Tag, You're It!

I read an interesting blog post today by agent Kristin Nelson that you can find here.  The hot topic this week in publishing concerned "discovery."  Meta data key words reflect one way that end users search for books (and other products online). It got me to thinking about my own "meta data," blog labels, and "tags."  In the past, I have just randomly selected some words that I thought people might search and then find my book.

I did not know that tools on the internet existed that track meta data and searches.  If only I had known.  This would effect the words I choose.  Especially considering that on Kindle Direct Publishing they only allow you a total of seven meta data tags.

My debut book, DARK MOUNTAIN, is a thriller/suspense novel that has elements of paranormal/occult and some elements of horror (especially if people actually ingesting blood makes you queasy).  I chose to use meta data tags for "vampires" and "werewolves" but I declined to mention them in the description.  Then, I also have this dark cover with the tag line, "Sometimes evil runs in the family."  My other five tags were, well, embarrassingly bland.  My name.  The title of the book.  "Thrillers," "suspense," and "Oklahoma authors."

I have changed them now, almost 9 months later.  My tags are now, "Stephen King,"  "horror,"  "vampires," "paranormal thriller," "occult," "Lee Child," and "suspense."  We will see if this increases sales.  This will be an interesting experiment.

My newest book, CRY ME A RIVER, is a suspense/thriller with elements of romance, adventure, and espionage.  It takes place in Colombia.  It has an assassin, a rogue DEA agent, a handsome photographer whose family owns a drug cartel and the woman who hires him.  Of course, she doesn't know his past and soon she becomes a pawn in the fight to protect the family business.

The meta data tags I chose for it seemed fitting, but lo, I have only sold two copies since December 6.  I thought with the Christmas rush and the fact that I gave away over 500 copies of DARK MOUNTAIN, that I would get some attention drawn to this book.  I think it has a catchy cover, but I think that maybe the market is flooded right now.  I don't know.  I think it is the better book.  So, I am experimenting with the data tags on this one as well.  I chose "Lee Child," and "Clive Cussler" for this one as well as "romance," and some other tags that have been getting hits.

We shall see.  I will give it thirty days before I evaluate other ways to boost my sales.  How about you guys?  What are the key words you search for when you are seeking your next read?

Reviewing the reviewers

We are a culture that has grown accustomed to reviews.  We review restaurants, movies, sports, television shows, and products.  Reviews are what help consumers make choices.  I want some good sushi, I will read what reviewers think.  I want to make sure that hotel I just booked doesn't have mice, I will read the reviews on hotel.com. 

Reviews and reviewers are common and an important part of marketing.  No one wants a bad review of their new theatre production or make-up collection, or oil change service. 

Two opposing problems are beginning to surface in the world of reviewing and I think books are getting hit the hardest by these excesses. 

First, the overly glowing review.  Sometimes, people over react.  Maybe the lasagna was the best you ever tasted, but are you sure?   Maybe it is a great book, but is that adjective inclusive of a large range of greatness? 

The first thing that I think of when I read an overly glowing review is:  "Who cares what their Mom thinks, anyway?"  Worse, sometimes I wonder if the author PAID to have someone say that.  In infomercials the advertiser is required by law to say that the people on camera were compensated for their appearance. 

The reason for this is because it skews things.  If someone made me ride the Total Gym and filmed it without my consent and didn't compensate me for it, they may not be able to use my opinions of the contraption to market their product.  Pay me a few hundred dollars and prepare me for the experience and I will try to say something nice.  You know, because everyone's watching.  I'm not dishonest, I am just easy to manipulate.

Am I imagining these things?  No. Some indie authors actually talk about it openly on forums.  I just shake my head.  As if indie authors weren't getting enough bad rap for the writing (most times, deserving, I know), now we are paying people to say nice things on Amazon just to falsely promote our stuff?

When someone reads my books, do I want them to review it?  YES!  I even ask (read, beg) people I know who have read the book to take the time to review it for me.  I don't care if they give it 3 stars out of 5.  If that is their honest opinion, I will accept it.  Plus, I need their feedback.  I wanna get better, tell stories that resonate with people, create characters that people remember.  With honest feedback like unbiased reviews, I can do that.  But, will I ever PAY someone to do it, or even give away my book with the understanding that it will get a 5 star review before they even finish reading it?  No.

