What Writers and Publishers could learn from Public Librarians

You know one of the least-happy jobs a librarian has is the act of weeding the collection. People like new. We've only got a certain amount of space on our shelves. So, right now if a book on my shelf hasn't been read in 3 years (unless it's a classic) it goes down into our booksale. Today I found a great book I'd never heard of about a Native American and her fascination with the Florida panther. Much of it seemed like a root from which the Jane Yellowrock books could have grown. Nobody had read it since 2010. I'm still trying to decide...should I put it back out? Try to promote it? Or save my time and effort for the new books I get on a regular basis.

Secrets to gaining Readers at the Library:

1. Give an interesting title. If you plan an series (and you should), find a way to connect the books by title.

2. Beg, plead, work at getting decent artwork for your books. Make sure the characters on the cover match what is inside...and don't get too artsy with it. You may think a plain black cover with shiny leaves swirling across it (also in black) and a completely non-descriptive title is cool. Mainly it gets ignored. You are not Metallica--and even Metallica didn't do their first album that way.

3. Make sure your publisher sends out reading copies and pushes Booklist and Library Journal to review your work. 90% of the stuff I buy comes from a couple of resources...because I don't have the time to search 50 magazines for a good book review.

4. Write well and OFTEN. If you wait beyond 2 years for a new book in a series...people will find somebody else to read. So many of the books I had to weed were parts of series with only one or two books. Each time you write a new book in a series it attracts new readers who then go back and read the others in your series. It's a bit like dropping a stone in water--the ripples go on and on. Nora Roberts and James Patterson are NOT the best writers I've ever read--just the most prolific. They are the McDonald's of adult fiction. When a patron needs a new book...why THERE is a new Patterson! And a few weeks later...and a month later...Now I know most people aren't that prolific (and don't have a stable of authors to co-author with them) and I'm kind of glad--because taking time leads to better books IMHO...but don't play with your love child for 4 or 5 years after that first hit...most people won't care and you'll be back hoping for a readership.

5. Too thin is not good...neither is too thick. Sherrilyn Kenyon gets away with 900 pg monsters because she has been writing for a long time and has a huge audience of Menyons. Some mainstream authors write little Christmas gift books...yeah, people buy them, but not as many as you might think and I've got 5 copies of each of them in the library's used book sale--because nobody keeps them. And that includes J.K. Rowling. It's making me cringe to realize publishers are calling any fantasy book with kids in it "the next Harry Potter."

6. Friends help. Get folks to review your books on the myriad blogs, booksellers websites, and other online resources. Buy copies of the first book in a series and gift it to your local library...and be sure to talk to the manager about why the book is worth having. You may not get the book in that library--but I bet a new paperback definitely will find a place if they don't already own it. No public libraries are so well off to reject a new paperback of a reviewed author (and yes, REVIEWED is important...we have to justify our purchases and our collection. If you bring your personal "great American novel" and haven't gotten a decent review we can source...we won't put it into the collection...count on it).

7. If you have a fondness for genre fiction...please write that. People read mysteries, thrillers, romances, fantasy, urban fantasy, historical, science fiction, and occasionally westerns. They read them in bunches and tons. For every person checking out one non-genre fiction book, I've got someone else checking out 5 historical romance novels, 10 thrillers and 40 mysteries. I LOVE the mixing of genres...adding mystery and romance to an urban fantasy (thank you Faith Hunter) or alternative history with fantasy (thank you Naomi Novik) makes my job easier (and harder) as I attempt to draw people across genre lines to give them new books and authors to enjoy. :)

8. If you have any influence with your local libraries...ask them to put your favorite author on the Baker & Taylor "automatically yours" list. Any author on that list in the system will have every new book they write bought for the system--often multiple copies.

Good luck!

Al-PhA-BET

You know, anyone who has gone to school has learned the alphabet...that's a given. If you don't know the "Alphabet Song" by the time you're 4, there is something wrong with you. And yet, I have people coming into the library who CAN'T find a book on the shelf...in alphabetical order by last name. How HARD IS IT???? 

I've seen people walk down a row, staring at the top shelf and completely ignoring the shelves beneath. I've seen people (young and perfectly able to bend at the waist and look) who NEVER find books on the bottom shelf. How many people don't know how a BOOKSHELF works?????

Dang. Are you stupid or lazy or BOTH!

