To Buy or Not to Buy

I've been browsing the free books available for Kindle and Nook lately. I've picked up a few along the way, which is great, but mostly I've been learning about my buying habits as a reader. I've learned, for example, that sometimes even a big fat nothing is more than I'm willing to pay for a book. That seems a bit odd, even to me. I mean, I'm a book addict. Big time. You'd think I'd happily score every free book I could get my hands on. And yet I don't.

Here's what I've realized about what attracts me to a book and what puts me off. Okay, mostly what puts me off. As a bona fide book addict, I'll admit that if it doesn't put me off, it can be counted as attractive to me.

1. Covers do matter. Unless I recognize your name, if your cover was obviously put together on your computer using Paint, I'm probably going to pass. That's not a guarantee, but it's a high probability. Likewise, if your cover is obviously a generic cover you've purchased from someone else, I'm likely to pass. The probability of this is lower than it is for the Paint cover, or a cover without graphics, but it is likely. The good news is that in the case of a generic paste-in-your-title-and-name cover, I may click through to read the back cover blurb if it appears to be in a genre I like to read, but unless the cover copy really grabs me, I'm probably still going to pass. Yes, it's true that you can't (always) judge a book by its cover, but the fact that this saying exists at all is proof that a lot of people do.

2. Your cover copy matters. A lot. If your cover copy is poorly written and/or grammatically incorrect, it's a definite pass for me. I might be a book addict, but I'm a demanding reader. Back before I knew the industry lingo, I would frequently stop reading a book if the writing felt "obvious" to me. That's the term I used then. Now I realize it's a combination of several things including telling more than showing, heavy-handed emotions, purple prose, and author intrusion. But before I even get to that point with your book, you have to convince me to read page one. If it's obvious to me from the cover copy that you don't know how to use the language, that you don't understand basic grammar, or that you don't know how to edit your own work, I'll skip right past your book and never look back.

3. Titles matter. One of the reasons publishers have marketing departments is to create titles with appeal to many readers. Appeal that we, as writers, don't always understand. For most of us, marketing is not what we're good at, even if we think we are. Too many of us come up with titles we think are amazing, but in reality they're quite generic, uninteresting, and unimaginative. Oh, we think the title is appealing. We might even think it's unique. We wouldn't put the thing on our book if we didn't. But I have discovered that if your title is something like Tripping and it's book 1 in the Tripping Series, and especially if your protagonist is named John Tripping, I'm likely to pass on the book even if it's free. Why? Because I've realized that  if your title and your series are the same -- and especially if you've used the same word three times -- I come away with the impression that you're not very imaginative. Is this true of you? Maybe not. But that's my first impression.

4. First impressions matter. I wish they didn't, but they do.

5. Price matters. Yes, I know we're talking about free books here, but I've identified another knee-jerk reaction when I'm considering whether to click through and "buy" a book for nothing. I have realized that I am much more interested in a free book if the original cover price is listed as $5.99 or higher. If the cover price is $12.99 or $14.99 I'm almost giddy over the chance to get it for nothing. If the original cover price is $2.99 -- or worse, $0.99 -- my initial impression is that the book probably hasn't been professionally edited, which means the writing is likely to be "obvious" and I'm not interested. Is this always true? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not talking about reality here. I'm talking about my initial reaction to what I see on the screen.

I don't know if any of this matters to you, but it gives me a lot of food for thought. I haven't yet put any of my own backlist out there in e-book format, probably because life got really hard a couple of years ago and I'm struggling just to catch up with where I'm supposed to be. But I've been thinking about re-releasing my backlist and one of these days I'll probably do it. And that makes what I'm learning about myself and my buying habits, my reactions to other peoples' books, very interesting to me.

And now I'd love to hear from you. Am I the only one who passes up what might be a perfectly good book based on first impressions? I'd love to know what attracts you (or doesn't) when you're trying to decide whether to click on that free book.

Tote Bags and Toe Tags

Tote Bags and Toe Tags by Dorothy Howell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Engaging and well-written story with a heroine I (frankly) did not expect to like, but ended up loving. Haley is young and scattered and easily distracted. Her work ethic would drive me absolutely nuts if I were her boss, but she made me laugh out loud more than once as she admitted to drifting off during a conversation. I will definitely read more in this series.



