Why Author Giveaways Are Great for Writers and Readers Alike

I am so happy! I have won five books this month from author giveaways. The good news is that I’ve got lots of great reading ahead. And I will do a review for each one on this blog and on other sites as well, along with a review of A Luminous Future by Teodor Flonta (which I didn’t win). Watch to find out what I say about each one, and if you would like me to do a review of your book, post a comment here or on one of the review posts. I will be honest, but know that I am a generally positive person and I only offer constructive criticism if any.

At first, giving away my book for free seemed counterproductive. Then, I remembered why I wrote it. I had an important and interesting story to tell, and I wanted others to read it. It is exciting when my friends and family read the book. So far, they have all been very enthusiastic about it. And let me tell you, this is not an enthusiastic bunch on most days.

It is fun to hear them telling me the story as if I don’t know what’s in it. They tell me what they thought and felt when they were reading the book, and they seem quite fascinated and moved. Just what I wanted! It builds my confidence more than ever.

I have also done other giveaways as well. All but one person has reviewed it. The ones who posted on Amazon gave me five stars, seemed very happy to have read it and excited to tell other people about it. That’s not just good publicity, but it is also good will. Now, they are looking forward to my next book. I can’t wait to finish it and make it available for them to read.

I got two reviews on GoodReads as well. Both readers only gave me three out of five stars. But, face it: GoodReads members tend to be tough. Most of them have read many, many books, and are sometimes comparing my books to the greats of literature. Well, this is my first book, after all, and I don’t expect to measure up to those standards.

Even though the two GoodReads author giveaway winners didn’t give me five stars, they were very positive in their reviews. In addition, they pointed out a few things that they would have liked to see more of in the book. Their advice was very helpful for the most part. And in the end, both of them recommended my book.

If you are a first time author, I would suggest that you do author giveaways too. You don’t have to give a signed print copy, either. All of the books I won were either PDF files or Kindle downloads. So, it doesn’t have to be any great cost for you, if any at all.

Giving away your book to just a few readers is a great way to connect with your audience and get people reading and talking about your book. I give author giveaways five stars, and I would recommend them to authors and readers alike!

I am doing several giveaways in September as a part of my blog tour. I will add a post with all my blog dates and URL’s so you can enter if you wish. Each winner will get a signed copy of my first novel, Loving the Missing Link.

In the meantime, check out this great giveaway by another author. She is giving away several Kindle Fire ereaders. That’s right, I said Kindle Fire! What a great way to thank readers and expose her work to people on social media. Here’s the Link: http://bit.ly/17aF9ji

Best of Luck on all your giveaways, both the ones you enter and the ones you sponsor.

And, as always, happy reading to all of you!

Oh, Those Moody, Moody Writers!

Authors have a reputation for being moody. In fact, all artists are seen as very emotional humans. Certainly, writers – at least writers of fiction – need to be in touch with their emotions to create real, believable characters.

What is sad is when authors allow their emotions to overcome their productivity. It is one thing to be emotional, and quite another when they are so far gone they can’t write.

I have just recovered from a bout of depression. Many writers face the same thing. For one thing, many writers are not social creatures by nature. This makes it hard for these writers to be around the very people who would love them, support them and make them smile.

Of course, there are great numbers of writers who never face this problem. Unfortunately, I am not one of them.

I want to be productive as much as possible, so I will share with you my techniques for breaking the depression and getting back to writing.

Stick With Positive People

No matter how difficult it may seem when I am in the throes of melancholy, I make the effort to spend time with friends and family who are positive and supportive. If not all of the time, at least as much as I can. It seems obvious that negative people will bring me down further into sadness. Yet, when it is going on, sometimes, I just want to wallow in it. There it is. I admit it. But, I make an intellectual choice to ignore this desire and do the things that will help me get back to my computer to write.

Fake It

In Loving the Missing Link, there is a strong character who tells my protagonist, “Laugh.”
Cheryl says, “I can’t laugh. That’s ridiculous. Laughing happens when it happens, you can’t force it.”
I’m here to tell you that you certainly can laugh, smile, and talk and think about positive things even when you are feeling down. If you are feeling this way, try it. Have you ever gone to a party you didn’t want to go to because you were too upset? This is what happens to me sometimes: To be polite, I join in the conversations and try not to bring anybody down. I laugh when someone tells a joke I know is funny and I smile graciously to let people know I appreciate being included. As the party goes on, I begin to start enjoying myself. It seems like an absolute miracle!

Think About the Good Things in My Life

This time it was easier. I knew I had done a great job on my first book, and was getting a lot of encouraging feedback about it. A journalist from my hometown paper had done me the honor of requesting a copy of my book, my bio, and my picture for a feature in their local paper. Positive things were happening, and, although my mood was low, I couldn’t help recognizing that things were really going well, even if I didn’t feel that way. I have to be patient, because sometimes it takes awhile before I start feeling the change, but slowly, it did happen.

