It’s always nice when my novel, IDENTITY CRISIS, gets a good review. But it’s twice as awesome when that review shows up in two places.

Patricia Reid was kind enough to post this review of my book at Book-Critique.com and Book-Views.com. Among other things, Pat notes the book has “never a dull moment” and a surprise ending (words that bring joy to my heart).

And if that weren’t awesome enough, Pat says there are other places she can post the review, after this edition becomes available on Amazon. (If it ever does! :) )

And thanks again, Pat!

 

Yes, folks, I’m at it again. I had an opportunity to guest blog at Jean Henry Mead’s blog, Writing Advice and Good Books.

I think Jean had mentioned that I could blog about POD publishing, self-publishing or something, but I feel like I’ve already been there and done that. So in an attempt to do something different (and apologies to Lemony Snicket), I tried to put a (slightly) new twist on an old topic by blogging about the difficulties of being associated with a publisher who went out of business (plus acquired a bad reputation), then making the leap to self-publishing, anyway (and being looked down and ignored by many based on that alone).

Whew! I wonder, how many more blog posts I can wring out of this subject.

 

As a writer, I get asked many questions. Some questions tend to be harder to answer than others. Some questions can hardly be answered with a straight face. Some questions seem to fall into the totally rhetorical category. Some questions don’t seem to have any answers at all. (Those are the toughies!)

There’s a right way to answer questions. There’s also a very wrong way to do so.

Let’s take a few one by one, shall we?

For example:

Question 1: Do you really like writing better than being a lawyer?

Wrong Answer: Huh? Ha ha! Hahahahahaaha!!!!! Are you sh*tting me???

Correct Answer: Yes.

Question 2: When’s your next book coming out?

Wrong Answer: God f*cking knows. Maybe when the stars all align correctly and Mercury gets out of retrograde, plus I’ve sacrificed a few chickens to whatever deity controls this sh*t–maybe after all that someone will actually deign to publish my work. Then, you will finally see my next book. (Hopefully, you will still remember who I am and what my first book was about.)

Correct Answer: A release date has not yet been scheduled.

Question 3: Are you working on anything now?

Wrong Answer: Am I working on anything? Am I working on anything? No, no, no–the question is, when am I NOT working on anything. Yes, I’ve been working and working and working on all sorts of things. You just never get to see them. (At least, not yet. Oh, let’s face it. You may NEVER see some of them.) Anyhow, I’ve written four novels and several short stories–one novel and two short stories have been published and one short story will be published in March. And I’m working on a fifth novel. Plus I have a first draft of a feature film script, a TV pilot script and one-act musical (all stuffed in the proverbial drawer for review and editing at some unspecified point in the future). And with all the marketing, promotion, sales, networking, querying and submitting I’m doing, it’s a damned miracle I’ve been able to write at all!

Correct answer: Yes. I’m working on my latest novel.

Final (and most favorite) question: Where do you get your ideas?

Wrong answer: What kind of lame-ass question is that? Where do you think I get ideas? Don’t you ever get ideas? (at this point, walk up to questioner’s ear and speak into it) Hello? Anyone in there? Any brain function going on? (back off) Ideas just come to me, okay? Ideas are everywhere you freakin’ look. Ideas . . . I don’t know . . . ideas just occur to me. Hasn’t an idea ever occurred to you?

Correct answer: The Idea Store.

Okay, these appearances have been announced on the Author Exchange Blog, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to announce them on my own blog. (I mean, as long as I have a blog, I should use it to announce things, right?)

So, here’s a schedule of upcoming events, where I’ll be signing and selling IDENTITY CRISIS:

 

Friday, Dec. 4
8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

The NRG Winter Summit and Tradeshow
Hilton Pikesville
1726 Reisterstown Road
Pikesville MD 21208
FREE admission for attendees
For more info: http://www.networkreferralgroup.com/

Friday, Dec. 4
6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

The Howard County Arts Council’s Open House & Holiday Sale
Howard County Center for the Arts
8510 High Ridge Road
Ellicott City MD 21043

For more info: http://hocoarts.org/

Flyer on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3491349&id=50236981402

Saturday, Dec. 5
9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Holiday Shopping Open House
BDG Small Business Center
1532 Liberty Road
Eldersburg MD 21784
Contact: Amy Giannakoulias at 443-790-3898 or Kelly Beaton at 443-340-9164
Please RSVP by Dec. 3, 2009

Just thought I’d let you know, in case you live in the area or you’re wandering through Maryland any of those days. (Besides, what better gift is there than a book? Signed by the author, even? :) )

 

Here’s the latest update from my  morning email on getting my novel into distribution, straight from the horse’s (that is to say, Lulu’s) mouth:

“Debbi, as you are now in receipt of the 100 books and they look fine you will need to, once again, approve the books for submission into the distribution channel.  [Again????] Please log in to your account on lulu.com, click on Identity Crisis in the list of Projects, then click the Approve/Deny Book button.  Please follow the steps to approve this book for distribution. [Okay, okay . . . done. So . . . ?]

