Super Moderator  Posts: 2,978 Joined: Mar 2011 Thanked 23 times What I Read
|
RE: Untying the Knot by Linda GillardI would much rather read something that is "beautifully written" with a "gentle, insightful quality" that I can relate to, rather than the some of the trash that you find on the bookshop shelves nowadays. Why does something have to have the shock factor in order to succeed, some of us like to savour something of brilliance rather than being shocked or frightened to the core. Only happy when I am immersed in a good Kindle book
 |
Senior Member Posts: 200 Joined: Sep 2011 Thanked 0 times What I Read
|
RE: Untying the Knot by Linda GillardI was interested to see that Joanna Trollope's latest covers the same ground as UTK - a military marriage under pressure because of his PTSD. (JT chronicles the stuff that I used just as back story.) Clearly JT and I think this is an important issue, but she found a publisher for her book because she's Joanna Trollope. And that's what my rejecting editor wasn't honest (or unkind) enough to say. "Gentle insightful quality" and "beautiful" writing are only marketable commodities if you are a proven bestseller. So thank God for Kindle, word-of-mouth recommendations and readers who are no respecters of literary reputations or the bottom line! |
Fountain of Wisdom  Posts: 5,054 Joined: Aug 2010 Thanked 5 times What I Read
|
RE: Untying the Knot by Linda GillardHad I first come across one of your books in an airport shop or on the tables of Waterstones, I would have grabbed it - and so would many others, I think. Luckily, I found you on Kindle! 
A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ~Chinese Proverb
|
|
Senior Member Posts: 200 Joined: Sep 2011 Thanked 0 times What I Read
|
RE: Untying the Knot by Linda GillardI think publishers have no idea how to market "good writing". "Beautifully written" as a phrase does not set the pulse racing, but good writing is what keeps people turning pages and if you ask any reader what they're looking for, they'll probably say, fairly soon, "good writing". (Even if it's a comfort read we want it to be competently written. Why do we read Wodehouse if not for the pyrotechnical brilliance of the writing?) But how do you sell that? Well this is one way.... "It blew my socks off. I literally could not put it down. I read it in bed. I read it while I was cooking lunch. I read it while I was eating lunch. I walked to the sofa, book in hand, and read it till it was finished. This book is many things - a love song to North Uist, an enquiry into exactly how art is made (without destroying the art with the enquiry), a thing of beauty, a tug on the heart-strings (I was terrified that something was going to happen to one of these characters that I grew to love), a hymn of praise to the damaged, to the incomplete, a wonderful thing of hope. And it made me want to take up my sewing again." That's from an Amazon review of EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY written by a BookCrosser librarian. It is a superb piece of marketing and I lifted it and put it on my website. You can sell good writing but you need a good writer to do it. |
|
Senior Member Posts: 200 Joined: Sep 2011 Thanked 0 times What I Read
|
RE: Untying the Knot by Linda Gillard I was really pleased to read it was very much your favourite, especially as the previous Amazon review was entitled "Enjoyable but not her best"! |
Posting Freak Posts: 558 Joined: Jan 2012 Thanked 11 times What I Read
|
RE: Untying the Knot by Linda GillardSelf-publishing is brand-new in Denmark, but recently an editor actually noticed that my Danish debut had done well (# 18 on an important bestseller-list during Christmas), but what did he say? That I was still far from Amanda Hocking who sold 1.5 million e-books before she was discovered by a proper company. I just shook my head, but honestly, how many writers out of a population of c 6 million people could sell 1.5 copies of a debut, especially one of those new-fangled e-books.  Good luck to you and your great books! Dorte H. |
|
Senior Member Posts: 200 Joined: Sep 2011 Thanked 0 times What I Read
|
RE: Untying the Knot by Linda Gillard(20 Mar 2012 07:00 PM)Dorte Hummelshoj Wrote: Linda, that is so true, and it is a great advantage for those of us who have never been able to persuade a publisher our novels had ´commercial appeal´, that more and more authors with contracts now self-publish for one reason or the other. Hi Dorte! Nice to see you here. I've decided to go for good. Last week I asked my agent to withdraw the manuscript currently doing the rounds with editors. I thought I could sit and wait 9-12 months (or longer) for everyone to reject it, or I could take matters into my own hands and make a positive decision to reject them. (Ooh, that felt good.) Do you know about the Alliance of Independent Authors? It's a professional organisation being launched at the London Book Fair in April. I'll be one of the authors speaking. For more details of the AIA see http://allianceindependentauthors.org/ |
|
Posting Freak Posts: 558 Joined: Jan 2012 Thanked 11 times What I Read
|
RE: Untying the Knot by Linda GillardI've decided to go for good. Last week I asked my agent to withdraw the manuscript currently doing the rounds with editors. I thought I could sit and wait 9-12 months (or longer) for everyone to reject it, or I could take matters into my own hands and make a positive decision to reject them. (Ooh, that felt good.) Do you know about the Alliance of Independent Authors? It's a professional organisation being launched at the London Book Fair in April. I'll be one of the authors speaking. For more details of the AIA see http://allianceindependentauthors.org/ [/quote] Good decision! I have bookmarked AIA and will think about it - but with my current income from my books, $ 99 is a bit much. |
KINDLE is a registered trademark of Amazon.com, Inc.
This site, Kindle Users Forum is not affiliated or related to Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com in any way. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates
![[Image: 51eXJBLGwJL._SY90_.jpg]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51eXJBLGwJL._SY90_.jpg)
![[Image: 51kRQQe2%2BCL._SY90_.jpg]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kRQQe2%2BCL._SY90_.jpg)
![[Image: 51YgRsrTVoL._SY90_.jpg]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YgRsrTVoL._SY90_.jpg)
![[Image: 51qhtZaEtGL._SL95.jpg]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qhtZaEtGL._SL95.jpg)
![[Image: 51DtkUTwjUL._SL95.jpg]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51DtkUTwjUL._SL95.jpg)
![[Image: 61%2B462czKNL._SL95.jpg]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61%2B462czKNL._SL95.jpg)
![[Image: 41NJD8ISubL._SL95.jpg]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NJD8ISubL._SL95.jpg)
![[Image: 51EiGhXfhsL._SL95.jpg]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EiGhXfhsL._SL95.jpg)