Passing on a Really Good One

Sarah of the Moon by Randy Mixter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Randy Mixter's tale, Sarah of the Moon, was nothing like what I expected. I was pleasantly surprised when I read the first chapter. When I found that much of it took place in an area and atmosphere of which I had no experience I began to get caught up in the story. Randy draws his characters well with broad brushstrokes without resorting to gimmicks or stereotypes except in the loosest way. The story of the boy from Baltimore and the enigmatic San Francisco Flower Child, Sarah, is as touching as any I have ever read. Moon Crossed lovers like Romeo and Juliet, their story is well worth reading.



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My drum, my beat, my ego?

Is it egotism when a writer attempts to get media coverage of his work through whatever means is possible? I'll admit I have tried everything that isn't illegal. If you are a first time novelist and trying to become established as a writer, it is about the only way. Unless you have the moola to pay a publicist to do it for you. Having written what I believe is a better than average book, but not having the bucks to spend in paying someone else to promote it, I have had no other options. My only reason for writing is to MAKE MONEY! Isn't that the reason most of us write? There are some altruists who believe they should write only for the art of it, but they are probably unknown, and in a very small minority. I am not looking to be a famous author, only a successful one. I definitely want fortune ($$). If I have to be a self salesman to get people to buy my work, so be it! I do not apologize for what I have had to do to get some recognition. I blow my own horn, and march to my own beat. That is who I am. That is what I do. If anybody doesn't like my methods, they can suck it up and move on. It is not egotism, it is business, and writing is a business just like any other. You're in it to make money, or you are wasting your time.

Lost friendship

Probably my biggest regret is letting people who have been friends to me slip out of my life. Sadly, there have been too many of them, but the one I miss the most is Mike Blachowicz. From about the age of nine until he entered college and moved away, Mike, Al Ousborne, and I were like the Three Musketeers, almost joined at the hip. We did all kinds of things together, and mostly all were fun. We did occasionally help a bit at Al's grandparents Chesapeake Bay shorefront home, and, normally, followed that up with speedboat rides, swimming and water skiing. Mike and Al both went to college, but I didn't. I got married and worked at Sears in their Parts and Service Department. Gradually, we lost contact and went our separate ways. Al did a stint in the Navy as a dentist, his chosen career, and Mike became an engineer and worked for DuPont living in Delaware. When Albert moved back to Baltimore after the Navy, he once again became my dentist (he had worked on me while in dental school). Neither of us had any kind of contact with Mike until about two years ago when during a dental visit, Al and I discussed how much we would like to get together after all these years. When I called Mike to set up a meeting, he was not interested. I was desolate. Maybe it was because of the way I put it when I talked to him about it, but I never made a second attempt. All I know, now, is there is a hole in my heart where Mike used to live.

Telling a book by its cover

Ever wish you had two heads and four hands? Lately, that is how it has been for me. I am simultaneously trying to promote my novel, Double Trouble on Corned Beef Row, and write a new one for young adults. To promote the current one, I have had designed new covers to use at online vendors like Amazon and Barnes and Noble with their ebook versions. The hard copy version will retain its original cover that shows Attman's Deli's storefront. Marc Attman helped me a great deal with the launching of the novel with a book signing party at his deli. I believe I owe him that much. However, the existing cover does not show well when displayed at the postage stamp size used by the book sellers websites. Ergo, the new designs. They are more readable and use colors that attract the eye. Unless an author already has a large following, he/she needs visibility when their product pops up in an online search. Writers that already have a large fan base will only need name recognition for potential buyers to look at whatever it is they have written. Unknowns have to do anything they can to draw the prospect's eye. That includes changing the book's cover if necessary.
On my website, http://jamesbattee.books.officelive.com, I am doing a survey of several new cover options and have added sample chapters to read. A random respondent will receive a signed copy of the book. All will receive the author's gratitude.

