Of Blood and Blackwater - A Review

Author: T. C. Heffernan
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-4259-3445-3
Pages: 416

Gareth McKenna, a seasoned Ethnobotanist, is plagued by nightmares that recall the time he spent in the Amazon with an indigenous tribe. Moreover, McKenna soon discovers that the nightmares form an eerie link to a series of ghastly murders that occurred in parts of Portland. This bit of detail about his time in the Amazon not only ties into the main plot, it also eventually ties McKenna to the actual murders—after a curare-tipped dart is recovered at a crime scene bearing fingerprints that match his. Relying on the dreams, which, interestingly enough, are the only leads available to him, McKenna sets about discovering the identity of the real killer, who we soon learn has his sights set on McKenna’s family.

Of Blood and Blackwater was both easier to digest and much more enjoyable than some of the offerings from the major publishing houses out there. One book that comes to mind that I tried recently, to lend a loose comparison, is Day of Reckoning, a Jack Higgins dud that acts as a definite chink in the armor of the former literary knight, where thrillers are concerned. While I couldn’t stomach Higgins’s book, which was plagued with mediocre writing, unbelievable characters, and a nonsensical plot—this from a major publisher, need I remind you—I found Of Blood and Blackwater to be both an engaging and thoughtful thriller. Heffernan’s style is fluid, and at times he uses clever language to paint his imagery.

His characters are also drawn effectively enough, enabling a reader to care for them somewhat, but in books like this, plot, more so than anything else, is the driving force of the narrative. Having said that, there are clearly two separate storylines in this book, and for a considerable length of it, they are only loosely associated. They only barely coalesce when we near the climax and subsequent dénouement. This in turn almost destroys the entire narrative balance . . . almost. What essentially saves the story, and covers the cracks in the book’s structure, are the individual scenes that ramp up the suspense. These also keep the reader reading. But aside from this, I could tell that a first-time writer was positioned at the controls of this familiar theme park ride. Have I seen worse from traditionally published authors? Yes. This is why Heffernan gets a passing grade. Overall, Of Blood and Blackwater is a worthy read, particularly because of the writer’s expressive style. The language in this book is more than passable; it almost evokes a certain power. But the author will have to learn how to string the threads of his plots more intricately; something that time and practice will eventually bring about.

There are also several niggling errors in the book, such as the possessive slip up on page 14: “How’s he’s targeting these women. . . .” Commas fall outside closing quotation marks. Typographical errors crop up here and there. The apostrophe in the colloquial contraction of the pronoun them is facing the wrong way. And, to use an idiomatic phrase, I definitely took a dislike to the jagged right margins in the book—because of this the work struck me as half novel, half manuscript. Another thing the author failed to pay attention to is corporate branding, as some company names that appear in the text are written incorrectly: amazon, instead of Amazon; e-bay, instead of eBay. Even Higgins’s publisher wouldn’t have let these errors slip through the crack, small as they may seem.

Heffernan, despite the shortcomings of his debut effort, is still one to watch. I wager that his second book will grace us with a tighter plot and a sharper narrative voice, and I hope he is crafting that future title as I write this.

The Thinking Blogger Award

Charles Sheehan-Miles has graced POD Critic with the Thinking Blogger Award, and I am honored, to say the least. Thank you for the nod.

In keeping with the rules, I will in turn bestow upon the following five blogs this prestigious award:

POD-dy Mouth

While it is presented posthumously, this now defunct site deserves the award for the sheer volume of information and insight offered on all things print-on-demand. Definitely worth reading if you are interested in quality self-published and micropress offerings that exist under the radar.

Lowebrow

An elegant tapestry of musings from an intellectual writer.

Tre Gwernin

Where a gifted author expands upon the world presented in her debut novel—that being medieval Welsh civilization—with a focus on the art of Bardic storytelling.

Grumpy Old Bookman

Publishing insight from a writer and reader living across the pond; and the information on his site amounts to a veritable encyclopedia.

Nathan Bransford

The views of an enlightened literary agent.

Happy reading!

More Circumspection

In the future, that is, when I decide to open up the submissions again, I will be much more circumspect in my choice of books, and will only purposefully accept a marginal amount of books that I feel are substandard. The reason for this: it is taxing to vet books that require a great deal of work yet. That is why there is a buffer or filtration system (which usually comes in the person of a lowly assistant) set up at literary agencies and publishing companies.

