Dear Kansas Conservative
Several different people have asked me why black folks don’t vote Republican. I live in Kansas, but still. I was also asked if I supported Obama just because he’s black. Lord have mercy.
I didn’t respond to the first question, but blinked and asked if they support Mitt/Newt/Ron just because those candidates are white? They blinked back. We blinked together for a while.
Finally, one stuttered they never thought of it that way. Apparently, a lot of folks don’t think much.
Why black folks with any sense at all don’t vote Republican–>
If I listen to the candidates, Fox news, or anything Republican or conservative for any length of time, I will begin to feel nauseated. It won’t be because of their social or economic conservatism. It will be for one and only one reason.
This guy breaks down that reason quite well.
Here are some things you could learn about black Americans from the recent statements and insinuations of Republican presidential candidates, Republican congressmen and Republican-friendly radio personalities:
Black people have lost the desire to perform a day’s work. Black people rely on food stamps provided to them by white taxpayers. Black people, including Barack and Michelle Obama, believe that the U.S. owes them something because they are black. Black children should work as janitors in their high schools as a way to keep them from becoming pimps. And the pathologies afflicting black Americans are caused partly by the Democratic Party, which has created in them a dependency on government not dissimilar to the forced dependency of slaves on their owners.
These conservatives claim to define black folks. But I am black and I know we don’t fit their definitions. Not at all. I don’t even know who they’re talking about. The black folks I know are working, paying bills and taxes, trying to make it the best we can. We are as different from each other as they are and cannot be defined merely by our race. We are Americans whose labor built this country without payment, and we have been here longer than many European immigrants.
This is the reason Ron Paul, despite his sensible stand on war, prisons, and drugs, will not get my vote. He doesn’t know who I am and it’s very scary that he and his supporters claim they do. The prattle of the libertarians is sickening if one second is taken to remember those founding fathers were slave holders and their idea of liberty, equality and freedom strictly referred to white men only. Is that their goal? Looks like it. Slavery doesn’t appeal to me, and genocide appeals less. That trumps anything else.
Here’s the reason why black folks don’t vote for conservative candidates en masse–>We hear what they say.
How Readers Will Read
I’m a lifelong bookaholic, addicted since I first figured out how those black marks made words and stories. I love books. I hauled boxes of them all over the nation, my most precious possessions.
Now, I have hundreds of books stored in various e-devices and in the cloud. I have any book I desire at my fingertips in a few seconds via Amazon and other online book retailers. I can carry hundreds of books with me. I can read lying down, I can read on an e-ink screen that approximates a paper reading experience, I can read in the dark on my iPad, I can read while waiting in line at the DMV on my iPhone.
Jonathan Franzen, much lauded and praised literary author, says print books are here to stay and disses e-books and their readers.
E-books are damaging to society
E-books are not for serious readers
E-books suck dirty old man balls
I have read Jonathan’s tomes. I must say a good amount of the reading pleasure from his books is gained not from actually reading them, but from the experience of other people seeing you read the damn things. A Jonathan Franzen book works better when prominently displayed. If other people can’t physically see you’re literary enough to read and appreciate a Jonathan Franzen tome, methinks one loses most of the point of having it in the first place.
Of course the dude wants his books in print. If nobody else can see what you’re reading, you’re going to be way more likely to read for fun, entertainment and pleasure. Folks will be reading Stephen King, Barry Eisler, Nora Roberts and Stephanie Plum instead of digging (slogging) through Freedom. Why buy it if there are no bookshelves in your house to display your literary acumen, but all your books are stored on your iPad, Nook, or Kindle?
Franzen’s bottom line might (will) suffer.
He really cares other people think he’s ultra literary and shit. Franzen is a brand for literari snobbishness. That’s why he had a cow when Oprah chose one of his books.
OMG, housewives will read it! The common, unenlightened masses might buy it!
(falls on ground, pulling on his still-abundant locks)
Fat, black women might be seen with my book! Kill me now! (sob)
He threw a grand tantrum that Oprah crowned him as one of her chosen because he feared his literari cohorts and readers might not think it’s so chic and smart to be seen with a Jonathan Franzen book then, money be damned.
