sleep deprivation and short posts

I had full intentions of writing a book review tonight, but as I've mentioned before, it's getting harder to find mid-list books lying around on bookstore shelves anymore. There are still many amazing mid-list books that I plan on reviewing, but tonight, when I discovered that the book I'd planned on featuring(The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart) had won a ton of well-deserved awards and sold incredibly well, I got distracted.

The internet does that.

It starts with looking up one book. Then you start browsing around author websites, which lead you to other websites, which lead you to other books, which lead you to more author websites, which lead you to blogs... the next thing you know, your sleep deprivation is worse than ever, but you've discovered so much.

Seriously-- check out the websites and blogs of your favorite authors, whether mid-list or not. You'll learn more about the books you'll love, and you'll learn about other books your favorite authors have written. You'll learn about author appearances, and what authors are doing to promote their books (which is especially important for mid-list authors that you love!). Plus, don't forget that authors are readers, too. You can discover new books by reading the books your favorite authors love to read. Authors are also often friends with each other, giving you even more opportunities to discover new authors and books. The sites and blogs have plenty more information, links, and fun stuff, too-- an internet playground for any avid reader.

While I was browsing, I also discovered two blogs that I thought may be of interest. As always, the opinions expressed in the blogs are those of the authors alone, but they both provide different viewpoints on mid-list authors, reading, writing, and the publishing industry.

The first blog, aptly named Midlist Writer, is maintained by mid-list author Sean Mclachlan. There's information about the experience of being a mid-list author, musings on writing, interviews with authors he reads, and more. The second blog is Pub Rants, a blog by a literary agent who "indulges in polite rants about queries, writers, and the publishing industry." These polite rants also include information about mid-list authors. Besides being interesting and relevant, both blogs also have many links to other blogs by writers, about writers, and about reading and publishing.

So go ahead-- spend some time surfing the internet. Learn more about the plight of mid-list authors, the publishing industry, great books (both bestseller and mid-list), and great authors-- and maybe even discover some new ones.

And remember: spread the word about your favorite mid-list books and authors! And of you have an original review of a mid-list book you adored, in any genre, email it to doingitwrite@gmail.com with a little info about yourself, and I'll post it.

publishing, the power of social networking, and other stuff too

The obvious: It's super important to garner interest for mid-list authors if we want to keep them on the shelves. The more people that are interested, the more money bookstores and publishers will make, the more likely publishers will pick up the books, and fight to keep them in chain bookstores.

The Not-So-Obvious: To really make a difference, you have to know exactly what you're dealing with, and that's the process it takes to get a book on a shelf. I've realized, today, that I know less about that than I thought I did.

I'm not saying anything about the process either way. What I am saying is that I need to be more informed to figure out the best capacity in which I and others can help.

But in the meantime...

Okay, I know what you're thinking: Why the heck is this girl blogging about books? She is clearly the Next Great Talent in the art world.

Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. And really, it's no big thing. I just threw it together in a few minutes.

But I'm not here to talk about me. That's for the future visitors of the Louvre to do. For now, I'm going to talk more about what we can do spread the word and gain interest for our favorite mid-list authors and books.

There's this blog, of course, where I will continue to post reviews of some of my favorite mid-list books. Also, if you write an original review and email it to me at doingitwrite@gmail.com, I'll try to post it on the blog in a special "Guest Reviewer" post (so email me your name and any info you'd like posted about yourself). This should help get the word out about books that we love, and hopefully others will fall in love with them too, spreading the word, buying the books-- a domino effect.

But there are other ways to spread the word outside of word-of-mouth and following (and telling your friends to follow) this blog. And it's all in the hands of two superheroes, Facebook and Twitter, who, in a rare moment, posed for me and let me render their actual selves to the world for the first time.

I created my Twitter account just to try to drum up interest for the blog, but then I panicked and thought that all of the followers I worked so hard to get would probably un-follow me if the only thing I tweeted was "new post." Now, while it will still be primarily to try to get people to read this, I've also begun posting about books I'm currently reading (since I mostly read mid-list authors, anyway) and other mid-list books I enjoy. There will be more of these than reviews, because they take far less time to write. (The length of my posts so far should make it pretty obvious that this "140 characters" business doesn't really fly with me.) So follow me on Twitter and hear about books and the blog. Also, if you follow me, more people might follow suit and see the blog and... domino effect again.

And then there's Facebook. Join fan pages for books and authors that you love, creating tangible proof that there are many people who love a certain book/author. Spread the word about your favorite books and authors, and about the plight of the mid-list author. The more people that read the books we love, and the more people who know the situation, the more we can do to help.

Social networking can have its drawbacks, but it's powerful, too. It's a fast, simple way to spread word about an issue to so many people, and so quickly.

Let's face it-- if you were that good, you'd wear a cape, too.

And now, a note here about other things.

First let me begin this note with a shout out. As you know if you've read my first post, this entire thing started when I received a response to an email I'd sent to author Hilari Bell. After I created the blog, I emailed both Hilari Bell and Michael Gerber, the authors of my favorite series' in trouble (see my reviews of their books in the posts below). I told them about the blog and sent the link, and both responded the next day. They were incredibly nice, supportive, and basically awesome-- and I would like to thank them both for that. Additionally, it was actually Mr. Gerber who made me realize that I know less about the publishing business than I thought.

And so now I have this to say. Contact your favorite authors. Let them know that you love their books, and see if they're up to anything. I know that neither Bell nor Gerber are idle. Bell is working to get more publicity for the Knight and Rogue series in order to save Michael and Fisk, and Gerber is planning on launching a new project that will directly connect author and reader, without all the red tape (meaning that fewer numbers will be needed to ensure that the series continues). Keep informed about what authors are doing for their books, and support them. Neither of these projects mentioned are launched yet, but if you're an author and have a plan, or are a reader who comes across a plan, I'd be happy to re-post links on here.

And remember, keep reading. Keep telling people about the books you love, and send me reviews! I can't do it all here, people-- I have my budding stardom as an artist to deal with. ; )