How to Market a Book, by Joanna Penn, Reviewed.

The third in a package of books on writing in the digital age, this one deals with the nuts and bolts of getting your books to market. That may sound daunting or technical or simply distasteful to many writers. It did to me. We are, after all, artists. We have souls and care about the words we share, the stories we tell, the characters we invent. Surely selling is a dirty world full of shysters, slimy creeps and people bent on separating the gullible from their money for personal gain, isn’t it? Well, it turns out that isn’t actually what it’s about.

The author, a writer of both nonfiction and fiction, explains in great detail, and to great effect, the reality behind the art of selling your books. You are a writer. Writing is communication and entertainment, as well as many other positive things. You have talent, you have imagination, you have knowledge. Are you writing to keep these things to yourself? I hope not. I certainly aren’t. We write to pass on our gifts, knowledge, imagination. But hiding your work in a cupboard or drawer is hardly going to get those words out there, is it?

In reality, marketing a book is passing information to people, readers, who are actively seeking your words. You are providing a service to the very people you wish to reach. They want to know about your books. They want to read your stories. They want to be able to find and buy your output. Are you going to prevent them by being all precious and mistakenly coy about the act of actually selling those works?

If you want to remain in obscurity, keep your efforts hidden from public gaze, hide away from the possibility of having readers actually read your books, then don’t read this book. It will educate and convert you. It will place you on the path to reaching readers. It may even make you see selling your wares as an honourable and desirable part of your craft that you could enjoy!

The book has multiple sections, all of them giving practical advice and some attempting to put right the ill-informed attitude that I and others may possess regarding the marketing of our books. I was one of those who considered himself an artist and unsuited to the world of sales. Mind you, I have a brief and troubled background in that world that undoubtedly tainted my opinion. But that was a different world, a commercially predatory place where the customer was seen as a target for the unscrupulous to cheat and legally rob. Marketing and selling your book does not have to be like that at all. In this field, potential buyers are actively seeking your books. And this book has left me feeling positive, enthusiastic and ‘clean’ about marketing and promoting my own work.

So, if you’re a writer just starting out, uncertainly stepping into the world of words, or a veteran with many titles under your belt, all unsold and under-promoted, this is definitely the book for you. Read it. Act on the advice. And sell your books to people who want to read them. Thoroughly recommended.

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A Couple of Nonfiction Pieces in Print.

Generally, I write fiction: it satisfies my imagination. But, currently, I’m preparing a nonfiction book to describe my experiences of ME/CFS in order to help sufferers and their helpers. Along the way, I’ve ventured into some short nonfiction pieces for publications. And, I suppose, most of my blog posts here and the stuff I’ve placed on ReadWave is nonfiction. I’m a writer, and I let the piece choose the genre.

It’s always satisfying to have work published, no matter how brief and transitory it may be. This week, I had a short piece of personal memoir published in a local daily newspaper, The Yorkshire Post. It was an observation on regional stereotypes presented in humorous form. And it’s a piece for which I’ll be paid, which is a nice bonus. Also this week I’ve had a short article published in the major UK  Writing Magazine, a monthly publication, that has a section for subscribers to tell the world their news. I wrote a piece on my great experience at Fantasticon 2014 and it’s now appeared in the current issue (January 2015).

Both of these short features have put my name, and in the case of the writing mag, my website address, in front of a wider readership. There’s the possibility that readers of the journals may investigate further and I may, as result, gain new readers for my fiction.

So, if you generally confine your activity to fiction only, perhaps you might consider the occasional foray into journalism. These publications certainly cheered up an otherwise stressful week for me. Have a go. What have you to lose?

Acid Drops, by Kenneth Williams, Reviewed.

Kenneth Williams, of ‘Carry On…’ fame for many, was a troubled character. Clever but socially handicapped, he lived a mostly solitary life. It comes as no surprise, then, that his collection of witty quips and quotes is entirely made up of the sort of put-downs that leave the victim feeling bad. Of course, the title gives a clue to the nature of the assortment; his selection is pungent with acerbic witticisms.

As an optimist and, bearing a philanthropic nature, I found only a few of these short forays into wit amusing. Many are cruel. At best, most are caustic. I laugh easily; it’s in my nature. But I didn’t laugh at many of these. Though I can admire the intelligence that created them. And Williams’ short accompanying accounts of how the quips came to be are quite amusing and informative.

Of course, this is a book intended to be dipped into rather than read, as I did, at one sitting. Perhaps I was overwhelmed by the nastiness of much of the material.

