Is it all who you know?
I hate to say it. But so often it’s true. It is who you know. And not just in writing, but in everything.
My daughter has made friends with a great little girl at school. Because of their friendship, I’ve made friends with the other mom. Besides finding a new friend that I really like, and helping my daughter hang out with her own friend, two benefits have come from this that I would never have foreseen.
The first is that our family has been invited to spend a good chunk of the summer at my new friend’s pool. (It’s actually her mother’s pool, but that’s a technicality) This pool a) is heated b) has a concession stand where everything is a quarter c) has a built-in lifeguard, since my new friend is one d) has a shaded gazebo where we parents can hang out if we aren’t swimming, and e) has guaranteed friends for the kids to play with.
My husband’s question? How did you manage to get hooked up with this?
Hey, I’m not fighting it.
The second neat thing that happened with this new friend… My daughter was over at her house for the first time, and partway through the playdate I get a call from the mom: “Are Judy Clemens? The one that writes books?” (In normal life I go by my husband’s family name) Here my daughter was helping get supper around and mentioned casually that “My mama writes books.”
After I confirmed that I was, indeed, that Judy, she confessed that she has written a book and is working on getting it published. We have since sat down for wonderful discussions on the publishing industry and how our crazy writer minds work.
Fun stuff, and coincidental. Or is it Fate?
Anyhow, this is proof that things like this do happen,and often it works this way in the publishing industry. As my editor, Barbara Peters, said to me, so much of making it big is being at the right place at the right time.
But that means doing what you can to be at the right place at the right time – attending conferences, getting involved in organizations, joining a blog such as this one…
And maybe…just maybe…the right time, or the right person will happen.
Doom, Gloom, and an Internet Boom
Don mentioned Book Expo America (BEA) yesterday, and for a moment, I thought he was going to scoop me on my idea for today’s blog. Fortunately, he had all that good news to report from BEA. What I wanted to talk about today . . . well, it’s not so good.
At least if you believe what’s in the newspapers.
I have a friend (Maureen Child–if you haven’t read her, check her out, she’s a fabulous author!) who attended BEA in Los Angeles last week. She signed books at the Harlequin booth and had a great time. She said the show was packed with readers, writers, publishers and booksellers and that everyone was upbeat and excited.
A story in last weeks Cleveland Plain Dealer, though, was a little less rosy, starting with the headline: Booksellers looking for ways to boost sales. (Subtext, sales are bad, we need to beef them up.)
According to the article, publishers are talking doom and gloom because sales are flat and there are no new blockbusters (ala Harry Potter) on the horizon. One publishing exec is quoted as saying, “It’s a tough time for the book business.” Others are looking for e-reader to be the salvation of the industry because, they claim, the traditional book is dead and readers are anxious for easy–and instant–access.
I don’t know how true any of this is. The statistics CR gave us to ponder on Monday seem to show that not much has changed, that people who have always read are still reading, and that they want to read printed words on paper, rather than electronic words on a screen.
As for the doom and gloom, I can say this: if you’ve been around this industry long enough (I have), you hear this sort of end-of-the-world talk every now and then. Publishers tighten their belts and their purse strings. They pass on manuscripts they say they would love to buy, if only they could. They scrimp on publicity, they cut advertising, they say they can only push a book if it’s new and different and quirky–and then they end up publishing the same old, same old.
Sigh.
So what can writers do? Well, those folks reporting from the BEA say that publishers and authors need to look to the Web as a means of engaging the public. Already in Japan, the article points out, best-selling novels are written on and shared via cell phone.
Written on cell phone? Do they mean like texting? If that’s the wave of the future, I’d better get started. It takes me at least 10 minutes just to text a “hi” to my daughter!
On a personal note:
This Friday, I’ll be guest blogging at:
www.thestilettogang.blogspot.com
Stop by and say hi.
And this coming Monday, June 9, I’ll be at the Parma South branch of the Cuyahoga County Library at 7 p.m. The library is located at 7335 Ridge Road, just north of Pleasant Valley. Join us for a mystery discussion and book signing and sale.
