Rowena’s Comments (group member since Jan 16, 2008)

Rowena’s comments from the Q&A with Rowena Cherry group.

Who here works for free? Teachers, lawyers, doctors: may I have some freebies from you? Especially you doctors, lawyers, and others who make more in a month than I'll see in a year ... a freebie would be just a drop in the bucket for you, right?

I am one of those authors who has to make the sick, twisted choice between food and medicine. I also struggle to afford school (as an adult, finally working to finish my BA). I do not have the extra for ANY luxuries. Still, I am a writer and there is nothing else in this world I can do and do consistently well, other than write. I cannot afford to give away my writing, beyond short bites.

Those who pirate my books truly are stealing food from my plate.

Lisa

Rowena, a great post. I'll try not to be too long winded here.

Badmouthing or flaming a new author can be devastating. Even a harsh review can take the wind out of their sales. I've been doing this for a number of years now, but I'll always remember the courage it took to send in my first submission. I thought I'd simply die of fright, insecurity, sure no one could possibly want the sludge I'd written. I was a mess for days, weeks. It took three weeks to get a reply. Can you imagine how horrible it would be if you went to work and were terrified like that?

If someone had belittled me then, I'm sure I'd never have subbed again. As it was, I got my first review and it was horrendous. The reviewer wasn't happy simply trashing the book, which in all honesty did need some work, but she tore a strip off me for writing it. I very nearly stopped writing then. I cried for days. Every time I sat and tried to write, those words came back to me and I just couldn't do it.

New authors may be strong and brave and gung ho for everything. Some of them. Others are incredibly sensitive and shy, and will be crushed if they're 'bombed' What the hell good would that do anyone anyway?

Pirates. I'm in the process, it seems I'm always in this damn process, of trying to get several of my books removed from a couple of their sites. What really irritates me is, anyone can upload a book. But, to get one, or more, removed, you have to prove you own the rights, explain how this pirating is damaging your rights, give your personal information and hop through any number of other hoops these a$$ holes dream up. I've even seen one of them trying to get legal aid to stop the authors from demanding their books be removed.

I'm one of those who depend on my royalties to make ends meet. My husband lost his job in February and has been unable to find work since. Writing is my job. So when I see dozens, hundreds of my books being passed out for free, that means we don't pay a bill or we don't eat well for a day or three. I'm not Stephan King.

Okay, I'll stop now. I've wound myself up enough and I'm sure you've got the idea. LOL

Rowena, Thanks so much for bring this out and allowing us the chance to share out opinions.

Hugs
Jude Mason

Hi, Valerie,

Manic is a great group!
Good luck with the submissions.

Best wishes,
Rowena

Pauline,

Thank you for your comments and good wishes. Yes, as far as I know, I have no reason to stop.

All the best,
Rowena Cherry

Thank you for speaking up, Ann and Jaime.

I was watching Squawk Box on CNBC this morning. They were talking with an impressario (I think) representing musicians.

His attitude as regards music piracy was: "It's fine. It's a new world. Musicians make their money from touring and T-shirts."

Um. Fine for musicians, I grumped to myself. Authors don't get paid to do book tours, nor to read their books aloud on the radio. Moreover, we cannot sell T-shirts because we don't have the necessary copyright from the photographers and cover models and cover artists.

:-)
Rowena

Hi, Valerie,

Thank you so much for your posting. I have no idea why my face, not yours, showed up as the atavar for your reply.

I apologize for the glitch. Perhaps we were both online at the same time and confused the system. Where do you review?

Your policy sounds eminently professional, and I'm sure all authors appreciate that.

Sadly, even with an e-book, it costs at least $100 to re-upload a corrected file to fix a typo or anything of the sort, so mostly, once an error gets by the copy-editor/proof-reader, it is there for ever.


Rowena wrote: "You know, what I don't get is this; if the pirate thinks the book is so lousy, why bother to take the time to steal it or upload it so that other people can steal it? When I don't like a book I've..."

You know, what I don't get is this; if the pirate thinks the book is so lousy, why bother to take the time to steal it or upload it so that other people can steal it? When I don't like a book I've purchased I just delete it.

