Interview with the Author

Susan Higginbotham

Susan Higginbotham is the most successful iUniverse author reviewed on this site so far. The Traitor’s Wife has already sold a ton of copies and been re-released by iU with a new cover and a discounted price at Amazon. Hugh and Bess has just been released by Lulu. Susan lives with her husband, four cats and a dog. She has also released Edward II: His Friends, His Enemies, and His Death (Lulu / September 2005 / 131 pages). This interview will focus a little more than usual on the sales success of iUniverse books. You know you have arrived when you and your book are mentioned in Wikipedia!

Tabitha: Let’s get the serious stuff out of the way first. Who exactly is this Boswell Baxter that appears in your e-mail address?

Susan: Boswell is my cairn terrier and my chief writing buddy. I got him when I started my at-home day job for a legal publishing company, and he usually sits near my computer while I’m working. Baxter was my (now deceased) black and white cat.

Tabitha: What inspired you to write The Traitor’s Wife?

Susan: A few years ago, I came across an online version of Marlowe’s Edward II. I’d read it before in graduate school, but on this re-reading, I became fascinated by the historical background to the story, especially by Edward II’s relationship with Hugh le Despenser, who in the Marlowe play is little more than a stand-in for Piers Gaveston, Edward II’s first male favorite. Along the way, I learned that Despenser had a wife, Eleanor de Clare, and when I learned the details of her life—or at least, the few that are known to history—I knew I wanted to tell her story.

Tabitha: Are there particular, actual persons who inspired your lead characters?

Susan: All of the major characters, and all but a handful of the minor ones, are based on historical figures, although in many cases we know nothing about their private lives. We don’t know, for instance, how Eleanor felt about her brother-in-law, the notorious Piers Gaveston, or what sort of relationship she had with her many children.

Tabitha: The characters in The Traitor’s Wife seem to come to life as I hold the book in my hands, reading their conversations. Have you envisioned what a movie version would look like?

Susan: Well, I would hate to be the one who tried to condense it into three hours! But I’d love to see it on the big screen, or even as a mini-series.

Tabitha: Do you have certain actors in mind that you would like to see cast in the lead parts of the movie?

Susan: I confess that I got a vision of Keeley Hawes as Eleanor into my head early on, and I could live with Ioan Gruffudd as Hugh le Despenser the younger. But since I don’t get out to the movies much or watch much television, I don’t know enough big blond male actors to have a good Edward II in mind. Scarlett Johansson might make a nice Isabella.

Tabitha: We have always been advised as authors to show, not tell, the characters and storyline to the reader, and you have apparently taken this concept to heart. Did you simply begin composing in this manner, or was it a concerted, learned effort?

Susan: Probably a learned one. I have three novels—not historical ones—in cardboard boxes, and that’s where they deserve to stay, except perhaps the first one. It was a young adult novel about censorship of a high school newspaper, and an editor took the trouble to write a detailed rejection letter suggesting revisions. By the time I revised it, however, the editor had changed houses and edgier YA fiction, with more emphasis on sex and lifestyle issues than on social issues, had come into fashion. I’ve been tempted to redo it, with some updating of course, but now I can’t find the damn thing.

Tabitha: The Traitor’s Wife has received the Editor’s Choice and Reader’s Choice awards from iUniverse. Do you feel as if any of these has aided your book’s success?

Susan: I was awarded Editor's Choice before the book came out, back in July 2005. I think it became a Reader's Choice about a year after, and it was reissued as a Star Book in May 2007. The July 2005 version ("old brown" as I call it) pops up used on Amazon from time to time and can be found in a few libraries, but I don't think it can be bought as a new POD anymore.

Tabitha: The Traitor’s Wife won a silver medal in the historical fiction category in the 2005 Book of the Year Awards sponsored by ForeWord Magazine. Do you think this award has helped your book sales, and how do you feel in general about awards for POD books?

Susan: I think it definitely has helped sales—it gives a stamp of third-party approval that self-published books usually lack. It helped that with this award, I was up against not only other self-published books, but small press books and university press books, so it gave the award credibility. I think that an award from a reputable party, such as ForeWord or the Independent Publisher Awards, can help a self-published book a great deal. Some awards, though, seem to exist just to milk writers for money. I doubt they help much.

Tabitha: Did you attend writer’s classes or workshops before releasing the book? Did you hire a professional editor or proofreader?

Susan: Outside of a semester of creative writing in high school, I’ve never taken a writing class, except for a college creative writing class that I dropped out of after the second or third meeting. I did work on my college newspaper, though, and take some journalism classes, and I think that’s some of the best training a writer can get. It teaches you to organize your thoughts and to cut to the chase, and since you’re focused on giving your readers information instead of showing off, it tends to cut down on the self-indulgent prose that creative writing classes sometimes foster.

I didn’t have an editor or a proofreader for the 2005 edition of The Traitor’s Wife. For the 2007 edition, iUniverse provided a proofreader, but to be honest, there were mistakes that I picked up that the proofreader missed, and changes the proofreader tried to make that made no sense. I have worked as a freelance proofreader and copy editor, so I’m fairly good at picking up errors on my own. But proofreading one’s own work is notoriously hard to do, so there were a few things that slipped by me.

Tabitha: Who designed the two covers for The Traitor’s Wife? How much of the cover designs were your own ideas? Did iUniverse create them strictly from your ideas, or did you supply the artwork or other elements? Are you satisfied with the covers?

Susan: iUniverse designed both covers from stock photos. I asked for a castle for the first cover (actually, the cover shows a ruined monastery, but I didn’t know that at the time). For the second cover, I asked for a “headless woman”—one of those pictures showing a woman whose face is obscured, which are very popular on historical fiction these days. But headless women don’t come cheap, I suppose, so I got another castle.

Tabitha: Which cover do you like better and why? Would you like to shed some light on the details of your experience with iU concerning the two separate cover designs?

Susan: I prefer the second one; it’s prettier, though someone on Amazon who didn’t like the book said that the first cover was a better representation because it was dark and gloomy, like the book. (You gotta love Amazon customer reviews.) The only problem I had was with the first cover—the original design had a castle, but when you looked closely you could see modern communications equipment on a turret and a man in blue jeans sitting on a window ledge. Needless to say, I rejected that one!

Tabitha: Did you consider other publishers before you selected iUniverse?

Susan: I thought of Lulu, which is right down the road from me in North Carolina. But it was a bit too do-it-yourself for me at the time, so I went for iUniverse after reading about it in The New York Times.

Tabitha: How satisfying has your experience with iUniverse been?

Susan: I’ve been pleased. I knew from the outset that I was going to have to do my own promotion and marketing, and iUniverse is upfront about telling new authors that. I think it’s a well-run outfit.

Tabitha: What is the most significant thing you have learned as a POD author? Do you have any advice to offer to new or prospective POD authors?

Susan: Probably the most significant thing I’ve learned is that marketing is an ongoing process—you have to keep at it. My advice would be to get a strong web presence and to maintain it. Once in a while I’ll be Googling and I’ll see a self-published title I’m interested in because of the subject matter, and I’ll look for an author website or an excerpt and find absolutely nothing. It’s almost as if the author doesn’t want anyone to read the book—which makes me wonder why he spent the money to have it published in the first place.

Tabitha: Have you expended much effort seeking out an agent, and have you had much success in that regard?

Susan: I haven’t really tried. For my novel in progress, I’m inclined to try to find one once it’s finished, because it’s set during the Wars of the Roses, which is a fairly popular period with readers of historical novels.

