Hyde, an Urban Fantasy

Yikes, it’s been a little while since I made a post. I figured I’d catch you all up on why. So, I’ve had a few computer mishaps—FYI, don’t drink tea near your computer. Oh, and if you do spill liquids on your computer, don’t turn it on only five minutes after you dry it. Who knew? LOL I figured five minutes with the blow dryer and all would be well. Boy was I wrong. I knew I screwed up bad when my computer flashed a message: FATAL ERROR. Unfortunately, I ended up having to replace the whole computer and lost a lot of work on my new book—yes, I cried—and I’ve spent weeks just getting back to normal. I am happy to report I’ve managed to install all my old programs (most importantly Kindle for PC and Calibre) and I finally feel like I’m getting back to normal.  Why is it when we don’t have a functioning computer it’s almost like losing a limb?  

Anyway, the past few weeks I’ve been trying to catch up what I lost of my writing, and I’ve done a lot of great reading. Today I thought I’d mention one of the books I read, Hyde, an Urban Fantasy by Lauren Stewart . I loved this book! If you haven’t had a chance to read Hyde I definitely recommend it. In fact, we had a Mod Smackdown in my Goodreads group, Gotta Have Paranormal Romance with a Kick, and I chose Hyde as the book I was championing. The smackdown was so much fun and I am happy to report--or brag-- I won! If you get a chance, check out the smack down. It was all in fun and we each fought hard for our book (yes, we have some serious book lovers in our group). Hyde is not a NY times best seller—yet, but I think it will be. It's one of those little known gems that I love to tell people about.  I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. Here is my review:

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E-Readers

I was chatting today with some people at my son’s baseball game about e-readers and why I love them. I hear people tell me every day about how much they love their Kindle/Nook/Sony/Kobo. It doesn’t really matter what brand, the general consensus is the people who have them, love them. I’ve heard every reason now. One of my favorites, especially since Fifty Shades came out, is they can read erotica anywhere and not have to feel embarrassed over racy book covers. Not to mention it’s always available in your purse and there is always another book ready when you’re finished.

Some people love the text to speech features. Some people love that they can down load books at any time of the day and not worry about store hours and getting time to make it to the library or book story. There are tons of reasons, but my biggest reason that I love e-readers is because it’s opened up the market for so many aspiring authors whose books would never have been read otherwise.

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Fifty Shades…the Controversy

Why is there so much controversy surrounding the Fifty Shades Trilogy ?

I heard the other day that libraries all over the country are banning the books, refusing to stock them. Since when did libraries begin to judge our reading material? I was a little annoyed when I first read this, for a few reasons.

1. Don’t libraries carry books that the public wants to read? All three of the Fifty Shades books are on the NY Times bestsellers list. I would say that constitutes a book the public wants to read.

2. I am willing to bet that I can go into the library and find other erotica books, some probably more explicit than Fifty Shades. Why ban this book? It seems to me they’ve chosen to ban the books based on hype. In my opinion, it’s starting to creep over the line into censorship, and I thought we did away with that when we stopped burning books.

The library banning is only one issue I have.  Why do people feel the need to judge another person based on a book they’ve read? I recently had a person I’ve never met comment on my review for Fifty Shades of Grey telling me I should be “ashamed” for liking the book. Seriously? I don’t tell people what they should be reading, why do they feel the need to tell me what they deem appropriate. If you don’t like a book, don’t read it.  Why should it bother anyone else what I want to read?

I’ve had so many similar comments lately that it’s a little frustrating. Why don’t people understand that we are not all going to agree on books? And, why can’t we just agree to disagree sometimes?

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Spamming on Goodreads

So, back in July I heard about a great place for people who like to read. It’s called Goodreads, and I’m sure many of the other readaholics out there have heard of it . For anyone who hasn’t heard about Goodreads it is the BEST social networking site I’ve ever come across. It’s like a book club for the world. For serious readers, it’s heaven. I’ve had so many good recommendations since I’ve joined that I rarely read I book I dislike anymore.

Good book recommendations aside, I have found so many women who share my passion for reading and my love of vampires, werewolves and anything paranormal. I love having the opportunity to chat with other people about the books I love (it wasn’t easy in real life finding women with similar tastes). I never thought I’d say this, but some of these women I now consider good friends. Last year, if someone had said to me that I would meet some of my closest friends online, I would have laughed at the ridiculousness. Unbelievable as it seems though, I have.

Anyway, now that I’ve explained about why I love Goodreads so much I’m going to rant a bit. Lately, I’ve been so frustrated by the amount of authors spamming on Goodreads. I am an author, so I understand how hard it is to market your book. However, going on discussion threads and constantly plugging your book is not the way to do it. It’s frustrating, when people who join legitimately to chat about books have to wade through comments from authors like: “if you like that book you’ll love my book”. It alienates readers and actually makes them not want to read it.

Constant marketing is one way of spamming, but also, the frequent friend request is a bit tiresome as well. I get friend requests every day from authors with thousands of friends but no books on their shelf and no comments in any discussions, and from authors who don’t share a single book in common with me. This negates the whole purpose of Goodreads.

I don’t claim to be an authority on book marketing (believe me), but I do know enough to understand that these tactics are frustrating to members and will not have a good outcome for your book sales. And this doesn’t only apply to Goodreads, but also other sites like Shelfari and Library Thing.

I can’t speak for all authors, but most of the authors I know are readers first. The reason we started writing in the first place usually stems from our love of good books and great storytelling. If you take the time to learn why people are joining these social networking sites you’ll find much more than a way to market your book.  I look forward to my chats on Goodreads and I treasure the friends I’ve made, and I’ve still found Goodreads is a fantastic place to market if done the right way. There are places specifically designated for marketing. You can find people willing to read to review. You can offer your book in giveaways. There are tons of places to do this without making people angry. Take the time and I guarantee you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you gain from Goodreads.