[2023] Wild Discussion Showing 1,301-1,350 of 4,060

[Ellie]

The sad truth is the vast majority of authors can't make a living from their books alone.

[Nancy]

I love the author idea and I've been mulling over something similar. So many authors have/had other careers - Lisa Genova is a neuroscientist, Andy Weir a software engineer, Colson Whitehead and many others are journalists....

[Martha]

Stacey Abrams is a writer and a politician.

[Lindsey]

Tracy wrote: "New Suggestions:

"A book written by an author who's primary occupation is/was something else entirely."

1) Does anyone have any less awkward wording for this?

2) Although this would easily be fi..."

I like this suggestion. I feel like a lot of the thrillers/mysteries I read are written by authors who were/are attorneys.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Nancy wrote: "I love the author idea and I've been mulling over something similar. So many authors have/had other careers - Lisa Genova is a neuroscientist, Andy Weir a software engineer, Colson Whitehead and ma..."

As much as I hate multiple qualifiers on prompts, I would leave out journalists and professors since those seem to be common jobs while trying to publish.
Jasmine Guillory was a lawyer.

[Thomas]

I see Pamela’s point very few writers didn’t have another job before hitting it big “ better known for something else” is fine but it’s a very different preposition

[Nancy]

I'd think that would be a BIO option, rather than add qualifiers.

[Nadine in NY]

Tracy wrote: "New Suggestions:

"A book written by an author who's primary occupation is/was something else entirely."

1) Does anyone have any less awkward wording for this?

2) Although this would easily be fi..."


almost all authors start out as something else, a lot of them were lawyers and doctors. Other than journalists and librarians and literature teachers, their careers were almost always quite different from "author." Lauren Willig was a lawyer, Jennifer McQuiston is a doctor (and she actually quit writing to focus on her job at the CDC), S.A. Cosby runs a funeral home (owned by his wife), etc. So I think this category is fun to talk about and think about and research, but it's really wide open and almost any author will qualify. Which is why I'm not crazy about it!

[Edie]

Pam wrote: "Tracy- I’ve seen your suggestion somewhere else, maybe a different challenge, and I like it. An alternate wording could be An author who is primarily known in a field other than writing."

Aren't most memoirs written by folks who attained fame in something other than writing (actors, musicians, politicians, educators, etc.)?

[Tracy]

Joyce wrote: "Tracy wrote: "New Suggestions:

"A book written by an author who's primary occupation is/was something else entirely."

In the UK it feels like lots of entertainers have also written novels. Off th..."

Thanks for the additional list Joyce. Maybe I should start a Listopia for this.

[Tracy]

Pam wrote: "Tracy- I’ve seen your suggestion somewhere else, maybe a different challenge, and I like it. An alternate wording could be An author who is primarily known in a field other than writing."

Glad you like the idea Pam, and thanks for the better wording!

[Tracy]

Nancy wrote: "I love the author idea and I've been mulling over something similar. So many authors have/had other careers - Lisa Genova is a neuroscientist, Andy Weir a software engineer, Colson Whitehead and ma..."

I have a couple of Lisa Genova's books on my TBR (non-fiction AND fiction) — not sure why I didn't think of her. Maybe because I haven't actually read any of her work yet. And Andy Weir, of course! Didn't know that Colson Whitehead is/was a journalist.

[Tracy]

Edie wrote: "Pam wrote: "Tracy- I’ve seen your suggestion somewhere else, maybe a different challenge, and I like it. An alternate wording could be An author who is primarily known in a field other than writing..."

Yes, of course. That is why I mentioned it at the beginning. Maybe it would be more to the point to say something about books that aren't memoirs or non-fiction related to their other career. It's meant to be writing outside of their original or main profession.

But then do we get in the realm of "too many qualifiers"? And potentially awkward wording?

[Tracy]

Thomas wrote: "I see Pamela’s point very few writers didn’t have another job before hitting it big “ better known for something else” is fine but it’s a very different preposition"

Yes, "better known" may not work, because you could be an excellent electrician, but you aren't necessarily "known".

I was looking for people who had successful professional lives, but wanted to flex their writing muscles. I suppose if you are a good lawyer, doctor, politician, etc., you aren't going to waste your time writing and publishing a novel unless that is ALSO good.

[Dubhease]

Tracy wrote: "Joyce wrote: "Tracy wrote: "New Suggestions:

"A book written by an author who's primary occupation is/was something else entirely."

In the UK it feels like lots of entertainers have also written ..."