I accept substandard books for one important reason: by knowing what not to do, one can avoid doing the wrong thing. I point out flaws in book design (with a greater focus on the interior), writing, and editing, so that writers and publishers can raise the standard of their publications by applying the advice found in my reviews. To my knowledge, no POD reviewer before me has used this approach as part of their review method.

Now, if your book is rejected by me, that doesn’t automatically mean that I view it as substandard; I probably met my quota of similar books already in queue, or I may not be interested in your book for other reasons, despite its quality. Whatever the case, I will be more circumspect, meaning it will be a little harder for books to enter the queue. This will also allow me to keep up with submissions. What’s more, I’ll probably be trying something new with regard to submissions, creating a window, perhaps as long as a week, tops, where authors and publishers may submit material for a given month. That is, June submissions, let’s say, will only be accepted during the first week of June; submissions for subsequent months would be treated likewise.

In addition to my increased circumspection, I will also temper my enthusiasm somewhat, as that tends to harden my view of a given work, especially when that work doesn’t perform in accordance with my expectations.

Avid Readers Wanted!

I’ve been pondering a few things with regard to this blog, and the one thing that concerns me most is readership. I know that a few POD reviewers out there have expressed thoughts along a similar line, such as the fear that their blog would continue to attract more writers than readers. I like the fact that a lot of writers are attracted to this blog, but I would like to attract avid readers as well; people who take to books like fish to water, or some such analogy. While it’s well and good that your book is read and reviewed on a particular blog, what’s the point if only one or two people are going to drop by with the intention of actually searching out a book to purchase and read—and let’s not forget the two writers who will find your book to their liking based on the stellar review it receives.

I am constantly publicizing this blog, in one way or another, but attracting readers is proving to be a little difficult. Attracting writers is simple enough; they flock like beetles to dung, irrespective of my publicity efforts. (Yes, I just compared this blog to dung!) Now I realize that sometimes things don’t always go as planned, but that’s not always bad, because there’s the chance they may go better than planned. Bear in mind, I’m not saying that I planned anything where reaching a certain number of readers is concerned, but I was hoping, at the very least, to attract a good amount.

I recently completed something that will reach 2,200 writers—which I’ll go into more in the future—and this, to me, is further proof that this blog is taking on a life of its own, somewhat, and heading in a direction that I wasn’t entirely aiming for, though I still hold the reins, you see (this says he without the slightest conviction). Therefore, if it so happens that a throng of writers decides to hang out here and glorify the place with their collective presence, trading barbs (forbid!) or congratulations galore, while I dispense more sage advice, and commend you on your brilliant book—or else scratch my head while I posit the question: “How many lines of coke did you snort before you pounded out this senseless drivel and tried to pawn it off as a novel?”—then so be it.

I will still make more attempts to reach avid readers, but I can’t be expected to do this alone. It will take a collective effort, on the part of my fellow reviewers, as well as you writers out there. I figure I’ll eventually reach more readers as the blog receives more and more recognition from various notable sources. Till then, we’ll keep plugging away at it.

Music to Write By

Kerouac is said to have written his masterpiece, On the Road, in a mere three weeks, on a single roll of telegraph paper at that, so he wouldn’t have to interrupt his flow by the obligatory act of changing paper. Beat legend has it that he wrote the book while seated at a kitchen table in his apartment on West 20^th Street right here in New York, in a spontaneous, surrealistic free-flow that was propelled by pea soup, coffee, and, yes, lots of Benzedrine. What resulted is a book that became an important fixture in American literature. My former mentor introduced me to Kerouac by having me read that book, and a new world was immediately opened to me; one that I have never left.

Raymond Chandler, on the other hand—among my favorite writers of all time—is said to have written the Oscar-nominated screenplay for The Blue Dahlia in a haze of drunkenness, and would often be found passed out at his table. The film turned out all right, but for a film noir entry it pales in comparison to far superior efforts, such as Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past—hands down, my favorite noir. (Oh, I could go on about classic films forever.) Chandler’s novels are quite another matter, however, as those have gone down in history as important hard-boiled fare, in effect both broadening the scope of the genre and cementing it—written under the influence or not.

There are many other stories one could relate about writers who relied on one form of substance or another to fuel their creativity, but I’ll leave those to you. Rather than rely on drugs and alcohol, however, writers could derive inspiration from far less abusive mediums. One that interests me most is music. Though he was a religious skeptic, the late great Kurt Vonnegut wrote in his final collection of essays, A Man Without a Country, that “if I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: ‘The only proof he needed for the existence of God was music.’ ” He also claimed that music aided him during times of tragedy.