Tabitha: I am quite surprised to see that you have released your second novel, Hugh and Bess: A Love Story, with Lulu. Can you tell us your reasons for switching to Lulu for your second book?

Susan: In a word, money. With a kid’s tuition to pay and other obligations, I just couldn’t justify the expense of paying $800 or so to publish with iUniverse when I could publish with Lulu for $50. And Hugh and Bess is a much less typographically complicated book than The Traitor’s Wife—it’s short, without all of the front matter that was in The Traitor’s Wife, so it was easy to do my own formatting.

Tabitha: Pretend you are in school and compare and contrast for us your experiences with Lulu and iUniverse.

Susan: Lulu is a much more do-it-yourself process. I do regret not having the cover design service that iUniverse provides—I went for one of Lulu’s prefab covers, though I managed to find one that suited my book and that hadn’t been overused. Even in traditional publishing, though, you find the same images popping up again and again on book covers, especially in historical fiction. Lulu seems to be a little clunky on the distribution process. I’m still waiting to have my book approved for global distribution, which is frustrating.

Tabitha: What is your opinion of Amazon’s new CreateSpace?

Susan: I considered going with them, but the publishing process didn’t strike me as being very user-friendly—as I recall, you had to download your own cover, which meant of course that a cover designer would have to be used unless you had the technical skills and the software to do it yourself. I think it’s something that could take off if they made it easier. Speaking of Amazon, I’ve used their new Kindle platform for Hugh and Bess—again, it was such a short book, it was quite easy to download. I’d like to get The Traitor’s Wife on Kindle too—I’m waiting to hear back from iUniverse about the mechanics.

Tabitha: What percentage of your sales has been through Amazon? Does this issue indicate any predictions as to the future role of CreateSpace?

Susan: Probably 95 percent of my sales are through Amazon. I think CreateSpace has great potential, if Amazon can just make it more hospitable for the technologically less adept.

Tabitha: Which other online retailers have sold significant quantities of your books?

Susan: Barnes and Noble is really the only other one.

Tabitha: Have you ordered quantities of your books and sold them through direct means? How well has this worked for you? What outlets have provided you with the most sales success?

Susan: I’ve sold a few on consignment, but most of my efforts are focused on online sales.

Tabitha: How successful have you been at getting The Traitor’s Wife onto bookstore shelves? Which stores have been the most cooperative? Which ones have sold the most for you?

Susan: The most cooperative bookstore was a small bookstore in a small town that’s now defunct (the store, that is, not the town). The stores around here just aren’t prone to risk-taking, it seems. I may be selling it in one store that carries Renaissance-themed items; it’ll be interesting to see how that pans out.

Tabitha: Tell us about that magical, mystical relationship between Barnes & Noble and iUniverse? Have the two companies come through as promised for a successful iU book like The Traitor’s Wife? Is the book on many B&N shelves? How well has it sold in the face of the walking, browsing public?

Susan: Sadly, I don’t think it’s on any Barnes and Noble bookshelves. It does sell on the B&N website, but not as well as it does on Amazon. 

Tabitha: I understand you have also recently published a twenty-page short story entitled The Justiciar’s Wife for sale at Amazon. Do you think this has helped your sales of The Traitor’s Wife?

Susan: I think it’s probably been the other way around, actually. There’s still a lot of resistance to buying e-publications, at least as far as historical fiction seems to be concerned. I might try some more Amazon Shorts in the future, though—probably nonfiction. It’s a good way to keep a presence up there.

Tabitha: You have links to short stories and other novel projects on your website, as well as a couple of blogs. Pardon the pun, but you seem to have a novel approach to the marketing of your work. Would you like to elaborate on this concept for us?

Susan: Since most of my sales have come from the web, I’ve tried to maintain sites that draw in readers through search terms—I have a PDF file about Edward II, for instance, that leads a lot of people to my website. The blog is also a great way of connecting with readers—it’s brought people to my book who wouldn’t search for “Edward II,” for instance, but who read historical fiction and who are interested in learning about an era that’s less familiar to them.

Tabitha: What would you say has been your most successful marketing technique?

Susan: Probably the website. I think that having it on Search Inside the Book on Amazon helps a lot too—it gives people a chance to look through the book instead of buying it sight unseen, which most readers, including myself, are reluctant to do unless the book’s really cheap.

Tabitha: What has been your biggest and/or most disappointing failure in the marketing of your books?

Susan: Probably getting them into bookstores. I was never really expecting to make many sales on that front, but I did hope for more success in getting them in at least on a consignment basis. 

Tabitha: Here comes the sneaky, pointed question of this interview. You are probably unaware that I barely accepted The Traitor’s Wife for review last year because the subtitle and subject matter skirts the delicate area I refer to as cheating. The reason I think this is true is related to what I affectionately call The Diana Syndrome. There are millions of Americans, mostly women, who seem to be clearly obsessed with The British Royal Family, particularly when any sort of scandal is involved, and the story of Edward II was nothing if not scandalous. How much of your success do you think can be attributed to this phenomenon?

Susan: Quite a bit of it, I suppose, because most of my marketing has been directed at people who are disposed to read historical fiction to begin with, and American readers definitely prefer European-set historical fiction to that set in their own backyard. On the other hand, there’s an element out there, particularly among academics and pseudo-academics, who regard historical fiction in a very negative light. They assume it’s all shoddily researched fluff about pretty people in pretty costumes having lots of sex, and they’re not about to pick up a novel and risk having their belief contradicted. So it really works both ways.

Tabitha: I feel proud to have reviewed such a deservedly successful iU book early in its justly honored history. Did you have any idea you would become such a notable success when you first sent in your manuscript?

Susan: Why, thank you! I went in with no clear-cut expectations, really. I thought it was a good book and I knew that it was well researched, and I just hoped for the best.

Tabitha: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What genres do you like to read?

Susan: Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Anne Tyler, and P.D. James are my favorite writers, with Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend being tied for my favorites. These days, I read a lot of historical fiction and straight history and biography. Other than Anne Tyler and P.D. James, I really don’t read much fiction set in contemporary times. I’m just not the least bit interested in reading about alienated people in the suburbs, women in New York City trying to find the perfect man or the perfect apartment or the perfect purse, women trying to juggle work and family, or men having midlife crises.

Tabitha: What have you been reading lately?

Susan: Mostly Wars of the Roses nonfiction, for my novel in progress. 

Tabitha: What sort of educational experience do you have, and is it relevant to your writing or the subject matter you have chosen?

Susan: I have a B.A. in political science, a major I chose in a moment of temporary insanity and which has been of no use to me whatsoever. I have an M.A. in English Literature, which has helped a great deal in my writing because the coursework focuses on reading critically. And I have a law degree, which also helps in writing because you’re trained to look at all sides of an issue and to put forth cogent arguments. And the real property course first-year law students have to take was a great help to me, since things like life estates and entails that are the bane of a law student’s existence were of vast importance in medieval England.

Tabitha: What about your work career? Has your choice of profession influenced your writing?

Susan: I’ve worked as a secretary, an editor, and a lawyer, and I’m currently working as an editor for a legal publisher. They all helped—probably the secretarial work as much as anything for the computer skills! In my job at a legal publishing company, I have to abide by a strict character count when writing, which means that I’ve gotten into the habit of writing quite concisely and that I have to cut and revise my own work. That’s helpful when I’m revising my fiction.