Let’s say it all together now. “Ego.” It’s hard to do the ego thing with e-books.
E-books are easy to read, convenient, accessible, and a hell of a lot lighter to haul around. They are going to change business practices of the Big 6 publishers and authors such as Jonathan Franzen.
People will read for pleasure or to learn something. Their To Be Read book lists will grow staggering. People will buy lots of e-books, but not be able to read all of them. But they will carry them at all times. This is going to evolve, but readers will be the gatekeepers. Word of mouth from readers you know and trust will be golden.
Here’s another thing…
People will access their fav author sites for information and contact, and they will do it on their e-readers, their tablets, and their smartphones.
Heads up, I have the plugin that makes the site viewable on mobile devices, but I’m not liking it. I’m going to change to a simple theme that works with all devices, from computers to phones. Simple is best.
WTF Sheepses?
You’d think problems would just stand in front of you, and once they moved on, or you figured out how to get past them, that would be it.
But nooooo, sometimes problems are like this.
They just keep circling. You say WTF? But you can’t move forward until you get out of the darned car and deal with them!
I took a candid pic of myself, no makeup, for my Twitter pic–>see sidebar. Am I starting the February challenge with Tammy? Not sure. I’m a lousy photographer. If I do, my camera is my iPhone. UPDATED: Nah, I’m not going to do a daily challenge. Just too much to do. “What are you wearing,” they ask. I’m wearing polka-dotted pajama bottoms in that fluffy, cheap, super soft fabric and a ratty orange T-shift. Not edifying, but I do love my life.
Morning Linkage
Amazon Publishing
Here’s a great article laying it out.
The publishers are quivering. The authors are chortling, because the publishers have only been good to celebrities and a very few bestselling authors, so many authorial hands are rubbing together in glee at the anticipation of a Big 6 demise, and chortling that those snotty, rejecting agents might die off, too. Amazon is wanting the big names, but I’d love to see them decide to make their publishing profits made off the midlist and spread their generous advances that way. Readers read a lot. Literary star power is overrated in my opinion.
Where can African Americans feel as if we truly belong to the culture and group?
Hint, it ain’t Africa. It always baffled me when folks talk about returning to Africa as their homeland or motherland when they are untold generations removed. We’ve been here longer than many European immigrants.
What if you took a white American generic mutt, whose family has been here for many generations, plopped them down somewhere in Europe, and told them to feel at home? Europe is a collection of nations, languages and diverse peoples. Most Americans, especially in the Midwest where I live, are of German origin, but they are not Germans any longer and would have to acclimate to Germany as they would any foreign country.
Africa is even more diverse than Europe. A black American who doesn’t have close native relatives there they know about, and most of us don’t, need to keep in mind we won’t belong there either just because we’re black.
This guy figured that out, rather uncomfortably, when he realized that he had more in common with the diverse group of expatriates than the African natives.
It’s because of the black feeling of exclusion that we’re more comfortable than other minority groups being segregated. In those tiny, created groups, at least we belong. This can be extrapolated to books too.
An aside: China is a collection of diverse national groups too, except they have all been collected together under one flag. There is no language such as Chinese, although many speak Mandarin. In Hong Kong, Cantonese is spoken. There are many other languages, the same as in Europe or Africa. Also, any Asian can’t show up in Japan and expect to be considered Japanese either.
You can’t really belong to a continent just by virtue of some external racial characteristics. It’s simply too big.
Amazon Bestseller Lists
I accidentally turned this post into a draft yesterday or the day before. Sorry. Amazon bestseller rankings fluctuate fast, especially with all the free books being downloaded, so these screen shots have changed. One additional nugget: The contemporary romance list has been taken over by indie authors, both paid and free lists. How much money as publishing lost? Probably a lot. How much money have authors put in their pockets? Probably a lot. (Yaaaaay!)
Some indie author primo advice mavens such as Konrath say bestseller lists don’t mean booty, but they sure are fun!