I don’t think there needs to be a treatise on the benefits and effects of music (effects both ill and good); we are all of us familiar with its power, having fallen under it at one point or another in our lives. And as far as the entertainment industry is concerned—be it theater, anything associated with the nightlife, and even film and television—music is as much a staple as the very people involved. Try to imagine a film without a score, or a television program that opens or closes without a theme song (well, nowadays, there’s probably just such a thing). Music is integral when it comes to any form of entertainment. I think this should apply even at the inception of your creative work—your novel—from the concept stage. Beyond that, a choice song might inspire you to get past that rough patch in your story, or to visualize a scene more fully; it might help you to beef up the tension or highlight the conflict in your book; but barring all of that, it may very well just set you in the mood to write, giving you the proper state of mind and what have you, after which you can cut the power on your CD player.

I remember watching Turner Classic Movies a few years back, and they were running a promo for their 31 Days of Oscar, where they featured a slew of films that won (or I believe were nominated for) Academy Awards. It was probably a thirty second spot, but it was quite effective. And the one reason I responded so positively to it was because of that hypnotic contemporary song that played in the background, against images of Betty Davis, Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, Katherine Hepburn, Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, and so many others, moving in striking achromatic brilliance. I watched the month-long tribute to the Oscar-worthy classics, even though I’d seen many of the films before. That is how powerful the promo was; how effective—and all because of the song, working in unison with the unforgettable moving images of Tinsel Town’s finest. And like the lyrics from that song—Daylight Robbery, performed by Essex native Imogen Heap—when I think back on those films, and that promo, “It gets me right here . . . every time.”

New Member of the De Facto POD Review Ring

Having demonstrated through various posts what a POD reviewer is made of, The PODler has been added to the De Facto POD Review Ring. And I think that will do it for the Ring, for the moment at least. With the addition of The PODler, who seems to be improving with each post, there is truly a diverse and unique mix of review options available to the self-published author or micropress employing print-on-demand. I urge you to take advantage of this rare opportunity, as writers and publishers, and query the members of the De Facto POD Review Ring while they are yet actively posting.

Below are the current members of this unofficial club—de facto by my establishing it on this blog.

Hey, Whatcha Doin’?

I’m going to use this post to let some or most of you have your say. I’d like to know what you writers out there are up to right now. What projects are on the horizon, and what can I expect to see from you either this year or next?—POD projects, of course. Feel free to link to websites that fully showcase or tease your projects. I want to know about the next novel in your trilogy or series; the next play you’re trying to get to the stage (before the POD book of the play hits the cyber stands); the next short story collection or anthology you’re contributing to . . . I want to hear it all.

Don’t be bashful.

Some of the books I have in queue (and am steadily unloading via reviews) are really raising the bar, with quality book design and writing; and there are a few of them I can’t wait to get to. But I want to hear from as many of you as are willing to post a comment on your planned project. So publicize!

Out With the Old, In With the New

Over the weekend, Preditors & Editors sent me a .GIF image in relation to my new “recommended” status on their site. The image they submitted wasn’t quite up to snuff as far as my site colors are concerned, so I did a little tweaking. Lo and behold, the new image, the one I redesigned, will be used by them from time to time, with my permission, of course. Naturally, since I like to be original, a third design was necessary. It appears in my sidebar.

POD Critic, doing all that we can . . . for the industry!

Twelve Blackfeet Stories - A Review

Author: Mary Scriver
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 978-1-8472-8453-2
Pages: 100

The tales in Twelve Blackfeet Stories are only interesting up to a point, and when reading them, one will find oneself straddling the fence of boredom and excitement. This conclusion isn’t based on the subject matter, because I have read books on Native Americans and have found myself completely engrossed—riveted, if you will—by the events that unfolded concerning early tribes. It is the way the author delivers these tales that is at issue here, as she sometimes uses an irregular narrative form that leaves a reader scrambling to find cohesiveness. Additionally, the stories, while loosely associated, are hardly linear.

There are moments of inspiration, however. The first story, Dogwoman, written in a smooth and inviting style—for the most part—touches on important and ancient themes, such as the interrelation between man and beast and earth, and the delicate balance that exists between them. But the story itself—which isn’t entirely concerned with that theme, but rather with a dog-loving woman’s hatred of imported horses—lacks a few ingredients that would have made for a more compelling stew.