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A Message to Romance Writers from My Son-in-Law

This afternoon, my little family went out to lunch together. My oldest daughter had received a gift card to Red Lobster for her birthday, invited me to lunch, and then invited my youngest daughter and her family to join us. We had to move quickly to sandwich lunch in between church and the playoff game between the Cards and ... whoever they're playing today.

We met at the restaurant, spent an appropriate amount of time deciding who got to look out the window at the water and who got to sit beside whom. Once the seating arrangements were decided, we looked over the menu, tossed around a few suggestions about what sounded good, and eventually placed our orders.

After a few minutes, our food arrived and we all dug in with gusto amid chatter about everyday things. It was a typical lunch for our family . . . until my son-in-law looked up at me and said, "I need to ask you a favor."

I blinked a couple of times in surprise, mostly because this guy isn't really a favor-asker. He's more of a favor-doer. He's a manly man, a member of our country's armed forces, and an all-around good guy. About the only times he asks me for anything, it's to arrange a sleepover with the incredibabies so he and mom can have a date night. Between you and me, he's the kind of guy I'd like to see more romance heroes modeled after. He's a solid guy with solid values. Honest. Good to his wife and kids. Just the real deal, if you know what I mean.

Anyway . . . the favor.

"Sure," I said. "What is it?"

"I don't know how you'd accomplish this," he said, "but I'd like you to ask all the romance authors out there to stop writing vampire romances."

Blink. Blink. Of all the things I might have expected to hear coming out of this man's mouth, this didn't appear anywhere on the list. I wondered for a moment if he was joking, but he looked deadly serious. I swallowed a bite of salad and said, "Oh? Why?"

"Because they're ruining the good name of vampires." He put his fork down, a sure sign that things were about to get serious. "I happen to like vampires, but all this romance stuff that's going on is just wrong. Vampires don't fall in love with people. Vampires eat people." By which I assume he meant that vampires drain people's bodies of blood but don't actually eat the . . . you know . . . person.

"Mmm-hmm," I said with a thoughtful nod. I could tell that this was really troubling him, and I wanted to give it my full attention, but I was a bit distracted by the question of just where, when, and how he'd picked up on the vampire romance craze. My daughter doesn't read that subgenre of romance, and I hadn't noticed any vampire romance novels lying around the house, but then I don't poke around everywhere when I'm visiting. They could have been out of sight somewhere. Or maybe he'd read a few during his last deployment, or his recent TDY in Peru.

"We just finished watching Eureka," my daughter explained, clearly noting my confusion. "We talked about watching Firefly, but instead we watched a couple of episodes of Vampire Diaries."

My son-in-law made a rude noise. "It was awful," he said, and then leaned forward a little. "Look, I put up with the whole Twilight thing, but now it's gotten out of hand. At the rate things are going, everybody's going to forget about the real vampire. The only image they'll have in their heads is some guy with spiked hair and mascara--and glitter."

You have to understand the kind of man my son-in-law is to hear the proper inflection in that last word. Real men don't wear glitter. Real men--even those with two princess-loving daughters--can hardly say the word out loud.

The conversation went on for a few more minutes, wandering over topics like Vlad the Impaler, The Vampire Lestat, and guy-liner, and by the time we moved on, I could see the problem through my son-in-law's eyes.  And so, because I love this guy dearly, and because he's done more favors for me than I can count, I implore you all to stop with the vampire romance thing. Do it now! Before you ruin the image of real vampires forever.

Book Review: Flamingo Diner

Flamingo Diner by Sherryl Woods

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I added this book to my to-be-read pile based on the cover alone and didn't realize what it was about until I picked it up to read it. The subject of suicide is a touchy one for me, so I approached it hesitantly. It turns out, I didn't need to worry since that part of the story never actually reached me on an emotional level. I applaud the author for tackling such a sensitive and important issue, but I wanted it to take me deeper into the characters' emotions as they tried to put the world back together again after the family tragedy.

The story was too slow moving for my taste (the heroine vowed to find out why her father took his own life for at least half of the book without ever actually making any attempts to find out anything.) I looked forward to the strong sense of community promised on the book's jacket, but that, too, fell short of my expectations.

As disappointed as I was with the suicide story line, however, I thought Ms. Woods handled the romance between Emma and Matt very well. Their attraction built slowly, but anything more rapid would have felt unrealistic to me.