I’m trying to get an AA list on Heart’s Desire. I’ve been trying for weeks. Just sent another e-mail. They say they allow an author to choose two categories, but they added the free Kindle as a non-removable category which left me one. Only one category that I can classify this book in? It’s a problem because my characters are black, and there are special subgenre categories under African American for books by black authors with black characters. These books have readers looking for these particular books. I want those readers to find my book. The lists are far smaller, so HD will appear far closer to the top. I want to be at the top of a list. Publishers have special AA departments with people paying attention to what is doing well in that niche. If an author is noticed doing well, it could be a good thing for that author. I want money. These are the reasons why I’d want HD in an AA category.
But Heart’s Desire is a contemporary romance. If I was of any other race, I’d put my book in the category of its genre, no matter what the race of its characters. So FUCK IT ALL, I put HD pack in contemp romance. I guess the lists aren’t that fun for me after all, dammit.
Right now, it’s 54 in contemporary romance, trending down to the 70s or so. But the cool thing is I’m next to Nora Roberts! See, here’s a screen shot to prove it. Whoo-hooo, Nora. Yeah, I’m aware the paid list is an apple compared to the orange of the free list, but still.
Brenda Jackson has been on the top 100 in romance forever with her free book, Irresistible Forces. I downloaded it when it was in the top 100 in free Kindle books, but haven’t read it yet. It does not have a black person on the cover, but has a flower. Is this one reason why so many were downloaded? Who knows?! She is number 24 in contemporary romance, on page two. I only screenshot page 3, because that’s me!
I’m not the only AA author on page 3 either. I spy Sylvia Hubbard. Congrats, Sylvia! In light of all the darker romance editing hubbub recently, Sylvia lists her editor on the product page! She doesn’t have an AA category either. I will email Sylvia for Twitter lessons because she’s truly awesome there in contrast to my social media lameness. Generous too, so I know she’ll give me some tips.
If most AA romance authors didn’t exclusively put books in only AA categories on Amazon, how would we affect the majority romance bestseller lists? Brenda Jackson has a paid Kimani romance in the top 100 that isn’t released yet. It will be on fire once it’s out. It’s on page 5 of the paid list, and I notice it’s listed not only in contemp romance but in MC and AA romance too. So it’s possible to get those added categories in order to see oneself really high up on at least some bestseller lists. These are all of my sisters who are on the top 100 in contemp romance. Most publishers and indie authors put their books in the AA categories for the advantages of the niche.
I went and looked at Adrienne Byrd’s and Maureen Smith’s top sellers and they aren’t categorized in Contemp Romance, or in Maureen’s case, paranormal romance. They are categorized by race only in AA and/or MC. If these and other authors were added to their genre lists and not categorized by black race, I bet they’d be making the Amazon genre romance lists quite a bit darker. That would be interesting to see.
Updated: I’m getting over the plague/on editing
I was sick all last week with the plague. Ick. Okay, it probably was a cold or flu, but it was awfully snotty.
What was worse is that the plague sidelined me going through this story, which I like a lot, but I wrote it from my head directly to the page. This means it’s a godforsaken mess. I need to get to it, and that is going to delay my newsletter. It’ll be next month, okay?
The freebie first book of the series is dropping in ranking on Amazon, but I think it’s doing quite well for what it is. What’s good is that the other books in the series, the ones I make money on, are picking up sales, as planned.
I have new covers for my Eastman series and it is being re-edited! UPDATE:I wrote a new post on editing and decided it was better to combine it with this post.
I wanted to get my e-books up on the major online retailers by Christmas. To do this, I rushed. I also had no money. So, I made my own covers, and went over the scans myself (why the hell all the dropped periods?). I was cross-eyed and exhausted, but the books were posted and I was mostly satisfied with them. (These books were published by Harlequin).
But now, that I have the money to invest in professional editing and more professional covers (a subjective judgment), I’m doing it.
The process is just starting and will probably take several months to get all the books done. I am stunned at what I missed, but anybody could. A writer does not an editor make. It’s a separate skill. Often, I see what I expect/want to see, not what is really there. Our brains outrun our eyes.
The editing is costing me a frickin’ fortune (and that is with a generous price break and payment arrangements out of the kindness of their heart-thank you), but I’m sure it’ll be worth every penny.
Self-published authors should really think about making an investment in their work in this way.
