Good news! The Third has found a home. After getting my rights back in July, I found two U.S. publishers who wanted to take the book. I’ve made my decision on which one to go with but won’t be making a public announcement on who's publishing it until next week. But for those who have wanted to read it and are dying to know what happens to Ransom and his family, the book should be out in the first half of 2011. More details to come next week.
Life Imitates My Unwritten Novel
I’ve always got a dozen or so different stories bouncing around in my head. While only one or two are mature enough to work on, the rest are percolating until the story finally forms. One of the stories I’ve been thinking about involves a group of thieves who break into homes after targeting people who post too much information on social networking sites. This weekend I came across a news story out of New Hampshire:
Police in Nashua, New Hampshire say they've busted a burglary ring in which the suspects targeted
Facebook users.
Police say they recovered more than $100,000 worth of property, allegedly stolen by three men.
In all there were more than 50 break-ins. Police say the thieves targeted people who posted their locations on their Facebook profiles. They started striking when the users weren't home.
Was I discouraged after reading this? Not at all. It’s telling me I’m on the right track. Now if I could only come up with a beginning and an end to the story, then I could start writing it.
Signs: A Love Story
If you have 12 minutes, here's a great piece of storytelling.
Random Thoughts
(With apologies in advance to Thomas Sowell.) For the first time in years I’ve had a hard time getting up in the mornings to run. I think it’s because school’s started and the boys don’t have time in the mornings to come with me on their bikes.
I will move to the Houston area one day. If Houston doesn’t work out, then I’ll move somewhere in Texas. Yes, even Austin. :-)
After watching the Detroit Tigers once again collapse after the All-Star Break, I wonder how much long-term damage I’m doing to my kids by letting them become Tiger fans.
I wish I was a good artist. Then I could write killer stories and turn them into awesome graphic novels.
I can’t get the song “Love Is All Around” out of my head. I blame Marathon Girl since I’ve done nothing but stay with her all day.
Forget writing groups, I want a brainstorming group. You know, one where I can share at least one half-dozen novels that are floating around in my head and get some feedback from readers and writers. Isn’t that one of the things that a writing group does, you ask? Yes. But a writing group requires a long-term commitment. I don’t have time for that right now.
Between Hulu, Netflix, and all the other network websites I find that I don’t miss TV at all. Not. One. Bit.
Johnny Damon hasn’t done much for the Tigers but I was glad to see him stay in Detroit. Maybe next time Red Sox fans will think twice before coming vitriolic toward players who leave their team.
The nice thing about discovering an author that you haven’t read before is that he or she has usually written several other novels that you can dive into. My new author discovery this summer? Harlan Coben.
I need more than six hours of sleep a night.
I’m glad football season is about to begin. I’m looking forward to taking the kids to some low-intensity college football games in the coming months.
People Do Judge Books by Their Covers
As I’m working on my Dating a Widower guide, I’ve been amazed how hard it is to find a good book cover designer. I posted an ad on Craigslist and so far have received about 50 emails—49 of which were deleted after seeing their online portfolio. Just because you know how to use Photoshop and/or Illustrator doesn’t make you a good designer. (I’ve made similar complaints about writers.)
To be fair, I’m probably hold designers to a higher standard than most people. Both my parents are artists. In addition, I’ve worked side-by-side with designers in corporate marketing environments for over a decade. During that time I’ve learned that finding someone who has a good eye for design—especially design that can help sell a product—is extremely difficult.
A book cover is a vital piece of marketing—especially for new or unknown authors. (Established, well-known authors can get away with an okay book cover because their name takes up half the cover space.) A good book cover should entice someone to pick it up and, at the very least, read the back jacket copy. Even with the growing popularity of e-books, an attractive cover can help make people take your book seriously.
Yet many authors and publishers put their heart and souls into making the inside of a book a well crafted while giving little or no thought to the cover. The result? The produce a product that people don’t want to be seen reading or assume is a self-published piece of garbage.
The books we read say a lot about who we are or who we think we are. If you’re embarrassed to be seen reading a book because of the cover, it doesn’t matter how good the content on the inside is, you won’t read it.
One example: Back in college I took a class where no one wanted to read one of the books on the syllabus because of the cover. Though the book was science fiction, the cover looked more like a Harlequin romance novel. And in a class that was 80 percent male, most didn’t want to be seen reading the book.