Tabitha: Do you have any further books in the pipeline?

Susan: Not near publication stage.

Tabitha: What’s next for Susan Higginbotham, the writer?

Susan: I’m in the early stages of a novel set during the Wars of the Roses, featuring Katherine Woodville, sister to Edward IV’s queen and wife to the Duke of Buckingham, who helped bring Richard III to the throne and then, for reasons that are still unclear, rebelled against him. It should be a fun novel to write, since I get to put forth my own opinion about who killed the Princes in the Tower.

Tabitha: Do you have any final words of advice for aspiring authors?

Susan: Write constantly—if you’re a blocked novelist, try a blog or some nonfiction just to keep your writing active. Read widely in the area in which you want to be published, so you’ll get an idea of what works and what doesn’t. Above all, do what works for you. Some writers swear by critique groups, for instance; others find them a distraction or a source of back-biting. If someone tells you that you have to be in one to be successful, or that you shouldn’t be in one, run the other way. There’s no one right way to go about writing.

Tabitha: Do you have any final remarks to address to our audience?

Susan: Just thank you for reading this!

Visit Susan Higginbotham's website.

The Confession of Piers Gaveston

The Confession of Piers Gaveston
by Brandy Purdy
 
(iUniverse / 0-595-45523-2 / July 2007 / 190 pages / $13.95)
(Please pardon the delay of the completion of this review. The review was halfway completed when a computer glitch caused its sudden, unexpected demise, leaving me in a disgusted funk. The review should be completed as soon as I get my mojo back. Thank you for your patience. The iUBR management.)

Brandy Purdy’s The Confession of Piers Gaveston offers a new spin on an old story. The conceit employed in this historical fiction novel is that the story has been composed as if Piers Gaveston kept a diary of his life and affair with King Edward II. Ms. Purdy researched this particular piece of English history from the 1300’s and composed her tale in the first person as Gaveston is telling his own personal story of tragedy and scandal. Susan Higginbotham’s The Traitor’s Wife offers a broad view of the scandalous, gay affair, including many details involving a soap opera full of characters. I recommend that any potential reader of The Confession of Piers Gaveston read The Traitor’s Wife first to understand the complete background of Piers Gaveston’s story. In the good old days of The Seventies, when rock and roll was enjoying explosive growth, The Traitor’s Wife would be the unnamed band’s hit album and The Confession of Piers Gaveston would be a very good solo album by one of the group’s key members. Once you have come to understand the overall story, Brandy Purdy’s book breathes life into the heart of the scandal. 

Another book I want to mention in comparison to The Confession of Piers Gaveston is Anne Rice’s Cry to Heaven. As a big fan of Anne Rice’s witches and vampires, I read this 1982 book from another genre many years ago. I was distinctly impressed by the quality of the composition and storyline about a kid in eighteenth century Italy who is kidnapped, castrated, and sold to the opera. What does this have to do with Brandy Purdy’s book? I’m not crazy about the idea of reading a book about a homosexual love affair, either, but both books sincerely impressed me with their quality. Both historical fiction novels are better than you might expect from their subject matter.

The painting on the front cover does not impress me, although the overall cover design is quite professionally done. Ms. Purdy has a common comma allergy, too, but neither of these issues does much to lessen the impact of this quality novel of historical fiction. Brandy has already submitted her second novel to iU. The six wives of Henry VIII will be its star characters, and I have high hopes for that book’s quality and success. The Confession of Piers Gaveston is an honor to the iUniverse imprint and Brandy Purdy is one of the brand’s most professional authors.

<>See Also: Nan Hawthorne's Interview with Brandy Purdy
Susan Higginbotham's Interview with Brandy Purdy
Tabitha's B&N Review
Tabitha's Authors Den Review
Brandy Purdy's Website
The Boleyn Wife

The Real Authors

I was a reader long before I was an author. The first book I can actually remember reading was a hardback copy of Black Beauty that featured a few illustrations, just like my fancy, modern edition of The Da Vinci Code. A few Tarzan hardcovers and a bunch of Fran Striker's Lone Ranger books, also hardcovers, became my next favorites. Although The Hardy Boys didn't ring my bell like Tarzan and The Lone Ranger, I did join them on a few of their adventures, too. I certainly wish I still had those antique editions on my bookshelf!

Certainly most of us were avid readers long before we became authors. We wrote primitve, unpolished and unpublished versions of our later books, too, honing our craft sometimes over decades. That's actually what it took to see my first and third books in print: decades. I knew a long time ago that my work would most likely never see mainstream daylight. Like most of my favorite rock bands, my books are difficult to classify. As Clu Gallagher says in one of my favorite difficult to classify movies, Into the Night, my books would fall into the or what category. I have always admired heroes, icons, and entertainers who can think and operate outside the box. What the hell is Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, anyway? Who reads Michael Moore and Pat Buchanan and likes them both? Could it be each of them has valid points to make? Who wants to go back in time with Lestat? Who thinks Robert Rimmer had at least a few good ideas? The best books, and the best writers, have always broken the mold.

Let me get one bit of unpleasantness out of the way. We authors who are considered unreal by many who claim to know everything must, at the very least, offer our products in a manner that is indistinguishable from the products of real authors. Most of all that means we must edit and proofread our work. Unlike all those great, real authors, we must do the job ourselves, or at least pay someone else to do it. We must take grammar and punctuation seriously or they will never take us seriously. We cannot be enamored of ellipses as if they were love bites, and if we do love them to death, we must at least use and punctuate them in the correct manner. We must not be afraid to use commas wherever they are necessary to make the meanings of our sentences crystal clear to our readers. Ya'll ought to know by now that if I have to back up and re-read a sentence in order to perceive its correct meaning just because you thought it stylish to leave out that significant comma, then you can expect a demerit for the omission. If you really must ellipses your readers to death, then I insist that you add a period at the end of what surely must have been intended as a sentence. If one of your country-hick-sleazebucket characters is speaking incorrectly, that's one thing, but if you mix up your adjectives with your adverbs within text outside the dialog, that means a minus point for you. Clean up your acts, people. If you want respect, you have to earn it.

Books are sold because of the stated title, subtitle, and subject matter. Manuscripts are purchased by the big guys simply because the big guys think they can sell lots of copies. As I have stated many times before, that was then and this is now. Authors who attempted to begin writing careers even five years ago had it better. The beginners of ten years ago had it even better than that. Most of the great successful authors of today released their first book back in The Sixties, or maybe The Seventies. Before there was POD, there were many thousands less books on the market looking for readers. Before there was Amazon, B&N ruled the world. Before there was George Bush, many youngsters grew up wanting to be readers. You get the picture.

We are all squirrels looking for a nut. Or we are all nuts looking for squirrels. Sometimes I'm not so sure which we are. Have I expanded my horizons by reading the iU books I have reviewed? Absolutely. Are many of these books by real authors? Absolutely. Are some of them by not so real authors? I'm afraid so. Let's keep on trying to separate the nuts from the squirrels.