I love this idea. In Canada, astronaut Chris Hadfield has a new fiction book The Apollo Murders and some science books and a kids book. Our former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has written 2 fiction books including Denial

[Pam]

Tracy - "Widely recognized in a different field" is another option for wording. Politician Stacey Abrams, as Martha mentioned, is a great example. Bill O'Reilly has an extensive non-fiction series. (I don't know what he does these days but I still think of him as a conservative talking head.) Actor Neil Patrick Harris has a mid-grade series he authored. Chris Colfer, from the Glee TV show, has a YA fantasy series. Actors Ethan Hawke and Tom Hanks also come to mind. There are certainly lots of kids books by celebrities, like Shaquille O'Neal Little Shaq series. I think journalists are fine if they are well-known, like CNN's Jake Tapper. I would consider a memoir as a KIS option.

[KP]

"Authors who have a different day job."
"Authors with a career other than writing."

[Joy D]

Not sure why we want to exclude non-fiction.

[Steve]

Joy D wrote: "Not sure why we want to exclude non-fiction."

I think that if we don't, it simply becomes "read a memoir" for the majority. There's more of a challenge when you're asking for a fiction book from someone who's known for another profession.

[Kahlia]

"Authors who have a different day job."
"Authors with a career other than writing."

I think the challenge is that this is far too broad. The number of writers who can afford to be full time writers is a very small percentage of the overall population, and almost all of them have another job (even if it is something mundane and their writing is what they are *known* for).

[KP]

I wouldn't want to exclude non-fiction. What's the point of reading an author with other experiences if we can't read about them directly in non-fiction, or indirectly in fiction.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Nadine in NY wrote: almost all authors start out as something else, a lot of them were lawyers and doctors. Other than journalists and librarians and literature teachers, their careers were almost always quite different from "author." Lauren Willig was a lawyer, Jennifer McQuiston is a doctor (and she actually quit writing to focus on her job at the CDC), S.A. Cosby runs a funeral home (owned by his wife), etc. So I think this category is fun to talk about and think about and research, but it's reall

No clue who SA Cosby is or what he writes but he is officially my favorite writer now.

If the prompt is too broad, what about making it more specific instead? An author who was a lawyer? Or a teacher? Or some other semi-common author profession?

[Alicia]

Pamela wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: almost all authors start out as something else, a lot of them were lawyers and doctors. Other than journalists and librarians and literature teachers, their careers were almost ..."

I highly recommend his book Razorblade Tears

[Roxana]

dalex wrote: "Roxana wrote: " Spin the Dawn is a fantasy that starts with a sewing/clothesmaking competition so it could be related to Project Runway."

I love Project Runway and this book sounds amazing!!! I'm ..."

Dalex & Alicia, enjoy!! 😊

And - glad to hear Tomorrow x3 is so good, I'm planning to borrow my sister's BotM copy as soon as she reads it 😅

[NancyJ]

Sorry to come in at the tale end, I've been under the weather and I'm not caught up yet.

Ellie wrote: "The sad truth is the vast majority of authors can't make a living from their books alone."

Stephen King talks about that in his memoir, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I think he said that only 10% of writers make enough to support themselves or a family.

In the last couple years we had prompts to encourage us to read authors with long careers, and (this summer) authors over 50 years of age. I loved these, but in light of economic realities, I think it would be nice to support newer author's first efforts as well. I don't want to be ageist and say young authors. We had a related idea last summer that had to do with age, which became a sticking point. (Some of us didn't want to have to look up author's ages, or maybe it was related to our own age). I don't think we specifically discussed debut novels.

One of my first tags in the book tag group was "debut," and it was a very popular tag with the whole group. I read several brand new authors, (including one who might have been self-published), and the debut books of a few long established authors. I had a ball, and I read a lot more books than usual that month.

1. I think it would be a lot of fun to read debut novels:
"Read a debut novel." Or "Read an author's debut novel"

2. If we wanted to also give a boost to recent new authors, we could specify a publication date:
"Read a debut novel published after _____"
"Read a debut novel published after 2010" (Or maybe 2000. I think 2020 is too restrictive.)

3. We don't need to limit it to fiction novels. Non-fictions debuts could also work.:
"Read an author's debut book"

What do you think?

[Alicia]

I’d rather an authors debut novel than an author with a different career. There are some memoirs I like, but only because I liked those people before. So it’s be hard for me to pick a random memoir. But then I think (1) it’s otherwise too broad and (2) so-and-so is a lawyer but it doesn’t really mean much in the context of their writing or the story

[Irene]

Is there any interest in a prompt that supports non-Amazon booksellers? Like a book that was purchased from a local or indie bookstore?