As far as the bombing ang flaming of authors, I really hate that. I do reviews at a couple of sites and, even in my harshest review, I tried to find something good about each book. Only once was a book so bad that I sent it back to the site, explaining that I did not feel that I could give it a good review, they offered it to someone else to review. Personally I've never given less than a 3 on a review, which generally means good, but needed some more editing, and gave praise along with constructive criticism. With newer or debut authors I try to emphasise the good points while pointing out where it needed work. They'll never grow as writers if all they hear are all bad or all good things.

Valerie

http://www.freado.com/player/bookplayer.php?contentid=3726&authorid=2844&preview=1

See what the brilliant Charlee Compo did with a sampler of fantasy authors' first chapters on BookBuzzr!

Readers sell gently used books on Amazon, EBay, Craigslist.

Here's another possibility.
Powells.
http://www.powells.com/sell/?header=Sell%20Us%20Your%20Books

For information about selling your used books to Powell's email: sell@powells.com
Telephone Powell's 503-228-4651, ext. 5952 (or toll free 800-878-7323, ext. 5952).

I'm not sharing this info because I get anything out of it... but as an author, I appreciate the layout and promo that Powell's gives each book.

Thank you for the comment, Bryn. I'm sure that regular people would be shocked if they knew what goes on.

I wonder if readers understand what it is like to be a debut or midlist author?

Not to whinge. I'm not thinking about myself. It seems to me that there are a vast number of my colleagues who for one reason or another dare not pop their head over the proverbial parapet for fear of making enemies.

That goes especially for the growing problem of "piracy" and file-"sharing" but also in a smaller way for protesting against ideas that may seem like a huge joke to readers and casual reviewers, but which can really hurt young writers.

One assumption that I see on the pirate loops is that all authors make plenty of money, and that a bit of piracy doesn't hurt them.

In many cases, Robin Hood is robbing those who are poorer... not to mention the taxman. I know of authors whose books are being copied, duplicated, and stolen, and who get so little in royalties that they have to chose between food and medicine. If even a fraction of the copies "shared" as downloads on pirate sites had been purchased, those authors might have made ends meet.

The same probably goes for sell-through. Many small press publishers only take an e-book into print if a certain number of e-books sell.

The same happens with print. If an author does not sell enough copies of the first printing, there may not be a second printing, and there may not be a contract for the next manuscript.

I've seen pirates say that they only steal from bad authors, whose writing is excrement anyway so there's no harm done.

In most cases, an editor bought a book because she loved it and believed that thousands of readers would love it, too. No one can afford to buy a weak book anymore (if they ever did). Publishing is expensive.

If that is true, every book ought to be one person's treasure and another person's waste of a tree.

What do you think?

Space Pirates Listmania

If you are interested in space pirates, or seafaring pirates (or even e-pirates) please check out my listmania on amazon, and consider giving me a helpful vote.

Yes, Lil,

You may. Thank you.

PS, if you enjoyed Insufficient Mating Material and felt like helping me out, I'd love some votes (stars for cleverness of title, attractiveness of blurb etc) in a popularity contest


http://tinyurl.com/Award-5-Stars

Thank you, Chelle!

My grandmother used to say, "If you've nothing nice to say, don't say anything..." Switch "nice" for "helpful" and you have my current philosophy.

Here's my new 25 Ways list.
All authors for the purpose of this list will be considered female. (No sexism intended).

#1. Help the search engines find her. You know where to find your friend, her blog, and her books, but “hits” help. The more visitors the search engine spiders find, the more priority the author's website gets. Google her. Ask Jeeves about her. Dogpile her. A9 search her. Use Alexa. Yahoo search. Blog search. Search on Technorati. Set up a Google Alert for her name, also common misspellings of her name, and for her book titles.

#2. Having “Searched” or been "Alerted", Visit… her website; blogs; author pages. If you may comment, do so. Everyone who takes the time to blog or post content is grateful when visitors comment. Human nature leads more people to read a post that has received a lot of comments.

#3 Follow. Favorite. Share. Google's Blogger, Twitter, Facebook "Pages", Squidoo lenses, You Tube videos and more allow you to become a follower or a fan. Do so. Connect wherever you can. It's good for both of you, because follower/fan photos show up.