Cibolero

Cibolero by Kermit Lopez
(iUniverse / 0-595-43567-8 / August 2007 / 182 pages / $13.95)

Add Kermit Lopez to the list of competent professionals. His second book, and the first with iUniverse, is relatively indistinguishable from a traditionally published book. This is a quality that is always appreciated and awarded at iUBR. With its relatively low error count, well-designed cover, and competent storyline, Cibolero deserves whatever sales attention it gets. The mystery at this point is why has his first book not attained more recognition? The Prodigy (1st Books, 1999) is twice as long and in a different genre than Cibolero. Is that the reason? Visit the author's website and you will see that it has been unusually designed, too.
Kermit has researched his ancestors who lived in New Mexico in the tempestuous days just prior to statehood and produced a new spin on the old Western drama. The plot revolves around a poor farmer and ex-cibolero whose teenage daughter is kidnapped by a gang of thuggish Texas Rangers. In his younger days. Antonio Baca had been a buffalo hunter, a dangerous job fit only for a strong, young, single man. When his daughter Elena is taken after an attack on his family in his absence, Antonio retrieves his retired buffalo lance and begins the task of tracking The Rangers back into Texas territory, in hope of saving his daughter. The plot contains many flashbacks into Baca's earlier days, explaining the many ramifications of the tenuous relationships between the Spanish-speaking New Mexicans, native Indians, and the white settlers emerging from the east.
There is only one critical issue I have with Cibolero, and it is truly a small nitpick. Probably because of the short length of the book, the specific intent of the book, as well as the designation of its target readership, seems to leave me wanting just a little more in the way of descriptive depth. As you can read in my other reviews of Cibolero, I found it just a bit difficult to read the book and smoothly absorb its dialog and ruminations. I compared the book to the movie Soldier Blue because Mr. Lopez is attempting to show an accurate view of a dark period in U.S. history. Like that movie, Cibolero's same weakness seems to stem from the compromises it must make to reach its target audience, leaving many characters drawn in a two-dimensional manner. I think I would have preferred the story to be told more in the manner of the book and movie, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Cibolero is a story about Mexicans, not Indians, but I cannot help but feel that many of the same emotions over a twisted history have spawned both of these delicate Western tales.
Kermit Lopez is obviously a credit to the iUniverse field of authors. Cibolero is a well thought out and composed history lesson, and a story that has not been often told. It seems surprising that there is such a gap in genre and release date between The Prodigy and Cibolero. It really makes me wonder how good that first book might be.

See Also: The Author's Website
Tabitha's B&N Review

Danielle Steele

Did any of you happen to see Danielle Steele interviewed by Larry King recently? Listen up! This is a special message to those of you who may think you're going to grind out your bestseller with a couple of months' work. Ms. Steele told Larry she spends one year on an 80-100-page outline; then a second year on the first draft; and finally, two years editing each book. If it requires Danielle Steele four years to produce a quality product, how long does it take you?

Here are the coming attractions in November at iUBR:

Kermit Lopez' Cibolero review
Interview with Susan Higginbotham
Brandy Purdy's The Confessions of Piers Gaveston review

Independent Authors Guild

I hope I am not premature in introducing the newly formed Independent Authors Guild to my little handful of readers, but I would hope that many of you would like to step onto the ground floor as soon as the concrete dries. The IAG is a brand-new organization that is currently being formed to further the progress of POD, self-published, and small-press authors. I have composed a brief history of the formation of IAG especially for my readership.
Back on July 8th, Dianne Salerni, the author of an iU book entitled High Spirits, introduced herself on the Amazon Historical Fiction board with a post for POD authors. This message (of course!) became the most frequently read message on that board, concluding with a total of 1878 posts. After a point, Dianne joined forces with the other six active members on that board to form IAG, although it took a number of months to develop into the IAG as we know it now. At first these were just some inexperienced authors with the same old idea of not exposing their POD company affiliations, but their ideas continued to mature. I long ago reviewed Susan Higginbotham's book, I just recently did Barry Yelton's, and at least one more of these IAG authors have books waiting in my queue. This is how I happened to be paying attention to the organization as it was formed.

One of these guys discovered the Yahoo Groups in late October, so the group moved from Amazon to Yahoo on October 23rd. This new Yahoo Group was active for only one week until Halloween, when Nan Hawthorne split the original Yahoo Group into two Yahoo Groups, a Members IAG Group for any author outside the realm of the major publishers, and a private, Board IAG Group for the seven founders to communicate with each other and govern the new organization.

My main interest in all this is that I know what I do is helpful to a very select few POD authors, but the numbers must remain tiny by design. Others we know, such as the paid review sites, have aided larger numbers of authors, but we know the nature of that aid leaves a lot to be desired. The sheer volume of books discussed on these sites makes their opinions seem suspect, at least if and when the reader realizes how little time and effort has been allowed for each review. Raise your hand if you think a review paid for by the author is as legitimate as an unpaid review. IAG is approaching the problem from a new angle, and I have to admire their spunk, if not their naivete. Will IAG be able to successfully limit their endorsement to only the best self published authors, and will that endorsement increase book sales? That is the question of the day.

What the IAG people don't realize is that many others have already set up similar operations to achieve the same goal, and all have failed in one way or another. Some groups have dissolved into a swamp of slap-fighting; some have dribbled into personal small-talk; and some have simply tired of the massive amount of work producing so little reward. The Yahoo Print-On-Demand Group has been around for years. Just ask Janet Elaine Smith: she's been there even longer than I have. I started my own POD Yahoo Group years ago, but I finally had to dissolve it in disgust. I wanted to trade useful marketing information, but all I got was drivel. You can still read lots of that here at WritersNet. Many other message boards for POD authors have come and gone since 1998, even one hosted by iUniverse.

I sincerely hope the new IAG is the one that breaks the mold and succeeds in the manner in which its founders naively expect. I refer to them as naive based on several facts. First of all, as far as I can ascertain, the seven founding board members have together published less POD books than I have. Secondly, their collective experience in the actual marketing of POD books is miniscule compared to my own, or even more so compared to a veteran such as Janet Elaine Smith. The final point I wish to make is probably the deadliest of all. Many of the most successful POD authors attained their individual pinnacles within small market niches before there were so many POD books flooding the market. When you realize how many of these new POD authors have attacked the limited marketing and retail resources available like a school of hammerheads, the true depth of the dilemma becomes clear. If this was simply the end of the story, the future of IAG might be a little more assured. Unfortunately, we all know there is a great big elephant standing in our jar of JiF. Massive numbers of these new POD authors have produced Hyundai products with BMW prices, and most of the reading public has been made aware of this fact by the slap-fighters.

Allow me to offer an analogy with which I hope to make my point crystal clear, although the solution is as muddy as a Mississippi lake bottom. I have been following our current housing bubble and bust for a number of years. Yes, I am one of those few who saw it coming from a mile away and adjusted my lifestyle plans accordingly. Most of the commenters on the many housing bubble blogs are exactly the same as the people I call the slap-fighters on the POD message boards. Those on the housing blogs want you to know that you are a fool for purchasing a home in California in 2005 with an ARM mortgage loan. Those on the writer blogs want you know you are a fool for publishing with a POD company because everybody knows that most POD books are trash. There can be no denial that most of these bloggers are right most of the time. The problem is that if everyone thought and acted as they do, our world would become nothing more than another Fox News celebrity slap-fight. Someone has to be a positive leader. Someone has to actually try to accomplish something, instead of just mouthing off at the person next to you. We all know that if we let the traditional publishing industry control all the books published, eventually there will be nothing left in the stores but ghost-written, celebrity bullcrap. Inch by painstaking inch, Barnes & Noble is becoming more and more like Fox News. Of course I don't mean to imply that B&N has any sort of right-wing bias like that of the fair and balanced news channel, but there is a celebrity bias. With each passing year, fewer and fewer books reach bookstore shelves because the author displays the imagination of Kurt Vonnegut or the storytelling acumen of John Grisham. More and more books occupy those shelves because the author's face is on television and millions of morons recognize it.

