Think your editor is tough? Try this one.

Back in the days when gladiators hacked away at each other, there was always the man who decided whether the defeated should live or die.  The job is usually given to the Emperor in movies, but in fact any senior man could have been the designated thumbs-up-thumbs-down guy.  

The official title for this fellow was...the editor.   (evil laughter in background)

Casting the (nonexistent) movie

I was asked by Marshal Zeringue, how I would cast The Pericles Commission if it were made into a movie. I was allowed to pick any actors I liked throughout time. I took him up on that offer.

My partial cast for The Pericles Commission is on his blog: My Book, The Movie.

It will make more sense if you've read the book. If you have, I'd be fascinated to know your own cast list.

SPOILER ALERT: Discussion of casting inevitably runs the risk of spoilers, if only because it requires listing characters and their relationships. People sensitive to spoilers who haven't read the book yet should not read the comments to this post!

(...and to those making comments, please be sensitive to the problem. Thanks!)

Pericles Commission #16 on Google's ebook bestseller list

Yesterday I got an email from Carolyn Kellogg at the LA Times, asking how it felt to be #16 on Google's ebook bestseller list.

I replied, "What?"

So I checked. Then I went into shock.

(You might need to click the image to see it in all its glory)



Carolyn wrote an article, on how Pericles Commission is the only unexpected entry in the bestseller list. It was certainly unexpected by me! Not that I'm complaining, you understand.

So I've been pondering how this happy event managed to occur, because I'm keeping very, very impressive company on that page.

The sales numbers must be relatively small, since we're looking at only one day of trading since Google's ebookstore went online, but they give the expected result for everyone else, so sales must be sufficiently large to avoid randomness. The only conclusion I can reach is that my readers are more than usually tech-savvy early adopters. But you'd know that better than me. What do you think?

I presume I'll fall off the list after the next update, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts!


Gary's thoughts on book marketing, draft #1

Since I'm now a little bit along the publishing path, I thought I'd stop for a moment to offer my thoughts, such as they are, on book marketing. I called it draft #1 because I speak from my vast experience of precisely one recently published novel. Come back this time next year and I'll probably say something different.

  1. The single most important marketing strategy is to write a good book. If you've done that, then the second most important thing is to write another good book. Word of mouth is the best marketing scheme ever. It only happens if you write a good book.

  2. A good review is worth its weight in gold. Believe me, I know; I've been super-blessed in that department. You can't force, engineer, or ask for a good review. See point 1 about writing a good book.

  3. Do a public speaking course, and then practise at local events. Practise until you're so used to getting up in front of random strangers that it becomes a chore and not a terror. I've had some public speaking experience in the past. I can't begin to tell you how important it was to be able to get up in front of a crowd and feel confident.

  4. Blog if you have something to say. Do not blog if you have nothing to say. Some people are natural bloggers, and to my surprise, I appear to be one of them. (I would never have guessed, seriously.) An unattended, trivial, or boring blog is worse than no blog.

  5. Book trailers. I looked into it very closely, asked people, surveyed GoodReads, asked you, my fine readers of this blog. As far as I can tell, a good trailer is unlikely to generate noticeable sales, but a bad trailer is capable of turning people away. Most trailers are the video equivalent of powerpoint. Don't do it, unless Spielberg is your second cousin.

  6. The social networking thingies...use them if you would have anyway. Do not use them if the sum total of your communicative desires is, "Buy my book."

  7. Even if you love social networking, don't try and do everything. That way lies madness and unbelievably low productivity (see point 1 about writing a good book). Pick two sites. Personally, I loathe facebook but rather enjoy Twitter and GoodReads.

  8. Bookmarks, postcards, and other stuff generally known as "swag". I have a handful of guitar picks labeled Felonious Jazz. Bryan Gilmer was giving them away at Bouchercon 2009. It's the only swag that ever caught my attention. Bookmarks are hugely popular and totally worth your while. Some people actually collect author bookmarks for their own sake. Postcards are for posting to library buyers and indie stores, to let them know your book exists. The problem with postcards is printers have minimum orders, and you don't need more than about 400. If my library sales and indie orders are any indication, then the system works, but to be honest I suspect it was the reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal that really prompted buyers.