#4 Click to read (and rate) any reviews she has written, or Lists she has set up. These days, anyone can make an EssentiaList on Barnes and Noble.com, a Listmania on Amazon.com, a Top Ten list on Chapters.Indigo.ca, also Listopia on GoodReads.com/ If you like her reviews or lists, click Helpful.

#5. If you see a good review of a book you've enjoyed—on any bookselling site that allows customers and visitors to comment on reviews-- click Helpful if it truly is a helpful review. Votes help both the reviewer and the author.

#6. Tag her books wherever you can. Amazon isn't the only place (Amazon isn't even one site… there's Amazon.ca, Amazon.uk, Amazon.de etc etc) Many book selling sites encourage readers to tag.

What is a tag? It's a search term that a reader might be using to find a type of book she likes, when she is looking for a new author. Some tags might be "Romance", "Fantasy", "Mystery", "Shapeshifter", "Georgian Romance", "Humor" or "Space Opera".

#7. When you are on an admired author's Amazon book page, click on links to:
Put it on your wish list, it’s extra, free advertising for the book. Tell a friend. Scroll down the book page to Tag this product. Or make a search suggestion).

#8. Join in the Customer/Reader discussions on her book page, or on the forums. Ask a question. Start a discussion. Hundreds of eyeballs scan the discussions on Barnes and Noble bookclubs. The search engines pick up on the discussions. The longer a discussion keeps going, the better the PR buzz for your friend. This does not just apply to Amazon and B&N. Discussion anywhere is "buzz".

#9. Review her book… Most people know that a customer can write a review on Amazon.com. There's a purchase requirement with Amazon (and I think with Barnes and Noble, too). However, many sites don't require a reader to have bought a book from them in order to post a review: GoodReads.com, Shelfari.com, LibraryThing.com, E-Bay, Powells, FlipKart, We-Read (on Facebook), NexTag etc etc.

#10. Smak her. Have you ever noticed the "Add This" or "Share" or "Recommend" widgets on online pages and on You Tube? If you think your author friend's blog, or news about her is interesting, syndicate the news to Digg It, Reddit, Technorati, Stumble Upon, Furl and as many of the other 40 or so sites as you have time and energy for. It's self promo when she does it. It's news when someone else does it.

Smak is SmakNews.com. News for women, posted by women.

#11. If the author has a reminder on a public calendar (Amazon has one, other sites have the function, too) for a booksigning near you, click on Remind Me Too. Booksignings are nerve-racking. Support is always appreciated, even if you don’t buy a book.

#12. If she lists an "Event", which one can on Facebook, GoodReads, and too many other places to mention, be sure to RSVP with a kind comment about the book.

#13. Make her a top friend on MySpace, Bebo etc, Give her book cover image as a "gift" on Facebook, with her permission, make her cover into a widget or tile it as a background, or keep it on the top page of your Shelfari/GoodReads/MyB&N display of what you are reading.

#14. If you have a MySpace page or Bebo.com, or Twitters, or Clasmates.com, or facebook.com, or theyack.com (and if you don’t, but really want to help, get one… it’s free) invite your author friends to be your friends there. Write a bulletin about your friend or her book. Add a comment on their profile page’s comments section. Your comment is their opportunity to say something about their book without the appearance of soliciting. Review their book on your MySpace blog. Or on You Tube!

#15. If her publisher has a forum, join it and ask her questions. For instance, Dorchester Publishing (home of Leisure and LoveSpell authors) has http://forums.dorchesterpub.com/

Again, your comment will be seen by hundreds, if not thousands, and it will give your friend a reason to post something interesting and quotable about her book without seeming to be self-promoting.

#16. If you have a blog or website, (and you should always secure your own domain name before you become famous yourself) publicize your friend’s upcoming signings/author talks/workshops on your blog. Mention her website URL. Link to your author friend’s website or blog on yours. Put her book as a 'must read' on your own site, or in your own newsletter. Have a list of links to authors you like, and blogs you enjoy.

#17. If you belong to readers’ group sites, or book chat sites, or special interest sites, post what you are reading. Plugs never hurt. These are also picked up on RSS feeds and the search engines.

#18. Join your favorite author’s yahoo group, let her know where you’ve seen her book in stores, or where you’ve seen discussions of her book, or reviews of her book.

