Robert Gray's Blog, page 6

What the Agent Said Vs. What the Reader Said

I spent the better part of five years submitting to agents, editors, and publishers.  While those years were mostly painful, the experience was an eye-opener. Looking back at those past submissions now, I'm glad there's a system in place that protected me from total embarrassment later in life.

However, with EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS, I believe the traditional system got it wrong. I truly do. So, I thought it would be fun to go through some old rejections for BOOK OF SHRIEKS and compare them to readers' responses. I didn't put names to anything, because this isn't meant to be an attack on anyone's judgement. I know a lot more than just the quality of a manuscript goes into getting the nod from an agent.  Case in point: Snooki.

Anyway, here we go:


What the agent said:

"I read this quickly, as I was really excited for the concept. Unfortunately, the voice didn't quite work for me."

What the reader said:

"The book is written very well. I especially liked the characters' insights. The book has humor, inference, and mystery."

What the agent said:

"Although there is much to recommend in your manuscript, ultimately I just didn't fall in love with it."

What the reader said:

"Not only is this one of THE best-looking self-published books I've ever had the pleasure of seeing – excellent cover, excellent layout, clean and crisp appearance, professional; I had a hard time believing it WAS a self-pub, had to check and re-check to make sure I wasn't just missing the company logo somehow – it's also one of THE most enjoyable reads of what's been an enjoyable-reads month!"

What the agent said:

I'm afraid this is too tongue-in-cheek for me to take on."

What the reader said:

"This book was laugh out loud funny. I loved when Mom accidentally turned people to stone. Dad's crazy attempts at running a pizza store were just hysterical."

What the agent said:

"There was so much here that I admired and enjoyed, but I do not feel confident enough there is an audience for this."

What the reader said:

"As I was reading this book, I kept thinking how my middle school students would enjoy reading it."

What the reader said:

"Reading this to my daughter and we are enjoying it."

What the reader said:

"My daughter really enjoyed this book and she is waiting for the next book to come out."

What the reader said:

"The kind of book I would have loved as a kid--and do as a big kid."

What the reader said:

"I read this aloud to my 8 year old. His verdict: amazing, awesome, and all the stars."

Eve Hallows and the Book of Shrieks Giveaways

Couple of giveaways currently going on for EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS:

 First, there's one over at Blkosiner's Book Blog.  This one's for a scribbled copy and ends 2/28.

Also, if you missed out on the last Goodreads Giveaway, here's your chance to try your luck again.  I'm giving away five copies this time, and because my daughter was such an important part of the book, the giveaway ends on her birthday: 3/27.

Good luck to everyone who enters!
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Goodreads Book Giveaway Eve Hallows and the Book of Shrieks by Robert Gray Giveaway ends March 27, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win

New Review of Book of Shrieks from THE HORROR FICTION REVIEW

Just saw this amazing review of EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS from The Horror Fiction Review and I had to share:






EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS by Robert Gray (2011 CreateSpace / 252 pp / tp & eBook)
Not only is this one of THE best-looking self-published books I've ever had the pleasure of seeing – excellent cover, excellent layout, clean and crisp appearance, professional; I had a hard time believing it WAS a self-pub, had to check and re-check to make sure I wasn't just missing the company logo somehow – it's also one of THE most enjoyable reads of what's been an enjoyable-reads month!
In a very, very different way, of course … in a TBR pile of hardcore horror, gore, and porn, suddenly I'm reading a delightful and quirky YA/kid's book! One that is as fun, engaging, spooky-charming and all-around awesome as can be. 
Eve Hallows is an ordinary fourteen-year-old girl, or, as ordinary as a fourteen-year-old girl can be when you're the only human in Gravesville, the dark monster-world where horrible means wonderful, and adorable means awful beyond belief. With a shapeshifter dad, a vampire grandma and werewolf grandpa, a snake-haired Gorgon for a mom and a ghoul for a little brother, and a creepy haunted castle to call home. Sure, Eve often feels disappointed and left out by being so un-monster-y, but she's happy with her horrible, horrible life. 
Then it all goes wrong. The inhabitants of Gravesville are in danger, threatened by a mysterious organization known as The Source. Someone needs to go undercover and try to find out what's going on, and Eve's dad is the monster for the job. 
Any teenager could tell you how much they hate having to move, to leave their friends, and start over at a new school with a bunch of strangers … but Eve and her family are relocating to the human world! It's a definite fate worse than death, undeath, or anything else. They'll have a normal human house, interact daily (DAILY, as in, when there's SUNSHINE) with normal humans, operate a normal human pizza parlor, and Eve will have to go to normal human high school! 
Of course, that's just the beginning of Eve's troubles. Not only does she have mocking mean girls and a cute boy crush to deal with, not only is the principal a Halloween-hating grump, she soon finds herself caught in the middle of The Source's plot. It could be up to Eve and her handful of misfit friends to save the day for humans and monsters alike!
So, move over, Neil Gaiman'sCORALINE and THE GRAVEYARD BOOK … make room, Lemony Snicket's A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS … you've got company and competition for shelf space!
-Christine Morgan

Eve Hallows and the Book of Shadows

If you've read the first book in the Nightmare Series, then it should come as no surprise that the new book is titled EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHADOWS.  What you probably didn't know is that it'll be available this summer.
Once again I've called on Shaun Lindow to handle the cover art.  And once again I'm totally floored ... and this is just the concept sketch.  If you're shopping for an artist, I highly recommend Shaun.

KDP Select: Part II

Last month, I mentioned I was entering EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS into Amazon's KDP Select program.  This month, I wrote an article about the experience.  You can get yer read on over at Hellnotes.com.



Also, The Horror Writers Association has released the list of nominees for the Vampire Novel of the Century Award:

