Oh, Weill

A very intimate affair last night. I guess I could blame it on the StarTribune (see previous post) and their confusion over the title of my book. Or I could blame it on the Pioneer Press and their misspelling of my name:

But I won't.

On a title or two

So I made the online event calendar at the StarTribune. A good thing except somehow they saw fit to add a couple of quotation marks and turned one title into two.

For the record: I'll be reading from one novel, The Cary Grant Sanatorium and Playhouse, and would be thrilled if anyone would come by and have a listen. Thanks!

Also, the book is now on sale at Magers & Quinn (for those who simply can't wait).

On Bryan Ferry and Clara Barton

Got home late last evening and snipped off my second wristband in two nights. That alone should be cause for a blog post. The fact that I'd seen Bryan Ferry at the Palace Theater, then saw some genuine theater with Linda Sue Anderson as Clara Barton at the Bryant Lake Bowl was cause for much reflection on my part.

Bryan Ferry brought me back to an early '80s Roxy Music show in Oakland and the years between wishing I was half as cool as him. Yet, for the last half of the Saturday night show, all that cool was stripped away as he positively beamed back at a truly adoring audience. I don't know if I've ever witnessed such a mutual thrill between band and crowd. (“Avalon” begins playing on Pandora as I write this.)

Linda Sue Anderson, on the other hand, sat front and center on the tiny, bleak BLB stage and took the audience on. As Clara Barton, she spoke on the atrocities committed at the most notorious of Civil War prisons and demanded we listen to her story—their story, the story of tens of thousands of unknown Union soldiers buried at Andersonville. Themselves They Made Immaculate (the play's title derives from the way southern whites presented themselves once the post-war finger-pointing began) is Barton's testimony before Congress concerning the horrors of the prison camp and the tireless search for the identities of those buried there. A Fringe Festival must (and ends with two shows next weekend). Info.

Of course these two events are hopelessly incongruous, yet both hit me where I've lived, whether it be a young rock'n'roll fan longing for the cool or an old historical fictionist wishing he could tell a story that well. Fine weekend. Have a nice week.

On giving up on marketing, outreach strategy, page traffic analysis and trends

I've given up on marketing, outreach strategy, page traffic analysis and trends as of August 6, 2017. As all seven of my blog followers here and my Facebook friends are painfully aware, I'm involved in a “reader-powered publishing” venture called Kindle Scout. Readers are allowed to browse as-yet-unpublished books and—if they stumble on a title that strikes their whimsy (like, say, THE CARY GRANT SANATORIUM AND PLAYHOUSE) or a provocative cover catches your eye (maybe one created by my sister, Susan Tinkham)—they may read samples and possibly nominate books for publication by Kindle Press.

The writer, if lucky enough to be selected for publication, receives $1,500 and whatever advertising Amazon will dish out to recoup that advance. I guess that's where marketing comes in. Every day I get an updated “campaign page views per day” chart. Over the last week mine has been pretty constant: dropping below 100 for the first time to 95, slipping as low as 78, then back to 90 on August 5. Being 1/3 of the way through my campaign, I put out a little blurb on FB to remind my friends, maybe get some “shares” and spread the word. Immediately FB flashed me an opportunity: “Boost your ad for $10 and reach 3,400 views in 2 days!”

You gotta spend money to make money, right? I went for it, dammit!

Woke up this morning to find my FB blurb had indeed surged to 338 views—not quite what they'd promised but a 210% increase over my norm. I immediately went to my Scout chart to see how that would reflect on my campaign page views. With my $10 FB “boost” my 90 of yesterday had somehow plummeted to a mere 6—a decrease of 93%.*

   * my first use ever of the snippet tool!

On the bright side: I saw Bryan Ferry last night. DAMN!!!

On Kindle Scout

So I'm doing this Kindle Scout thing again with THE CARY GRANT SANATORIUM AND PLAYHOUSE. It's a bit of a popularity contest--though publication is not solely based on the number of nominations. In 1 - 2 days my 'campaign' will launch and folks will be able to nominate it and other books as they choose. (Not sure if you need an Amazon account--if so, don't bother.) 

Amazon describes it this way: "Kindle Scout is reader-powered publishing... It's a place where readers help decide if a book gets published. Selected books will be published by Kindle Press and receive 5-year renewable terms, a $1,500 advance, 50% eBook royalty rate and featured Amazon marketing."

The whole thing is explained here: How It Works

Yeah, I'll be beggin' for votes. Obviously, I'll keep you in touch...

On Saturday

JUL15

Going

Lit Fest Chapter 4: 20/20

Sat 3 PM · Roosevelt Library · Minneapolis

Got another Cracked Walnut reading coming up Saturday the 15^th. Reading with Peter Stein, Louis Murphy, Jim Bohen and Arman Ebrahimi, 3pm at the Roosevelt Library in Mpls. (4026 28^th Ave S.) I'm not familiar with any of the others, so it should be interesting to meet them and listen to their work. All are welcome!

https://www.facebook.com/events/117839972161265

On changing titles

My last post named my new novel Nazi Abortion Slaughterhouse. This proved to require too much explanation and justification when someone asked: “What's the title of your new book?” I found myself explaining that the original title was Sidney's Sanctum, about a home for unwed mothers that is bad-mouthed by an ultra-religious newspaper to the point where it becomes known as a Nazi abortion slaughterhouse. Too much work.

I've gone with a more whimsical title: The Cary Grant Sanatorium and Playhouse. So far this has drawn smiles and chuckles. Which is how it should be. But there's more than just whimsy behind the change. Mr. Grant is a character in the novel and did, in fact, write a check to Sidney's Sanctum and its clinic for the purpose of building a theater that could double as a clinical facility. Much of the last half of the book takes place in, or centers around, the Sanatorium & Playhouse and activities held there.

Sidney's Sanctum? It was named for a small girl who died during the writing of my third novel, Bonus Man. This new novel pretty much picks up where Bonus Man left off. Heck, if you wanna read Bonus Man, you can find it here. 

And here: