On Genre Fiction and E-Readers

I believe strongly that if more people read, the world becomes a better place.

I don’t really care what you’re reading. To me, the exercise of reading is just as valuable whether you choose fiction or non-fiction, classics or romance novels. Whatever engages you is what you should read. Simple.

I get terribly annoyed when people get snooty about reading. Tell others that their reading is somehow not valuable because they choose to read something that falls into a category of which the person sitting in judgment does not approve. It is precisely this attitude that turns kids off reading to begin with. I was raised by my English teacher dad, who told me I wouldn’t like every book and it was OK to stop reading one if I didn’t like it, all the while introducing me to everything from Thomas Hardy to Ed McBain. And lo and behold, he raised a reader.

Author Joe Hill got more than a bit miffed the other day having read an article purporting, in a nutshell, that genre fiction is somehow less than literary fiction. Here’s an abbreviated version of Joe’s reaction:

I read a lot of genre fiction, primarily crime fiction. Most important term in the previous sentence? “…read a lot.” Ask anyone who reads genre fiction—romance, fantasy, thriller…you name it—and you’ll find that we read quite a bit. We also talk about what we read. We purchase books, too, thereby supporting authors and publishers. And most importantly, we encourage kids—our own, our family members’, our friends’, and sometimes even random ones we encounter—to read.

For anyone to imply that I am somehow a lesser person because of the books that I enjoy is beyond offensive. It is damaging to the health and wellbeing of the world as a whole because it actually discourages reading.

Lately, I’ve seen an increasing number of condescending people also criticizing ebooks. News flash: books read on a screen have the same words in the same order as those printed on paper. Ebooks and “tree books” are not mutually exclusive. Neither is going to do the other out of existence. An either-or debate around this is a waste of energy—energy that could be spent, on, I dunno, actually getting people to read.

According to the venerable Census Bureau, only 58% of the US population lives in big(ish) cities, those with a population of 200,000 or more. That means that 42%—almost 60 million people—live in smaller cities and another 59 million live in rural areas. So just short of 120 million people live in places that might well be without easy access to a bookstore. Yet they do have internet access. And many of them are readers. This reality was also highlighted in a recent Twitter conversation (note here, too, that these genre fiction readers are case-in-point about the passion in reading genre fiction inspires and sustains):

Add to this that ebooks give more people access to titles they might not otherwise be able to get. I’m not talking about self-published books—although this is certainly true of those—but rather those that might be more specialized, out of print, or otherwise hard to find.

As someone who travels quite a bit, another reality ebook naysayers seem to miss is that making books easier to transport, whether on a plane, train, or bus, also encourages reading. We’re no longer limited to listening to music (or talking on the phone) when we’re in transit.

Speaking of phones, how’s about this for an idea: The next kid who asks for a cell phone, get her an ereader instead. I know, I know…it’s a little like when a kid asks for a toy and gets an electric toothbrush instead, but if we care about contributing to future generations that have words rather than fluff between their ears, it might be worth a shot.

Some people still bemoan the death of vinyl. Another news flash: books are not music. Paper books aren’t going anywhere. Neither are ebooks. And genre fiction is a treasured part of the literary landscape. I hope that the energy currently expended on criticizing form and format is soon refocused.

Gotta Have a Gimmick…or at least an influencer

There was a time, not that long ago, that I advocated gimmicks. I still think they have a time and place, but lately I've been much more focused on the power of community influencers.

Perhaps the most common misperception in PR today is that media write about products. Sure, some do product reviews, but ultimately, journalists write about people. Find me a story without a human angle—a source quoted, a product or service’s impact on humans—and I’ll, show you a blog post nobody reads.

Twice in the last couple of weeks I’ve come into contact with companies led by people who want to limit their involvement in communication programs to almost-nothing. One of these, a high-profile multi-billionaire, on one hand wants Big Media to write profiles about him and his company with a view to attracting additional investors. But Twitter, he wants no part of. Won’t share his insight and wisdom via a blog. And his top execs are all in lockstep with him on this.

That dog, as they say, just won't hunt.

I’m often asked how one can be and/or attract influencers. This is one of those pesky terms that changes meaning based on a plethora of variables, but the following are true whether you’re marketing a book, a multi-national conglomerate, or an online service for small businesses.

