 | 21 Aug 09 |
If you fall in love with a series and the next book never comes out, chances are it isn’t the author’s fault. Last time I checked, writing was a business, yanno where you make money? So if the series didn’t perform to expectations or the publisher isn’t willing to pay for the next book or they are assholes about it, give the author a break.
If an author jumps to a new genre, there’s a good reason for it. Change is good, authors like to spread their creative wings. Don’t drop her because you think she’s abandoning you. Give the author a break.
If you have an auto buy author and wait with bated breath for her next book, and it’s a dud, don’t take her off your auto buy list. Maybe she had serious life stuff going on when she wrote it or her editor didn’t bother to edit it or her dog died. Give the author a break. She’s human. And seriously, have you ever had a bad day at work or totally effed up a project? Most folks get a second chance. Take the book back and get a refund, don’t hate on the author.
If you email an author to tell her how much you LOVE her work and she doesn’t immediately respond, give her a break. She’s probably buried writing the next book for your reading pleasure.
If you email an author and ask her to read your manuscript and she politely declines, don’t write her off! She, one: doesn’t have time, two: most agents discourage this, for many reasons, and three: if it sucks ass and she tells you, albeit nicely, you’ll smear her name on facebook, myspace, twitter and every blog in cyberspace. So, please, give the author a break.
And please, if you email an author and say weird creepy stuff and she doesn’t respond? She’s in fear for her life. Please, give the author a break.
If you send nekkid pictures of yourself and the FBI shows up at your place, give the author a break. After all, she isn’t the whacko.
And last but not least, authors are people too, they work really hard at what they do and they try to write the best book they can at the time, but sometimes, they miss the mark. Don’t write them off, give the author a break.
That’s all I have to say on the matter.
K*
© 2009, Karin Tabke. All rights reserved.
A Cop’s Wife Writes the Cop’s Life:
Award winning author, Karin Tabke isn’t just another author with steamy stories to tell, but a cop’s wife who has “seen it all and heard it all.†Some of the hottest stories come from behind the blue wall of law enforcement rather than from in front. Married to a street cop, now retired, Karin is intimate with both and proves it with her sizzling tales and hot cops. Not only are her cops hot, but so are her sexy knights. Karin’s Blood Sword Legacy series is a must read for anyone who loves tales of yore when men were men and women were women, and love did conqueror all!
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Truer words were never spoken.
by S. J. Day August 21st, 2009 at 12:14 amWell, some of you make money. I think it’s where ‘the publisher’ makes money. Then again, you didn’t say how much.
by Terry Odell August 21st, 2009 at 4:40 amThx, for the backup, syl.. how easy this is to forget, on all sides.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 2:39 pmHi
by RKCharron August 21st, 2009 at 3:07 amThank you Karin Tabke for this post.
I hope none of the creepy stuff happened to you on that list or bad stuff either.
All the best,
@RKCharron
xoxo
Hi, RK! The crappy stuff? No. But, it has been happening with some regularity to quite a few authors I know, hence the blog post today.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 2:41 pmAnd what I love most about this post, Karin, is that you didn’t say ‘baited’ breath! I’ve read that far too many times lately.
by Terry Odell August 21st, 2009 at 4:41 amTerry I’ve been guilty of baited before. before i posted this i doubled checked with syl that it was in deed bated and not baited.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 2:43 pmI’ve seen a bunch of things like that lately – that was a blog day a few weeks ago, so I’m still sensitized to it.
(Did Officer Friendly ever check last Friday’s blog, btw?)
Enjoy your weekend. We’ve got to survive two afternoons of Open House, and then Monday it’s our 40th anniversary, and we’re going to celebrate big time. Dinner AND a hotel room.
by Terry Odell August 21st, 2009 at 2:54 pmcongrats on the 40 years! still can’t believe that.
Officer Friendly has been knee deep in summer football. I hardly see him, but will nudge him again.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 5:19 pmI’m afraid to ask if you’ve been getting pictures, or know someone who has, or if you just made that up… ’cause that’s just a LITTLE creepy!