I have no doubt that those of a misanthropic or sour disposition will find plenty to enjoy here. But, for me, there was a little too much acid to make the book enjoyable. This is a volume that illustrates that beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder. For me, it was distinctly ugly, but clever. So a mixed review. If you like your wit with a cutting edge and little mercy, this will suit you.

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• Ashes Remembered - Kenneth Williams

The Best After-Dinner Stories, by Tim Heald, Reviewed.

A book better presented than compiled, Tim Heald’s The Best After-Dinner Stories is a special edition available through the Folio Society (£19.95). As is often the case with such books, the text is illustrated, in this case by Paul Cox, who does an admirable if somewhat cosy job of work with the material offered.

There’s an underlying tone to the collection and the introductory passages which will undoubtedly appeal to those of a clubbish or socially elevated nature. I found it complacent, self-satisfied and smug and not at all attractive. In fact, I was tempted to stop reading after a short while because of this slightly snobbish and superior tone. I’m glad I didn’t.

In the collection, Tim Heald introduces readers to such luminaries as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Churchill, Samuel Johnson, Horace Walpole and Her Majesty the Queen, amongst others. A few less elevated entertainers jostle for space within the pages, including Joyce Grenfell, Eric Idle, Gyles Brandreth, John Mortimer and Joanna Trollope, again, amongst others.

Of course, the very title of the book should have warned me of the probable approach: after dinner stories are, after all, mainly the province of establishment organisations such as Oxbridge, Gentleman’s clubs and various scholarly or exclusive societies. It is telling that the book was published by the Folio Society, a book club specialising in high end quality book production, where all volumes are hardbacks and most editions are presented in slip cases specially designed for the organisation. You’ll find it available on Amazon, but only in the form of the original publication; sometimes offered as ‘new’, when it is clear that it’s a book passed on to the seller by a society member.

Apart from the social snobbishness that drives the text, there’s an intellectual snobbishness that presents certain references, likely to be familiar only to scholars, as if these were common knowledge amongst common readers.

So, why did I continue to read? Well, the simple fact is that some of the stories presented were very amusing. Some. There was a good deal of comedy I could enjoy, though there was as much that left me cold due to its class basis. I skipped large portions, bored by the pretentions of the narrator. But I also learned the true sources for a number of lengthy jokes that have become popular through re-telling and clearly attributed to the wrong creative minds by that reprocessing.

I obtained the book as a returning member of the Folio Society, an organisation that attracts those of us who love real books. It was part of a free introductory package. I’m glad I didn’t pay for it but also glad I stuck it out to the end. Would I recommend it? That depends on the reader, really. The old-fashioned, club members, Oxbridge dons and graduates, and those who consider themselves upper-middle or upper class would undoubtedly enjoy a number of the ‘in’ jokes. For the rest of us less elevated readers, the pleasures are less obvious. If you enjoyed Punch, you’re likely to find something to amuse you here.

THE WRITERS’ TOOLKIT

THE WRITERS’ TOOLKIT: a handbook for authors of commercial fiction.  Penny Grubb & Danuta Reah. Published by Fantastic Books Publishing. Pb: £6.99.

Pre-order from Fantastic Books UK post-free

Where’s the best place for a novel to start? How do you tell? What pulls a reader into one book over another? What do you do if you can’t get any tension into a scene that should be high-drama? How do you lift a scene that seems to drag? Are you fed up with staring at a blank page?

The toolkits take you step by step, element by element and give you the components you need for every stage of your novel.

I know Penny Grubb's writing well. I'd advise any writer serious about commercial fiction to read this book.

Ancient Symbol Worship, by Westropp & Wake, Reviewed.

This is a modern version, not the one I read,
and may contain more information.

Subtitled, Influence of the Phallic Idea in the Religions of Antiquity, this book came my way as one of a small collection given me by my brother when he was sorting stuff out prior to a move to a new house with less space. He used to work in a book store and has a number of fairly unusual titles in his library. This was one he hadn't got round to reading, but the title and subtitle intrigued me.

This small volume, first published in 1875, sets out to examine the influence of the phallic, or male, component in ancient religion. But it takes this idea into modern religion, suggesting that the ancient beliefs, customs and rites have been absorbed and altered by modern celebrants in forms recognisable to those who wish to see.

There's some Latin, untranslated, and a colossal amount of reference to often obscure issues that were, presumably, well known to scholars of the time. But, for a modern reader, these references remain unexplained and would require a great deal of research to track down and more time than most people have these days for such esoteric issues. Whilst those who already have a deep interest in the symbolism employed in worship will undoubtedly understand the references, the rest of us will remain confused. However, much is clarified by context and, having an interest in many subjects, I was able to apprehend a lot of what the authors allude to, though other items consisted of listings of arcane information lacking any hook on which I could hang it.

