at once obvious, when you think about it. The email is tailored to each user’s preferences and lets them know about new releases in their specified genres. Well, if they’re anything like me, they already know when the next mega-bestseller by their favorite author is due to hit the shelves.

What I want to know about is the next BIG thing from an author new to me. Goodreads used to foster an easy way to do this amongst the community. Whenever you finished reading a book, after you posted your rating/review you were presented with the option of recommending the book to individuals on your friends list. It was a neat feature! You can still recommend books to friends on here, but it requires a number more clicks, and, well we all know numbers show most people won’t make those extra clicks. And that’s a shame, because how many great books are we all missing out on now?

So, what can be done?

I’d love to see the GR blog start to serve more than just the brand name authors, for one. There are so many talented authors on this site that no one has heard of. Some days, I swear there’s more authors on here than readers. Goodreads talks up the value of promotion to this army of unknowns and then hides the recommendation feature, prices the giveaway out of most of their ranges, and only promotes famous authors on their blog to the vast number of voracious readers on this site. Of course, I understand that not every author can be featured. There’s far too many of us on here for that. But, some could be given a leg up. Some could be given a chance to shine.

Why doesn’t Goodreads offer more to the independent authors who frequent this site? When it’s award time, where is the indie read category? When it’s time for those new release emails, where is the indie representation? Goodreads could run polls for readers to vote on the large number of indie releases and have the top ten featured. Or top five. Or whatever number they want. It would help readers discover new voices and books and give the unknowns visibility. It’s win-win.

So, come on Goodreads! You have how many books on this site, again? Branch outside of the big traditionally published bestsellers and give your readers something new to love.

And, on the topic of something new to love, let me start the ball rolling. Check out this new release from a talented, young fantasy author. If fantasy is your thing, and you’re tired of the same old story, give this fresh voice a try!!






You’ll find it on my to-read pile, for sure :)

In advance of next month's release of my new novel, I'd like to offer my followers the chance to read an ARC copy of my latest release.

I'll be providing free copies of Singularity through BookFunnel at the following page: BookHip.com/BVNLZB

A little bit about the book from the back copy:

It takes a certain kind of evil to save this city.

Nathan Miller owns the streets of Union City. A rogue detective protected by a corrupt establishment—his rule is absolute. But nothing lasts forever.

Someone has betrayed him and now blog sensation Alexis King knows things she shouldn’t. Coming after Nathan she threatens his authority, giving the elite cause to question his worth.

To protect his reign, Nathan must silence his betrayer before Alexis learns enough to topple him. But he’s no longer the only thing to fear in the rotten underbelly of 2035. His search uncovers an evil preying upon the displaced beyond the city wall—making Nathan the next target.
_____

Obviously, it would be awesome if interested readers could leave an honest review, but of course, there is no obligation to do so.

Hope you enjoy the read :)

It's an exciting day today!! I invite you to check out the cover reveal and a sample chapter to my upcoming release - Singularity.

Both can be found here

Big thanks to Joyce, the Button Eyed Reader for posting and sharing my news!!

Feel free to comment below on what you think of the cover. As always, I love to hear from my followers.

Hello to all my followers!! It seems like forever since I posted on here so I thought what better time than now to share with you what has been keeping me so busy.

As mentioned in my last entry, I've been dedicating my time to a new novel and today I'd like to grant you all an exclusive sneak peek (consider it a world premiere if you'd like lol) of the first chapter from Singularity which I hope to have released next year.

For those who've read my other work you'll notice right away that this is nothing like anything I've done before. The voice and the tense are brand new; a much less descriptive voice and the more conventional past tense will, I hope, resonate with readers.

As always feel free to share your thoughts and comments. And now without further ado I invite you to check out the first chapter posted on my website here:

https://eldonfarrellauthor.com/2017/0...

Enjoy!!

As the title indicates this will be my final entry here until some time in the new year. I've enjoyed these blogs and done my best to keep to a weekly schedule (though it's faltered as of late) but now time constraints are forcing me to go on hiatus here.