Not destined for my "keeper" shelf, but not a wall-banger, either :)



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Book Review: Celebrations

Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer by Maya Angelou

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Maya Angelou is a genius, plain and simple. Her words are like honey. They trickle down into the soul, little by little, slowly, soothing pain and lifting the spirit on their way. Every piece in this collection marks some special event, thus the title Celebrations. "On the Pulse of the Morning," read at President Clinton's inauguration; "Amazing Peace," presented at the 2005 lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the White House; "A Brave and Startling Truth," which marked the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, a poem for Oprah's fiftieth birthday, one for the bar mitzvah for Angelou's nephew, and several others.

As I set this book aside, a few stanzas stay with me, working their way through the maze of my mind and finding their permanent place in my soul. Definitely recommended.



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Foodie Friday: Chicken Bake

Chicken Bake

(Serves 8-10)

This recipe is cheesy and gooey and a definite comfort food in my house. In its original version (below) it makes a lot, but it's easy to cut in half!

2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (can use cream of celery if you prefer)
2 cups sour cream
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
8-10 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Paprika

Rice, prepared according to package directions.

Preheat oven to 350.
Sprinkle the chicken breasts with paprika and place in large baking dish.
Mix the remaining ingredients together and pour over top.
Cover and bake (at 350) for 2 hours.

Serve over rice.

Thirteen Things I Didn't Know About March

1. March is National Crochet Month. Seriously! I had no idea, and I love to crochet. The Crochet Guild of America (yes, it's real) is sponsoring Crochet-Along in March. Check out CGOA Now! for more details.

2. March 18th is the birthday of Sparky the Fire Dog, who is the official mascot of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). I am not making this up!

3. Each year the President of the United States designates March as Red Cross Month. Something tells me I should know this. Something else whispers that maybe I did once, a long, long time ago. But maybe I'm making that up. I really don't know. Go donate blood or something. It's the right thing to do.

Clip art courtesy of DailyClipArt.net

4. March is National Frozen Food Month. You probably already know that. I didn't. I'm going to buy some ice cream to celebrate. Again -- the right thing to do.

5. March is National Noodle Month. I kid you not. Not to be confused with National Pasta Month, which is celebrated in October of each year. What's a noodle, you ask? It's made from unleavened dough shaped either into thin, flat strips or round cylinders and cooked in boiling liquid. Derived from the German nudel.

6. March is National Irish-American Heritage Month, which should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody.

7. March is Music in our Schools Month. My heart aches every time legislators anywhere cut funding for the arts in our schools. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. The website linked to here offers a few suggestions for what we can do to help, including following the organization on Twitter and "liking" it on Facebook.

8. March is National Craft Month. Use your spare time this month to learn a new craft. Make a collage. Learn how to make jewelry. Knit or celebrate National Crochet Month. Get off Facebook and Twitter and do something crafty!

9.  March is also National Nutrition Month -- a time for all of us to focus on eating right and making healthy choices. I guess that means I should buy frozen broccoli instead of ice cream for National Frozen Food Month. I'm not going to lie -- I'm disappointed.

10. March is Women's History Month. The theme for 2011 is: Our History is Our Strength.

11. March is Youth Art Month. I hope the Youth Art Month and Music in Our Schools Month folks are working together. I'd hate to think they're competing for the limited funding out there.

12. I did my research just in time. This week is National Bubble Gum Week! I can't believe I almost missed it. Thank goodness I have a couple of Blow-Pops on top of my fridge that I was saving for my granddaughters. If you're really ambitious, you can even make your own bubble gum. The recipe is here! Or, if you're not in the mood to chew your way to bubble-gum nirvana, check out this Bubblegum Martini recipe.

Photo of vintage Barbie dolls from Wikipedia

13. It's also Barbie's Birthday! My first Barbie looked like the one on the bottom row, far right. She was beautiful. I still have her, as a matter of fact. She's old. She's fragile. Her hair now looks more like the Barbie on the top row. So does mine. She and I have weathered some storms together. When my little brother was younger, he wrapped poor Barbie in Scotch tape, tied a rope around her waist, and lowered her into a mud puddle in the empty lot next to our house. I'm not sure why. I was too traumatized to ask, I guess. Anyway, she's safe now, so you can all breathe a sigh of relief. But please join me in saying Happy Birthday! to my dear, old friend.