A person must tell your story
I don’t care how great your product is; without a human telling your story, it won’t sell. Books are the perfect example of this. Even Grisham, King or Connelly tales that are pre-destined to be bestsellers have authors who are committed to connecting with their readers.

Beyond this, though, in our socialified media world, we must look also at the personalities--the readers, users, customers, clients--who will influence success.

Personality matters
Think about the people you listen to. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, one thing is true: each has a personality that shines through. As the world keeps shrinking, making personal connections becomes more important—and easier—daily.

Celebrity has been redefined
TV and movie stars and singers still yield a ton of power, but community celebrities are the ones that smart brands are looking to get in good with now—or become. These are the people who create the content that we love to consume. Those who help us sort through the clutter. Those we trust.

When I think about influencers today, the best example I know is Jen Forbus. And I’m not alone—when I mention her name to famous author types or crime fiction readers, the reaction is universally one of admiration and respect. Here’s what Jen does right:

1. Jen is genuine. Her voice is her own. She is what technology analysts used to be, before they started selling their quotes: an impartial arbiter of her own opinions. She is not an influencer because she set out to be, but rather because she is passionate about her area of expertise. She’s influential because she doesn't try to be.
2. Jen knows her topic as well as anyone on the planet, and she shares her knowledge without hesitation. She never panders or condescends, and she’s not afraid to let her sharp sense of humor show.
3. Jen connects with people, daily, directly and personally. She is constantly engaged with authors and readers. She’s the kind of early adopter and advocate that every company wants for its offering.

With all the word-of-mouth gurus out there, sometimes there’s just too much advice. No matter what you do between 9 and 5, you know that word-of-mouth is crucial. And that it doesn't just happen. It starts with creating content…but doesn't end there. That content won’t grow legs and bound out into the world itself. It has to be shared, and the people doing the sharing and the community within which that sharing happens make all the difference.

DELIRIOUS by Daniel Palmer

Some stories require a willing suspension of disbelief. Others, like Daniel Palmer’s DELIRIOUS, grab you by the throat and give you no choice but to be immersed. They make you look over your shoulder and under your bed…and it’s glorious.

DELIRIOUS isn’t really the kind of book to which I normally gravitate. I’m more a crime fiction than thriller reader. I read DELIRIOUS for two reasons: first, Daniel Palmer is Michael Palmer’s son, and I believe strongly that good writing is both nature and nurture. Some of my favorite authors are kids of my other favorite authors (James Lee Burke’s daughter Alafair Burke is a great example). Second, Daniel Palmer introduced himself to the world using social media—Twitter and Facebook—smartly and responsibly, and I respect that.

From the opening scene, DELIRIOUS is hard to put down. It is also more than a little scary, but not gory-scary. The story and its characters get into your gut, and Palmer brings them (and their surroundings) to life in a manner that can only be described as elegant (to borrow a favorite dot-com term…which will make more sense once you’ve read the book).

The characters in DELIRIOUS aren’t all human, either. I can’t recall ever having read a book where a consumer electronic was such an intrinsic part of the story.

I get annoyed when cities in which I’ve lived are described in too much or too little detail in books, and Palmer strikes the perfect balance of the two in describing Boston and its environs.

Certain health issues—mental illness especially—are central to the story, too, and the truth is that I trusted completely that the descriptions were sound in part because Daniel’s dad is both a doctor and the master of medical thrillers. Also, these aspects of the story read as though they’d been thoroughly researched, as I have no doubt they were.

I also enjoyed DELIRIOUS because it is a first novel, and it reads as such. The care Palmer put into telling his story is clear, and at the same time, it’s not too “slick.” Don’t want to make anyone cringe, but it reminded me a bit of James Patterson’s and John Grisham’s early work.

DELIRIOUS will make you deliciously uncomfortable, and you’ll love every second.

Blurb: A stunning debut.

Author’s Website: www.danielpalmerbooks.com

Buy the Book

Hi. I’m Your Customer. Nice to Meet You.

Find me a brand or a marketer, and I’ll show you someone who is keen to jump up and holler, “I know my customers! I love my customers!”

But most don’t.