While I'm away I'll be reworking my next novel to remove a plot thread that will no longer work for me. It's tedious work, as all authors know, and will require much of my time and concentration.

Before I go though...one final entry.

This past year I have seen the very best and the very worst that independent publishing can offer and everything in between. I have been amazed by the singular talents of authors and appalled by the lack of care from others. It's like the dirty little secret of the business...we all know there are terrible books out there that should never have been published yet we never speak of them.

I want to speak of them today.

I've heard from reviewers I know that they won't review independent books because the quality is not there in a lot of cases. Worse than that, the author's themselves have been known to personally attack a reviewer who didn't rate them the way they wanted. Let me be clear; this behaviour is reprehensible.

Reviewers need the freedom to rate and review as they see fit for the practice to have any worth at all. They may not like your book. You may not like that. But that is the business you enter when you click publish. Many, many authors understand this but the few that don't do damage to us all. Every reviewer who closes their doors to all indie authors because of these bad apples is one less avenue available to all of us.

It's time to stop not talking about it. It's time to stop fearing reprisal and start telling it like it is. It's hard to slam an author; I know. I've found myself in the position this year as well. I've lost contacts over telling the truth. It isn't easy to review someone else's hard work and have to tell them that it just isn't good.

But it has to be done.

And I'm not talking about subjective opinions here. What one person likes another won't. We all get that. But show me the reader that likes to read poor grammar, typos, spelling mistakes, and other editing gaffs. These are not subjective...they're factual. It's hard to write and hard to hear but a prerequisite of this business of publishing is a thick skin. You won't survive without it.

And just so you know, I'm certainly not above it all. A Goodreads friend of mine, Joanna Elm, read and reviewed Stillness this year. She was my first 3 star review. She wrote in part that I had a "grammatical blind spot which is found throughout the book of confusing plurals with the possessive." Did I like to hear this? What do you think?

My kneejerk reaction was that she was wrong; there's no way. Did I lash out at her or break off all contact? No I did not. I decided to see if she was right and by God you know what...she was. I had no idea that I had that blind spot. If Joanna was a less honest reviewer I still wouldn't know. But because she told me the truth I was able to go over my story again and (hopefully) fix all those errors.

For young authors out there looking for how to handle criticism, I would suggest trying to learn from it. I would suggest subjecting your prized manuscript to an editing process before hastily clicking publish.

I would submit to all authors out there that for every terribly formatted and poorly edited book that somebody reads, we all lose at least 5 potential readers because you know they'll tell people all about that terrible book they read.

Keep that in mind before you publish. Sure you may be able to coax your friends and family and maybe even a few others into giving you the reviews you want but in the end, nobody knows enough people to keep the truth about your book from rising to the fore.

So don't blame the person who tells you the truth for telling it to you. Thank them...more importantly learn from them. Reviews can help you a lot more than just getting your name out there.

If you're going to publish then take the time and do it right. Do yourself a favour and polish your book before publishing it. Do us all a favour because we are all in this together. If we ever want people to look at independent novels as having the same quality as traditionally published novels then we need to make sure they do.

Every. Last. One. Of. Us.

This week I thought I'd take a stab at sparking a discussion here on The Writer's Craft.

We all read books (or else you wouldn't be here right?) but the question is what type of narratives do you prefer in your fiction reading? Do you love reading the ultra-detailed, incredibly accurate story or do you prefer a little more imagination in your reading?

Obviously your answer will depend somewhat upon the genre of book you read but no matter the genre, every story can either be described as realistic or unrealistic. Even with sci-fi and fantasy, stories are either grounded in scientific theory or plainly the territory of the author's wild imagination.

As a thriller fan I personally prefer stories that have enough realism to be believable but are not full of technical jargon and procedures that may be factual but add little to the overall story. For example, it's enough for me to be shown the CSI working a crime scene...I don't need to know each step they take in processing the scene.

The book I'm currently reading falls into this category. Shari Lapena does a masterful job writing her lead detective in The Couple Next Door.