That the book was written in the Victorian era, with its dreadful hypocrisy regarding all matters sexual, shows in the circumspection that rules the writing. Where, today, we would name the penis, testes, vulva and breasts without fear or embarrassment, the authors are constrained by the customs of their times and therefore have to express much of their ides in convoluted form or by the use of metaphor, much of which is couched in classical references that will be lost on many modern readers.

A second factor in preventing the authors expressing themselves frankly and with clarity is their sensitivity to the feelings of those who profess a faith. Again, today, such sensitivities can be dealt with more openly, showing respect rather than reverence. In the time the book was published however, such frankness, leading to real clarity, would have probably prevented publication.

So, an already difficult subject is made more obscure for reasons that are no longer valid. As the ideas and information explored are still valid and in need of wider publicity, I'd love to see some modern scholar produce a similar volume for today's reader with a much clearer text. Perhaps it's been done and I simply haven't come across the book.

As it is, this book can really only be read by the general reader as a partial glimpse into the subject. Those with a good knowledge of ancient history, religion and symbolism will glean a good deal more, however. Many of the ideas expressed as certainties have, of course, been placed in doubt or even refuted by more recent discoveries of texts from such sources as the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient records and parchments retrieved from many different sources by modern archaeologists.

Members of religious organisations will no doubt be outraged by suggestions that the roots of their current dogma and rites grew from ancient forms of worship that were definitely based in reproduction and sexuality, often in very explicit acts of devotion, sacrifice and propitiation to the early deities. But a dispassionate and disinterested examination of the rites, customs and beliefs of such groups quickly establishes their ancient links with many practices and myths no longer considered either right or sensible.

A demanding read, not for the faint-hearted.

Sylvia L. Ramsey, Interviewed.

Regular visitors will know that I ran a series of interviews on this blog, mostly with indie authors, and that, after 110 of these, I decided to give the series a rest. I haven't changed my mind, yet. But Sylvia's book is an exception because all proceeds are to go to charity and I support such generosity. So, here goes:

Hi Sylvia. I last interviewed you in January 2011, and you'd already published a number of books and had numerous short stories and poems appear in various literary journals. I gather you've a new book coming out. Would you tell us something about it, please?

Hello Stuart.  Yes, I have a new book, Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts. It is my fourth book,  and it was just released a couple of weeks ago. My newest book is a memoir, Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts, was inspired by a young man that has some very serious heart problems, and all the people I have met over the years as a teacher, mentor and a bladder cancer survivor. I have tried my best to encourage them, and to give them hope. To not give up on themselves or life. As I have traveled along life’s highway, I keep running into people who have let the rocks that have been thrown in their life’s road giving up on themselves, or life in general. The truth is that life is harsh, and it is not like the movies that give a false impression that it is smooth sailing. Being the hero that toughs it out and keeps on regardless of the situation is difficult, but with faith, it can be accomplished. It often takes a backbone, humor and a wishbone to survive it all.

Because of this, I decided to write a book to share my life’s experiences so that it may inspire someone to come back fighting when life knocks them down. The book is a journey though time from childhood to mature adulthood. The stories and poems in this book reflect the lows and highs of life. The loving memories, the hardships and the things we learn as we travel the road of life. It covers an abusive mother who had mental problems because of being abused as a child, childhood polio, a rocky marriage with a husband who was often abusive, the role of caregiving, death and grief, coping with bladder cancer, asthma, losing a home and more. Therefore, to not to scare you off with gloom and doom, there are funny stories along the way and an ending that I never dreamed would happen. My hope is that the book will bring about understanding to others, and be inspiring to even more. Our journey in life has a purpose, finding it is often the most difficult task of all.

You've had a number of serious problems to cope with in life; one of your supports through all this has been something you call 'faith'. As you know, I have a deep personal distrust of religious faith. Would you describe what you mean by 'faith'?

Regardless of what you believe or do not believe as far as "religious" faith is concerned, you must have faith in yourself that you can somehow overcome the various things that happen in life. Some call it perseverance and determination to not allow these things to conquer your spirit. I try never to use the word can't. I prefer to use the words: I may not know how, but I can learn. I will try, I may not be the absolute best at whatever it is...but I will try to do and be the best that is possible for me. Who knows what your best is unless you keep on trying. Giving up always equals failure. 