A Boastful Blog
Stuff To Die For, last September’s release about two clueless young guys in South Florida who buy a used box truck and get into all kinds of trouble, won two national awards this weekend in L.A. The Indie Excellence Award for best thriller/mystery, and the Foreward Magazine award for best mystery. But, most authors tell me, awards don’t sell books. Not all authors confirm this. Our own Jeff says he sees a spike in sales when a book gets this kind of attention, but even my publisher says, while an award is nice, it doesn’t necessarily translate to a lot of the books being sold.
Maybe some of that is due to the fact that the book is already out of the stores, because the ’shelf-life’ is finished. I think a lot of awards are like that. I’ve noticed that many times a movie is already out of the theater when it receives an Academy Award. Often times a play is already off Broadway when it wins a Tony and TV shows are sometimes cancelled before they receive an Emmy.
Still, it feels good to know that two organizations thought enough of the book to give it a ‘best of’ honor. The awards were presented at the Book Expo America, a huge gathering of publishers, sellers, writers and everyone else associated with the industry. Oceanview Publishing sent a representative who accepted the awards, and unless she keeps them and puts them on her own mantle, I should have both in a couple of days.
The second STUFF book, Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, comes out in September, and I’m working on number three, Stuff To Spy For. One more Stuff story. Writers are obviously pleased when someone wants to make a positive comment about their work. I was talking on the phone to an agent yesterday, and he was talking about goals and ambitions. He finished by saying, “As James says, ‘We shouldn’t have regrets over what we’ve done, only regrets over what we haven’t done.’
I was silently shaking my head, thinking that was somewhat profound, then I realized he was quoting one of the characters in Stuff To Die For. James would have been thrilled. I know I was.
People still like books – news at eleven
I like to think of myself as a well-informed citizen. Wife Carol, has a better term for me: political junkie.
And she’s right. I am a political junkie. Always have been. Always will be. I love our democracy and the craziness that ensues.
Carol complains that all I watch on TV are boring documentaries and those talking-head shows. I hear her tell her friends on the phone that I’m in the living room watching a three-hour History Channel special on wheat production in Bolivia. Or, I’m watching a discussion on CSPAN about the socio-economic importance of buttons. For the record, I have never watched either of those –-although the button thing does sounds interesting.
While I do plead guilty to watching too many political shows, my great enabler these days is the Internet. Every morning, right out of bed, I check out the right-wing Drudge Report and the left-wing Huffington Post. I read Ohio.com (Akron Beacon Journal) and Cleveland.com (Cleveland Plain Dealer). I check the MSNBC website, CNN, New York Times, ABC, CBS, Reuters, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. All of these sites are book-marked on my homepage.
And I check these sites again and again all day long. I even have a BREAKING NEWS box on my home page that immediately alerts me to anything important.
I also check the Rasmussen and Zogby polls to see if the rest of the country is waking up and finally seeing things my way. It was while checking Zogby the other day that I ran across a new survey on America’s reading and book-buying habits.
The poll, conducted by Zogby for Random House, found that the vast majority of readers still like to read the old-fashioned way - - 82% said they prefer to curl up with a printed book rather than use one of those new-fangled reading machines. Gender-wise, 85% of women prefer reading printed books, compared to 79% of men. Reading printed books also has greater appeal among older folks, although it is by far the preferred method among all age groups.
Just 11% said they are comfortable reading books in other formats, such as online or with an e-book reader or PDA (personal digital assistant). Don’t worry, I didn’t know what it stood for either.
The survey found that most readers go to a bookstore knowing exactly what they’re looking for - - 43% said they do this somewhat often, while nearly as many — 38%– very often head to a bookstore with a particular book in mind.
Says the report: “But just because they’re focused on a certain book, most admit they’re likely to be tempted by other books once at a store — 77% said that when they go into a bookstore for a specific book, they sometimes make additional, unplanned book purchases.”
For nearly half (48%) the first thing that draws them to a book while browsing in a bookstore is the subject, followed by the author (24%) and the book’s title (11%).
What influences readers?
Sixty percent said suggestions from friends and family members, while 49% said they are influenced by book reviews.
More than half (52%) admit to judging a book by its cover. (This is why Casey sells so damn many.)
Younger readers are more likely to acknowledge a book’s cover influences their opinion. Sixty-six percent of those younger than 30 said they judge a book by its cover, compared to just 34% of those age 65 and older. (Don’s readers.)
Says the report: “More than a third (35%) said they have purchased a book because of a quote from another author. When they find a book they like, the vast majority (89%) said they make a special effort to look for other books by the same author. Women (92%) are more likely than men (86%) to seek out books by authors they already enjoy.