When All Else Fails, Seek Help

Many people, writers included, feel that taking an antidepressant or visiting a counselor will stifle their creativity. But let me ask you one thing: If you are so depressed that you can’t get out of bed, are you going to be creative? Productive? Probably not. So, I do what I have to do until we break the back of the depression. This time, it only took three weeks. I think it was mainly because I saw my productivity and the quality of my work slipping away, and I went to my doctor as quickly as possible. That was what finally banished my depression completely. If I had it to do over, I would do it in a heartbeat.

For me, it is much too easy to tell myself it’s OK to be moody. There have been so many great artists who have struggled with this problem. And I do believe most of them fought the good fight as well as they could. After all, if they had been too deeply depressed to produce, they would have been devastated. And most writers I know can’t abide not writing for long.

So, if your emotions have gotten the better of you, make a plan. Then, have the discipline to carry it out. You can do it. I know you can.

I Finally Found My Genre!

Not being up on all the latest publishing trends, I struggled to categorize my novel, Loving the Missing Link. I did want to put it into a category so people would have some idea of what they were getting. Yet, it seemed to be its own unique entity – I had never read a book quite like it. When I wrote it, I wasn’t thinking about these things. I was only writing what was in my mind and in my heart. Here’s why it didn’t seem to fit into the old categories.

Young Adult (YA)

It dealt with issues that young adults are not ready to tackle. Like leaving home, exploring sexuality, struggling with career choices, making your own home. By putting the label of YA on it, I would be telling the world that children could read it. Certainly, some midgrade and teens would be able to get it, but I think the parents would need to be involved to make that call. It is not an obscene book, but it does imply sex and sometimes puts a positive spin on things parents might want to talk to their child about – like teen marriage and infidelity. So, YA didn’t seem quite right.

Coming of Age

It is a coming of age story, but it is about the coming of age that happens not only in your teens, but also in your 20’s. It is sort of a crossbreed. By saying it’s a coming of age novel, I would imply that it is about the teen years. Cheryl, my protagonist goes through a coming of age gone wrong in her teen years. It is only in her 20’s that she finds herself, as well as exploring all those grownup issues. I listed it as coming of age on Amazon simply because I didn’t see a category that fit better. Yet, that wasn’t quite right either.

Literary

I was told by a writer who has been published multiple times by traditional publishers that it should be in the literary genre. However, I felt that my story was too simple for that. I have taken as many college classes as I could squeeze into my life – figuring out to be about midway through the Junior year of college. But I don’t want to give readers the wrong idea. I don’t want to claim to be a master of fiction, but that is what I think the literary genre implies. I am still learning, and have a lot more to learn. I think my story is a good one, and every reader who has reviewed it or contacted me has recommended it to others. I would love to think it is high art, but I feel presumptuous making that claim.

Finally Found It!

Just this month, I discovered the New Adult category. It is not listed on CreateSpace as a category yet, so I couldn’t label it as such there. But, the gist of it is that a New Adult book is supposed to cover issues like…leaving home, exploring sexuality and making career choices. Sound familiar? It did to me too.

Many people have maligned this new category. Some see it as a marketing scheme, but don’t all writers need to market their books? Anyway, I didn’t write it with marketing in mind. I just realized after it was written that it needed to be set apart in some way so readers would immediately say, “Oh, that’s what it is!” I understand that not everyone is familiar with the new genre of New Adult. After all, I just found out about it this month myself. But as the genre gains momentum, my book will already be on the shelves, one of the trailblazers that helped define the genre.

If you don’t know much about the New Adult category, just do a Google search. There is lots of information about it. Some of it is negative and other articles and blogs are positive about it. I encourage you to learn about both sides of the issue.

And read my previous blog post called “Coming of Age – What Is It, Really?” You’ll know why it makes sense to me to call Loving the Missing Link a New Adult novel.

Coming of Age – What Is It, Really?

My only somewhat negative review so far mentions the fact that Loving the Missing Link comes across as a coming of age story but that the protagonist is the wrong age for this type of story. This begs the question: What is coming of age, really?

Most people think of a coming of age story as one that moves the protagonist from childhood to adulthood. Within the short time usually covered in such stories, the main character goes from innocence to experience, from idealism to realism, and from immaturity to maturity. I think this is a narrow view. Unless you become an adult in one swift move and never mature any more, there is more to coming of age than this brief period. If we keep changing over the courses of our lives, we continue to come of age over and over again.

What is more, in modern American society, many young people do not get their first glimpse at adulthood until they are well into their twenties or even thirties. There are several advantages for both young people and their parents when all live in a multi-generational home. The family members can help each other through the hard times and develop closer bonds. Yet, it is all too easy in this situation to delay growing up and taking responsibility for yourself. It is often difficult to explore your own personality while surrounded by the people who you have known all your life. It works for some people, but honestly, I think they are in the minority.

And I do not believe that broadening the definition pollutes the concept of coming of age. It merely amplifies it and makes it more relevant to all of us. When you read my story, you needn’t think, “Well that’s all in my past.” Instead, think about where you are now on your road to maturity and where it will take you next.

So, when you read Loving the Missing Link, do not consider whether it fits neatly into a certain literary mold. Instead, think about what is happening in the story and why it takes the protagonist so long to find herself. If you do, you will find a more realistic vision of coming of age in America.