NOMINEES FOR VAMPIRE NOVEL OF THE CENTURYAWARDTheHorror Writers Association (HWA), the international association of writers,publishing professionals, and supporters of horror literature, in conjunctionwith the Bram Stoker Family Estate and the Rosenbach Museum & Library,proudly announce the nominees for the Bram Stoker Vampire Novel of the CenturyAward, to be presented at the Bram Stoker Awards™ Banquet at World HorrorConvention in Salt Lake City, Utah, on March 31, 2012. The Award will mark thecentenary of the death in 1912 of Abraham (Bram) Stoker, the author of Dracula.Ajury composed of writers and scholars selected, from a field of more than 35preliminary nominees, the six vampire novels that they believe have had thegreatest impact on the horror genre since publication of Draculain 1897. Eligible worksmust have been first published between 1912 and 2011 and published in ortranslated into English.Thenominees are:TheSoft Whisper of the Dead by Charles L. Grant(1983). Grant (1946-2006) was a prolific American writer of what he called "darkfantasy" and "quiet horror," writing under six pseudonyms aswell as his own name. Grant also edited numerous horror and fantasyanthologies. The novel is part of Grant's series of 12 books set in hisfictional small town Oxrun Station, Connecticut. Grant was a former presidentof Horror Writers Association and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in1999.Salem'sLot by Stephen King.First published in 1975, this was only the second work by the now-legendaryAmerican author of dozens of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and horrorstories, comics, and novels. Set in the town of Jerusalem's Lot, it tells of aman's return to his hometown, where he finds a plague of vampirism. The bookhas twice been made into television mini-series and has been recorded by theBBC. King's work has won countless Bram Stoker Awards™ from HWA, and King(1947- ), a lifelong New England resident, was recognized with HWA's LifetimeAchievement Award in 2002.IAm Legend by Richard Matheson.First published in 1954, the novel is set in the mid-1970's, when a plague hasswept the world, bringing with it zombie-like creatures identified as vampires.Richard Neville, the book's protagonist, may be the last living human. The workhas been filmed three times under various titles, most recently in 2007, underits original title, starring Will Smith. Matheson (1926- ), an American, haswritten screenplays as well as short and long fiction, and many of his workshave been filmed or made into teleplays. He wrote frequently for The Twilight Zone in its heyday. Matheson received HWA'sLifetime Achievement Award in 1990.AnnoDracula by Kim Newman firstappeared in 1992. The novel imagines an alternate history in which Van Helsingand his cohorts failed in their attempt to rid England of Dracula. In thistimeline, Dracula went on to marry Queen Victoria, ushering in an era ofvampire aristocracy in England and elsewhere. The book is followed by two othernovels and a number of shorter works set in the Anno Dracula universe, all meticulously researchedto include numerous historical details and many characters of Victorian andmore recent popular literature. Newman (1959- ) is an English writer of fantasyand horror, as well as reference books in the field, and frequently appears asa host and critic for the BBC and other media.Interviewwith the Vampire by Southern Americanauthor Anne Rice first appeared in 1976 and achieved enormous popularity,selling more than 8 million copies. The book introduces the vampires Louis andLestat, who, along with a dozen other unique individual vampires, appear in along series by Rice known as the Vampire Chronicles. The novel was filmed in1994 starring Tom Cruise as Lestat and Brad Pitt as Louis; another work in theseries, Queen of the Damned,was filmed in 2002; the novel was also produced as a Broadway musical in 2006.Rice (1941- ) has written numerous other gothic fantasy novels, selling morethan 100 million copies worldwide, and has won many awards, including HWA'sLifetime Achievement Award in 2003.HotelTransylvania by Chelsea QuinnYarbro, published in 1978, is the first of a 25-book (so far) series featuringle Comte de Saint Germain, a 2000+-year-old vampire, whose adventures in manyhistorical periods are recounted. This novel overlaps in many details with thehistorical facts of le Comte de Saint-Germain, a mysterious figure. An Americanwriter, Yarbro (1942- ) publishes three or four books a year, under variouspseudonyms, in a variety of genres, including mysteries and romance tales. Shewas awarded HWA's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.Thewinning book will be announced on March 31, 2012. HWA will also celebrate itstwenty-fifth anniversary on that date.Formore information, please contact Leslie S.Klinger, chair of the Bram StokerVampire Novel of the Century jury.TheVampire Novel of the Century Award is sponsored by Jeremy Wagner.

New Interview + Giveaway

  If you have a minute, check out my latest interview over at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. You can also enter for a chance to win a copy of EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS.  Check the site for details.  Offer expires February 1, 2012.

2012 ... It's all down hill from here

Spent a relaxing New Year with the family at Windham Mountain     Just some quick updates ... The winners have been announced in the EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS Goodreads book giveaway contest.  Winners, if you happen to see this, you're books will be mailed out on Saturday.  Thanks to everyone who entered.  For those of you who didn't win, I'll try to do another giveaway soon, so better luck next time.

Also, the free Kindle giveaway has ended.  Thanks to everyone who helped get EVE to number 1 in the free children's horror and number 10 in free children's fantasy over at Amazon.  Never thought I'd see that happen.  If you missed out, you can still borrow the ebook for free as long as you have a Prime membership.
And finally, a big thank you to the Pike County Library for making EVE one of the featured books this month.  You guys are awesome.
Happy 2012, everyone!  
   

Nightmare After Christmas

For those of you who found a shiny new Kindle under your Christmas tree and are hankerin' to fill it up with content, you might like to know the ebook version of EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS is available for FREE until December 30th.  My little gift to you.

If you miss out, no worries, you can still read it for free with your Prime membership until March 6, 2012.

If you prefer the feel of paper between your fingers, Barnes & Noble is currently offering the print version at the lowest price I've seen so far ($9.35).