Unless POD can somehow break out of its conundrum with books that sell because they are well written or the subject is adeptly handled, we are all doomed to see only Ann Coulter's latest piece of trash promoted at the local B&N. How can IAG separate the good books from the trash heap? That is the question for us all to ponder.

Beyond the Cayenne Wall

Beyond the Cayenne Wall
Collection of Short Stories
by Shaila Abdullah
(iUniverse / 0-595-37009-8 / October 2005 / 114 pages / $10.95)
 
Beyond the Cayenne Wall happens to be the first book I have reviewed by an author in my own hometown. Although I used to reside literally within a mile or two of Shaila Abdullah, it is obvious that we come from two different worlds. This leads to the best recommendation I can make for the book: the quality of the writing and the intimacy of the subject matter sucked me right into it. Like many traditional Americans, I had a vague notion of the issues presented in Cayenne Wall, but Shaila's fictionalizations of a harsh reality bring these gut-wrenching dilemmas to life. The author takes the reader on a journey through seven short stories back to her original hometown, Karachi, Pakistan.
The only bad news here is old news. This book has far too many proofreading errors to honestly earn a five-star review. I would have hoped that a book that has garnered numerous, glowing reviews of the all too familiar type from the all too familiar sources would have allowed the Proofreading Police a night off. That is sadly not the case, an issue that is additionally disturbing because Beyond the Cayenne Wall has garnered far more than its share of awards and attention from traditional media, at least when compared to that of many other well deserving POD books. Aside from the obvious celebrations of cultural diversity, you would have thought someone would have mentioned the typos. Alas, that seems to be my job alone.
If Beyond the Cayenne Wall had contained four times the page count and one-quarter the error count, I would be screaming its praises from the rooftops! This is one well-written book of POD short stories! The poignancy literally drips from the pages. Ms. Abdullah knows her subject matter. She knows how to do accurate research and she knows how to write. She even designed an excellent cover for her book, and Cayenne Wall includes a glossary, something you don't often see in an iU book. I read the glossary first to smooth out the comprehension of this foreign culture, and I recommend other readers do likewise, although I never felt really lost while reading the text. As you may have already guessed, the references to hot, spicy dishes native to Karachi are numerous, but never overcooked. As a bonus, I received a bookmark for the book, and even that was especially well designed and professionally printed. Welcome to the world of POD, where we have to do all our own tasks, even proofreading. If the mere mention of a book of short stories about a culture from the other side of the world makes you yawn, wake up! Beyond the Cayenne Wall is one of the better books reviewed on this site, and Shaila Abdullah is one of the better writers.

See Also: Tabitha's B&N Review
Tabitha's Authors Den Review
Shaila Abdullah's Website

Scarecrow in Gray

Scarecrow in Gray:

A Civil War Novel

by Barry D. Yelton

(iUniverse / 0-595-40185-6 / September 2006 / 218 pages / $15.95)

This is the second historical fiction novel about the Civil War reviewed on this blog. Convergence of Valor, a book about the development and launch of the first submarine, happened to be the very first book reviewed here. Like that book, Scarecrow in Gray concerns a particular issue of the war, as told from the Confederate perspective, and both books successfully attempt to be as accurate as possible with respect to the parts of the plot that are known entities. Both authors developed a finished storyline around certain incomplete, but historically accurate facts. No one actually knows what happened to the submarine, the H. L. Hunley, and no one knows precisely what experiences Barry Yelton's great-grandfather actually had after he entered the war in 1864. Scarecrow in Gray is Francis Yelton's compassionate, gut-wrenching, up-close-and-personal viewpoint on the war. He begins by telling the reader how the starved, emaciated Rebel soldiers looked like scarecrows the first time he sees them.

I have compared Barry Yelton's work to that of the legendary Bruce Catton in my other reviews, and I stand by that statement. Barry presents the story of Francis in much the same way that Catton told the story from the Union side in This Hallowed Ground. Barry Yelton fills his story with emotion and the realism of the moment, which happened to be the darkest in America's history. I would liked to have lived during the Civil War about as much as I would enjoy life as a Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Barry D. Yelton makes it crystal clear why that statement is so true. From the departure from his wife and two small daughters to the agonizing loss of soldiers close to him, Francis adequately describes the hell of existence in North Carolina and Virginia in that brief, depressing era. The author describes the whizzing musket balls, screams of agony, and blood everywhere it does not belong. He takes you to the center of the action, but he also lets you sit around the campfire with the soldiers as they discuss the quieter, more disturbing issues of The War Between the States. Scarecrow in Gray is not long or highly detailed, but the emotions and morality the book imparts are very compelling.

The comma omissions and other minor infractions kept the Proofreading Police busy writing tickets, but that is the only issue that keeps Scarecrow in Gray out of the solid five-star category. I was not overly impressed with some of the bland compositional style, either, but I make that statement very carefully. Much of what I call bland may be just the author's attempt to accurately replicate the attitude of a very depressed soldier and narrator. As with most of my reviews, I also allow extra credit for longer books with more detail than this one offers. For instance, there was one particular passage that bugged me in the audacity of its brevity. The author says that Francis carved a rather detailed inscription into a makeshift wooden headstone as if he completed a long, arduous task in ten minutes! I have no other complaints at all. This is a very professionally presented first effort. The cover is well designed and suited to the storyline. The plot is easy to follow, the characters are accurately developed, and the author's vision of his subject matter imparts the result of thorough research. If Scarecrow in Gray did not affectionately remind me of This Hallowed Ground, I would not have said it did. It does.

See Also: Tabitha's B&N Review
Tabitha's Authors Den Review
On Wings of Gentle Power

Interview with the Author

D. A. Welch

Debra A. Welch, author of Flashback, currently resides in South Carolina. She has worked in several related computer programming and management fields. Her first novel is set with the beautiful island Low Country as a backdrop. Deb Welch has been quite successful with the location tie-in promotion of her book. Read the interview to discover how she did it.

Tabitha: What inspired you to write Flashback?

Deb: Hypocrisy… it angers me, harms people and damages our world. Regardless, I’m an optimist with a creative streak. Writing is an outlet for my feelings; I envy artists and musicians.

Tabitha: Were you at all concerned that potential customers might confuse your book’s title with Timothy Leary’s famous book?

Deb: Confusion with Timothy Leary’s autobiography never dawned on me; Flashbacks was written in 1983. To some, he was a thought-provoking man. To others, he was just provoking, but he forced us to think outside the box. I admit that Timothy Leary fell off my radar screen along with his orbiting ashes.

Tabitha: Define for us exactly what constitutes The Low Country.

Deb: The coastal region of South Carolina is called The Low Country. Here is a passage from Flashback that explains the term: "From Hilton Head Island to Myrtle Beach, the entire coastal area of South Carolina is known as the Low Country. It’s named for the topography. The region is flat, and much of it is wetland that gently melds into the sea. The terrain includes marshes, tidal basins, and estuaries flowing eastward toward the sounds that separate the barrier islands from the mainland."

Tabitha: I would expect that the obvious tie-in with an actual geographic locale would generate interest and, hopefully, spur book sales. Have you reaped any specific benefits from your subject matter and/or subtitle?

