Author: Big Al

Big Al (who insists he only has one name, like Cher, Sting, and Madonna) spends his days writing computer programs that are full of typos, homonym errors, and incorrect verb usage. During his evenings, he writes reviews of indie books for BigAl’s Books and Pals and has recently taken over The IndieView, a website founded by indie author Simon Royle as a resource for indie authors, indie reviewers, and those who read either.

Classic or Commercial?

really old book pixabayLet’s do a little thought experiment. Pick your favorite classic of literature. One of those books you were forced to read years ago in school. Make it something old enough to be in the public domain. I’m partial to A Tale of Two Cities myself. Your choice is probably different. Maybe Pride and Prejudice, Tom Sawyer, or even (God forbid) Moby Dick (just call me bored stiff). Now pick something more modern, but still a classic you might have read in school from fifty or a hundred years ago. My choice is The Old Man and the Sea. Maybe you prefer Catch-22, something by Faulkner (The Sound and the Fury or As I Lay Dying are a couple possibilities). Or if you prefer a book with a little more heat and your school district was much more enlightened than mine you might choose Lady Chatterly’s Lover.

What are your picks?

All of the books I’ve listed, and I assume those you picked if you didn’t like my suggestions, have stood the test of time. Presumably they were commercially successful. If nothing else, each has sold well over the years with sales to schools and libraries. Now imagine the books you picked hadn’t been published for whatever reason, but the final fully-edited manuscript was discovered and published by the author’s heirs today. We’ll also imagine they published it using a pen name so there isn’t a ton of hype about author X’s undiscovered book. What do you think the odds are that the book would sell? How would the critics react? What do you think the reader reviews on Amazon would look like? Continue reading “Classic or Commercial?”

Yes, Author Interviews are Worthwhile

InterviewA few weeks ago the Evilest Mastermind of them all had a post about author interviews, questioning whether they are worthwhile. One of the things I do away from Indies Unlimited is run a site called The IndieView. For those who haven’t visited, the content consists of three main things. (Watch me subtly plug the site here. I’ll bet no one even notices.) First, a database of indie friendly book review sites for authors in search of potential reviewers. Second, an index of recent reviews from a slew of different sites which readers can visit and scan looking for books that might appeal to them. And last of all (the only thing I would have mentioned were I not sneaking in a plug) interviews with indie authors and reviewers.

Given The IndieView’s interview content, I almost feel obligated to argue against what the EM had to say about author interviews. The reality is, every point he made (okay, make that almost every point to give me a little wiggle room) was right, for him. However, I’m not sure it is right for everyone. Some of my points were probably made in the comments to the original post, but repetition is good, right? So here’s my rebuttal. Hmm. I think I’ll do this using the same style Joe Konrath uses when fisking the spokesmodels of traditional publishing. That’s bound to be fun. Continue reading “Yes, Author Interviews are Worthwhile”

Reviewing 101 – Part 4

BookglassesIn previous installments of this series I covered how to enter an Amazon customer review, how to write a short, yet useful review, followed by ideas to beef up your reviews to give potential readers additional information to assist their purchasing decision. In this final installment I’m going to throw out tips, hints, and other ideas to help refine your reviews to be even better and to help you get more out of reviewing. Continue reading “Reviewing 101 – Part 4”

Reviewing 101 – Part 3

BookglassesIn the last installment of this series we took some baby steps, discussing how to write a short review that gave your opinion of a book and a reason or two why. Since then you’ve completed your homework assignment by writing and posting a short book review on Amazon, right? Don’t tell me your dog ate your homework. That might have worked when your homework was on paper, but it doesn’t in today’s electronic world. Continue reading “Reviewing 101 – Part 3”