Asking for your literary help….
(Seeking Readers for Market Survey)
In 2008 I worked with an agent who secured strong interest in a novel from one of the Big Six. The publisher eventually passed, having reservations about signing a rookie, the market for rural noir, and the entire world in general. In 2008, the world was coming to an end, especially for publishers.
After that I signed with the agent of my dreams, who sold the next novel I wrote, Cold Quiet Country, to MP Publishing. Since then I’ve done a structural edit and a polish edit to the novel that almost made the Big Six. I think it’s quite good, but I don’t know if it would be viewed as the equal of Cold Quiet Country. I think it’s profoundly good but I’ve been married to the story for six years… and I respect my readers enough to desperately want to avoid letting them down.
Thus, while my agent negotiates my next book deal as we speak, and I’ve completed another, I’m again looking backward to the story I can’t get out of my head. I want to put into peoples’ hands and let them tell me whether to publish it or not.
So, I’d like to ask for your help.
Would you like to have a voice in whether a novel makes it to market? Email me at claylindemuth@gmail.com for a Word copy of the novel…
What I’m asking for:
I’m looking for readers who will be able to read the novel within about two weeks, and answer a short list of simple-answer questions, such as whether the story is compellingly good, meaning, whether you would blab about it to your friends, what price point would you choose on a Kindle version, in terms of value, things like that.
I’m looking for thoughtful readers, but not necessarily beta readers, or line editors, etc. You don’t have to put a lot of work into it, is what I’m getting at.
If I receive an overwhelming majority of positive responses, I will know. And likewise, if the majority is lukewarm, that will also tell me something.
If you’d like to read the novel, can do so in the next two weeks, and promise on your soul that you will not share the text, please email me at claylindemuth@gmail.com
I truly, deeply appreciate your help.
So, what’s the story about?
A young woman who flees one violent relationship by marrying a man who is even worse than the one she flees.
A young woman whose central struggle is following God in all things, while every decision takes her closer to her destruction.
A brooding, violent, rural noir monster that fights dogs, distills a particularly evil whiskey, and murders wives. And neighbors. And just people.
A walnut tree, on a tiny isthmus called Devil’s Elbow, that has been the locus of evil in the lives of two warring families for a century.
The story is violent, but my aim with violence is always to place it within a worldview that insists on absolute right. That said, if you cannot stomach reading about evil, this book is not for you. Email me at claylindemuth@gmail.com if you’d like to participate. All the cool kids are doing it. It’ll make you feel real good. It’s groovy.
Help Spread the Word!
If you have a social network, please consider posting a link to this post! Also, if you know folks individually who like to read rural noir, please send them a note. I greatly appreciate your help.