Among other findings in the Zogby/Random House poll:
Most typically read just one book at a time, but a sizable 40% said they usually are reading between two and four books at once. Another 3% said they generally read more than four books at one time. (Jeff’s crowd.)
While 19% said they borrow most of the books they read from the library, the vast majority of Americans (78%) said they own most of the books they read. And while 71% are quick to loan books to friends, just 32% said they are in the habit of borrowing books from friends.
As for “bad reading habits” — 35% admit to folding over the pages, 13% admit that they have neglected to return a library book. (Judy’s crowd.)
Two in three respondents (68%) said they typically read a book just once, but 18% said they usually go back for a second read and 10% read a book three times or more.
Once a book has been read, most respondents said it goes back on their shelf at home (57%), but others are more likely part ways once they finish — 20% usually pass books on to a friend or family member, while 14% give them away and just 3% said they typically sell their books once done reading them.
When asked what type of book would best represent their life, 20% said it would be humor, while 16% said satire and 13% said their life would be an inspirational book. (Zorro said a coloring book.)
The survey also shows respondents are more likely to purchase books for themselves than for family members or as gifts. Says the survey: “On average, 39% of respondents said they purchase between one and five books per year for themselves, while 26% buy between six and 10, 14% between 11 and 15 — 22% buy 16 or more books per year for themselves.
When it comes to purchasing books for family members, 51% said they buy one to five books per year, 23% six to 10 and 9% buy 11 to 15 — 18% buy 16 or more books per year for family members. Nearly three in four (73%) respondents said they typically purchase between one and five books per year as gifts, 19% buy six to 10 books as gifts and 4% buy 11 to 15 — just 4% said they buy 16 or more books as gifts per year.
And where are people buying books these days?
While most purchase books online (77%) or at chain bookstores (76%), nearly half (49%) said they also purchase books at independent bookstores. Others said they purchase books at other locations, including the airport (39%), big box retailers (29%), warehouse clubs (27%), supermarkets (25%) and drug stores (16%).
Not surprising, the 18 to 24 crowd is more likely than older respondents to say they purchase books online and at chain bookstores. But they re also more likely to buy books at independent bookstores (54%), compared to 41% of `those age 65 and older.
Now the biggie – are people reading more or less these days?
Says the report: “While 46% of respondents said they have spent about the same amount of time as usual reading in the past year, 23% are spending more time reading — and 30% said they are reading less than usual. Nearly two-thirds of those who are reading less (65%) said they are spending more time online, while 37% are spending more time watching television or movies and 18% are devoting more time to playing computer and video games.”
The poll also found that 98% of all Americans are reading less because they are busy writing books. Just kidding. I made that up. It’s actually more like 87%.
While you digest all of this, let this old political junkie remind you that public opinion polls are just a snapshot in time and have a 3 to 4% margin or error.
Also keep in mind that Zogby – prestigious though it is – regularly under-reports the obvious popularity of my favorite candidates. So I’d take anything they report with a grain of salt.
Anyhoo, you guys will have to discuss all this without me. CSPAN is rerunning that button thing today.
My inspiration
Casey wrote about her inspiration in Jessica Fletcher on Wednesday. Mine had to be that combination of the cerebral sleuths that were so popular a generation ago. I wanted to be Ellery Queen or Nero Wolfe (sadly I look more like him these days than I care to.) Hell, I wouldn’t have minded being Philo Vance, even with his bad reputation for annoyance.
I was an exceedingly smart adolescent in a world where that’s not appreciated. Speaking as a teacher, it’s still not. But the way that I felt I could escape was to be the hero of those books, the smart guys who are actually appreciated (and frequently paid) for their intelligence.
It certainly looked like more fun than high school. The main character frequently spoke in riddles to the rest of the world. It seemed a bit fun to use vocabulary that no one else knew and smile. Or to utter some remark that would clear up the entire matter if anyone else understood the implications. Holmes and his dog in the nighttime.
There’s accolades galore. People sought out these characters to work and help. Often the characters didn’t deign to help until the murder was committed. Of course, the books would have been very short had the sleuth stepped in and taken care of things before the murder. They frown on 12 pages books in the industry.