#19. Drop in on her online chats to say how you enjoyed her book. Supportive friends at chats are cool because chats can be chaotic, and typing answers takes time.

#20. Tweet on Twitter about how much you are enjoying the book. Retweet or reply to any comments you see that promote the book, or the author.

#21. Offer to take a bunch of her bookmarks to conventions, or conferences, and make sure they are put in goodie bags, or on promo tables. Or simply visit her table at a convention, and sign up for her newsletter, or pick up her bookmark and tell someone else how good the book is. Offer to slip her bookmarks into your own correspondence when you pay bills, taxes, etc.

#22. Instead of quoting Goethe in your sig file, try quoting a line from your friend’s blurb in the week of her launch.

#23. Ask for her book in your local library. If they don't have it, maybe they will order a copy. If the library won't do that, ask if they would enter the book in their system if the author were to donate a copy to them. Once a book is in one library's system, it gets into the database for other libraries.

#24. If you see your favorite author’s books in a supermarket or bookstore: face her books (if there is room), turn one so the cover shows. Tell store personnel how much you like that book, or that the author is local. If you don’t see her books, especially when they ought to be there, ask about them.

#25. If you are connected on LinkedIn.com and your author friend is listed as "Author" or "Freelance Writer" or similar, consider "recommending her" on the strength of her writing. Recommendations on LinkedIn are intended to be for professional purposes.


Bonus Tip:
If you're an author buy colleagues' autographed books at booksignings to use in your own giveaways instead of always giving away your own books.


copyright: Rowena Cherry

If you are a colleague, I hope you won't mind if I suggest that listening to my interview on www.theauthorsshow.com might be a worthwhile thing to do. You could check out the exposure I got (the interview and the first broadcast is free), and sign up for your own free interview.

If you are a reader, you might enjoy the interview. Don seemed to.

Don MacCauley wrote: "I have done hundreds of interviews throughout the years. Most are enjoyable, some are enlightening, a few are downright painful. Others though, stand decidedly apart from the group. These interviews create memories that I will enjoy for the rest of my days. My recent interview with Rowena Cherry was one such interview."

Hear the interview. Find out why HRH The Duke of Edinburgh called Rowena Cherry a cow, what drives Rowena to write about aliens (and other misunderstood beings), and what paranormal powers she has in real life (or not).

Best wishes,
Rowena Cherry

I'm thrilled to hear that Insufficient Mating Material is a finalist in the Anne Bonney awards, in the Most Humorous category.

If you've read Insufficient Mating Material, which scene or conversation did you find most humorous?

Thank you, Candy.

What is more KNIGHT'S FORK was awarded another Reviewer's Top Pick for October, and also a recommendation by a PNR staff member.

I couldn't be more thrilled.

Marly and Sandi,

Thank you very much.

Light Paranormal
1. Dead Girls are Easy by Terri Garey
2. More Than Fiends by Maureen Child
3. Highland Guardian by Melissa Mayhue

Time Travel
1. Wired by Liz Maverick
2. Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband by Melissa Mayhue
3. Forgiveness by JL Wilson.

Erotica
1. Mona Lisa Blossoming by Sunny
2. Pleasures of the Night by Sylvia Day
3. Double Dating with the Dead by Karen Kelly

Futuristic
1. My Favorite Earthling by Susan Grant
2. How to Lose an Extraterrestrial in 10 days by Susan Grant
3. Insufficient Mating Material by Rowena Cherry

Novella
1. Over the Moon by Sunny
2. Street Corners and Halos by Catherine Spangler
3. Wild Hearts in Atlantis by Alyssa Day

Dark Paranormal
1. Immortals: The Awakening by Joy Nash
2. Betrayed: A House of Night Novel by PC Cast
3. Touched by Darkness by catherine Spangler

Fantasy
1. The Eternal Rose by Gail Dayton
2. Lucinda, Darkly by Sunny
3. Voice of Crow by Jeri Smith-Ready

Best of the Best
Wired by Liz Maverick

Best First Book
1. Grave Illusions by Lina Gardiner
2. She Wolf by Teresa D'Amario
3. Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband by Melissa Mayhue