We've had similar responses, in one regard, to health issues that have come our way. In your case, research into bladder cancer has benefitted by your active support. I've done what I can for ME/CFS research in my quiet way. What drives you to continue with this support?

I know how important support is from others who have traveled the same road. Bladder cancer is one that has little in spite of the fact that it ranked 5th in prevalence. I have made it a personal goal for the past fifteen years to do my best to change this. When I speak with people who have just been diagnosed, I can hear the fear in their voices. They need someone to talk to that has experienced the same thing. They need someone to be able to talk to about their situation who understands. That was not available when I was diagnosed, or when I had my radical cystcectomy. Therefore, I decided to do what I had been taught as a child by my father: "I may not be able to do everything, but I can do something."

There are many ways in which individuals respond to adversity. Some fight, becoming aggressive and loud, some give up and succumb to whatever ails them, others take up the challenge in a more thoughtful and positive way. What do you think makes you respond so positively to the hardships that life's thrown your way?

I had two of the best role models, one was my father and the other was my grandmother. Another thing was my experience with polio at the age of four, and the time I spent in the hospital in a large ward with about sixteen other children. My bed was across from a little girl who had been in a fire, and her body was burned so badly. She never spoke the entire time I was there. There were only occasional moans. There were so many children there that were much worse off than me, that I could not feel sorry for myself. I wanted to get well and help others even at that time. I heard about the Red Cross and their drive to make people aware of polio. I started by helping to collect money for this cause as soon as I was able. I was one of the poster children. I talk about all this in my book.

So far, we've talked about you as the person. I'd like to know a little more about you as a writer. What made you decide to write, as opposed to any other creative activity?

Actually, writing isn't the only creative activity I indulge in, I also paint and sculpt. I love all the arts, and have participated in them. I directed a theatre program for sixteen years. I taught art and theatre courses. As far as my writing goes, that began when I was nine-years-old. I began writing news and feature articles for a small town newspaper in Southeast Missouri at the age of nine. Because of the nurturing and encouragement by the news editor, I developed a love and a need to write.

By the time I was working on my graduate degree, several of my poems, short stories and feature articles had been published. Since that time, over one hundred of my short stories and poems have found their way into literary magazines. I have been a featured poet in several literary journals over the years.

Do you have a favourite author? If so, who is it and what attracts you to their work?

That is a difficult question to answer because I have favorites in a variety of genre. In poetry, there are three, Frost, Millay, and a poem by Brecht, "To Posterity". Shakespeare's,  "King Lear" is one of my favorite plays. I read a lot of different types of books, and genre...so, it is an answer I do not have.

Do you have any advice for beginners in the field?

Keep writing, get as much feedback as you can get. Write enough to find your own voice. Listen to the feedback you get, but do not lose your voice. It is sometimes like painting, you may paint 60 or even a 100 before you get a good one. 

So many would-be writers have taken advantage of the ready availability of digital self-publishing, without first learning how to actually write. Have you anything to say about the proliferation of badly-written indie books?

I think this is something that comes with the territory of the new era. It can be unfortunate for the readers, and the good authors. Here again, I feel that before one publishes any work one needs some good critiques and to polish their work. 

When writing this particular book, how did you go about the actual process?

I was inspired to write this book because of seeing others give up on themselves, rather than do what was necessary to succeed. I began to write a rough draft lay-out of what I wanted to say, or put in the book. Then I wrote a draft of the book that was fairly brief. Before I continued, I asked a friend who is a professional writer to read it and tell me if I were wasting my time. He knows I respect his opinion, and I know he would be honest in his responses. I had my doubts because writing a memoir is so personal, and I really did not know if it would be something others would want to read. He liked where I was going with the book and encouraged me to continue. He, also, made suggestions that were a great help in how I developed the book. I began writing it once more. He read it again, and offered more suggestions. I did a re-write and added more. At that point, I was ready to get it proofed, and the next step what to make the required corrections. I was ready to make a decision on what to do with it. I weighed my options, and decided that since the proceeds from the book sales were going to the American Bladder Cancer Society plus I would have to market the book anyway to self-publish it.

You can find out more about me and or purchase the book at:

Purchase the book:

In the United States:

http://www.amazon.com/Sylvia-L-Ramsey/e/B002BMJ5NI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1326569308&sr=1-

In the UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_gnr_aps?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asylvia+l.+ramsey&keywords=sylvia+l.+ramsey&ie=UTF8&qid=1331910631

Website:

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?authorid=140046

Blog:

http://love-faith-and-guts.blogspot.com/

The American Bladder Cancer Society

https://www.bladdercancersupport.org