I have been reading and buying more IR romance, and occasionally I’m horrified at the amount of errors. In one instance, although I felt the story had promise, I simply couldn’t get through it, solely because of the errors. Even books that I liked and would recommend are riddled with errors. These books are being priced higher and higher. IMO, authors should reinvest their earnings back into their books, especially if they didn’t have the money at first–if they want to appeal to romance readers across the board and be taken seriously.
Take the time and money to reinvest in your work. In my opinion, it’s necessary to break out to the next level.
Updated: Seeking reviews while black
Publisher’s Weekly was using special black reviewers for commercial black fiction (not sure if they still are). I can’t really criticize them for this practice. They were trying to be fair. It used to freak me out when romance review sites would look for special Negro reviewers to review black romance, but I have to admit that is better than unfair or biased reviews–or even the appearance of them.
I doubt if Nora Roberts or any other majority romance author considers sending books to RAWSistaz for review
Should black authors writing black characters avoid nonblack reviewers? Maybe so. Those black reviewers are different simply because they read a lot of books by black authors writing mostly black characters while nonblack reviewers rarely do. Black characters aren’t going to faze them, nor will they have an unconscious assumption of inferiority. They’re familiar with the type of book, the imprint, and maybe even your body of work (the same advantages those other authors have out of the gate). Reviews are trying enough, so going in without a starting disadvantage is often a good idea. I recommend RAWSistaz and APOOO. There are some others. There are a growing number of sites that review interracial romances with black heroines. I only wish there were more black review venues.
Majority reviewers
Or a black genre author can send their book out to majority reviewers (readers in their genre, but who seldom read black authors writing black characters).
Why?
This scenario hasn’t happened for any black romance author in the almost twenty years black romance has existed, so I suspect it isn’t possible–but if buzz builds about a romance by a black author with black characters in majority romance circles enough so that majority romance readers actually buy that romance–that would be beyond profitable for the author in terms of sales and career. Maybe the gamble is worth it. Sorta like winning the lottery.
Maybe the odds would be better in other genres, I wouldn’t know, but are a loooooong shot in romance, no matter how high the quality of your book, once it gets that AA classification. That has never stopped folks from buying lottery tickets before.
What can go wrong
When I was a raw newbie, I had no idea of how things were done and mistakenly requested a review from AAR, a place no black authors had ever dared venture at that time (1998). The review of that book stated the book and and characters are too lily-white or not black enough (yes, those exact words were written, but the text of the review–not the grade–has since been changed). Fifteen years later, I doubt if a black romance author would get any review like that nowadays. More likely, your book might not reviewed on the same basis as a type of book or author they’re more familiar–the same as a reader that usually reviews IR or black romance probably wouldn’t give Loretta Chase the same love she’s used to receiving from reviewers who like her type of books and characters.
So, what can go wrong is your review sucks.
What if that happens?
Maybe your book does suck. If you wrote it and put it out there, you really can’t tell. Or maybe the reviewer does have an (almost always unconscious) assumption of your books inferiority because you are black and you wrote mostly black characters. You can’t tell that either, except by what is written in the review.
If the review isn’t going on about how it didn’t meet the reader’s racial expectations, or it was too (race) or not (race) enough, or how different it is from the exact same type of book with no specifics, or antipathy to the characters (race) drips from the review– race isn’t written into the review. If the review is about plot, characters, and writing, as all their other reviews are and so on, it’s probably that reader’s honest evaluation and the author should suck it up.
Added: It doesn’t have to be about race.
It is much less loaded to assume it’s about reader preference.
Keep in mind some readers are quite forgiving if it’s the sort of book they want to read, especially if that sort of book isn’t widely available. Their expectations might be different and they are happy if you meet their expectations.
Added: An example, Dear Author reviewed an IR romance (which I haven’t read) that has solid reviews on Amazon and other venues. They gave it a F and dogged it.
Just sayin’, if readers who read that sort of thing like the book, a reader of that sort of thing can’t usually go wrong reading the book. Go by the reviews of readers who like that sort of book! I think Amazon readers were satisfied with the story DA gave an F to, because it met their expectations, which are clearly different from DAs expectations, right or wrong.