Deb: Despite the distribution challenge faced by POD authors, brick and mortar bookstores in Charleston, Beaufort, and Hilton Head Island have stocked Flashback in the local literature sections. Along with intense promotion and sincere groveling on my part, the Low Country subtitle helped put Flashback on their shelves. The area is a tourist destination and visitors gravitate to books featuring the Low Country.

Tabitha: I see from your Authors Den page that you had a local television interview last August. How did you secure such an interview and how was the experience? Do you think it helped your book sales?

Deb: In August, I appeared on WJCL/Fox 28 News in Savannah, Georgia. A press release announcing a Beaufort book signing triggered the interview. Trish Hartman, the anchor and producer of a morning news program, invited me to appear on her show. The interview went very well and it had to create interest in my book. Here’s a frustration many POD authors experience. Two weeks before the interview, I sent publicity kits to three bookselling chains in Savannah announcing my television appearance and I followed up with phone calls. The day before the interview, I visited the bookstores to sign their Flashback stock. No one had ordered the book. During this live broadcast, I couldn’t tell Savannah residents where to buy my book locally; the stores and I missed sales opportunities. Where have all the entrepreneurs gone?

Tabitha: The brief descriptions of the weather or scenery of coastal South Carolina add a nice touch to the beginning of each chapter. Have you envisioned Flashback as a screenplay?

Deb: Absolutely! I’d love to see a movie version of my book. With adaptation, the location, plot, characters and dialog would make a great screenplay. Your review stated Flashback could be a Lifetime Channel movie with an R rating. Nora Roberts did it with Carolina Moon and others. Why not D. A. Welch with Flashback?

Tabitha: In my reviews of Flashback, I commented on the beautiful cover. Who designed the cover? Did iUniverse create it strictly from your ideas, or did you supply the artwork or other elements? Are you satisfied with the cover?

Deb: The Flashback cover image was a collaborative effort between my husband and me using two different photos. I submitted the front cover design to iUniverse and received positive feedback. When the iUniverse Publisher’s Choice committee became involved, the problems began. I received a proof that I flat-out rejected. The font had become over-stylized, unreadable and sissified. The title and subtitle had been moved into the sea oats at the bottom of the cover. After much debate and correspondence, we compromised. I approved the cover design you see to gain the coveted Publisher’s Choice designation, but I still believe the title font is weak and the subtitle is too obscure.

Tabitha: Have you expended much effort seeking out an agent, and have you had much success in that regard?

Deb: Flashback was my first attempt to write a novel and I had much to learn about the process. I made a conscious decision to minimize the pain and maximize the lesson. Based on Flashback feedback, my efforts were not in vain and I’d like to find an agent for my next book. Right now, I’m learning how to find one. Any suggestions?

Tabitha: Flashback has received three honorary notations from iUniverse: Publisher’s Choice, Editor’s Choice, and Reader’s Choice. Do you feel as if any of these has aided your book’s success?

Deb: When I decided to publish my first novel, I had no literary credits so I needed every iota of recognition. The iUniverse honorary notations gave Flashback and me legitimacy. The awards are tiered and I earned them sequentially.

Editor’s Choice was given for outstanding editorial quality. After submitting my initial manuscript, I received honest, painful, and valuable feedback from iUniverse editors. Within four months, I completed two major rewrites and shortened the manuscript considerably before earning Editor’s Choice. I’m proud of the result. I’ve read books released by traditional publishers that would not meet the standards set by the iUniverse Editorial Review Committee.

Publisher’s Choice was awarded for cover design. The honor gave my book an eight-week spot on a local Barnes & Noble New Release table. During those eight weeks, Flashback appeared on the local fiction table instead of the New Release table. Regardless, my book was in a Barnes & Noble store and that is not an easy feat. I advertise Flashback’s availability at my local Barnes & Noble and visit the store frequently to sign copies of my book. When the store runs out of stock, which they often do, I ask them to reorder.

Reader’s Choice was awarded when 250 books were sold, one-half through non-author purchases. It proves a smidgen of commercial success, one achieved by authors who pound on doors and promote their work. I refer to these honorary designations in every promotional piece I create. I’m aiming for the iUniverse Star program: 500 books sold and a Kirkus book review.

Tabitha: From reading certain statements on your various web pages, it appears that you like to express your opinions concerning certain hot-button political issues of the day, and there is an undercurrent within the theme of Flashback. Have you received any particular feedback, of either a positive or negative nature, from the political views you have subtly expressed?

Deb: In the initial draft of Flashback, I was not so subtle with my opinions. The iUniverse content editor strongly suggested I tone down the rhetoric to avoid alienating readers. Apparently, I took his advice to heart, because no reader has taken issue with any political, religious, or feminist undercurrents. What fun is that?

Tabitha: Did you attend writer’s classes or workshops before releasing the book? Did you hire a professional editor or proofreader?

Deb: I did not attend writing classes but I read Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. The Elements of Style by Strunk and White sits on my computer desk. I purchased content editing and proofreading from iUniverse. The content editing service greatly improved the quality of my book. The proofreading service added to the quality, but iUniverse and I missed some errors.

Tabitha: Your bio pages indicate that you are quite computer literate, and I would think this skill has helped you immeasurably in your various book marketing endeavors. Would you care to elaborate on this issue?

Deb: I use my computer skills to create flyers, event signs, mailing lists (e-mail and snail mail), publicity kits, press releases, bookmarks, ad layouts, bookstore lists, and promotion plans. I’m a techie to a fault. The mechanics of word processing, Web design, graphic layouts, Internet research, and data management are my comfort zone. I spend too much time on easy tasks when I should be writing my next novel or pounding on new doors for Flashback sales.

Tabitha: Did you consider other publishers before you selected iUniverse?

Deb: I compared LuLu and BookSurge services and pricing before I chose iUniverse. I did not seek a traditional publisher for Flashback.

Tabitha: How satisfying has your experience with iUniverse been?

Deb: This was my first attempt to publish a book, so I can’t compare iUniverse with other publishing organizations. Overall, I am satisfied with their service and feel positive about the company. I’ve already mentioned iUniverse plusses and minuses. Add a plus for professional, courteous, and responsive employees. Printing and binding quality is top notch. I’d recommend iUniverse to other self-publishing writers.

Tabitha: What is the most significant thing you have learned as a POD author? Do you have any advice to offer to new or prospective POD authors?

Deb: First, I learned that retail bookstores don’t want to stock or sell POD books. Second, I learned that retail bookstores don’t want to stock or sell POD books. Third, I learned that retail bookstores don’t…. So I advertised for bookstores, negotiated to get shelf space, and followed up incessantly to maintain a presence in a handful of stores. I also learned that Amazon.com is great. Despite POD fulfillment, Amazon delivers and delivers quickly. The challenge is attracting buyers. I have several direct links from various Web pages. Along with retailers, Amazon appears on my bookmarks and all printed and electronic material.

Tabitha: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What genres do you like to read?

Deb: Wow! I could go on for pages. I dislike the term genre because it pigeonholes books. Flashback is classified as romantic suspense; I read books by several authors within that genre, but I gravitate to authors beyond the category. J. D. Robb’s In Death series is a favorite. The Plum series by Janet Evanovich is entertaining mind-wash. Vince Flynn novels are favorites for political intrigue. Every John Grisham novel teaches me another lesson about our flawed legal system. I read novels by David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, Michael Crichton, John Sanford and Tom Clancy. I’m not a James Patterson fan. Laurell K. Hamilton became too grotesque and I tired of her ramblings. A very long time ago, I read every Ian Fleming novel; all Bond movies pale in comparison to Fleming’s thrillers. Some favorite classics are Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fountainhead, Stranger in a Strange Land, Tale of Two Cities, Gone with the Wind, and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Tabitha: What have you been reading lately?