Just look at Groupon and Borders. While their businesses are in wildly different places at the moment, they share a vicious disregard for their customers.

Borders’ Chapter 11 announcement this week hit readers, authors, and booksellers hard. And theories are rampant about what got them to this mess. One thing, though, is true: At some point not long ago, Borders as a corporation (not on an individual level—the people who work in their stores are, for the most part, engaged, smart readers) lost touch with their customers. With readers. The result is hundreds of bookstores closing, which is woeful.

Marketing books—selling them—is personal. Books are personal. They’re read by real-live humans. It’s not just a numbers game. Ask any bookseller who has “hand sold” a title. Or any reader.

Why personal? Because people who read—the market—tend to be passionate about what they read, and therefore, what they purchase. They also tend to share what they like with their sphere of influence, and so they are, by definition, influencers.

It’s a damn shame, but too many marketeers make decisions based on board room discussions rather than conversations with their audience. They don’t understand that to most consumers (and, indeed, media), a company or brand is less important than a person. They spend precious marketing dollars based on envisioned scenarios or spreadsheets rather than street-level reality. They don’t take off their blinders.

Case and point is Groupon. They aired an idiotic, offensive, ad during the Super Bowl, which I saw accidentally. And I immediately unsubscribed. Won’t go back. I’m lost to them. Why should they care? I am their ideal demographic. I have some disposable income. I love a deal (almost more than I love chocolate). I’m online. I have a circle of friends who used to be fans of Groupon and recommended I try it out. They’ve pulled the ad now, but it’s too late. And Timothy Hutton? If he ever gets another movie or TV show, I won’t watch it.

Even more offensive to me than the ad itself are their actions since it aired. They planned for the controversy; they instigated it specifically so they could follow the PR 101 chapter on "crisis response." Their orchestrated response is designed to garner them kudos for…what, exactly? Apologizing? Oh wait, no…they say they did it in order to raise money for charity. They say to go to SaveTheMoney.org and make a donation. But when one clicks that URL, it directs to your regional Groupon page (go ahead, try it; I’m not making this up). Doesn't matter, though, because the ad was so poorly executed that nobody even knew they were supposed to go to that site.

All the while, Groupon’s CEO, Mr. IWantToBeMarkZuckerbergButIWentToNorthwestern, is giggling. Because he’s so much smarter than the rest of us. Hell, we’re just consumers. Wouldn’t recognize a heavy-handed orchestrated marketing campaign if it came up and bit us.

There was a time when any publicity was good publicity, but that time is gone.

But back to publishing. One of the questions that came across the Twitter transom recently was whether authors are—and should consider themselves—entrepreneurs. To which I offer a resounding yes—because few readers (you know, those humans who actually pay money for books) don’t care who publishes a book. Couldn’t give a crap about an imprint brand. They want good books, and when they find them, they tend to bond with the author.

But that doesn’t let publishers off the hook…

Smart publishers regard themselves as reader advocates, whose mission it is to tell people about great books. Less smart ones invest millions in building imprint brands, to the glory of nobody outside their own board rooms.

Meanwhile, authors like Daniel Palmer, whose first book, DELIRIOUS, was published a few weeks ago, is over on Twitter and Facebook talking to readers and other authors. Thanking them. Answering questions. Being genuine. Giving away copies of his book to libraries.

And his book? The buzz around it is building daily. That’s the kind of entrepreneur I love to see succeed.

There’s a lesson there for us all.

Davos: Through a Glass, Darkly

If you did well in geography, when you read “Davos” you think “Switzerland.” If, however, you follow global financial and technology news, Davos is synonymous with the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum.

For those not familiar with it, the WEF is a not-for-profit foundation established in Switzerland in 1971. We all understand that it’s not for profit, but one has to ask, then, what exactly is it for?

Their answer:

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

But what does that mean? Unfortunately, not much of anything.

Every January, the wealthiest and therefore most powerful people in the world don their designer parkas and head for a Swiss ski resort to provide a, “rethinking of our systems and exploration of strategies and solutions that have positive transformational implications.” These are people who the media covers when they so much as fart. They control the destinies of companies and countries. They have names like Clinton, Gates, Medvedev, Huffington, Bono and Kullman. This year, attendees included 69 billionaires  from 20 countries. Add to this some of the most successful entrepreneurs on the planet, and one would think amazing things would happen.

