George A. Bernstein's Blog, page 4

Great Book Tour Review

My book tour is in full swing, and while the daily book features, author interviews, and guest posts are all up on the required dates, the book reviews are slow in coming. However, Quality Reads Book Club has posted theirs, and it’s 5-Star and very complimentry. Here’s a link to their blog site:

http://www.qualityreadsuk.com/

and the review is at the bottom of the page. It’s also been posted on my Amazon and Goodreads pages. Today’s stop is Orangeberry’s “Pick of the week,” at: http://www.orangeberry.com

Feb 22 Book Tour Stop

Today’s stop on my Virtyual Book Tour is at “Creating Imaginations:

http://creating-imaginations.blogspot.com/2013/02/orangeberry-book-tours-trapped-by.html

where the are doing a feature on TRAPPED. Tomorrow’s stop will be at “Brainy Reads:” http://brainyreads.blogspot.com/

where they will post one (or more) of several Guest Posts I’ve written. They are also doing a review of TRAPPED, but may not have it finished yet. By the end of the “Tour,” these various bloggers will have posted at least 13 more reviews, both on their own sites, and at places like Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari, etc. There may be more, too, because 8 of 10 dates are still open in March. Hopefully, some if not all of those will fill up soon.

My Author’s Page with Orangeberry, listing the entire schedule, is:

http://blog.orangeberrypromo.com/2013/01/george-bernstein/

NHew Book Tour stop

Today’s stop is at “The Next Big Thing” blog: http://thenextbigbookthing.blogspot.com/

I have a Guest post on My Journey to Getting Published, and there’s a book feature. Eventually, they will also post a review.

You can visit my Orangeberry Page, with the complete tour schedule at: http://blog.orangeberrypromo.com/2013/01/george-bernstein/

There’s Guest Posts and Interviews at almost every stop.

Todays Book Tour Stop

Today, my Virtual Book Tour is stopping at The Reading Cat (http://thereadingcat.blogspot.com/), where they’re featuring a Guest Post by me about Becoming a Better Writer. There’s also a feature of TRAPPED, and they are supposed to post a review of the novel, but that’s not up yet.

You can check the entire schedule for my Book Tour at:

http://blog.orangeberrypromo.com/2013/01/george-bernstein/

The tour was booked through Orangeberry and so far it seems to be doing quite well. Let me know aht you think.

I’ll keep you posted.

Virtual Book Tour

I’m running a Virtual Book Tour (actually, I’ll be running 3, more or less consecutively). It consists of daily stops at large Blog sites geared to fiction readers. Today’s is at Quality Reads UK, and it features 2 Guest Posts by me and a feature of the book. Some5time later today (or this week, anyhow) they’ll post a review of TRAPPED as well. You can see the entire schedule at:

http://blog.orangeberrypromo.com/2013/01/george-bernstein/

You can click on the name of any of the stops, and it will take you to their page. Do it on the day they are scheduled for me, and you see their feature of TRAPPED and me. There are some interesting Guest Posts about various writing subjects.

Free on Kindle

These are the last 2 days TRAPPED will be free on Kindle (through Sunday, Dec. 30). I really heartened by the response and the great reviews I’ve had. One reader wrote me that “…if your name were Patterson or DeMille, this would be an instant Best Seller.”

I just hope everyone who reads TRAPPED and loves it, will leave a review at Amazon and Goodreads, if possible…and contact all their friends.

I love to hear from you guys, so feel free to post comments or e-mail me at:

suspenseguy (at) aol (dot) Com

Thanks for your support.

Critiques

There was a post at the “Fiction Writers Guild” & “The Writers Network,” re: the value of critiques. The writer was unhappy about the fact that the critiquer she was using “didn’t get” what she was trying to do.

One of the problems we writers have IS getting our readers to “get it.” If they don’t, whose fault is that? It seems pretty obvious it’s the author’s responsibility to see that his readers understand what he or she is trying to say. If your critiquer doesn’t get it, surely your audience won’t either. Many authors have a problem with criticism. “How dare you challenge my work, that I slaved over and love.” That’s a prescription to failure.

When Dee Burks at TAG Publishers called me, saying they all loved TRAPPED, but felt it needed some content editing, I was excited. I LOVE positive imput, but ultimately, it’s up to the author to decide what works and what doesn’t. I embraced her suggestion of a single viewpoint (Jackee’s) throughout the novel, and felt some of her other suggestions were excellent. I balked, however, at changing the ending, and after some discussion, she agreed with my take. Overall, our collaboration made TRAPPED a great novel…and the most prevalent comment I get from readers is, “I LOVED the ending!” One wrote me she read it 3 TIMES, she loved it so much!

Ultimately, critiquing is still a matter of taste. See my earlier posts about contest judging. A smart author listens, and isn’t too proud to make changes that work, but is willing to resist things they think will compromise their story. It can be a delicate balancing act, but when well performed, can have wonderful results.

Comments on Writing Styles

Like all writers, I spend a lot of time editing and rewriting. One of my “missions” has been to create shorter paragraphs (seldom more than 5 pages), and short paragraphs (seldom more than 3 sentences). I admit I got the idea from reading other best-selling authors (James Patterson comes to mind) whom I admired.

I feel it intensifies the action and keeps things moving. I’ve received a lot of comments from people specifically about that style, all positive. It also makes it easier to put the novel down (something you should NEVER do with MY novels!) when something comes up. I’m interested in any reader’s comments aqbout this style.

Interestingly, I just finished Nelson Demille’s fine novel, “Wild Fire.” It’s a fasinating thriller, but his chapters are long, and I found it bothersome. I feel the book would have benefited from chopping those into smaller pieces.

Anyhow, TRAPPED is continuing to garner 5-Star reviews, and 2 doctors (both Nuero surgeons) complimented me on my accurate research on Locked-in Syndrome. It’s interesting that Jackee’s condition was something I just invented over 20 years ago, that turned out to be a real condition. Read my previous posts for more details

5-Star Reviews

Probably much like most authors, I thought I was pretty good. Unfortunately, we’re rarely a good judge of that…but out readers are!

I’ve got to admit, I’m a little awed by the terrific response Trapped has generated. All I’m hearing is how wionderful the book is, that they can’t put it down, and especially…that they LOVE the ending. One reader confessed she read the ending 3 times, she enjoyed it so much. Two nueroligists complimented me on the quality of my research into “Locked-in Syndrome.”

So far, only 5-Star reviews on Amazon, and several readers have bought multiple copies to give as gifts. I hope everyone who loves the book will leave a review at Amazon or Goodreads…or both…and then recommend Trapped to their friends and e-mail list. That’s how best-sellers are born!

Thanks again for all the wonderful support.

Now on Kindle

Just a quick note that Trapped is now available as a Kindle. Use the same link as for the book, if you’re interested in an E-book. Or just search: “Trapped, by George A Bernstein.”

Also, there’s a 5+ Chapter “free peek” available on the Amazon site, so you can get a feel of the book before deciding  to buy. And remember, I’m counting on reviews from all my friends and new fans.

The next post is going to be about writing, right after Thanksgiving.