Please parents...consider your children's lives once you quit doing everything for them. Let them look first...and if they need help, teach them to come to me to ask. THAT will do more to help them in school than anything you can do by frantically looking at the piece of paper they handed you with their assignment on it and expecting me to find everything they need while they are off at soccer practice.

You are NOT doing them a favor!

I can look at the children coming into my library and have a good idea who will do well in school. They are the ones whose parents patiently help them look for books, but give them space to look first. The ones who hop up on the stool and search for what they want...and at age 9 can put them on hold too. The ones who say "please" and "thank you" when I help them. Resourcefulness and politeness...two major elements to future success. :)

Here's hoping kids don't lose the ability to search alphabetically because online they can just put in a word and have everything handed to them on Wiki...(they think).

HRUMPH!

"Blood Trade" Yellow-Rocks!

Faith! I don't know how you do it, but you keep me loving your Jane Yellowrock series, and it never gets stale.

Blood Trade brings in all those familiar elements...Jane on Bitsa, Beast-humor, Alpha males acting like alpha males...and still Jane gets the best of them...and the BEST of them. This latest story brings in a new form of vamp...ire, some really scary fights and lots of rotting dead bodies (and NO, I don't mean zombies...in the words of a friend "zombies are getting old...quit beating a dead horse and decapitate it already!"). It also has some amazing riffs on friendship, relationships and family--something I really love about Faith's books.

Part of what makes Jane Yellowrock such a great character is her deep need for family. She deeply and absolutely connects with her work partners, honors the elderly with all the old-fashioned traditionalism of her Cherokee heritage (as we all should), and pushes away the pain of wanting "kits" as Beast does so much. This novel brings much of that to the fore. Good things happen in the midst of some extremely terrible ones....and

EVIL FAITH leaves us knowing that more plot is on the way...

("We're not worthy...we're not worthy...thankyouthankyouthankyou)

Aggression vs. Being Right

Anybody working in a public place will inevitably deal with someone obnoxious. These people used to utterly upset my day. I would stress...my heart raced, mouth dry, thoughts darting around...wondering "did I do something wrong and just didn't realize?" And yeah, sometimes my tolerance for the irretrievably dense is beyond miniscule...and I MIGHT say something slightly snarky...ya think? 

BUT: Most of the time people come up to my desk already locked and loaded, ready for battle. Usually they know they've done something wrong--lost a book, kept it until it's weeks overdue or left it outside in the rain until it's a moldy mess--but it can't be THEIR fault...oh no. And if they act obnoxious enough, talk loudly, quickly, and aggressively enough...I'm supposed to give in.

Guess what...

Librarians aren't all pushovers. Yes, some of us are extremely passive-aggressive (meaning yeah, you'll get your way this time, but don't expect me to find "ANYTHING" you are looking for the next time you ask for help), but I'm not. I will give you every chance to find a way to fix the problem. I WANT people to be able to use the library--heck, maybe one day you'll learn not to be an a--wipe, but don't expect that looming over me, talking down to me, calling me "honey" or going to somebody else at the desk is going to make any difference. Astonishingly enough we have these things called "com-pu-ters" and we can keep notes that everyone at the desk can read as soon as we save them!

Man/Woman up. Admit you've made a mistake. We've all done it. I do it several times a day...and I've learned how to apologize, make it right and move on. I don't need to flagellate myself for my mistakes...and neither should you...and I won't do it to you either. Get over yourself. Fix it. Don't make excuses (unless your child really IS in the hospital or your house burned down).  Like the Beatles song..."We can work it out."

What makes a person "Alpha"?

Today I was asked to enter nominations for alphas in my favorite kind of literature--urban fantasy. It took some thought, but I have definite favorites and finally worked it into the list below:

 Jane Yellowrock/Beast (Faith Hunter)
Atticus (Iron Druid--Keven Hearn)
Acheron (Sherrilyn Kenyon)
Gin Blanco  (Elemental Assassin--Jennifer Estep)
Smoky--(Otherworld Series--Yasmin Galenorn)

But what really struck me was the comments from other nominators--for the most part female--who questioned and made excuses for choosing women alphas.

WOW, come on..REALLY? You read about kick-ass females, fighting demons (both real and mental), spinning katana swords, ordering big tough soldiers around and in general making plans and taking names when necessary. And you wonder if it's OKAY to name a female alpha?

Beast would cough a guttural roar in amusement and then knock your girly girlness to the ground! Jane would shake her head, snap her fingers and tell Bruiser to explain it to you...

Gin Blanco would look at you sadly, pull out a meat cleaver and whack up some yummy barbeque, then suddenly appear behind you ready to take out your spleen if necessary.