Deb: I just finished Lone Survivor by Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson. It was a great book, but a sad and frightening account of our involvement in Afghanistan. Recent noteworthy reads were Kite Runner, Water for Elephants and Innocent in Death. I plodded through God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything and I’m working on Black Swan, but I keep falling asleep. Theoretical non-fiction writers should take a lesson from John Stossel. A few years ago, I ripped right through Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity.

Tabitha: Yes, I admire Stossel’s style, too. What sort of educational experience do you have, and is it relevant to your writing or the subject matter you have chosen?

Deb: Having attended parochial school, I could diagram complex sentences by the fifth grade. I was the editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper and took electives in creative writing. I graduated with honors, began working full-time, and took undergraduate courses in business administration and advanced writing. I don’t have a college degree.

Tabitha: What about your work career? Has your choice of profession influenced your writing?

Deb: During successful careers in retail, information science, and property management, I developed important business and expositive writing skills. I also learned by doing: computer programming, systems analysis, managing budgets, directing projects, solving problems and leading people. I didn’t wait for someone to teach me; I just learned. In March 2005, I put an item on my ‘to do’ list. Right after balance bank statements, I added write novel. Once it’s on the list, it becomes a goal. I started writing a book that had been swirling around in my head for two years. It became Flashback: A Low Country Novel.

Tabitha: Are you currently working on another book? When and where will the next release by D. A. Welch be available? Will it be a sequel to Flashback?

Deb: I’ve started a Flashback sequel and it must become a higher priority. A few chapters have made their way into my word processor and my mind is constantly churning through plots and sub-plots. I hope to finish a manuscript and find an agent by June 2008.

Tabitha: Do you have any further books in the pipeline?

Deb: After I write the Flashback sequel, I must decide if the characters deserve another novel. Much of the future depends on my publishing options. I can’t finance a writing career forever.

Tabitha: What’s next for Debra Welch, the writer?

Deb: What’s next for Deb Welch, the writer, is still uncertain. As a person, I’ll continue to enjoy my Low Country life, travel with my husband and spend time with family and friends. I’ll read voraciously. If I don’t write other novels, I might try short stories and see where that takes me.

Tabitha: Do you have any final remarks to address to your readers or our audience?

Deb: Keep reading… anything and everything. Visit my website!

St. Hubert's Stag

St. Hubert's Stag

by John Richard Lindermuth

(iUniverse / 0-595-32869-5 / September 2004 / 144 pages / $11.95)

John Richard Lindermuth's second novel has earned five stars by just a whisker of antler velvet. The cover, a slightly annoying lapse in proofreading, and the lack of a statement of time and place for the setting of the story are its only faults. The error count could be somewhat lower, but it is not large enough to cause serious damage. There are several deer on the cover; however, they are all does. The star of the show is a massive black buck with a large enough rack to impersonate Bambi's dad. A photo or other image of a lone buck standing proudly in the moonlight would be far more appropriate to fit the storyline. When I began reading St. Hubert's Stag, I thought the setting could have been in the 1930's, but by the time I got to the mention of a $50 down payment on a computer, I wondered if the author had placed the deer hunters in The Eighties, or even The Nineties. Anyone needing a computer now would just put the $498 on a VISA card at Wally-World! Mr. Lindermuth told the readers they were in 1830 in Pennsylvania as his earlier Schlussel's Woman begins. Why not at least name a state and a decade? This unnecessary mystery left my mental imagery out in the cold!

That's enough complaining. John Lindermuth has improved upon his first novel. He still revels in that special ability of his to display a highly developed vocabulary that so fluidly accompanies dialogue spoken by uneducated hicks. Whatever the time period, St. Hubert's Stag is definitely set a century or more later than the mystery developed in Schlussel's Woman. This book is a slow potboiler of family secrets and emotions. The story takes place in an unidentified small town in which Americana is personified by the importance to the residents of the first day of deer hunting season. Since this is much like the small Southern town in which I grew up, the meanings behind the story's backdrop were quite easy to follow. The book surrounds the lives of a very traditional American family whose past is meticulously unveiled as the story progresses. Think of it as American Beauty for rednecks. An experienced deer hunter goes out on the mountain in search of one last kill. Before the story is over, the grandson has been lost in the woods, the sons have a few important issues to mull over, and the local Catholic priest tells the story of St. Hubert's Stag.

See Also: Tabitha's B&N Review

Tabitha's Author's Den Review

The Waiting List

Please note: The Waiting List is closed as of 12/22/07. Thank you for your support.

As suggested by an enterprising author, I have set up a waiting list for reviews. The last thing I want to do is to commit to reading and reviewing books that may gather dust on my bookshelf simply because I never find the time to read them. I would feel distinctly guilty if someone sent me a book in good faith and I never fulfilled my promise of a review. Therefore, a waiting list has now been added to iUniverse Book Reviews. If you request a review, I shall research your book to decide if I want to accept it for review, as always in the past. Instead of sending you an address to which to send the book, I shall reply to your message, and you can reply back if you want your book placed on the list. If so, your title will be added to the queue, and I shall notify you in plenty of time in the future as to where to send your book. This will assure that those on the waiting list will get their proper place in line, even while the submissions are offically closed. Until such time as I get at least somewhat caught up on my reading, this will keep your books, and my guilt over commitment, from stacking up on my bookshelf. Thank you for your support of iUniverse Book Reviews as the leading source of critical, honest reviews of iUniverse books.

Not a Phoenix

Attention! A new POD blog has recently (September 2007) been launched that at first may mislead you into thinking the infamous POD-dy Mouth has arisen from the dustbin of blog history. This new Poddymouth blog offers a perspective that I think all current and potential POD authors should read. This new blog is not a review site. It is a discussion of the business side of POD, a side I think a lot more new authors should heed. Watch out for the slap-fighters!

Update: As of 4/17/08, this blog has been removed by the author.

The Valley of Death

The Valley of Death

by Gwynne Huntington Wales

(iUniverse / 0-595-41889-9 / March 2007 / 418 pages / $23.95)

Getting right to the point, this is one of the more professionally composed and edited books reviewed on this site. Gwynne Huntington Wales is a fan of spy fiction from the cold war era. Two examples would be John le Carre's The Spy Wo Came in from the Cold (1963) and Smiley's People (1979). In my other reviews of the book, I compare it favorably to Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October (1984) and Ian Fleming's James Bond series (1953-66). For the record, the Clancy and Fleming books still reside on my bookshelf, but I have been less enamored of the le Carre style. As you might imagine from reading my own material, I tend to fly far off the left wing with Kurt Vonnegut and Hunter S. Thompson. I like Denny Crane better than Captain Kirk simply because Kirk is just so straight-arrow military in his disposition. As with many other books I have reviewed, the main reason you may want to read The Valley of Death is that I give it such a high rating even when the subject matter and style are a little too dry and right wing for my taste. I have to say overall that Gwynne Huntington Wales has made the grade. He's a member of the club. You won't mistake The Valley of Death for one of those stinky old POD books you have read so much about.