Reading the scenes involving Detective Rasbach you're left feeling as if Lapena were an insider; owning a complete understanding of police procedure. This may or may not be the case but either way the minutia of police procedure never fully takes center stage in this book; the details never get in the way of the narrative. You're provided with enough detail to believe in the realism of the story but not so much that it overwhelms you. It's a novel after all...not a procedural handbook.

In the end I guess I'm just a big believer in the old adage; never let the truth get in the way of a good story :) If an idea works for the story that is being told I don't think it should be tossed out simply because it doesn't accurately reflect the real world. If I'm reading fiction, I give the author a little creative licence.

But that's just me and my opinion; I'm far more interested in your opinions. So I put it to you my followers...details or imagination - you decide!

I checked the calendar the other day only to realize that 7 months have flown by since I started this journey to becoming a published author. So much has happened in that time! So this week I thought what could be better than recapping the road so far and sharing all the ups and downs, the pitfalls and the promise with all of you!!

It doesn’t require much elaboration but needless to say, when I clicked on that “Publish” button back at the beginning of April it was an amazing feeling and one every indie author knows well. A highlight right off the top :) But of course every indie author knows the feeling that follows that as well…akin to “what now?” It doesn’t take long for the glow to fade and you to realize that you’re just another drop in the ocean of authors out there and gaining visibility will be much harder than clicking that publish button ever was.

Still, while visibility was a problem then and remains so now, I have to say when that 1st review from a complete stranger rolled in on Amazon…I was over the moon. It took a little more than a month but seeing those 5 stars up there and reading the thoughtful review that so perfectly captured what I was trying to say when I wrote Stillness is a feeling that is beyond words. My fellow authors out there know what I mean.

Another highlight early on was when I somehow found myself on an Amazon bestseller list next to the likes of Michael Palmer and Tess Gerritsen! It didn’t last long and I still don’t know how the algorithm placed me there but for that brief shining moment I got to rub shoulders (so to speak) with an idol of mine. Definitely one of the highs so far :)

Then came the moment that as writers we all dream about; actually holding a copy of your book in your hands. Digital media is all well and good but nothing compares to holding your work in your hands and knowing that in some small way…you’ve made it. I owe Createspace a debt of gratitude for enabling me to fulfill a lifelong dream.

I have to say that this amazing experience wouldn’t be the same either without Goodreads being a part of it. I don’t recall exactly how I stumbled upon this place but I’m so glad that I did!! I cherish the connections I’ve made here with my GR friends and am grateful every day for every one of my followers. Back when I joined I couldn’t imagine reaching 48 followers and yet here I am on the way to 50!

Being able to connect with so many people from all walks of life and every corner of the globe has been a real highlight of this journey for me. I’ve met some amazing people and terrific authors through this site and even managed to cultivate something of a support group that I can go to with questions. Nobody does this alone and I have received a lot of help and support along the way so far that means the world to me. A BIG thank you to everyone who has helped me out—you know who you are!!

I found the groups here to be beneficial as well; for those starting out take a look around as there are many helpful groups here. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few in particular though. Support for Indie Authors is a wonderfully welcoming place and aided me early on by allowing me to participate in Hash’s Bash; a promotional extravaganza full of talented authors. Wealth, Writing, World has grown to become my go to group here full of lots of amazingly talented writers and supportive readers. It was through this group that I met up with Mehreen Ahmed and Denise Baer who were both instrumental in producing No Bounds, a short story anthology to which I was able to contribute. Collaborating with them and so many other talented indie authors was a real high point so far.

I also need to mention the first group I joined here on Goodreads, A Good Thriller. A large group but a fun group and helpful as well. Having Stillness as the BOTM there this month has helped boost my profile a little and for that I’m grateful.

I believe it was also through A Good Thriller that I met Dr. Alex Lettau. Dr. Lettau is a former real life medical epidemiologist who actually worked for the CDC in the Epidemic Intelligence Service. He was gracious enough to read Stillness and provide me with copious notes that enabled me to make numerous changes to enhance the realism of my story. Having a real insider read my words was exciting and tremendously beneficial. Many thanks Alex!!