I’m always a bit shocked when I write an “I loved this” note (I never write the “I hated this” notes…I figure that’s mostly my problem, not the author’s) and I actually get a reply. Since I’m still trying to ‘get there’, 99% of my deadlines and expectations are self-imposed; I figure you guys are so much busier, it’s an honor to be worthy of a response
by Lorena August 21st, 2009 at 5:47 amLorena, I personally have not received any lovly photos. However, a friend of mine was at a mall signing a few years a go. Guy walks up gushes and hands my friend an envelope. he says he’s a fan and wanted to give her something in return for her great books. all smiles, she opens it, and voila, a picture of him nekkid. my friend was stunned, the guy walks away. my friend calls the mall cop, a woman, who, this part is really the worst part, shrugs it off and says,”What do you expect? look what you write.” Ok, so, she, my friend called Officer Freindly that night very upset. next singing she happened to be doing with me. Officer Friendly went, with some added muscle and waited, hoping the scumbag would show. fortunately the guy never did, and that was the end of that.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 2:51 pmYou know I’m severely disappointed that your next Blood Swords book won’t be out. Thorin is my main man! OH, He’s happy in my basement playing with the cute little flying monkey’s from Jen’s blog
by Margaret A. Golla August 21st, 2009 at 5:59 amhttp://jenniferlyonbooks.com/?p=1183
I’m loyal to most of my authors, BUT sometimes my interests change and I drop them, or I get tired of waiting for the next release and never mark it on my calendar. Life happens.
Margaret, Thorin will have his book. he just got temporarily bumped by an assassin.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 2:52 pmLike Lorena, I’m wondering about the nekkid pictures. Good looking men, I hope.
I give writers a second chance. And I follow writers. If they keep the same voice, which most writers do, I’m there. I read across genres already, so it’s not a problem. I can think of several writers who do very well in different subgenres — Jayne Ann Krentz, Christina Dodd, Karin Tabke…
by Edie August 21st, 2009 at 6:45 amEdie, see my response to Lorena.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 4:27 pmIs somebody being mean to you, Karin? Cuz I think the gals here could totally open a can of whoop-ass. And what’s this about no next Blood Swords? Who’s butt do I have to kick over that? I love your books and if the publisher can’t see how great your writing is, they need their melons thumped.
(umm… I think I might’ve woken up on the aggressive side of the bed… pardon me while I think about fluffy bunnies for a while)
by B.E. Sanderson August 21st, 2009 at 6:49 amNo, Beth, no one is being mean to me! But I appreciate the whoop ass back up if I need it. The Blood Swords are alive and well, we just decided to move one back to make way for the new series. I’m very excited about my next release in June. And so is my publisher. We are still very much in love.
I was just speaking in generality. I have some good friends who are going through some rough spots right now, and well, it turned into this blog topic.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 4:33 pmMASTER OF DECEPTION book four in the Blood Sword Legacy series *is* releasing! It’s just been pushed back to make way for the first book in my new L.O.S.T. series.
Gotta run for a few hours but, I’ll be back to chat!
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 6:55 amOops.
by Margaret A. Golla August 21st, 2009 at 7:04 amSorry, my bad. I thought it was kicked by the wayside.
I’ll leave now.
*tail btwn legs*
I’m w/ Edie and BE. I read many genres and will follow most authors I read even if I do miss favorite characters, Jen’s Samantha Shaw being one of them. Happily I have loved all of her other books and look forward to future releases.
Writers need to be allowed to write what they enjoy, their creative interests change so readers need to just go along for the ride and enjoy a genre you’ve never tried before.
Karin – I hope like hell none of that icky stuff has happened to you, your friends, or any of MSW ladies. Thankfully you have Officer Friendly to knock some sense into people.
by HollyD August 21st, 2009 at 7:17 amHolly, thank you for all of your support over the years!
and no, no icky stuff happening here, but it’s out there and a lot of authors are left scratching their heads wondering what the hell? And you *so* know Officer Friendly would open his can of whop ass if anyone got out of line with me.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 4:36 pmKarin, what are you doing in my head? LOLOL!
It is a business, and very often, the author has little control. It’s frustrating. On that note, however, I never mind questions from readers. But it makes my stomach knot up when I know I’m disappointing them!