But they don’t.

Four decades on, the WEF has yet to affect positive change. People are, generally, in more dire straits than ever before. I find this incredibly frustrating because these people have the ability. They should do better.

Despite the carefully crafted descriptions quoted above, Davos is the worst kind of insider’s club, one that is concerned only with impressing itself. They don’t even worry about media coverage, because year after year global media prove themselves incapable of doing anything but fawning at Davos and its stellar attendee list.

Davos is replete with talk by people everyone listens to, but action doesn’t follow. The Davos glitterati could change the world without much effort. But they don’t. They are so concerned with maintaining their rarefied environment that they neglect to include (and fund) the people who could actually implement some of the ideas they discuss.

Who am I to challenge these titans? I'm one of the worker bees. I'm one of the people who takes instruction, filters ideas, and makes things happen. I have lots if ideas of my own—big ones and tiny ones—but ultimately, I’m a do-er. I'm tactical implementation more than strategic vision. I'm only a little person, really, one of the millions impacted by the decisions these goliaths of politics and industry make apparently so glibly.

I hope that next year, members of the Davos club decide to include people like me in the conference. I hope they task these people with taking an idea from Davos and make it a reality. A genuine, tangible reality.

Rather than just handing out awards to tech companies and celebrating entrepreneurs, make change happen. On the ground. In real life.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that Davos attendees are bad people. I know from personal and professional experience that some, like Carol Realini, believe in what they’re talking about. I’m challenging them all to make that belief reality.

Four decades on, it’s time.

THE CYPRESS HOUSE by Michael Koryta

I was not going to read THE CYPRESS HOUSE because when I read the “coming attractions” brief description, it said something about supernatural, and that turned me right off. Supernatural just is not my cup of tea. Or coffee.

Having now read it, I understand why the term would be applied, but to me, this book has nothing to do with the supernatural. It’s historical fiction, flawlessly executed.

And for the record, if you are ever so lucky as to have Jen Forbus recommend a specific author to you, for the love of all that is holy, listen to her. Set aside any bias you might have about subject matter and just pick up the book.

My dad gave me my love of reading; it was likely his greatest gift to me. But oddly, we only rarely recommend books to each other. This is one I will recommend he read, in no small measure because it is set in 1935. My dad has a fondness for stories from and set during the Great Depression. Oh, and excellent writing.

In this tale, Koryta has created a world inhabited by characters—human, meteorological and geographic—that are as captivating as they are terrifying. THE CYPRESS HOUSE defies categorization because it truly includes elements from many different genres, from crime fiction to western to, yes, supernatural. It also has no small element of joy, celebrating the perseverance of the human spirit.

I’m an immersive reader. I like to get lost in worlds created by authors. If I didn’t know better, I would think that Michael Koryta wrote THE CYPRESS HOUSE just for me. And I am grateful that he did.

To summarize: THEY CYPRESS HOUSE is set in Florida in 1935. The characters, setting, and historical events create a perfect storm of story. Pure and beautiful story.

If this one is on your TBR list, move it to the top of the pile. If you weren’t planning on reading it, change your mind right now.

Blurb: Koryta has crafted a truly extraordinary tale.

Author’s Website: www.michaelkoryta.com

Buy the Book

Don't Try This in Akron

Twitter is many things to millions of people, especially marketing people. And most of them are too busy thinking outside the box about their leading solution to use it in a manner even vaguely resembling useful.

I have heard Twitter alternately described as a:

• News source
• Numbers game
• Inciter of virality
• Community builder
• Sales driver

...you get the idea. The point here is that anytime a new communication vehicle arrives, it means different things to different people. But regardless of opinion, marketing people have a responsibility to understand it. One would think the C-Suite would demand that much.

