Hi folks, I’ll be putting a call out this Sunday for anyone interested in being an ARC Reader for Rock Zombie.
ARC stands for Advance Reader Copy and is an initiative to get early copies of books into the hands of reviewers in order to generate a bit of buzz before the official release date. True, these are usually organised by professional companies and people who know what they are doing. I… am neither. I’m winging it, and pretty much making this all up as I go along (not unlike my stories). However, inspired by Amanda Palmer’s The Art of Asking, I figured where is the harm in doing just that… asking.
So, if you’re a book reviewer, podcaster, YouTuber, BookTokker, Bookstagrammer (or any other word that I’ve only really just learned about), or you just like reading grungy comedy/horrors and would like to have a shufy at the advance copy before publication (usually in exchange for kind words and/or reviews… or complete silence if you think it’s shit) then please keep an eye on my social on Sunday.
I really like Amanda Palmer. She appears both genuine and nuts in equal measure, which is a superb combination. I first came across her on Twitter (before it became a cesspit of hate and ignorance) and I was really drawn by her TED Talk called ‘The Art of Asking’. Being British, I’m not exactly tip-top at asking for help, and there’s a point in the video where she mentioned a member of a support band feeling uncomfortable because it ‘feels like begging.’ I get that. That resonated with me.
But then I’m also reminded of my mate Grant who talks about the community of writers, and artists, and creatives. Grant kick-started the Brisbane Writers Crew meetings a few years ago and a group of us catch up every month to drink coffee/beer and talk all things creative. I’m still very much a newbie because my attendance it pretty piss poor but It’s amazing. I’ve met some lovely people there and many rocked up to my debut book launch (which also happened to be my 40th birthday!) and it was a great time.
Things like that wouldn’t happen without other people.
And I think that’s the point of Amanda Palmer’s video/philosophy (to my shame, I am yet to read the book – The Art of Asking – though it is sitting on my shelf). Isaac Newton said he saw so far by ‘standing on the shoulders of giants‘ and Tom Hanks attributed all his success to ‘his wife, family, friends, and colleagues.‘ All of my books are dedicated to people who have helped me, and my wife, Kel, is at the absolute epicentre of all of this. None of it would have happened without her. Stephen King wrote, ‘whenever I see a first novel dedicated to a wife (or a husband), I smile and think, There’s someone who knows. Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference,‘ and I am beyond lucky (and grateful) to have people who support and believe in me.
So, I’m about to do something that really puts me a little out of my comfort zone. I’m going to ask for help.
On the 31st of October this year (yep, Halloween!) I am going to self-publish one of my novels. This one is ridiculous, and silly, and gross, and perhaps bad-taste, and probably a little funny, and maybe even with a smidge of heart in certain places, and I can’t wait for people to read it. I’m not doing crowdfunding or anything like that (I’m still steeped in Britishness when it comes to that sort of thing), but I am going to ask people if they would kindly share things…
Starting in September, there will be book announcements, cover reveals, blurb reveals, calls for ARC readers and reviews, and a few other bits n bobs that I’m playing close to the chest for now… but I’m hoping the next two months will be really fun, and that you might come along for the ride.
The book in question has had an interesting history… it has been signed by two publishers in the past but never quite made it over the finish line (one went bust and one wanted me to take out all the swearing) so I’ve decided to roll the dice and give it my best shot.
So, I guess ‘ask #1’ is – ‘do you have any advice?’ 😀
Thanks for reading, watch this space!
(As I sat here and wrote this, my lovely wife is on the seat opposite me reading through the final edition of the book. She’s amazing!)
Let me preface this by saying reviews are for readers, not for writers. As much as we needy pen-pushers are desperate for them and exceedingly grateful anytime a person takes the time to write a few words about our books, it’s not really our space to be in. Once a book is out in the wild, it no longer belongs to the author. Reviews are designed to inform other readers about a person’s thoughts and opinions on a book, and whether or not they believe it is worth picking up. The author has no control over that and nor should they.
A little caveat here, there is a trend in some circles of the indie book world to tag authors in negative reviews, and I’ve even seen some reviewers demand authors change aspects of the novel in certain ways because “it’ll be better”. Please don’t do that. That’s a dick move. Once the book is out there, it’s out there. For better or worse.
And that brings me to the point of this little blog post. As much as I firmly believe in what I wrote above, I am also one of those needy pen-pushers desperate for validation and you better believe I’ve read every single review of everything I’ve ever written.
It’s a sort of Catch-22 narcissism. Who’d be a writer, right?
First of all, thank you! Thank you so much to every single person who has read my stuff, and an extra special thanks with a cherry on the top if you left a review… it means the world to me, but I want to talk about the worst review I got. No, not the one that simply said “do not read this.” That one was magic! This was a review that went into a bit more detail.
Essentially, the reviewer didn’t think the book was funny, and that’s his prerogative. It kind of reminds me of Jimmy Carr when someone heckled, “when does the comedy start?” It’s all subjective, if you don’t think something is funny then it isn’t. And that’s unfortunate. As Jimmy said, “you’ve paid the price, bought the ticket, you didn’t like it, you’ve had a disaster. Life is unfair.” Or something like that. I can’t fault that. But then the reviewer went on to say that the main character, Arthur, is a heavy drinker and smoker and therefore not really deserving of sympathy, and again, that’s totally fair. But to me, that’s the whole point of Arthur, and indeed, the whole point of much of what I write.