If a reviewer who rarely reviews that sort of book, and mostly reads other sorts of books…and that reviewer doesn’t like the book–readers who like what she likes should probably avoid it, because they probably won’t like it either.
Preferences are a powerful thing. I read a couple of books by a historical romance author that the majority romance review sites squeee over and routinely give As or their highest ratings. The book doesn’t have the sort of characters I prefer, in fact, I have a bit of disdain for those type of characters. I’m sure I failed to get into the story the way a reader into those sort of characters would. So, I saw all sorts of flaws never mentioned in the reviews. It was to the point I wondered what all those majority romance reviewers were smoking. I see this happen with authors popular with them, also. This will happen with any reviewer and any review site, it’s human nature.
Readers who want to read certain types of books and heavily invest in them, rarely visit sites that rarely or infrequently review the books they prefer. So if you get a bad review from a site that doesn’t often review your sort of books, you’ve only wasted your money on a losing lottery ticket. Look at the bright side, and look for a quote you can use. Or in the worst case, can make fun of (privately).
Taboos
For chrissakes, don’t say anything about a suckish review, and don’t send your buds over there to say anything either.
Saying anything (negative), even about a review that’s written in black and white to be clearly racist (exceedingly rare nowadays), will have huge negative backlash. 1) Majority Americans usually can’t tolerate blacks speaking about racism, and doing so is almost always unwise. 2) It’s not tolerated for authors to voice their opinion about a negative review, and doing so is almost always unwise.
In sum, for a black niche author, especially in genre fiction, seeking reviews can be fraught. Should we stay safe with the fewer reviewers familiar with the sort of book you specifically write, including the race of the characters and author, where you know we’ll be judged on the content of our books (as majority authors have the privilege), or should we take our chances and gamble on that lottery ticket?
One thing is sure though, silence is golden in the case of a sucky review.
ADDED: (Possibly coming: A post on Talking White or why grammar that isn’t standard can read authentic–if I decide I have the stomach to tackle the topic).
At Last, Etta
She’s gone on home. Here, she’s singing my favorite song of hers.
At Least Authors Don’t Act This Badly Over Reviews
Yet.
A small business owner of a wine store publicly called this woman a drug-addicted prostitute over a bad Yelp review, and even started a blog in her name to diss her more over the one star review. The business owner’s first name is Krunch, but I guess that’s not an excuse. LINK
The reviewer had to get a lawyer to get the blog taken down. This is where I chortled…
Kretschmar called Groark’s lawyer, Nov. 21, 2011 and said he would remove his posting if the reviewer would remove her Yelp review of Bottled Grapes.
Heh. But I don’t think it worked.
I’m not going to rage against recent authorial bad review behavior as some others authors are doing (and of course, the reviewers and their reader-followers are in a shark feeding frenzy). A lot of the authors who get publicly upset end up getting chewed up and spat out. It’s unwise to ever do more than perhaps distribute unflattering photos of said reviewer to your (very close) friends and family. Getting all into other’s opinion of your writing is disastrous. All you can do is please yourself and hope others will like what you do. It’s best not to invest too much emotion in other’s opinion of your work. Confident authors, while always striving to improve and accepting constructive critism, merely shake their heads over the pathetic one-star reviewers lack of insight, intelligence, or obvious inebriation, instead of getting mad or getting even.
But I have to admit all the review hubbub and outrage is interesting. Break out the popcorn, pull up a chair, and Krunch away.
Joe Konrath Got Cash
He said he made 100K in three weeks at Amazon alone off his e-books. Good for him. The following video is in his honor (he got cash). Language NSFW. (I got cash in fuck you quantities)
He’s on some sort of beer diet where he drinks beer and eats no food. He’s still alive, but he sure seems woozy. Why, Joe? You got cash. Go get yourself a steak.
Heart’s Desire won’t be free forever
Follow Me On The Web!
My Tweets
-
monica jackson: How Readers Will Read http://t.co/8dh3O4Sn
-
monica jackson: WTF Sheepses? An apt illustration. http://t.co/aAbqLEaj
-
monica jackson: How to avoid screwing around (figuratively) when working at home:http://t.co/bdlJKWsC #amwriting