As for the whackos, we really should have a spay and neuter program…
by Jen Lyon August 21st, 2009 at 8:21 amJen, it’s been so weird, it seems like all of the sudden, authors I know have been getting hit left and right by everything! I think, bad economies bring out the ugly in some folks and in others the weirdness.
I’m knocking on wood as I type this (i can multi-task!) but so far so good for me. No stalkers, no irate readers, and no uncomfortable situations.
And for the whack jobs out there? Definitely spay and neuter!
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 5:01 pmI do hope that spaying and neutering of the wackos is done sans anesthesia!! I can’t see that it would work properly otherwise!
Yes, I read cross-genre, and through series, and have found out that a trilogy I enjoy won’t have the third book published because the publisher decided that the third girl “didn’t need her story told!” WTF?!?!?!?!? No, the author wasn’t pleased either. She’s the one who posted it in her newsletter, with an address to write to protesting the decision!
It’s been my experience, over more years than I care to count of reading, that in general, authors rarely slip up. I think that I’ve only had TWO books total by favourite authors that were so bad I couldn’t finish them. What did I do? Passed them on to St. Vincent de Paul. They found a good home, I’m sure.
Some of the things I’m reading right now frustrate me, in that they were written a while back, and so don’t reflect what either the writer (in general) or the reader expect the H/H to behave nowadays, but they aren’t badly written, just out of date. It’s not their fault that Harlequin is selling out it’s back lists, but not making it clear that that is what they are doing (except for the “Harlequin Famous Firsts” set of books).
Sorry! Someone should kick the soapbox out from under me more often!!
I guess what I tried to say is that I don’t blame the author. I have bad days, of course y’all are going to have them too! You’re only human after all. Well, most of you are only human ….
Later,
Lynn
by Lynn R. August 21st, 2009 at 9:26 pmLynn you can stay up on that soapbox as long as you please! keep it warm for me!
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 10:11 pmWhat if you ask the author to have her husband get on the phone so you can hear his sexy voice?
by Jody August 21st, 2009 at 10:31 amJody, if i didn’t know you…
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 5:02 pmOh snap – preach it sister!
by Bonnie H August 21st, 2009 at 11:09 amSeriously, I hope you’re not having lots of creeper experiences or nasty mail from weenies. That would suck. And thank you for sharing, I think its an important message that every reader should “hear” and take to heart.
Bonnie, I’m good to go, but crap has been and is happening to good people.
they don’t’ deserve it.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 5:04 pmhee hee , very fun read – and now I know why people loved you at the conference
by ban August 21st, 2009 at 11:52 amhey, ban, i call it like i see it!
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 5:05 pmI’m thinking there’s something serious behind this post. I hope it’s nothing bad and that things will settle down immediately thereafter.
by Jessica Scott August 21st, 2009 at 11:52 ami think the hardest part to deal with as an author is when your work is publicly shredded on websites in bad reviews. Why not just say nothing? But instead we pile on and leave the poor author a possibly horrible depression.
Becoming an author isn’t anywhere near like what I expected but I certainly haven’t had seriously negative events. yet.
So I hope whatever happened, things pick up and move forward. Remember, all things will pass. I always think when it’s a hundred and eighteen outside and I’m in full body armor that this too will soon be just a memory. Somehow, it makes the bad just a little easier to bear.
Good luck!
Jessica while I made light of it, sort of, it was a serious post. just because authors put their work there to the public, it doesn’t give the public ownership of them, or just because an author writes a certain genre to be treated in an unfair manner. Working authors should be treated with the same courtesy as any other professional, but sometimes that doesn’t happen. My friend who had the nekkid photo incident (read my reply to Lorena)? Nicest person on earth. she was crushed. and she became afraid. and. to add insult to injury, the stupid ass chick cop demeaned her for what she did for a living. sadly, that stuff happens all of the time.
as far as snarky/bad reviews? i personally don’t have a problem with them, and trust me i have been skewered by the snarkiest, but that is something we all know about before we put our work out there. we go into it with our eyes wide open. but the other stuff? nah, not part of th deal.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 5:15 pmAmen to all you said. People don’t appreciate what it cost you to put yourself out there in public. You have opened yourself for every person – well meaning or whacko – to feel justified in considering themselves your next best friend.