Too long since my last post

Wow! Where has the time gone? I have been so wrapped up in trying to promote my book with book talks, book signings and such, and with craft fairs, promoting my handmade jewelry, and that I have not taken the time to keep up with my blog. Sorry about that. The experts tell me that blogging is a good way to promote the books that I write, but sometimes it just becomes a chore. I do a lot of my promoting on facebook, so the blog has suffered. The new book I started is for young adults, and I am eight chapters into it. The writing is not going as fast as I would like because I keep making changes in the plot. I guess this is not unusual for most writers even if, like me, they have a prepared outline to follow. It seems, every time I make a change I have to go back and make changes elsewhere. This, of course, means a lot of time spent on rewriting. It is making the going slower, but, hopefully, a better end product.
While looking for something altogether different on the Internet, I found something that makes writing e-books much easier. It is an extension to Openoffice.org's Writer. It is called Writer2ePub. Since I have not had a chance to fully assess it, I shall have to await doing so before making any comments as to its efficacy. On the surface, it appears to have all of the elements required to produce a finished ePub product. My first book, Double Trouble on Corned Beef Row, is done in several electronic versions including ePub. Since electronic publishing is rapidly gaining ground, and printed books are losing it, it makes sense to make sure that anything you write goes into electronic formats, ePub and Adobe's .pdf being the most popular. ePub is the format used on the Apple iPad, Sony, and many other popular readers. Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com both have proprietary formats, which the writer is compelled to use. With the proliferation of e-readers, it only makes sense to make your product available to this wide audience. Many people still value the printed page, but with the use of e-Readers, Smart Phones, the Kindle, and the Nook that can download a book from the Internet to be read while traveling on an airplane, waiting in line at a doctor's office or for an appointment with a client, this option is being used more frequently. My advice, do whatever it takes to get your writing into the hands of the largest audience possible, and it looks to me like electronic publishing should not be overlooked. I will experiment with Writer2ePub and will report my findings later.

The Perils of Self Publishing-Part III

It nearly takes a miracle to get national attention. Unless you have an agent, or a publisher with a marketing department to make the necessary contacts, you are left to your own devices. Self-publishing still carries something of a stigma in the eyes of the national press. Getting reviewers for national magazines or newspapers to look at your product is next to impossible. But not totally. Sometimes the most unlikely sources will actually want to take a look at them. When my stepson read my book, Double Trouble on Corned Beef Row, he interpreted it as a spy novel. I did not write it as one even though it contains spies. He suggested that I contact Eye Spy Magazine, which is circulated internationally, for a review. At first, I passed this off as an impossibility, but when I contacted their website, they wanted to take a look at it. I mailed the book, per their instructions, to England, where the magazine is published. A couple of weeks later, I received a phone message from the editor saying that he liked the book and would recommend it (which he did in the July/August 2011 issue). Whether or not this will mean a boost in book sales is yet to be seen, as it is too early to tell. However, one good magazine review can lead to another, and that is what I hope will happen. The task now is to spread the word of this review to other publications. Other attempts to publicize the work are still ongoing. Attempting to get coverage by local television and radio, doing book talks and personal appearances, and reviewing works by other authors are other ways of getting your name and product into the public eye. Using blogs like this one and social media such as FaceBook and Twitter are other useful ways of spreading the word. If you are a self publisher, you cannot rest on your laurels, you must keep plugging away at every opportunity. If you snooze, you lose, and, if an opportunity is lost, you may never have it again.

The Perils of Self Publishing-Part II

As a self publisher, promoting your book is probably the most difficult thing you're going to have to do once you have put into the final form. How you do that is up to your own ingenuity. Doing personal appearances and book signings is always a good avenue for publicity, especially if you can get it into the newspaper or mentioned on TV or radio. Blogs, like this one, are another good way of spreading the word. Using social media like FaceBook and Twitter give you inexpensive ways to put your message in front of larger crowds. FaceBook, for instance, gives you the possibility of having a fan page that enables you to announce to a larger audience whatever events you wish to publicize. There are, also, many free websites available. They are easy to set up, as most of them provide templates that you can use to design a site that looks fairly professional. I used Microsoft's OfficeLive.com for mine, and to me, it looks pretty good. Making sure that press releases are sent out prior to any personal appearances will ensure that the media is, at the least, informed. I have had relative success using this strategy with several of the smaller local publications. If you can form a relationship with any of the local media people, that will greatly enhance the possibility of having your events publicized. Don't turn down the opportunity to speak to book clubs or any local organization that likes having guest speakers talk to their members. Book clubs are good in that prior to addressing them, their members will buy copies of your book for discussion purposes, and if they like it, the word-of-mouth advertising that comes through them is priceless. The problem with all of these things is they require vast amounts of time. Time away from your major pursuit, which is, hopefully, working on your next writing project. The biggest trick is getting national attention, and if getting the word out locally is difficult, getting it out nationally is damn near impossible. That is the subject for the next post.