But Twitter is pattering along...and neither management nor the gurus who advise them "get" it. Witness:

I had a conversation this morning on Twitter about a public company. The conversation involved five people, whose combined reach is a whopping 64,259 humans. You would think the company would give a crap about what's being said about them in social media, especially since maybe half of them are potential customers, but they don't. And their being headquartered in Akron is no excuse, dammit. Here's how the conversation went (you'll need to watch the ad above to fully appreciate it):

After I finished laughing (managed not to spit coffee through my nose), I checked out Kay's social media presence. What I found--and again, they are owned by a public company--was shockingly bad. In a nutshell:

• They don't have a corporate Twitter account.
• A search for "Jane Seymour" brings up...Jane Fonda's account.
• On Facebook, the only Kay Jewelry page is a lame one for a franchise in Naples, Fla.
• There is, however, a "Kay Jewelry" personal profile, but the "person" has all their info hidden (probably just as well).

The reality here is that Kay has spent a lot of money building a brand around Jane Seymour. People are talking about the brand. And Kay is neither participating nor listening.

So what should they do? It's not rocket science. And doesn't require a guru. First and foremost, they need to pay attention. Because if they don't, sooner or later their shareholders will.

Stalking Stephen King

I’m a big advocate for FridayReads. FridayReads is a social community endeavor that started as a Twitter hashtag, and has evolved to include a Facebook page that comes alive each week and a blog where we post the Best Read List, which reflects what the thousands-strong community is reading (very different from bestseller lists...but that’s a rant for a different post).

FridayReads is important to me because as much as I adore technology, I’m afraid too that it’s making people read less. And pay less attention to the value and simple fun of reading. So the more people who are aware of and participating in FridayReads, the more visibility reading gets. It becomes cooler. People get smarter. And the world becomes a better place.

The reality, though, is that social connections only go so far. FridayReads needs a big-time celebrity endorsement to make it huge. I’m a fan of aiming high, especially when for a noble cause, and so I’ve been stalking Stephen King. I’m quite adept at research generally, and especially at tracking people down. I read beyond the first page of Google search results and don’t believe everything I see in Wikipedia.

Before the authorities get all nervous, by “stalking” I mean “researching how to contact.” Not scary-dangerous stalking.

No other author has connected so deeply with so many readers around the world as Stephen King. Ask anyone who reads anything, and chances are he or she has read Stephen King. He is the only living author to appear on every single FridayReads Best Read List.

Stephen doesn’t participate in social media, and I don’t blame him. Given his rabid fan base, were he to jump on Facebook or Twitter, he’d have time for absolutely nothing else…including eating or sleeping. He also doesn’t have a public email address. He has a message board—like James Lee Burke—although he doesn’t respond publicly to posts (looks at it with an anonymous account).

Stephen King does, however, participate in worthy causes. Part of his celebrity is tied to the fact that he’s a good guy, a plain old decent human being. No, I’ve never met him, but I know this for a certain fact.

I debated sending his publisher a letter, but I know it would be lost in the mountains of fan mail that arrive daily. Thought about trying to figure out which Spring Training game he’s attend this year, but that’s too dangerous-stalker-ish and I’m not really a big baseball fan. Considered sending this as a letter to the editor of the Bangor Daily News, but it doesn’t have a local news hook. So I’m posting this in the hopes that somehow it will reach through the ether and land in front of Stephen King.

Did I mention I’m one of those “eternal hope” sort of people?

So here’s my ask, should this post ever manage to reach Stephen King:

Dear Mr. King:

I’d like to ask you three questions. I’d love to get answers via phone so we could record them to share with the FridayReads community, but email—or regular postal mail, for that matter—would work just fine too. They would be short questions, and wouldn’t require a ton of time. Nothing weird. All about reading. Because you understand how important reading really is.

And thank you for writing. We’re all better for your work.

Sincerely,

Erin

Egypt Burned and News Corp…Launched an App

If you know me, you know I’m not a fan of anything News Corp. does, and damn if they didn't set up a hole though which I could pilot a semi when they launched their app, The Daily, while likely the biggest global news story of 2011 unfolded in Egypt.

But this time, I don’t really blame them. I feel their pain. They are an enormous organization, and a veritable army of marketing people spent a great deal of energy creating a Launch Plan for the app. There was discussion, debate and directives. Everyone had a role. Heck, an actual real-live executive from Apple was there (and he might or might not have had an iPad 2 with him). The Rupe himself made a speech that included the term “shoe leather reporting” (and he might or might not have been lip synching). Many moving parts.

