and the plot thickens

If this were a novel, it would be the part where the detective (turned on to the case-- in more ways than one-- by the mysterious blond who swept into his office) discovers that the case has more facets, and goes deeper, than he anticipated. (Granted, he wasn't thinking much about the case when he took it on, was he? Men.)

A few things have come to my attention recently. The first is that writing reviews for this blog is harder than I expected. More than a few times, I've been all set to write a review, but then when I look up the novel on Google, I discover that it's already a bestseller.

These books are all excellent novels that I adore, and they totally deserve glowing reviews, as well as their bestselling status. I'm happy for the authors, and excited that I can look forward to reading more of their writing in the future.

What scares me, though, is the fact that I don't keep up with the bestseller list. That's not how I read. I read what catches my interest, strikes my fancy; I read books that look good, that I think I'll like. How do I find these books? Sometimes they're suggested by friends, sometimes it's author loyalty, and sometimes it's the new book table in the YA section of the library, but mostly it's browsing in bookstores. I can spend a happy hour in a bookstore, doing nothing but reading inside covers.

So what this means is that these books that I picked up randomly off a shelf, these books that were suggested to me by no one, that just caught my eye in a bookstore, are bestsellers. Because none of them are phenomenons (there was no point when I thought, "Hey, I should review Harry Potter..."), I assumed that they were written by mid-list authors.

(I know, I know-- a detective should never assume. But come on, what would our story be if the detective didn't assume that the mysterious blond was telling the truth about her predicament?)

(A little less gory, as it turns out. Dame can wield a knife.)

The fact that these books were bestsellers means that the pulling of mid-list authors has been going on for a long time (considering some of the books I was thinking about reviewing I first read years ago). Today, it's already a lot harder to discover new books in a chain bookstore, because a lot of the options come from the bestseller list.

And again, those books should be there. Everyone should be able to walk into a Borders or Barnes and Noble and pick up the number one best-selling book.

But that's not all they should be able to pick up. There should be the opportunity to discover new books, and I feel like I have not received this opportunity to the fullest, which is especially crushing because there are so many amazing mid-list books out there, and so many just waiting to be written (and perhaps by myself someday, knock on wood!)

It's not all the economy and chain bookstore vs. Wal-Mart, though that is certainly a factor today (for more info on that, see my first post). There are other issues that put the mid-list author at risk.

Note: The opinions expressed in the links are those of their authors. I provide them as other insights into the plight of the mid-list author.

Here's an article from 2000 (yes, ten years ago) that talks about how chain bookstore marketing policies affect mid-list authors.

Here's an article that discusses the impact eBooks could have on mid-list authors.

Here's an article by an anonymous author that discusses the publishing side of it.

With so many threats to the mid-list author (including that mysterious blond...), it's more important than ever to try to garner interest in order to save our favorite mid-list authors and books. Additionally, if it can proven that a mid-list author isn't necessarily a risky financial venture, it might be easier for new authors to get that first book out, or that more difficult second book.

I'm going to keep posting reviews of my favorite mid-list books on this blog, and if you have a review for a mid-list book you love, send it to me at doingitwrite@gmail.com. Any mid-list book, any genre-- this isn't just about saving the books I love, or the literary characters I have crushes on. Additionally, at the end of each month I'll post a list of all the books ever reviewed on this blog, so that new and old readers alike can easily see a list of great mid-list books, and click on the link to read a review, without sifting through the entire blog. Finally, if I can swing it, I might have a surprise for you. I can't take credit for the idea, but more on that later.

For now...

-Spread the word about your favorite mid-list books/authors in any way possible (word of mouth, twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc).

-Write an original review of a mid-list book you love and send it to doingitwrite@gmail.com-- I'll post it!

-Write to your favorite mid-list authors. Let them know you love their stuff (authors love this-- I know both from responses I've gotten to fan emails, and from being a writer myself). Also, see if they're doing anything to promote their books, and jump on board!

-Follow blogs and social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, etc) that review/promote books, particularly mid-list authors-- you may discover a new author whose work you can't live without!(note: my twitter = http://twitter.com/doingitwrite)

-Really browse around in bookstores, both chain and independent. You never know what you might find.

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. ; )