I love putting ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances and seeing how they handle it.
Arthur isn’t supposed to be sympathetic. He’s a bit of a nob, really. He’s selfish in many ways and he has a lot of vices. He’s definitely narcissistic and yes, he drinks too much, and smokes too much, but he is just a man, and like all men, he is actually still the same confused little boy he always was, just trapped now in a man’s body in a supposedly adult world. Arthur is a man who finds himself suddenly surrounded by ghosts, and demons, and utterly bizarre circumstances when all he really wants to do is have a Cajun Chicken Panini and go home.
SPOILERS
At the end of The Book and the Blade, after Arthur’s world has gone completely tits up, he goes running home to his mum and dad… and that’s where The Sword and the Hounds comes in. The sequel, due for publication on the 23rd July by the lovely people at Parliament House Press, finds Arthur still living at home six months later and trying to make sense of the world. Does he still drink too much? Does he still smoke too much? Is he still a bit of a dick? Well, you’ll have to wait and see. But the dead aren’t done with him yet so hopefully he’s learned a thing or two.
There are a total of four Arthur books (and I’m working on more) and if he was the same in all of them I think it would be a bit boring because that’s not how life works. He should grow, he should develop and mature, but also, he’s bound to relapse and fall into old habits occasionally, right? After all, he is just an ordinary bloke trying his best.
Like all of us, really.
So, thank you to the reviewer for reading The Book and the Blade and taking the time to leave a review. I’m sorry it wasn’t really for you, but you can’t win them all.
And here’s to everyone who read it and enjoyed it… thank you… with cherries on top!
Strap in… there’s a lot more to come!
Cheers,
Al
Oh, and if you’re interested, I also waffle on about this sort of stuff over on TikTok. I know, it’s a young person’s game over there, but it’s really just me talking shit while walking my dog.
There are now less than seven weeks to go until The Book and the Blade is released into the wild so I thought I’d write a little post in order to give some updates.
– pre-orders for the ebook are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Booktopia, Kobo and more
– pre-orders for hardback and paperback are available on the Parliament House Press website (though I think these are US only at the moment)
– there will be ebook, hardback and paperback available eventually but there are some fun issues in the publishing industry at the moment so physical copies might take a wee bit longer
– I forgot about the merchandise stuff… my bad… I’ll make sure shirts and whatnot are available for those who might like that sort of thing
– I have a marketing meeting at the beginning of August which is extraordinarily grown-up and I’ll have to try my best not to giggle like an idiot all the way through it
– there is a tenative venue for the book launch – Netherworld Arcade and Bar in Brisbane – but I’m not entirely sure when the launch will be. There isn’t really much point in doing a proper shindig unless I have physical books to flog so that is a work in progress. Also, the book is released on a Tuesday and I don’t think anyone will show up to an event in the city on a week night like that. The next available date is the following Sunday… which is 9/11… so that’s a solid no
– there are sequels… they are finished
– a very kind person invited me to speak at a small event in September because, and I quote, “you’re an author” and honestly, it took me a moment to realise they weren’t taking the piss!
– a good mate of mine who is a wonderfully talented photographer is going to take ‘author photos’ of me in August. It is going to be… chaotic. We were just about crying laughing coming up with ideas. Sure, I could take it seriously, or…
– I found out Lord Bezos and his Amazonian Algorithms are making books vanish from lists if they get less than four stars… so please, if you do review my little book, give it 4 or 5 stars on Amazon… and then 1 on Goodreads ;-D
– I’m writing again. Averaging a thousand words a day
– my mam is very proud of me… for now… she won’t be if she ever reads the bloody thing! 😀
There is no getting around it. Very soon I will have to get on my knees like everyone else in the world and beg for scraps at the feet of Emperor Bezos. As much as I would love The Book and the Blade to be 100% indie… only available in small shops with quirky cafes and book sellers who double as baristas, or perhaps even in unique little corners of the internet on websites run by enthusiastic book bloggers, I will still need to play The Amazon Game!
3(0) is the magic number! Yes it is, it’s the magic number!
– 30 reviews gets your book noticed by Amazon’s algorithms (Wizards. Wizards sounds cooler.)
– reviews get you onto lists
– lists get you exposure
Lists like these…
Having not released the book yet it is no surprise I’m floundering at the very bottom
But then there’s the strange caveat that reviews from people you know sometimes disappear. I’ve seen this with author friends and there are many indie authors on Twitter who testify to the same thing… any reviews they have which may be linked to, say, people on their Facebook friends list, can mysteriously vanish. Forget algorithms and wizards, that is the work of Amazon’s Dark Overlords!
(A smidge dramatic? Maybe.)
This doesn’t always happen but it has occurred enough times for it to be “a thing” for indie authors.
I don’t know how it will play out for The Book and the Blade but I do ask (and will repeatedly beg) that if you do read my little book, please leave a review. They might vanish into the ether, they might not. Either way, all interaction makes a huge difference. Perhaps together we can unite and overthrow the overlords? And they don’t have to be complex reviews or even analyse the story in any way. They just have to exist.
A.B. Finlayson 