As a critic, I have to tell you what I found wrong with the book. I have exactly three complaints, four if you count the adjectives dry and military stated above. The title should have been Aardvark or Agent Aardvark for many reasons: (1) The Valley of Death is too generic and it may cause readers not to be able to find it in search engines; (2) the secret agent lead character has such a memorable name; and (3) Aardvark needs to have many more adventures, just like Jack Ryan, Smiley, and Bond. My second complaint is with the cover. It does nothing to cause me to buy the book. The red on black text in the marketing blurb is difficult to read (sound familiar?). At least you can see from the photo on the back that Gwynne is not a girl. My third complaint is far the most serious of all; however, fans of the genre may tell me to get back on the bus to Hunter S. Thompson's ranch. I found the compositional style in the consistent, matter-of-fact, third-person, past-tense to be a bit boring. Remember that I don't like Captain Kirk much, either, so you may have every right to feel that I am just full of it, that this sort of story needs that official, military precision. You may very well be correct in this context. I hope you know that I am protesting too much with my complaints. This is the most professional-looking book I have reviewed that has been published utilizing the optional editing services of iUniverse. The error count is commendably low, I love the lead characters, and the plot is so topical that most readers will wallow in the realistic possibilities of the storyline.

Remember that episode of Seinfeld where they went backwards through the timeline? That's what this review is doing. CIA Agent Vandermeer, code named Aardvark, has been sent to Iraq in November 2002 to track the path of a canister of nerve gas discovered by a British intelligence agent. The story begins in what Aardvark nicknames The Valley of Death because it is a hidden valley in which nothing seems to be alive: no animals, no plants, no bugs. The canister has been stashed by the bad guys at the bottom of a lake, which of course, contains no fish. The villains are bringing the canister up from the lake bottom for an obvious purpose. The question is who are they going to use it against and where are they going to use it? My favorite part of the story is that Aardvark has been participating in an abstinence-only program for the past ten years, and now the CIA introduces him to a new girlfriend of Middle Eastern descent who is a double agent. The adventures of Aardvark and Sophia make Bond look like a promiscuous rake, and this is where the author really shows us his magic. Gwynne Wales has created a new American Bond for contemporary America.

See Also: Tabitha's B&N Review

The Future of POD

After my extended rant last week, it may seem as if things have quieted down a bit here at iUniverse Book Reviews. The lull is simply because I have been reading a 400-page book and my reading time has been somewhat limited lately. The Proofreading Police walked off the job in boredom and disgust as I delved deeper into Gwynne Wales' The Valley of Death. I suppose I'll soon be denigrating this book's title and cover because that's about all that's wrong with it. The book's about as topical as a CNN Special Report, and it's not badly written, either. Look for the reviews to appear over the next few days. The interview with Deb Welch should follow soon after the review of The Valley of Death.

What's with this business of stating A Novel on the cover of many of the iU books I have been reading? Do you think the buyer might be a little confused? Maybe he thinks it's a hamburger. I know: it's a DVD wearing a thick, bulletproof vest! Am I supposed to read this thing? It looks sort of like it might be some sort of fictional reading material. Have you seen those stupid chrome taillamp surrounds on the latest new cars? What's up with that? Hey, Maybelle, it's a taillamp! Golllleeee! Do you think maybe I can open this thing up and read some sort of story? If we don't have a subtitle, do we have to just make one up? Gollllleeee!!

I know that many of you probably cringed as you read Dreams For Sale. The truth is not always pretty, but, as they say, it does set you free. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? When iU offers one of their better promotional offers of free books, the legendary Select Package may remain the best choice for most authors. This is particularly true when the book in question is a large one, and the deal strengthens if the author has an event in mind at which he can kick off the sales of his new release. The current offer from iU is a measly $50-off and five free books. Big woo. This is not much of a bargain. When the company has offered twenty free books, the choice has been much more tempting. One of the things that spurred me to post Dreams For Sale is iU's steady price increases, not only for their packages, but for the books themselves. When I saw that latest $599, that was the last straw for me. The price eight years ago was only $99. My first book, released in December 2000, was 368 pages for $18. My fourth, released in June 2006, costs $22 for less than 300 pages. See what I mean? For now and always, the worst thing about iU is its corporate greed!

Not only is the company making far more per author, the number of books released annually has multiplied, making it tougher and tougher to promote and market your POD book. The el cheapo methodology introduced so successfully by Lulu is adding massively to the number of competing POD books for sale. I call the whole thing a rotten deal multiplied. The publication cost, retail cost, number of competing books, and limited access to marketing that actually works have conspired to grind a POD author into despair. The stinky horde of smart-mouth slap-fighters isn't helping things, either. What's an unknown author to do?

One of the points I wanted to make in Dreams For Sale is that Amazon sells such a huge percentage of the total POD books sold. Why not just let them be your only retailer? I cannot think of much of a reason not to do just that. CreateSpace could be the new wave of the future for us all. I am not a fan of Lulu for several reasons. First of all, I think authors have quite enough to do without spending time and effort on issues of formatting and production. Secondly, if you calculate all the nickel-and-dime options you have to add to sell your book at Amazon and reach other results offered by iU in their one-shot price, there is not that much difference. My third reason to avoid Lulu is that you still face that booger of a too-high retail price when you sell from anywhere outside the company website. Yes, with every stinking price increase, iU's greed quotient steps further into an unacceptable level. My personal answer to myself has always been that if I am going to spend a ridiculous number of hours on something with my name on the cover, I prefer to pay a little more to have it look as perfect and professional as I can. That's why this blog is called iUniverse Book Reviews.

I hate corporate buyouts. I hate downsizing, outsourcing, Wall Street, Alan Greenspan, and every ridiculously overpaid CEO in this once great country. I love Michael Moore and populism in general. I am probably the only certified car nut in America that loves both Ralph Nader and Joan Claybrook! That's why you need to read my first book, Plastic Ozone Daydream. You have never read about or thought about Corvettes in that way before! AuthorHouse does not have a sterling reputation, and I shudder to think what they might do to my beloved iUniverse. iU has always been the Mercedes of POD. Remember that the Daimler Chrysler marriage didn't work out so well, did it?

CreateSpace deserves a much closer look, at the very least. From what I have been able to ascertain from their website, the royalty paid works out to about triple what you would get from an iU book, and you have the option of pricing it lower, if you desire. Better still is the notation that Amazon may choose on their own to discount your book while still paying you the officially agreed upon royalty. That in itself is quite a bit better deal than iU offers. When iU cuts the price to Amazon, the author takes the hit. The leading negative for me at least would be the formatting issues. I am not sure that I would ever want to get involved in that. If I did choose to do my own formatting, I can tell you that I would lean heavily toward CreateSpace and away from Lulu. I say this purely because Amazon is the #1 sales outlet. The details of the production process as they apply to Lulu and CreateSpace would be of little consequence to me. The big deal is having your book for sale at Amazon for a good price. The second most important issue should be the amount of royalty the author receives from each sale. I understand that if an author plans to sell his book mostly outside the confines of the major online retailers that Lulu may be worth considering. For me, it isn't.

Yes, I do think it is next to impossible to get your book released by a major, traditional publisher. You may snare a small, boutique publisher without the necessity of winning the lottery, but the little guys generally offer deals a lot closer to those of the subsidy publishers than you might think. You still need to do your own marketing at your own expense. You can at least maintain total control of your book's editing and content at iU. Why not release exactly the book that you want, when you want? Is this not the best reason on earth to utilize the services of iUniverse? For the time being, I am currently working a lot harder at being a book critic than I am an author, so I am not currently working on a book project. If I was, I would be researching the hell out of CreateSpace.