When it came time to discuss the book, the majority of the discussion revolved not around the book or the content but the different ways we had hid the cover while reading it. Some people made their own covers. Others would hide the book in another book so people would think they were reading that one. (I decided that hiding the cover was just too difficult. Instead I read it in my room late at night when no one would bother me.)
To some extent art is a matter of taste. You’re never going to produce a cover (or a novel) that everyone is going to like. But it is possible to create book covers that 95 percent of the general public will find repulsive.
So the search for a graphic designer continues. When I do find one, I hope most of you like what he or she will produce.
Looking for Beta Readers
As you know, there’s little useful information out there about Dating a Widower. As a result, I’ve been writing a Dating A Widower book. It’s a short (approximately 10,000 word) guide that talks about the ins and outs of dating a widower. The guide is based on my own experience, emails I’ve received from women dating widowers over the last 5 years, and insights gleaned on this board. Right now I’m looking for 15-20 beta readers who are willing to read the book and give me some objective feedback on the content. If you’re selected to be a beta reader, I’ll give you a free hard or e-copy after the book has gone to press. I’d also like 2-3 widowers to read the book as well.
If you’re interested in being a beta reader, send me an email letting me know your interest along with your email address so I can email you a draft. The draft will be sent sometime next week. You’ll have two weeks to review the manuscript.
UPDATE:I want to give everyone a big THANK YOU for everyone who expressed interest in becoming a beta reader for my Dating a Widower book. Afer I posted the request on the Dating A Widower Facebook group I had over 100 responses from those expressing interest in becoming beta readers. I only expected 20-30. The amount of interest tells me there’s huge, untapped demand for this kind of information. I hope my book can provide the information about dating a widower that can help you with the common relationship issues that arise.
As much as I would like to get everyone’s feedback, I don’t have the bandwidth to read over 100 critiques of the manuscript. As of now I’m limiting the number of GOW/WOW readers to 20 and widowers to 5.
I’m still wading through all the messages and trying to fill the remaining spots. You’ll get a message from me if you’re selected. If you don’t receive a message from me, please don’t take it personally. I still want your input. After the first round of critiques, I plan on posting a couple of chapters on this board for further review. I’ll send out a general email when those are ready to go.
Thanks again for your overwhelming responses. And please feel free to post any issues you have on this Facebook board or email me your questions.
Running: 10 Years and Counting
Ten years ago this month I made a decision that changed my life: I laced up a pair of old sneakers and went running.
It was the latest in a series of attempt to lose weight. After working as a cubicle jockey and enjoying a constant stream of free sodas and snacks from my employer, I was on the verge of being obese. I hated the way I looked and physically felt. I knew I needed to change my lifestyle or I was going to be miserable for the rest of my life.
At the time I never thought that running would be something I be doing one or even 10 years in the future. I just thought a little exercise would help me shed some weight and, once gone, I’d change my eating habits to keep the pounds from returning. But as I kept at it I discovered that running was something I really enjoyed. More than just exercise, I liked feeling the sun on my face and feeling the road under my feet. I enjoyed running farther, running faster. Every day was a challenge to see if I could improve and do a little bit better.
And yes, the weight came off. Six months later I was 50 pounds lighter. Looking back, however, it wasn’t’ just lacing up the shoes that day that made the difference. It was getting up every morning after that, no matter the weather or how I felt, and tying to run a little farther, a little faster. It was making that decision the second and third mornings and every morning since that helped me not only lose the weight but rebuild my life, fall in love with Marathon Girl, and bond with my kids.
So here’s to a decade of running—something that changed my life in ways I never even imagined when I first put on those worn out sneakers. And here’s to running every day for the rest of my life.
Why Bookstores Should Worry about eBooks
Books, it appears, are following the path of the music industry and going digital. Earlier this week Amazon’s announced that it sold more Kindle books than hardcover books “including hardcovers for which there is no Kindle edition.” This announcement caused some to predict the demise of bookstores. While I don’t believe eBooks will be the end bookstores or physical books, I do think the number of printed books and bookstores will be cut in half or more in the next decade as eBooks increase in popularity.
Were I a bookstore owner, I’d be worried about the future of my business and be working on ways to entice people to come into my store even if they love their Kindle and eBooks. So I was a little surprised at the arrogant and condescending tone of The King’s English co-owner and co-founder, Betsy Burton, when asked by a local television station about the increasing popularity of eBooks.