“Once you have done this our distribution team will verify the book to see if it meets all of the distribution requirements [But . . . I thought we'd already gone through this! Apparently, I was wrong.] (http://www.lulu.com/en/help/index.php?fSymbol=distro_requirements) and then submit it to our distribution network.  The entire process from approval to appearance in retail channels takes about 6 to 8 weeks. [Just in time to miss Christmas. Great.]

“I hope this helps.”

Uh huh.

 

I was checking my email and got a note from someone at Author Meeting Place, a site that has various resources for writers including a feature called Mind Fog Reviews. Anyway, the email asked me to check and see if my review had been posted. It had been so long I’d forgotten I’d even submitted my book for review.

So I checked and–happy day!–there it was. Another 5-star review for IDENTITY CRISIS (available in print, but also through Amazon and Smashwords) written by author/reviewer Marilyn Thompson. Just click here and go to the second review down.

Or you could read this:

Identity Crisis by Debbi Mack is a strong well written story. The characters have depth and are easy to get attached to. The story is on a level with some of the best written crime/mystery novels of the past.  The writing flows easily and is consistent. I truly enjoyed reading this book and hope that Ms. Mack will continue to write stories based on this genre. She has a real talent for making the reader believe.”

Now, do I really have to tell you how overcome with joy this makes me?

(Thank you, thank you, thank you, Marilyn Thompson and the good folks at Author Meeting Place!)

 

I’ve been intending to write a post about what it’s been like to reissue my book IDENTITY CRISIS through Lulu.com. But as it happens, I’ve engaged in some email correspondence about it. To be honest, it hasn’t all been a walk in the park. (More like a trip through the looking glass, at times.)

Anyway, Pat Browning, the person I was corresponding with, wanted to know if she could post excerpts of my experience with Lulu on the blog she co-writes, Murderous Musings. Well, since I never put anything in an email that I wouldn’t be willing to shout from rooftops, I said fine.

So I’m posting the link to Pat’s mash-up of emails about my experiences with Lulu here. (And thanks Pat, for saving me the trouble of recreating the whole story all over again.)

Oh, and I’m still waiting to hear back about this issue of getting my book (the latest version, that is) on Amazon and in the Ingram distribution system. (That’s right, people of Lulu. I warned you, already–I won’t be ignored.)

And just so I’m agonizingly clear on the matter, I don’t think my experiences with Lulu are typical of most of its authors.

As I’ve said before, the mystery and crime fiction writing field is highly competitive. It’s really tough to get noticed by anyone. And, by anyone, I mean ANYONE, not just agents and publishers.

The extent of my difficulty was driven home just now, as I searched through Smashwords’ Web site (looking for info on audiobooks, actually). I stumbled into their selection of crime fiction books.

Just for laughs (ha), I decided to see how many pages of catalog a person would have to browse, before they found my book, IDENTITY CRISIS. So I started clicking through–page after page . . . after page . . .

I finally found myself (yay!) at the bottom of p. 17 (oh). That’s 17 pages people would have to click through to accidentally run across my book. So what’s the likelihood of that kind of serenpidity? Not great. So–gotta keep pushing that book and hoping I’ve embedded the right sort of keywords, for people to pull it up in Google searches. (Not that I’m an SEO expert, but you’d think words like “hardboiled,” “mystery” and “investigator” might do the trick.)

However, FWIW, I’m listed on the same page as Lee Goldberg’s book, MY GUN HAS BULLETS. Goldberg is a much bigger, more successful writer than me. I mean seriously big. He’s a TV writer-producer (shows like Monk, Diagnosis Murder, Murphy’s Law (I loved that show and was so sorry to see it get cancelled), etc., etc.) who also writes novels, both standalones and tie-ins (i.e., based on his shows). So . . . some small comfort there? Pretty small, but it’ll have to do. Because just getting mentioned on the same page of a catalog as Lee Goldberg, is pretty f*cking awesome. (Pathetic much? Yes.)

Oh, and did I mention that was 17 out of 23 pages? (Sigh . . .)

 

As promised in my previous announcement about an announcement, I’m posting the link to my interview on Linda Faulkner’s Author Exchange Blog. (I keep meaning to ask her if she’s related to that author with the same last name.)

More announcements to come on Linda’s blog in the future. Which, of course, I will announce here.

 

Dear Agents,

Authors get plenty of letters from you, but we rarely have the opportunity to write back. The only letter we usually send is the query, to which you respond with either a request for more or a refusal. Once refused, the correspondence is done. There’s nothing more to be said. But, in this one case, I’ll make an exception. Because the rejection I got was so bizarre, I’m still shaking my head over it.