If so, which wording is the most appealing?
- a book from a local bookstore
- a book purchased locally
- a book from an indie bookstore
- a book from a local or indie bookstore
- a book NOT from Amazon (including websites owned by Amazon like Book Depository)
- a book from a brick-and-mortar store

I've just been thinking about how bookstores are disappearing because of Amazon offering fast shipping and low prices, which hurts publishers, authors, and small businesses. It makes me sad when people go to a physical store to look at the books and then buy them online - being able to flip through and pick up books is part of what you're paying for at a brick-and-mortar store so the fact that people buy from Amazon (or Book Depository, etc) to save a couple of dollars per book is upsetting (the exception being for people who can't afford to buy books anywhere else and don't have any other options that can ship to them).

[Alicia]

I don’t know if I’d vote either way, but I could see it not going over well especially for people that are e-readers or audiobook listeners. For them there wouldn’t be any options. The even for people that read physical books, they may be limited to a library due to financial concerns. And there wouldn’t be a way to know how or where the li tart got a book.

[Bec]

Irene wrote: "Is there any interest in a prompt that supports non-Amazon booksellers? Like a book that was purchased from a local or indie bookstore?

If so, which wording is the most appealing?
- a book from ..."
This would be a clear down vote for me. I mostly read on my kindle, it's my favourite way. Sometimes I may borrow a physical book from the library or an audio book from either library or audible. But I never purchase a physical book.
I think this would be very difficult for kindle readers along with predominately library readers and is forcing people to purchase a book.

[NancyJ]

Bec wrote: "Irene wrote: "Is there any interest in a prompt that supports non-Amazon booksellers? Like a book that was purchased from a local or indie bookstore?

If so, which wording is the most appealing?
..."

I don't think it's too much of a burden to ask us to get 1 of 52 books from a source other than Amazon.* That's less than 2%. (Spending a little more money locally is good for our local economies. Experts recommend allocating 10% of our purchases to local stores.)

I read a lot of ebooks and e-audiobooks and Amazon is not the only source.

If we all rely 100% on only one company, we eventually will find we have no other options, and the monopoly can charge whatever it wants. There are already some people who no longer have a local bookstore at all (indie or corporate). [Ann Patchett became a hero to readers in Nashville (and elsewhere) by partnering to open a bookstore, since they no longer had one.]

Some people might need other options, such as a thrift store, department store, the public library, borrowing from a friend, or buying from an independent store online. They could also use a wild card.

For the wording, I wouldn't want to name one company to exclude. I like these options:

- a book from an indie bookstore or local store. (The local store might be a bookstore, thrift store, department store, library bookstore, or an airport bookstore. This phrasing would allow for an online purchase from an indie retailer, but the others should be physical stores.)

OR
A book from an indie bookstore or another local source. This would all of the above plus a public library, or borrowing a book from a friend.

I read a lot of ebooks and e-audible books, and I can get ebooks from my library that are not kindle books. I'm pretty sure that the e-audiobooks are not from audible, though I can ask.

I use my public library as much as possible, and I donate money to them every year. They do so much more for our community than just providing books. But I also know how important it is to support local stores. I'd have to drive farther for an indie bookstore, but it could be a good excursion for me.

[Ellie]

I'd vote for debut novel, either with or without a year qualifier. I'd probably use it to read a 2023 debut anyway.

I think book source is too tricky to get right. I don't know how things are in the US but we have big price rises going on in the UK, and needing to buy a book to complete the challenge might put people off if they are already struggling financially. If it's just a book not from Amazon, it's then a freebie for library users.

[Kahlia]

I would happily vote for a debut novel because I like keeping across new releases. I'd also be happy with adding a qualifier like "published in the last 5 years" to encourage reading relatively new authors.

[Kahlia]

This would be a clear down vote for me. I mostly read on my kindle, it's my favourite way. Sometimes I may borrow a physical book from the library or an audio book from either library or audible. But I never purchase a physical book.

I would also downvote. For me thinking about what books match a prompt is the first step, and then I consider how I want to access it (kindle/library/etc), so it would no longer feel like picking a book specifically for a prompt.

Maybe we could have a prompt about indie publishers instead (like a book not published by the big 5)? I know it wouldn't solve the general problem of buying from Amazon but they also face challenges in terms of monopolies in the publishing world.

[Aimee]

I'd definitely vote for debut novel, I think that's a great idea to get people reading authors they haven't tried before.