I DID name 3 of the 5 male alphas...but mainly because my favorite character in Iron Druid is Atticus...but even he knows when to bow to a goddess, and speaking of, Acheron is probably the most powerful character of the group IMHO, and he spent thousands of years saying "yes dear" to a goddess--and now to his wife. And Smoky...well, I think he's more alpha than his wife, Camille, but she has him wrapped around her finger with good sex and a deep need to protect her.  So, even the alpha males have strong female influences that make them who they are.

Never ever think that women cannot be Alpha. One of the strongest marriages I know is between two people---both Alphas at work--who manage to work together, each Alpha as needed. I'm the boss at work...and I know that somebody needs to make the plans, organize the situation, be the leader and be the one who takes the heat when something goes wrong. THAT is a good alpha! And women are just as good at it as men.

MEOW ya'll.

Now go vote before the end of March!

http://vampirebookclub.net/alpha-showdown-2013-nominations/comment-page-4/#comment-23073

Pirates (and not the cool Jack Sparrow kind)

Anybody out there love a good bargain? Yeah, pretty much all of us...BUT, what if you knew that your bargain came because somebody stole from someone you admired and cared about (or anybody, really)? Today I discovered Fantasticebooks.com where I can download ebooks from such amazing authors as Faith Hunter, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Suzanne Collins...for as little as 1.50! SO amazing...WOW...

so not cool

They don't have permission to do this. You can kind of tell that it's from a foreign country that doesn't normally speak English: awkward phrasing, a different way to list prices (1.5=1.50) and possibly because if it came from the U.S. there would be lawyers streaming in from every side to turn them into chum.

Don't use them. It's not worth it. We have these wonderful things called PUBLIC LIBRARIES, and guess what? You can download eBooks through your local library--for Free. If you don't mind trying the odd new author or a short work...even Amazon will drop freebies on your Kindle. And if you don't mind spending time in a bookstore (and who wouldn't?)...you can visit Barnes and Noble and read the books for free--at least the first few chapters--by just starting up your Nook and looking for them.

Another great option is checking out publishers' websites. Baen Books (who publishes Larry Coreia,author of the Grimnoir Chronicles--if you haven't read them, you should) provides a bundle with older titles for you to download and keep, again, for free, a new one each month.

And if you love Faith Hunter...check her home page. She's great about giving first chapters, odd outtakes and short stories. Other authors do it too. Heck, I had a great few days reading about Nora Robert's vacation in Greece--she posted every day about the beautiful scenery, gorgeous Greeks and amazing food. It was fun. And free.

Wouldn't you rather your favorite authors made enough to keep writing new stuff? Wouldn't you rather help your local library's circulation (so they can stay in business too)? Wouldn't you rather not help people who steal from the creative beings who make your reading so much fun? 

Let's stop giving our booty to the pirates.

Finding a Vein of Gold--Jane Yellowrock

Finding a new author with a good series is a bit like being a gold miner and finding a new rich vein of ore. Thanks to my friend Beth Bostic, I discovered Faith Hunter and her Rogue Mage series...a great post-apocalyptic (but not in the way you might think) trilogy set in the Appalachian mountains. Interesting characters...an unusual magic set up...great characters you actually CARE about. Really great.

Then I found Jane Yellowrock. Kickass tough chick who just happens to be a cougar shifter, Jane is SO much more than your typical "I can change into nifty animals." She has an alter-ego. Beast lives in Jane's heart, pads through the corridors of her thoughts, funny, sad, fierce and fiercely HERSELF, I think of Beast as another character, albeit, one that can only find the physical when Jane allows it (usually).
Jane is complex...even without the added layer of Beastly-ness. Guilt rides her--for things that she can't control--for people she cannot always protect--for lives lost. She doesn't like herself much.Good thing Faith loves her and convinces us to love her too, with other characters who may want to strangle Jane, but always show affection, annoyance and often, love. I look forward to her nicknames for the tough guys in her life. I appreciate the connections she's making with her native past. I wonder what she (and Beast) will get into next.

Add to this the Asheville connection--YAY! First Laurell K. Hamilton, now Faith Hunter have found Asheville!--which gives me a little thrill every time Jane makes her way here, I wish more that Faith could come and do a book talk. :) (hint, hint)

If you've never heard of Faith Hunter and you read urban fantasy--consider her now. First book in the series: Skinwalker.

Take a look. You won't be sorry.