The opposite end of the spectrum is the negative review.  I understand when someone doesn't like a book (except for mine, of course).  But, sometimes people go overboard.  Look, I have endured some really bad movies.  I just turn the thing off.  If something offends me, bores me, makes me uncomfortable, or isn't my cup of tea, I try not to be too harsh.  I might say: "It was so bad I turned it off and put it back in the mail to Netflix." Or, if the food is so bad or the service so horrible, I just don't tip, or go back to eat there. 

I am not advocating not leaving a negative review.  Don't get me wrong.  Maybe someone else will be helped by learning that your local pub has cockroaches, or the waitress will hit on your husband unabashedly right in front of you.  I just think that there is a decorum and a sense of right that needs to be followed.  Sometimes, we Americans, especially we Christians, get too wrapped up in our own sense of righteous indignation.  Sometimes, bigots, racists, atheists, functioning illiterates, and self-serving cynics leave reviews so scathing that their biases are evident.  Maybe we feel some sort of calling to warn those other Christians, or bigots, or racists as to the nature of the poor novel or novelist. 

An example would be a Christian who would dain to read the 50 SHADES stuff.  If they were brave enough to read that sort of book and then give a 1 star review with scathing remarks and a huffy manner, it doesn't really do what they wanted it to do.  They made themself look worse than the book and might have just sold a few more copies of it.  Conversely, if a person that is bigoted toward people from the Middle East were to leave a blistering review of THE KITE RUNNER, their bias may be so strong that people can see through it and buy the book just because they felt sorry for the author. 

Negative reviews, and there are a plethora of them even for the most popular and well regarded books, are most often the least helpful reviews.  The three-star to four-star reviews often reflect more insight into the book and why it didn't work for that particular reader.  Often, what is repugnant or boring to one reader will be exactly what another reader is wanting from their next read.  The problem with negative reviews is that so much vitriol is expended about the level of just how poor the novel is, they don't give salient and intelligent reasons for why they hate said trash. 

So, I guess I can sum this up by saying that reviews are important.  If you have something good to say, be honest.  If you have something negative to say, be specific.  More to the point, specificity is global when it comes to reviews. 

Let me know what you liked:  the characters, the way the book had twists and turns, the way it ended.  If it sucks monkey butts, let me know why.  Was the author's grammar so poor, you couldn't read it (I have had that happen a couple of times), was the drama too dramatic, or do you have a specific bias that the author just happened to rub the wrong way?  Just admit it.  Say it.  That way I can review your review and maybe put a one star beside it instead of having a  review smack-down right there on Amazon or Goodreads with you.

Production is King

As I watch the success of fellow self-publishers, I try to maintain a sense of calm.  I have one book, Dark Mountain, published so far and have had a mediocre first two months. I have learned a ton.  Perhaps the biggest thing that I have learned so far is to be patient. 

Failure tends to demand that reaction, doesn't it?  The Colts have a miserable season with Manning in the stands and the ownership flips the entire organization on its tail.  Be patient.  The economy is in the toilet, unemployment is rampant, drug use on the rise, housing prices plummeting, foreclosures skyrocketing.  Be patient.

So, the only remedy I can truly see is more production.  Write.  Write some more.  I wrote recently about a difficult scene in my current work-in-progress, Cry Me a River.  What a bunch of whiny dreck.  I just wrote it.  Powered through it and ate up 15,000 words in three days.  Finished with a 8,000 word flourish. 

The remedy, you see, is to get behind a keyboard and do what you do best.  So, with another productive week ahead (20,000 words should get me to the end of the book), I will get the next book out before November.  And, soon after that, I plan on having the first of a series of adventure/suspense novels, my Jake Monday series, ready for editing.

The more novels you have, the more legitimate you seem as a writer.  It is then easier to cross-market, to brand, to develop a fan base that no longer just reads your books in obscurity but recommends them to friends and family, tweet about them, adds them on Goodreads, and buys the merchandise.

This is truly a wonderful time to be a writer.  We can never lose sight of that.  But, in this new world of publishing, production is king.  Do you find an author with a "long tail" (multiple books published, big back-list) to have more legitimacy, or does this even factor in when looking for that new book for your Kindle/Nook/Kobo/Ipad?