I think the "book not from Amazon" would be tricky as I usually try and use books I already own for the challenge, and for most of them I have no clue where I got them from.
I'm also fortunate to have a really great second hand book shop round the corner from my office and a huge library nearby, both of which I frequent regularly, but not everyone will have those options and they might feel pressured into buying a new book. Given there is a cost of living crisis in many parts of the world at the moment, as Ellie pointed out, that might not be something we want to do.

I wouldn't downvote it, but I think others might.

[Shannon SA]

I would upvote a debut, without a year qualifier

I would downvote the book not from Amazon

[Joy D]

I think it is easy to forget that some people live in tiny places that do not have the range of options available in the big cities. Also, some of us use this challenge to whittle down the books we already own.

[Bec]

NancyJ wrote: "Bec wrote: "Irene wrote: "Is there any interest in a prompt that supports non-Amazon booksellers? Like a book that was purchased from a local or indie bookstore?

If so, which wording is the most ..."

Just to confirm most of my reading doesn't come from Amazon but I mainly read on my kindle. I have lots of ARCs so the book is direct from the author, I borrow lots of ebooks from the library which I convert into kindle format.
So I could do 'book from Amazon' but I wouldn't be doing 'book purchased from xxx'. I rarely buy books as I just don't have the excess funds so I use other legal sources to borrow.
So I think for me it's the issue of having to purchase a (seemingly physical) book.

[Nadine in NY]

Irene wrote: "Is there any interest in a prompt that supports non-Amazon booksellers? Like a book that was purchased from a local or indie bookstore?

If so, which wording is the most appealing?
- a book from ..."



Personally, no. I use the library. And we don't have any local indie bookstores in my area, so I would have to go online to specifically buy a book just for that prompt. I do buy books from thriftbooks now and then, and I assume that would count, so I COULD fulfill the prompt, but I would not be interested in voting for it.

[Marie]

"Irene wrote: "Is there any interest in a prompt that supports non-Amazon booksellers? Like a book that was purchased from a local or indie bookstore?

If so, which wording is the most appealing?
..."

For me this would be "read a paperback" :)

I live on a tiny remote island, the cost to get something shipped is ridiculous, so only my Kindle books are from Amazon. We only have independent shops here, every book on my shelf (almost 200 of them) would qualify. Any prompt with that many options I automatically downvote.

[Joanne]

I don't really read paper books anymore. 75% of my books are purchased from Kobo and the rest are mostly library ebooks or from Scribd. I don't have an Amazon account, but it would still be a challenge to find something that works.

[Thomas]

Please no one turn it into “ a book recommended by your Librarian” not everyone has one

[RachelG.]

99% of the books I read are from the library so I would downvote anything asking me to purchase a book.

I would rather see a indie publisher prompt than bookstore.

[Nancy]

Debut - upvote, and I like the idea of supporting newer authors so published within the last 5 years would be okay with me. Otherwise I might end up doing the debut of an already known author.

Not from Amazon - downvote, for the reasons many others said, the majority of my books come from the library. I could do it with the pile I have from my local LFL and used bookstore, but overall it's not a prompt I would vote for.

[Ann]

We haven't had a book with a music emphasis in quite a few years, i think. Maybe a book about music or one with musical instrument on the cover.

[Tracy]

Ann wrote: "We haven't had a book with a music emphasis in quite a few years, i think. Maybe a book about music or one with musical instrument on the cover."

I've been looking for a reason to get back to reading The Cellist of Sarajevo!

[Pam]

Anne - I think I suggest music or musical instruments every year! It’s the prompt I used this year for the prompt that didn’t make it. I still like the idea and have at least 2 books on my physical shelves that work.

[dalex]

Generally an author’s occupation has zero influence on the book. There are exceptions, for example, a legal thriller written by a lawyer or a sci-fi novel written by an aeronautical engineer might be different than one written by someone less knowledgeable about the field of expertise.

But by and large I feel it’s a purposeless prompt that requires too much research.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

I dunno, I would actually support debut book published after 2020. So many new and exciting authors have been published recently. And if the meaning of the prompt is to support emerging writers...

Looking at the best debut 2021 list for the Goodreads Awards, just to pick one source, has me with 6 books already marked to read, 8 books I've read, and who knows, I might add more if I read the descriptions of the others: https://www.goodreads.com/choiceaward.... And the Center for Fiction has a debut novel prize with a long longlist https://centerforfiction.org/book-rec...

(I would rather book than novel cause I have a friend who has a cozy mystery, her first book, coming out next year!)

[dalex]

Yes to the music prompt idea! For some reason it’s never been well received in the past (as I recall) but I love books about music, art, theater, etc.

[Pam]

I like the debut book (but not limited to novel) idea. I would prefer to not have a date restriction.