And so The Launch had to barrel on, thereby illustrating two of the biggest problems in modern marketing, ones that affect large and small companies. And problems that are not difficult to fix.

Problem One: A team without a captain is just a bunch of fools on a field.

It’s fun to moan about “kids today,” but they’re not really the problem. All this team crap—in business—means everyone thinks someone else is in charge. Companies have lots of people with long, fancy titles, but those people tend to spend more time parading about in fancy shoes and getting input from team members than they do taking responsibility.

Every big project, especially ones involving tech and marketing, needs one hard-working person who knows what is going on in each department and at every level and understands how activities impact each other. Just one. A human “Microsoft Project,” if you will. The person with whom the buck really does stop. If The Daily project had such a leader, this person could have adjusted timing a week ago as it became clear that events in Egypt were likely to overshadow a major and complex product announcement, particularly as this product is inherently tied to news.

Problem Two: Life in a bubble is no life at all.

We all work so hard…long hours, most of which are spent glued to a screen of some size. Strangely, this often means that we miss the world outside our virtual window.

I work remotely, which gives me a perspective that is always valuable, particularly in marketing. I can place myself virtually in Manhattan or Marion or Milan. I have the (very real) space to look at a product, message, or marketing tactic from different perspectives. So how could a ginormous multinational corporation achieve this? They could actively seek people who are less enmeshed in their corporate culture. They could hire people in different locales (the interweb makes this pretty simple). They could get a hobby (and I mean that literally, not snarkily). They could read more books (ditto).

Apparently The Daily app is swell. Geeky types I respect seem to like it. Journalism folk a bit less so, but that’s to be expected. Whether you think of it as a content delivery vehicle or a marketing tool—or both—you can learn from its launch day activities, if you’re so inclined.

LATE RAIN by Lynn Kostoff

Notes on book reviews:

• I’m going to forgo synopses in these because there are more than enough of them out there, and others are more adept at writing them than I could ever hope to be.
• It’s unlikely I’ll ever be asked to write a blurb for a book cover, but I’m volunteering them here because I think they’re fun.

So without further ado…

Sometimes a book falls into your life unexpectedly and brings with it a membership card to a super hip insider’s club. Lynn Kostoff’s LATE RAIN is such a book.

What’s the deal with the club, you ask? Simple. Kostoff is a superb scribe. He is, as RobAroundBooks might say, literary. To be a fan when his fiction career is still fairly new is to be the best kind of insider. This one was recommended to me by the incomparable Ben LeRoy of Tyrus Books, LATE RAIN’s publisher, and I am immeasurably grateful for him telling me I needed to read it.

To call LATE RAIN crime fiction is certainly accurate—it has its fair share of crime like all the best books do—but it’s not just genre fiction. It has a bit of humor, a dash of history, some social commentary, and even medical information in the form of narrative from the perspective of a character with Alzheimer’s, which taught me quite a lot. It’s a tale of murder, but not a whodunit.

I’ve seen Kostoff compared to both Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard. I don’t agree with the Hiaasen comparison—his tone is entirely different—but the Leonard comparison is well deserved. I’ve also seen some discussion that focuses on the setting (small town South Carolina), but to me, this is a character-driven book…the setting is not really part of the story. Most readers, I expect, will feel strongly about some—if not all—of the characters.

Blurb: Kostoff has crafted a world of characters on a par with the greats.

Author’s Website: www.lynnkostoff.com

Buy the Book

5 Reasons to Read EYES OF THE INNOCENT

Brad Parks' new book, EYES OF THE INNOCENT, is now available. If you're not familiar with Brad, suffice to say that he's won a bunch of well-deserved awards.

Here are 5 reasons you should read EYES OF THE INNOCENT:

1. The cover art is excellent. Simple, yet compelling.
2. Jen Forbus recommends it. And she's the smartest crime fictionista I know.
3. What else could you possible get for $15 that is as valuable as a compelling, entertaining, well written book?
4. Brad is a bunch of fun on Twitter, and his writing should be encouraged at every turn.
5. He won all those awards for good reasons.

Once you've read it, I'd be grateful if you would stop back and let me know what you thought!

Buy the Book Here