“Book-buyers, real readers, are going to pretty much stick with books, at least for the majority," [Burton] says. "I think that readers are very passionate about the physical book and care very deeply about it."
Burton says locally-owned bookstores will have the same role as always, which is controlling content. For example, identifying which books everyone should be reading.
“Real readers” only read physical books? Really? Everyone I know who owns an e-reader is a voracious reader. Belittling them into second class readers isn’t the best way to entice them or others into your bookstore. They care just as much about digital copies as they do physical ones. Burton’s attitude is reminiscent of music industry executives who smugly dismissed the rising popularity of digital music 15 years ago.
Her idea that a bookstore’s job is to “control content” is laughable and a tad scary. Burton may be a fountain of knowledge when it comes to knowing what books are a cut above the rest, but it’s not her job to “control content” especially when the Internet has democratized information and made content controllers like herself increasingly irrelevant. Instead she should be figuring out what’s selling well and different ways to entice people into her store instead of shopping at Barnes & Noble or buying an eBook from Amazon.
For the record, I don’t own a Kindle or other e-reader mostly because I’ve never had the chance to try one for an extended period of time. I can’t justify plunking down $189 unless I’ve tried to read a good portion of a book on one and make sure it’s something that my sometime-sensitive eyes will tolerate. However, I can see many advantages to owning one and have heard nothing but positive things from friends and coworkers who own one. The temptation to buy one and go digital is very, very high.
Both chain and independent bookstores looking to stay in business in an increasing digital book world need to do more than just sell books. They need to become destinations for readers and storytellers where fans can meet and mingle with authors, socialize with other readers who like similar genres, and or offering book clubs a place to talk about their stories. Without a radical transformation in the way they do business, bookstores like The King’s English will suffer the same fate as many music sellers.
And Betsy, as soon as I find a publisher for The Third, I’m more than happy to help your bookstore out by doing a signing, doing joint events with authors, or talking to local books clubs about it at your store. I want to see bookstores like yours to succeed. However, the old bookstore business model that you’re advocating simply doesn’t work in an increasingly digital world.
There’s No Such Thing as a Free Breakfast
While on a family vacation in Colorado several weeks ago I found myself in the hotel lobby one night. A man who looked like he’d been on the road all day walked in. During the check-in process he asked if the hotel offered breakfast in the morning.
“We do,” the desk clerk told him, “but not with the rate you booked the room at. If you want, we can upgrade your room for $8.95 and everyone can have breakfast in the morning.”
The man agreed to the rate increase, checked in, and headed up to his room.
Complimentary breakfasts have become standard at most hotels. However, this was the first time I heard a hotel give someone the option of upgrading their room to include breakfast. However, as the experience shows, there’s no such thing as a free breakfast—even if it’s advertised as such.
A lifetime ago, back when the late wife and I were college students, she worked as a desk clerk for a national hotel chain. When her schedule required her to work until midnight, I’d drive over after my job or evening classes ended and sit in the lobby and do homework or read while she checked in and helped guests.
Because the hotel was located right off I-15, a lot of people would stop by late at night and see if the hotel had any vacancies. If the hotel had vacancies, the follow-up question most of them would ask was if the hotel offered a free continental breakfast. The late wife would tell them that it didn’t but pointed out the great restaurant across the parking lot which was known for having some of the best breakfast food in the state. Upon hearing that the hotel didn’t offer a free breakfast, a lot guests turned around and went searching for another hotel.
One night the owner happened to stop by while the late wife was on duty. In the space of five minutes two potential customers came in, asked about the free breakfast and left when they discovered the hotel didn’t offer one. The late wife turned to owner and mentioned that the hotel was losing out on potential customers every night to other hotels that offered a free continental breakfast.
The owner just kind of smiled and shook his head. “What people don’t realize is that to offer the ‘free’ breakfast, I’d have to raise the nightly rates five to ten dollars a room to cover the cost,” he said. “They may go to a different hotel, but they end up paying for that free breakfast though higher room rates.”
Apparently, however, the owner realized it would be better for business if he offered a “free” breakfast to guests. About a year after that incident the lobby was expanded to make room a breakfast area. As soon as it was done, rates went up to cover the cost of the “free” breakfast.
On the way home from a family vacation last weekend our route home took us by that hotel. I glanced over at it as we sped past. The hotel’s marquee advertised a free breakfast. The parking lot was packed.
Not Quite Tall Enough