I emailed a query letter plus one-page synopsis and 10 pages of manuscript (that’s all–nothing more than that) to an agent (who will remain, for the good of all, nameless). About three weeks later, I got a response–an email consisting of no less than six paragraphs (yes, six paragraphs) and a footnote.

Okay, I thought. What could a person have to say about an initial query and 10-page submission (even with a synopsis) that would require six paragraphs? Curious (though it was clearly bad news), I read the whole letter, which stated as follows (with certain info expurgated):

“Thank you for sharing your work with me.  I know that writing a book is a time-consuming and emotional process, [Sheesh! Aren't we laying it on a bit thick for a response to an initial query?] so I appreciate the effort you have expended to reach this point in your publishing journey. [Good God--someone find me a pair of boots and a shovel.] Alas, I must reject what you have been kind enough to submit. [Alas? Who are you, Shakespeare?]

“I only add a handful of new writers to my client roster each year, so I search for a unique voice, finely-honed writing skills, stellar world building talent, characters that jump off the page [yada, yada, yada--the usual] and a story that pulls me in from the first word [even if it's "The"?] and doesn’t let go.  I know that’s a lot to ask for, but traditional publishing is a highly competitive business and if I can’t sell something to a large or medium-sized New York publisher I do not take it on. [Yeah, okay, I understand . . . but we're talking about a synopsis and 10 pages!]

“Like the rest of the arts, publishing is a very subjective business. [Oh, really? Gee, thanks. I never knew that.] Even though the founders of the agency have written or coauthored XX books, most of which have been successful, they still get rejected from time to time. [Imagine that.] And although we have sold books to more than 100 publishers since 19XX, some of our clients’ work is still rejected. [Imagine that, too.] Nor do all of the books that we sell succeed. These are the realities of today’s publishing industry. [Ya-a-awn. Can we just get this over with?]

“I receive nearly a thousand submissions a month and reject more than ninety-nine percent of them. But rejecting manuscripts that become successful books is a publishing tradition. [Wow, I wouldn't go around boasting about traditions like that, if I were you. Oh and, by the way, you never saw my manuscript, so . . . why are you writing all this???]

“Assume I’m wrong. Persevere until your books reach the goals you set for them.  [Thanks for the shopworn affirmation.] I can’t suggest a publisher or another agent who might be interested in a particular writer’s work, but directories, your publishing network, and the Association of Authors’ Representatives might lead you to the agent you need.  [Thanks for suggesting standard resources I already know about.] Persistence rewards talent.  I can’t make a living saying no, but as author Joe Girard says: ‘Every no gets you closer to yes.’ [Thanks for the platitudes. Heard 'em all. What more you got?]

“I wish you the best of luck with your writing career.  [Sure, sure . . .] Our website has information you may find helpful–www.xxxxxx.com.  You might also check my blog, www.xxxxxx.com. [Well, I will immediately do so! I'm sure I'll find all the answers there.]“

Like I said, six paragraphs that say one (and only one) thing at agonizing length. That one thing is what I wrote in my record of agents queried, along with their responses. I pulled out my little book, found the agent entry and wrote “No” in the response column.

Because there’s nothing in this letter that really goes beyond that message. All this flowery bullsh*t these lengthy passages come down to that one word–no.

I was wondering, why? Why would someone use so many words to say so little? Then, I realized, “Hey! This is a form letter. Just a really long and tedious one!” It certainly made no specific references to my work. (How could it? I only sent 10 pages!) It just droned on and on and on, hitting the same points over and over. (Just the way writers aren’t supposed to.) But the bottom line was the same: we don’t want it.

But, wait–here’s the best part. The footnote! It actually mentioned a writer’s conference put on by the agency’s founders. Not to mention the books one of them wrote about–what else?–finding an agent.

Okay, then–just so I’m clear on this–you guys turn me down without looking at my full manuscript in what may be the most bullsh*t-filled wordiest rejection I’ve ever seen, and you expect me to jump on a plane and come to your conference or buy your books??? Ha. Ha ha! Hahahahahahaahaha!!!!!!!

I think not.

Look, I understand you guys are busy and have to make tough calls on this stuff. (Really! I sympathize! I was a judge for the Shamus Award for short stories one year. I know it’s tough to pick a winner. And I know how subjective such judgments are.) And I’m sure you’re overwhelmed with submissions. (Again, did the Shamus judge thing. So I know what you go through must be even worse.)

But, please–if you’re going to reject me after seeing just a synopsis and 10 pages, make it quick and painless, okay? Don’t bullsh*t a bullsh*tter.

I’m fine with lines like “does not meet our needs.” I’ve grown accustomed to quick and impersonal dismissals in the early rounds. Just getting any response is better than getting none at all (which, unfortunately, is too often the case).

Just do me a favor. If you’re going to turn me down so quickly, don’t insult my intelligence by pretending to give a damn.

Yours truly (and with tongue only slightly in cheek),

Debbi

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