Even so, it made me want to inhabit their world and the closest I could come to that was to write my own books. My characters are more flawed than these men, but I still get a thrill in writing about the triumph of the intellect. Smart can be good.
Intangible Benefits?
So as Don and I sat in a beautiful independent bookstore last Saturday, we had to ask ourselves, “Is this worth it? For us or for the bookstore?”
I didn’t keep track of Don’s sales, but for myself, I sold four: two to Don, one to the bookstore owner’s wife, and one to a wonderful woman who came in and said she had read all of my books except Lost Sons.
At least the bookstore got money from my own wallet – I bought a book for myself, a Captain Underpants set for my son, and two princess books for my daughter. I probably spent more by myself than the bookstore made from selling my book.
So let’s look at the positives here:
Don and I had fun talking to each other.
We had a good time talking to the bookstore owner and his wife.
My kids had a great time hanging out in the reading loft and picking out books.
One nice non-event-participant bought Lost Sons.
I signed several copies for the owner to keep on the shelf for future sales.
We got to spend time in a gorgeous indie bookstore.
But… Don and I spent four hours in the middle of a Saturday afternoon driving to and from the bookstore and sitting there talking while the rest of the city (apparently) was out doing anything but going to a bookstore. The bookstore spent time getting our books and placing whatever ads they placed, as well as paying the staff there to handle sales. And, unfortunately, the bookstore will most likely need to return some of the books.
So the question is…
Was it worth it? Or Why do we do this to ourselves?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Being 24 Again
Back in the seventies, after college, I traveled with a friend, Mike Duling, performing a two man comedy show with guitars, shoulder length hair, and half-baked songs and stories. Pre-comedy-club days, we performed at Holiday Inns, resort hotels, Playboy Clubs, Vegas lounges and just about anywhere someone would have us. I can’t go into detail here, but thank God my kids didn’t decide to go on the road.
After Mike and I disbanded, I worked as a solo, playing nightclubs around the country, working with the Grand Old Opry on a tour through Canada, playing with Rick Nelson, Ray Charles and other acts, and generally acting like an immature 24 year old until I was almost 30. Mental age today…still an immature 24 year old. I’ve performed for audiences in Italy, France, St. Barts, The Bahamas, and all over the United States. Sometimes I was the featured act, sometimes I just sat in with the boys.
But now, music has taken a back seat to writing, even though I put out a Cd several years ago and still write songs. I take the guitar to some of the book signing tours and play a couple of funny ( and serious) songs about the writing life. But once a year I actually play a three hour nightclub set at a place called the Main Street Bistro in Lima, Ohio.
I’m not sure why I do it. To keep in touch with the entertainer side? To feed my ego? They call it Key West Night, and the theme is tropical. Beach umbrellas, oversized inflatable Corona bottles, tropical drinks and seafood dishes are everywhere. I do a couple of Buffet tunes, some of my own stuff, I pick on the audience, do some slightly rude material, bring some friends up who do a couple of numbers, sing some ballads from my earlier years, and generally act like these people are in my living room. The Bistro sells out, there’s standing room only at the bar, and the three hours go by quickly.
Once again, I’m 24 years old, flirting, showing off, making an ass of myself and having a ball. Being an entertainer is much like being a writer. You can act like a kid and it’s perfectly acceptable. I’ll be at the Bistro this Friday. If you want to go back in time, If you want to be a kid again, come on down.
You, Too, Can Be a Mystery Writer
As if anyone needs more proof of just how exciting my life is . . . I stayed up late on Friday to watch an episode of “Murder She Wrote.” I think this is one of those series that, like “Law & Order” is on constantly. Some channel, somewhere is always following the adventures of everyone’s favorite mystery writer from Cabot Cove. But I, apparently, watch TV at all the wrong times. I had not seen the show for years, probably since back when the series was new.
Watching her in action, I had something of an epiphany–Jessica Fletcher is the reason I became a mystery writer.
Sound crazy? It’s really not. Let’s take a look at the show I watched and you’ll understand the appeal.
#1 The episode takes place in Hawaii where Jessica is visiting old friends.
I would like to go to Hawaii and visit friends, old or new.
#2 Jessica is in Hawaii because she’s just finished a six-country publicity tour. She’s tired and needs a rest.