The second story bears a similar tint, giving us a rare and inspired moment between a father and daughter before charging headlong into an intermittent back-story that almost loses us—to say nothing of the main narrative. That said, I really like Scriver’s writing. But while she paints scenes like a master artist, sans an actual canvas, her stories aren’t necessarily captivating—they are interesting at times, though, and they provide incredible insight into the lives of the Amskapi Pikuni people.

A great sense of importance emanates from the pages of the book, as though Scriver were attempting to capture the moments of these individuals and hold them in a literary time capsule for future generations to enjoy. I get that. I also get her attempt to immortalize these souls by delivering something offbeat; something that would stick in a reader’s mind, and leave them transfixed for its sheer uniqueness. The work does achieve some of these goals, as its experimental nature is something to admire, but the delivery is jerky, at best.

I understand that a writer is somewhat balancing on the points of pins and needles when it comes to preserving a heritage through their work—which is equivalent to writing not only what you know, but what you love—while at the same time writing for the pleasure of their readers. Twelve Blackfeet Stories, unless you’re heavily into Native American culture, satisfies two out of three of these aims. The casual reader, therefore, may not find this collection of short stories to be quite so accessible.

If you love literature, but are not as concerned with story as with language, then Blackfeet has beautiful language to spare; the book is practically brimming with it. Additionally, the book does smooth out a bit when it crosses over into stories that feature the latter generations of the Amskapi Pikuni people, as these prove to be much more conventional in theme. But, all in all, the book is as close to a worthy read as it will come, in my view at least.

The De Facto POD Review Ring

I’ve noticed that almost all of the blogs listed in my De Facto POD Review Ring are listed on Preditors & Editors, under Promotional/Marketing Services, by their corresponding letters, and this wasn’t the case before they were a part of my De Facto Ring. All are listed except for leostableford.com. The reason for this you ask? Well he’s not posting much in the way of reviews these days, which is essentially a promotional or marketing service. I’m only bringing this up to say that this needs to be addressed, and I think P&E is justified in not linking him—though I don’t use them as a measuring stick when it comes to setting the direction of my blog. The man is an able reviewer, Leo Stableford that is, but if he doesn’t start churning out reviews, I’ll have to do a little shifting in the links department, else the Review Ring will be, well, broken.

Also, I thank P&E for bumping me up to “Recommended.” The nod does not go unnoticed.

The Future is Looking Good at POD Critic

I’ll go on record as saying I received an important email a few moments ago, from an established literary agent who has been gauging this blog, and who thinks I’m “doing a great service!” By the way, these were his final words, folks: “Oh, and if you ever find a great book that you think is screaming for an agent, I would positively love a heads up. Thanks again, and good work on your really good blog.”

You’ll probably figure out who I’m talking about before long, but for now, I’m not saying.
_____________

On a similar note, if any other literary agents or acquisitions editors out there are visiting this site from time to time in the hopes of coming across a hidden gem, kindly shoot me an email with your particular preferences, and I’d be happy to give you a heads up so you can get first dibs, so to speak. It’s the least I can do for these struggling authors, especially for the works that are most deserving.

Romance, Riches, and Restrooms: A Cautionary Tale of Ambitious Dreams and Irritable Bowels - A Review

Author: Tim Phelan
Publisher: iUniverse, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-5953-8544-7
Pages: 264

Tim Phelan’s Romance, Riches, and Restrooms treats us to something quite rare: we get to peer into the mind and life of an individual who, through this unabashed memoir, allows us to become intimately familiar with him, and his “functional” disorder. Peppered with humor and the hilarious situations experienced by the author, the book expertly demonstrates the great burden shouldered by IBS sufferers, who must daily walk a tightrope of social scrutiny that no human being should be forced to.

The author’s struggles with the disorder are penned with a rare precision that is at times enrapturing—given the level of writing—and at times as suspenseful as anything I’ve read in a good mystery. Some scenes will leave you on the edge of your seat, like the one that had me wondering whether Phelan, his bowels suddenly acting up, would end up soiling himself in the driver’s seat of a car while trapped on a highway with a gorgeous and unsuspecting blonde riding shotgun.

Then there is a scene following the one above that seems to realize Phelan’s worst fears. After heading over to the home of his date, Phelan sneaks off to a powder room to divest himself of some unwanted waste, just as his date’s parents decide to make their fateful return. Eager to meet Phelan, the parents, led by the date, attempt to locate his whereabouts, and they end up on the other side of the door to the powder room while Phelan is confined inside, trying his best to keep quiet as he daydreams about one day building the perfect noise-absorbing bathroom. Phelan then writes:

My daydream came to an abrupt end when I briefly and suddenly lost control of my sphincter. My body was hell-bent on performing for the unsuspecting audience.