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS. Contest expires January 01, 2012. .goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; background: white; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget img { padding: 0 !important; margin: 0 !important; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a { padding: 0 !important; margin: 0; color: #660; text-decoration: none; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a:visted { color: #660; text-decoration: none; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a:hover { color: #660; text-decoration: underline !important; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink { display: block; width: 150px; margin: 10px auto 0 !important; padding: 0px 5px !important; text-align: center; line-height: 1.8em; color: #222; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; border: 1px solid #6A6454; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; font-family:arial,verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; background-image:url(http://goodreads.com/images/layout/gr... background-repeat: repeat-x; background-color:#BBB596; outline: 0; white-space: nowrap; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover { background-image:url(http://goodreads.com/images/layout/gr... color: black; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; } Goodreads Book Giveaway Eve Hallows and the Book of Shrieks by Robert Gray

Giveaway ends January 01, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The Five Best Books of 2011

In honor of my favorite book this year, I give you THE FIVE BEST BOOKS OF 2011.


5. ROBOPOCALYPSE by Daniel H. Wilson 

In the near future, at a moment no one will notice, all the dazzling technology that runs our world will unite and turn against us. Taking on the persona of a shy human boy, a childlike but massively powerful artificial intelligence known as Archosassumes control over the global network of machines that regulate everything from transportation to utilities, defense and communication. In the months leading up to this, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of unconnected humans – a single mother disconcerted by her daughter's menacing "smart" toys, a lonely Japanese bachelor who is victimized by his domestic robot companion, an isolated U.S. soldier who witnesses a 'pacification unit' go haywire – but most are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is too late.

When the Robot War ignites -- at a moment known later as Zero Hour -- humankind will be both decimated and, possibly, for the first time in history, united. Robopocalypse is a brilliantly conceived action-filled epic, a terrifying story with heart-stopping implications for the real technology all around us…and an entertaining and engaging thriller unlike anything else written in years.



4. FLASHBACK by Dan Simmons 

The United States is near total collapse. But 87% of the population doesn't care: they're addicted to flashback, a drug that allows its users to re-experience the best moments of their lives. After ex-detective Nick Bottom's wife died in a car accident, he went under the flash to be with her; he's lost his job, his teenage son, and his livelihood as a result.

Nick may be a lost soul but he's still a good cop, so he is hired to investigate the murder of a top governmental advisor's son. This flashback-addict becomes the one man who may be able to change the course of an entire nation turning away from the future to live in the past.
A provocative novel set in a future that seems scarily possible, FLASHBACK proves why Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers.


3. 11/22/63 by Stephen King 

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning's father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.


Not much later, Jake's friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake's new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake's life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.


2. THE SILENT LAND by Graham Joyce 

In the French Pyrenees, a young married couple is buried under a flash avalanche while skiing. Miraculously, Jake and Zoe dig their way out from under the snow—only to discover the world they knew has been overtaken by an eerie and absolute silence. Their hotel is devoid of another living soul. Cell phones and land lines are cut off. An evacuation as sudden and thorough as this leaves Jake and Zoe to face a terrifying situation alone. They are trapped by the storm, completely isolated, with another catastrophic avalanche threatening to bury them alive . . . again. And as the couple begin to witness unset­tling events neither one can ignore, they are forced to con­front a frightening truth about the silent land they now inhabit.



1.  THE FIVE by Robert McCammon 

The Five tells the story of an eponymous rock band struggling to survive on the margins of the music business. As they move through the American Southwest on what might be their final tour together, the band members come to the attention of a damaged Iraq war veteran, and their lives are changed forever.


The narrative that follows is a riveting account of violence, terror, and pursuit set against a credible, immensely detailed rock and roll backdrop. It is also a moving meditation on loyalty and friendship, on the nature and importance of families those we are born into and those we create for ourselves and on the redemptive power of the creative spirit. Written with wit, elegance, and passionate conviction, The Five lays claim to new imaginative territory, and reaffirms McCammon's position as one of the finest, most unpredictable storytellers of our time.