This is how all authors are treated, right? Fancy publicity tours, time to recuperate after. That’s how things work for Jessica, I just assumed that’s the way real life worked, too.
#3 Jessica is feeling a little pressured, you see. The publication date for her next book has been moved up.
This can only be because publishers want to make their authors’ lives better.
#4 While she’s there, Jessica is wined and dined and feted.
In my naivete, I thought that’s how authors were always treated!
#5 Though we have nothing in common when it comes to style, Jessica always dresses well. The chick has money, that’s for sure, and it shows.
Did I see mystery writing as my way out of the jeans, sweatshirts and fuzzy slippers mode I’ve spent the last x-amount of years in? There is something appealing about it.
#6 In the midst of the sun and the fun and the sand, there is murder and intrigue.
Just like real life.
Ah yes, Jessica got me. Somewhere in my unconscious, I knew that if I wrote a mystery, my life could be just like hers.
I’m still waiting for the invitation to Hawaii.
Hey Sarg!
I’m writing this on Saturday. It’s a beautiful day. Warm and sunny. Carol spent the morning planting flowers. I did the grocery shopping. I also went to the craft store and bought a couple of glass jars so Carol can transplant her bamboo shoots. While I was there I bought a bouquet of artificial roses for my dad’s grave. In an hour or so we’re going over to see my mother. On the way we’ll stop at the little cemetery in Bennett’s Corners and put the flowers on his grave. More than likely my brother will have already been there. The VFW, too.
My dad died 2 ½ years ago at age 89. He could have died much earlier. In his twenties. In World War II.
My father enlisted in the Army a year before Pearl Harbor. Like a lot of Ohioans, he was in the 37th Division. 145th Infantry. After basic training they sent him to hot and swampy Camp Shelby, Mississippi, to get him ready to fight in the Pacific. They were teaching him to shoot a machine gun. Everybody knew war was coming.
Three weeks after Pearl Harbor, my grandfather died. Christmas Day, 1941. My father was given a furlough to take care of the family business, a corner grocery there in Bennett’s Corners. While my father was home, the 37th Division shipped out to the Pacific. Had his father not died, my father probably would have. The life of a machine gunner in combat was measured in minutes.
So my dad was a soldier without a unit. He joined the Army Air Force and signed up for cooking school. After his training at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana, he shipped out to an air base in northern England. He went from corporal to staff sergeant. Soon he was in charge of an “officers’ mess.” It was his job to see that the new bomber crews flying over the U.S. were properly fed while they awaited deployment to bases closer to the English Channel. He also fed the home-bound crews lucky enough to complete their 25 missions. There weren’t many of those.
My father was incredibly proud of his three years as a mess sergeant. He was so good at it, that when the war was over, he was given a special commendation by the War Department.
While in England my father had appendicitis. Almost died. Had he been on some island in the Pacific, he surely would have died. He used to tell the story about how doctors performed experimental surgery on him. His recovery was so miraculous that they had him stand up buck naked in front of hundreds of doctors and nurses in London while the surgeons explained what they did.
Anyway, my father loved running his mess hall. He loved creating recipes to feed hundreds of men. He kept them all in a little brown notebook.
In 1996, while doing some genealogical work on the family, I came across that notebook. I simply fell in love with those recipes. Yes, they were just lists of ingredients, and how to mix them together, but the pride and sense-of-duty of that young mess sergeant was present in every misspelled word.
I was so taken with them, in fact, that I included one of them in my first published novel, Going To Chicago.
So, here it is, in remembrance of my father, Staff Sgt. Clyde A. Levandoski:
CHOCOLATE PUDDING FOR 1000 MEN
78 eggs
13 lbs. Cornstarch
22 ¾ qts. Cold milk
65 qts. Water
26 lbs. Sugar
4 7/8 oz. vanilla
9 ¾ lbs. Cocoa
4 7/8 oz. salt
Dissolve cornstarch in cold milk, add beaten eggs. Dissolve sugar and salt in heated (not boiling) water. Add water to milk/corn starch/eggs mixture. Add cocoa and vanilla and stir until pudding thickens.
I bet it was delicious.
Feeling Lucky?
There’s a great contest going on over at Shirley Damsgaard’s website. She’s giving away books by her favorite authors and (blush, blush), Casey’s and Sharon’s are among them. Check it out at:
www.shirleydamsgaard.com
Good luck!