A short blast echoed throughout the powder room, followed in rapid succession by several more. With acoustics that rivaled those of the Hollywood Bowl, each note, both high and low, ricocheted off the porcelain and reverberated through the adjacent amphitheater. I felt my face turn bright red. My eyes lit up like headlights.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Phelan later recalls that “[i]f the powder room had had a window, I would have crawled out and driven off into the night.” Well, it turns out Phelan’s date wasn’t in the hallway at all, nor were her parents. Phelan imagined all of that. This is a perfect illustration of the psychological ramifications IBS can have on those who suffer from it.

The book also recounts Phelan’s attempts to balance a life full of lofty career ambitions, a feat made all the more difficult by the presence of IBS. While Phelan’s early IBS symptoms don’t appear as such to him at first, he eventually begins to see something peculiar in the sudden frequency of his uncontrollable bowel movements. And after putting the pieces of the puzzle together, much like a sleuth in the aforementioned “good mystery,” Phelan senses something isn’t quite right with his innards, though he can’t put his finger on what it is exactly. Phelan eventually learns what the dysfunction is, and the way he deals with his newfound medical condition results in a refreshing literary exercise that has to be read to be appreciated.

Overall, the book makes for a highly engrossing read, and by the end of it one comes away satisfied, even enlightened. Instead of loading the material with poignant moments (one would think there would be a great deal of those in a work that deals with a disorder), Phelan delivers on humor, and I mean a considerable amount of it. But while he isn’t too concerned with poignancy—we are talking about a dysfunction of the bowels after all—his lighthearted and humorous approach is both palatable and befitting.

That said, Romance, Riches, and Restrooms is well-written, which allows for smooth absorption by any reader; it is well-edited, which raises it to the status of a professional product; and it even has a decent looking cover and interior, which gives Phelan the right to distribute this baby with a degree of self-confidence. In short, the book is an impressive contribution that is as important for its subject matter as for its entertainment value.

POD Critic Chatterbox

Located in the sidebar, you’ll find that we’ve added a new feature to POD Critic, a “chatterbox.” This new feature will allow visitors to leave casual messages for one another, and you can become familiar with the writers and readers who frequent this site. In order to leave a message, simply type your name and message in the appropriate forms and click the “Go” button. You can also input an email address or website URL to allow visitors to either contact you privately, or be directed to a website of your choice.

I hope some or most of you will use this feature and begin a dialogue with one another. This site seeks to be as interactive as possible, in order to allow you, the reader, to have a more full experience during your visit. Enjoy!

Constructive Criticism

This site does not attempt to be a workshop; I operate a little farther down the pipeline than that. Many of the books that pass through me, however, would benefit a great deal from being workshopped. Some authors are content to hear their aunt or best friend tell them that their book is great when it really isn’t, and that kind of feedback will lead to vast disappointment. What you need is the truth when you are crafting a long tale, and taking a story from concept to final draft can be daunting, even awkward. Usually a story will have to be rewritten in certain areas to strengthen plot elements, or character details. Dialogue will also need to be sharpened once character traits become set in your mind and you learn the personalities and thought patterns of your beloved players. And you won’t learn these things in the first chapter, not even with all the pre-plotting in the world. So an author having to go back and repair or beef up early chapters, and fix plot holes here and there is usually necessary. The authors who don’t do this are the ones who will see their work suffer upon close scrutiny.

The great director Howard Hawks believed that a good movie consisted of at least three good scenes and no bad ones. I have a similar thought. If someone says your book is good, they should be able to give you at least three good reasons why, or else, ignore them. The same goes for someone who says your book sucks. If they can’t give you three good reasons why, then throw their comments out the window, because it’s of no use to you. Criticism can only be constructive when it’s helpful, and if someone can’t tell you why they feel the way they do about your work, especially when you’re still busy fleshing the thing out, you can’t very well rely on their comments to strengthen the flaws that may lie here or there.

I feel the very same way about reviewers who give nothing but plot summary, sometimes five or six paragraphs of it, and then end a review with two or three lines that express what they think about a book. How is this helpful? In fact, it ends up hurting your book if you ask me, because much, if not all of the plot has been given away, and many readers won’t bother to buy a copy of a book when they already know more than just the gist and outcome of the story. Amateur reviewers are prone to do this and you should avoid them. Just as there are poor quality POD books, there are amateur POD book reviewers.

