editorial

Email Queries: Huh? What the Heck is Being Said?

Irene Watson

I recently received this email:

well my book with strategics an publisher is [email address removed] is out this yr so they told me 2 get ahold of u so thts wht I'm doin

I was tempted to write back:

w@= tbh i ttly dnt hv a clu wht u r wan me 2 do wud u pls tilii

but, I didn't.  In fact, I didn't even respond.

I had to ask myself whether this "author" actually had her book edited or if it was written in texting or in English.  I also had to ask myself if this person in reality wrote something that was marketable, or even sellable. After about a 20-second thought process I felt responding or getting involved in attempting to assist this author would be futile.  It may have been a harsh decision and some would say I should have given her a chance.  Maybe. 

And, maybe I've put authors on a pedestal and have expectations that are sometimes unreasonable. But I doubt that.  I'm a firm believer that a well written and well edited query letter is one of the most important aspects of creating interest in the book. It will also prove that the author is qualified to write the book and the presentation is of quality.

But, just writing a query letter is not exactly what this person should have done.  The first thing she should have done is searched the site for the guidelines which obviously she didn't do otherwise I wouldn't have received an email like I did.

I get numerous requests for reviews each week via email. I can’t tell you how many requests we get from authors who think somehow their book deserves special attention or authors who simply do not bother to read our guidelines, to take the time to be courteous enough to find out what we do and how best to work with us. Even more so, I find that publicists, although present a good query letter, do not read the guidelines either.  As an author, I would hope that after spending $12,000 to $15,000 over a 3 month period for a publicist, she or he would at least be capable of reading guidelines and represent me in an acceptable manner.

Most reviewers, publishers, or other companies associated with the book publishing world are very reasonable. They have submission guidelines for a reason—to answer the author’s questions and to let the author know what is needed to save the author time and trouble. In turn, it also saves the reviewer or publisher time, not having to chase after the author for information or having to answer multiple emails or phone calls.

Bottom line: If you’re an author and you want your book considered for publicity, for review, for publication, or for any other service, take a few minutes to read the guidelines and understand how the company or reviewer functions. Those guidelines were put there to make your life easier. If you were invited to a dinner party that started at 6 o’clock, you wouldn’t show up at 5 o’clock or at 7 o'clock, so why would you fail to follow directions for something far more important—getting attention from the people who can help to make your book a success?
I'd like to know what you think about this topic.  Have you sent out query letters that were successful?  Do you find it easier to follow guidelines than wonder what you should write or how to approach a specific service provider in the publishing industry?

I'd like to hear from you here.

PS - Books for Soldiers Update
as of Sat. Sept. 24th we received:
1138 books
24 music CDs/6 movie DVDs
23 pounds of candy for packing
$10 donation to buy candy

Thank you to all the doners! And, yes, we are still accepting donations on an ongoing basis.

featured this week

Fiction - Novel, Literary, Business

Hurrah’s Nest: Memoirs of a Money Trader

Barbara Kennedy

iUniverse (2011)
ISBN 9781462011230
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (8/11)

Synopsis

Hurrah's Nest, by author Barbara Kennedy,is a modern story of the profound and deadly effects of deception. It is novel of fast money, easy money, love, sex, betrayal, international scandal, embezzlement, and murder. These are the new go-go years, the eighties, and money is plentiful—custom-made designer clothes, champagne cocktails at Windows on the World, limousines lined up in front of the trendiest restaurants, and private clubs along Park Avenue. The WTC is a beacon and venue for money traders. The U.S. dollar is strong and cash, as always, is king. It is a decade of fast cars, fast markets, and fast talkers. And then the music stops.

Read review of Hurrah's Nest
Listen to interview on Inside Scoop Live
Visit author's website

featured this week

Fiction - History, Cultural, Fantasy

Five Dances with Death: Dance One

Austin Briggs

Helvetic House (2011)
ASIN: B005EJGYJ8
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (9/11)

Synopsis

Death is never far for Angry Wasp. His daughter lost to slavers, his wife immersed in powerful sorcery, and his nation embroiled in Montezuma's bitter war. To regain his family, save his nation from extinction, and protect his very soul from dangers far more perilous than he dares admit, there is only one possible solution: a dance with Death, to the haunting melody of hope and loss.

In Five Dances with Death, by author Austin Briggs, power, tragedy, and betrayal weave a desperate song of reckless gambles to gain salvation. Every battle draws Wasp deeper into life-threatening events and crucial choices. One wrong decision and he loses it all. When the music ceases and the dead are counted, will Angry Wasp hold the key to his daughter's freedom? Or will he have led his proud nation to its ultimate collapse?

