Tuesday, April 05, 2011

I Contest

First off, don't forget the contest to win a paperback copy of Into the Wild Nerd Yonder.  I only have three entries so far!  (Thank you to those who entered.)  I am so confused by the blogosphere.  I am assuming that my publisher recently mailed out copies of Don't Stop Now to book bloggers because it was on a number of "In My Mailbox" features this week.  For a little bit, I started getting all nervous again.  Does that mean the reviews will be coming in soon?  Then I started getting all panicked, like what if they think it sucks, and what if no one buys it?  But one question that I know a lot of us authors have is: is there a correlation between the two?  If book bloggers hate my books, does that mean other people won't buy them?  Or just those who know there are book bloggers?  Do teens, my main audience and the people I am writing for, read book blogs and take note?  I think of Get Well Soon, which has really sold well and continues to sell well in paperback.  I'm not talking best seller material, but according to the Amazon sales scan thing that authors can now look at, I'm selling at least 100 copies of it a week two years after the paperback release.  And I receive emails and letters on a regular basis about the book from readers.  All good.  So what sparks YA book sales?  Word of mouth?  Teen bloggers?  Librarians pushing titles?  A combination?  With Into the Wild Nerd Yonder, I have had such a positive reception from book bloggers, but I have only heard from a handful of teens (I'm referring to direct email hellos or by searching and finding blogger reviews).  Will all that change with the paperback?  Or is it a different title from Get Well Soon, so who knows what will happen?  I'm  not making a whole lot of sense, just asking a whole lot of questions.  Sometimes as an author these questions feel frustrating, like when you see other authors getting big pushes from their publishers or somehow getting mass attention.  It makes me think, why not me?  But sometimes it feels more confusing, like why am I writing in the first place?  If I were independently wealthy, then sure I could say something like, "I have to write for my soul" or "I couldn't do anything else" or "Teens need me."  But, really, I wouldn't feel the need to write with such frequency or worry what others thought about my work if I didn't need it to be my career.  Oh, and I'm still really bothered by the fact that the Don't Stop Now ARC is quite different than the final version of the book.  Not really in story, but I made changes to almost every single page that will end up in the final book.  What if those are the changes that would have made some reviewers change their tune (see, I'm already assuming the worst)?  Aargh.  I hope a bunch of teens find and love the book. And then buy lots of copies.  That's all I ask.  Well, that and a million other questions.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I had written a nice comment to you and blogger was nice enough to erase it. I'm going to try it one more time, if I can get over the aggravation.

OK, so. Book bloggers. I like a few of them, and I read them regularly and eagerly, but I do not think they're the end all or be all of book sales or a book's success. I think they are useful in bringing awareness to books, and they can get me interested in books I might not have ever looked at, but a book bloggers review would not deter me from buying a book that I was already interested in.

I think it's publisher push that initially determines a book's success. If a publisher selects a lead title, pays that author a crazy advance, you can be for damn sure that publisher is going to do whatever it can to gain from that investment. That's when you get the mad publicity. The table laydowns. The displays. The author tours.

I would love to be a lead title, but I also don't think it's fair that some publishers put so much into one or two authors, while others who are just as talented and also write amazing books are left to fend for themselves. How can an author promote his/her books when the books might not even make it into a bookstore? Then, when the books don't do well, the authors are dropped and/or treated like crap, and then that's it. Some really good books are never discovered. They never had a chance.

That makes me sad.

Anyway, I am definitely getting Don't Stop Now. I loved Get Well Soon and can't wait to read the next installment. So that's one guaranteed sale from me. :)

Julie H said...

Awesome response, Ronni, and even longer than the original post, me thinks! I love hearing when other authors feel the same way because in my head it just feels like ungrateful bitching. It's really confusing, though, why some authors get the push. That's why I was so dreaming about the TV show possibility of my book-- I thought it would make people look at my books more. Alas. I wish money and fame weren't measures of success, but, sadly, they kind of are. Are least a certain amount.

Are you and Adam coming or going to any events coming up? It's always nice to see you guys!

Unknown said...

I'll definitely try to make it to your events! It's hard during the week because my job is so demanding but it's always good to see you, too! :)