A special shout out here to Jessica Hernandez, who interviewed me on her blog Coffee with Architects of Worlds Afar back in June. Jessica was generous enough to interview me and help me along the road as she has done with countless other indie authors. A fantastic interviewer; the experience was greatly appreciated!!

Not everything has worked out the way I planned of course. I participated in review rounds as mentioned in a prior post that just didn’t work for me. In many ways I continue to be the invisible man on Amazon after having gone through a period of stagnant sales before changing up my price. And as was bound to happen eventually…some critical reviews have begun to be posted.

The most important thing I’ve learned so far though is…grace under fire. It’s never easy to read that people didn’t connect with your story. You spend so long writing it and perfecting it that it’s almost inconceivable to you that someone won’t like it. But it will happen. And when it does…I’ve learned you just need to accept it. You can’t please everyone right? And if you’re going to last in this business than you’re going to get lots of reviews and they won’t all be positive. Take the good with the bad, learn what you can from both, and carry on.

So I’m sure I’ve missed something along the way but on a ride this wild you can’t remember everything. Three books published now, I look to the future and the new experiences to come. I do so with the certainty that it’s not the destination of best seller lists and thousands of sales a day that matters (though I’m sure it would be nice!) You may never get there—I may never get there. But by trying you get to experience the best that this life has to offer.

Truly, the journey means so much more than the destination.

Imagine with me for a minute if you will. You work for a multi-national manufacturing company as part of the management board. You're sitting around the large conference table as the board meets to discuss the major issue facing the corporation. The issue being...declining sales. The question is posed: "What can be done to increase sales?"

You look to your left, you look to your right, you can hear the crickets chirping. No one says anything until the slacker in the corner chimes in with "If we can't sell the product, let's just give it away!"

I'm sure you can picture him, every company has one of these privileged type employees who is only there because of who they know or because they are someone's nephew. Their comment is beyond ludicrous and certainly not helpful.

Right?

Unless of course your product happens to be books. In that case giving it away seems to be the go to answer.

I've read numerous how to books and articles on self-publishing lately and the one thing all the "experts" seem to agree on is that if you want to succeed you need to give your book away. In what other industry is this the number 1 strategy? If you were a new clothing designer would you manufacture shirts to give away? How would you cover your costs?

And I can almost hear some of you out there asking, "Well what about free samples? Don't designers let celebrities wear their clothing for free?" Different situation, but let's go with it. In that case what the designer is hoping to gain is exposure that will lead to sales because people want to be like the rich and famous.

If I run a free promotion for my books, is it the same thing? I've read that we should consider free books as a cost of doing business. That they are like a loss leader in a grocery store. You give them away but make it up on other sales.

The problem being of course, a grocery store has many products and I only have one. If it's free...it's not a loss leader it's just a loss. So why do we do it?

Many authors will report that it's a good way to get your book out there; to get people talking about you. I just completed a free promotion for Stillness and without any outside promotion or cost, received over 300 downloads. Pretty good I think until I wonder...is that 300 sales I just gave away?

The problem is that we all have free books on our readers that counted as downloads for the authors but how many of us actually read those books? How many of us simply download them and forget them? That isn't exactly getting people talking about us is it?

A number of years ago this strategy of giving your book away made more sense because Amazon allowed those downloads to count as sales. That meant your sales rank got a boost and as a result your visibility rose. When it went back to price you could expect a sales bump. Now that is a loss leader. But today, Amazon has the free downloads separate from sales and any after promo boost is just coincidental.

The game has changed so why has the strategy remained the same?

I want to be clear that I'm not against giving my book away. I have given away almost 700 copies since I started this publishing odyssey. I want people to read my words more than I want to get rich.

I just think that for those authors out there who want to make a living at this, giving it away shouldn't be their first choice. There has to be a better way right?

You could give away the first hundred pages and then if the reader likes it, they buy the rest. You could price your book at $5.99 or $6.99 and then have a sale at $1.99 so the discount is significant. In both those instances at least revenue is generated.

I think it's time to change the strategy, it's time to make free promotions a second or third option for your marketing plan.

What do you think?