Read review of Five Dances with Death: Dance One
Visit author's website

Spotlight - reader views literary awards winner

Second Place in Mystery/Thriller/Suspense/Horror

The Savannah Project: A Thriller by Chuck Barrett

Switchback Publishing (2010)
ISBN 9781936214075

Chuck Barrett, a Florida native, grew up in Panama City. A graduate of Auburn University, Barrett is a retired air traffic controller of over 26 years experience and veteran commercial pilot and flight instructor spanning over three decades of flight experience. In his flying career, he flew mostly air ambulance with the occasional charter and business flights thrown in the mix.

Barrett’s first writing experience was drafting labor agreements. He started writing fiction in 1998 in his spare time. His first novel, The Savannah Project, was released in March 2010. This thriller interweaves his aviation expertise, a long-held passion for writing and a keen sense of suspense. In 2011, The Savannah Project became an award-winning novel, winning awards in ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award, International Book Awards, and Reader View’s Reviewer’s Choice Awards.

Synopsis: Terrorism, duty, and personal safety collide when Jake Pendleton, an investigator for the NTSB, is called to investigate an aircraft accident in Savannah, Georgia during the St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The accident, which at first appears to be quite run-of-the-mill, turns out to be anything but. Since Jake is not willing to pretend there are no suspicious circumstances and more than the usual share of rather unlikely “coincidences,” he sets off a veritable avalanche of secrets, violence and treachery. Aided by an unlikely partner, Gregg Kaplan, the air traffic controller who was the last person in contact with the airplane that crashed, Jake sets out to untangle the webs of deceit and to find a vicious killer.

Read review of The Savannah Project
Visit author's website

Enter Literary Awards Program
List of 2010 Literary Awards Winners

Spotlight - reader views literary awards winner

Honorable Mention in Mystery/Thriller/Suspense/Horror

Unfinished Business: Pursuit of an Antarctic Killer by Theodore Jerome Cohen

AuthorHouse (2010)
ISBN 9781452061788

Theodore Cohen, PhD, holds three degrees in the physical sciences from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and has been an engineer and scientist for more than forty years. From December 1961 through early March 1962, he participated in the 16th Chilean Expedition to the Antarctic. His communications lifeline to the world was ham radio. At the time of the Expedition, his U.S. call sign was W9VZL; today, it is N4XX. The U.S. Board of Geographic Names in October, 1964, named the geographical feature Cohen Islands, located at 61° 18' S. latitude, 57° 53' W. longitude in the Cape Legoupil area, Antarctica, in his honor. Dr. Cohen has published more than 350 papers, articles, columns, essays, and interviews, and is a co-author of The NEW Shortwave Propagation Handbook (from CQ Communications).

Synopsis: Unfinished Business picks up the story begun in Book I with the return of the crate containing Señora Rodriguez' refrigerator from Antarctica to Arica aboard Corvette Captain Roberto Muñoz' ship, the Lientur. Unfinished Business, like Frozen in Time, is a work of fiction based on real events that took place between 1960 and 1965. It is a tale of greed, betrayal, danger and murder-one in which the reader is given a window into the frozen world at the bottom of the Earth that few people will ever read about, much less experience. It explores why, though seemingly unfair, bad things happen to good people; how the battle between good and evil can change forever even the most innocent person; and most of all, the role deception plays in Nature, Man, and Life.

Read review of Unfinished Business
Visit author's website

Enter Literary Awards Program
List of 2010 Literary Awards Winners

This week's video

Stealing Angel

Terry Wolverton

Spinsters Ink (2011)
ISBN 9781935226451
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (7/11)

Synopsis

Maggie Seaver is attempting to make peace with losing custody of her daughter, Angel, in the wake of a break-up with the girl’s biological mother, Yoli. But when she receives evidence that Angel has been abused, Maggie kidnaps the child, drives across the border into Baja, and ends up in a spiritual commune outside the southern Baja town of Todos Santos.

During the long drive down the Baja penninsula, and especially during her sojourn in the spiritual community of the Light Beings, Maggie must contend not only with the fear of being apprehended by the police, but also question the degree to which her actions are fueled by concern for her daughter or by the desire for revenge against Yoli. The ailing spiritual leader of the community provides lessons in forgiveness and redemption that will affect a profound change in each of the characters.

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