by Patricia Barraclough August 21st, 2009 at 8:31 pmYes, give the author a break, she/he still needs privacy and a life.
hey patricia, it’s the whackos that bug me the most. i know an author who had to get a restraining order against someone who wanted my friend to write her memoirs. it was scary. she still looks over her shoulder.
by Karin Tabke August 21st, 2009 at 10:14 pmOne time I was at a B & N in the town where I live—the book had just come out. A guy came up to me and monopolized the conversation. I could tell there was something wrong with him. Then he started to insist I give him the name of my agent. My husband was with me, and I’d learned a trick of rubbing my ear when I wanted him to engage someone in conversation and move them off to the side. But before that, the guy was browbeating me, and after talking to my husband, he hung out in the store reading magazines nearby. So I pretended to go off to the bathroom and my husband and I ducked out the back way. It was that bad of a vibe.
The thing is, if he’d bought the book, he could have opened to the “acknowledgments” and there was her name right there.
But of course, he wasn’t about to buy any book, even an inexpensive one. No, he wanted a piece of my good name an reputation to use for himself, because he thought somehow it was owed him.
by J. JCarson Black August 22nd, 2009 at 7:52 amJake, i find men are more aggressive toward women writers then women. maybe it’s that some of them think we are somehow weaker, but you don’t see men treating men authors like that.
i can’t tell you how many men give me the ol’ raised eyebrow, “so you write *that* kind of stuff.” wink wink looks. of course they don’t do it when Officer Friendly is present. the last time a guy did that to me i politely let him finish up with his whatever the hell it was he was attempting and said, “So, do actual intelligent words come out of your mouth?” i got the bambi in the headlights stare. I smirked and said, “I thought not.” then walked away.
by Karin Tabke August 22nd, 2009 at 12:15 pmThat’s true. There are some really weird people out there. Usually I find that if someone starts talking to me about themselves, a lot, they will be there a long time without buying a book.
Then there was the time I was signing at Borders and this nice gentleman wearing a sweater walked in and engaged me n conversation, and I’m thinking: it’s the CNN guy! He was the military analyst for CNN, and we became fast friends. Turned out his own book was just coming out. He’s helped me so much, particularly with all things military. And I hope I’ve helped him.
I guess people are as you find them, just like that box of chocolates.
by J. JCarson Black August 22nd, 2009 at 4:17 pmI’m hearing more and more of this, Karin. Scary.
I also totally agree with giving an author a break. Yes, I’ve read books by a favorite that I’ve been disappointed in … but I generally try to give her another shot. You’re right … perhaps life got in the way and for whatever reason, the book wasn’t what it should have been.
Terrific post, Karin. Thanx.
by Liz Kreger August 22nd, 2009 at 7:43 pmHey, Liz, glad you stopped by!
by Karin Tabke August 22nd, 2009 at 9:54 pmYikes, Karin… so sorry that you and your author friends have had to deal with less-than-sane people (I hesitate to call them fans). *sigh* Part of the whole, “What’s this world coming to?” querying… Hope you get some good stuff in there to balance it out!
by Fedora August 22nd, 2009 at 8:25 pmFedora, I can’t complain, I was more or less venting on behalf of those authors who have had some difficulties lately.
My side is good. real good. I can honestly say, knocking on wood, I have never received one weirdo email, and certainly no nekkid pictures. I have had to say, I can’t read for folks. I used to do it, and well, i did get burned by a person who didn’t like the fact that I found some issues with her work (and I was very constructive and nice). she had been an avid fan until then. so even if my agent said “Do not read unpublished work!” I wouldn’t. Instead, I judge contests.
by Karin Tabke August 22nd, 2009 at 10:01 pmI used to be one of those – I want the book now kind of reader – I have learned quite a lot about authors in the last few years. They are real people with real lives & aren’t like Barbara Cartland (loved her), with P.A.’s, typists and servants. It has made me much more patient when to expect a book from my favorite authors.
by Joy August 24th, 2009 at 10:39 pm