Now a review doesn’t have to be lengthy to be good, just as long as it contains something constructive, if the level of writing demands this. On the other hand, if a book is really solid and does not require constructive criticism, the points made by the reviewer should center on the reasons why they feel the book is really good—this means less plot summary, more feedback. I’ll add another point: the longer my review, chances are the more work your book needs. The very first review posted on this site is really short, but that’s a reflection on my having not read the book in its entirety, which I plainly stated. The other reviews are much longer, because the criticism mainly pointed out defects and flaws that needed to be addressed, but the reviews that receive four golden eggs must, of necessity, be shorter in length. If constructive criticism is doled out, however, it is up to you to address the flaws highlighted, and to weigh the situation and determine whether the book could stand improvement in the area(s) discussed in my review.

Legitimizing Your POD Book Review Source

I have mentioned somewhere on this site that authors and publishers employing POD methods need to stop chasing down reviewers from trade news magazines, newspapers, and literary journals, and instead “focus [their] attention and efforts on building up [their] own circle of renowned reviewers.” Well, there is no better way to do that than to publicize your favorable reviews on major online bookseller websites.

One such author, whose book was recently reviewed on this site, has done just that. Instead of having a reviewer repost a favorable review alongside those of your customers, why not vault them above your reader reviews, where they belong, in effect, further professionalizing your Product Overview page and legitimizing your review source.

Note the following:

You can clearly see that the publisher of record is Lulu.com, and this fact did not hinder the author from altering her Product Overview page by inserting a review from a pair of POD review sources (meaning you don’t have to be a micropress). All of you can—scratch that—should do the same. I will include a set of instructions that will enable you to alter your Amazon Product Overview page as well.

On Amazon.com’s Books Content Update Form, you’ll fill out your contact info, i.e., publisher name, address, email and telephone number, etc. You will also be asked to supply the ISBN of the book in question. Once done, click “Continue” and you will be taken to another screen that contains several forms. Look for the one marked Source: (e.g., Book Review Magazine, October 1, 1998).

There you will input the following: POD Critic, DATE, or your review source of choice. Another form marked Review: will follow, and there you may paste excerpts from my review of your book. Continue to the next page where you will be asked to review your descriptive content. After you’ve approved it, submit the content and it should appear online within five business days. The review will be listed on your Product Overview page (the main page) under Editorial Reviews, as seen in the image above.

For Barnes & Noble Online, simply send an email to titles(at)bn.com with the following info:

• 13-digit ISBN and book title in your subject line
• A sentence containing the info you would like to submit, e.g., “I am sending you the following review to be added to my product page for ISBN: ________ - BOOK TITLE, by AUTHOR’S NAME"
• REVIEW SOURCE HERE
  
• REVIEW HERE

And it wouldn't hurt linking to the actual review in the email, so that anyone can immediately verify it.

POD Critic Gets Best Review Ever

Well, my wife happened to sneak onto the blog yesterday, and she fired off an email to me after reading the latest book review, the post on the Special Selection seal, and the author interview, and she said she was “impressed.” I can’t tell you how much that means to me, because she is a harder critic than I am, if you can believe that.

That said, I’ll also say this: many of you, for one reason or another, seem to be in doubt as to what sex I am, so I’ll go on record as saying (in my best Austin Powers) “I’m a man, baby, yeah!”
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What I’m Currently Reading

That would be Tim Phelan’s Romance, Riches, and Restrooms. Initial impression: me likey! Look for the review of this unique literary contribution soon. Following that are these:








There are definitely more surprises in store for this blog. So stay tuned! Publicity efforts are still going forward, and we're hitting Australia like hurricane force winds (I'll explain in the coming weeks).

A Conversation With G. R. Grove

POD Critic managed to catch up with sensational author G. R. Grove, and we plied her with a few questions regarding her latest book, which was favorably reviewed on this site. You can find the review for her book here. We’ll also hear about some future projects she’s currently cooking up, along with other interesting tidbits. We do hope you enjoy.

POD Critic: Reading your book is one of the rarest experiences I've had to date, and a great one at that. Care to tell us how it all started?—and I mean both the book and the fascination with medieval Britain.

G. R. Grove: I think I may have had an early Robin Hood period, but the fascination really started with a book called The Lantern Bearers, about the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain and what came afterwards. I was taking first year Latin in high school, and our teacher brought it in to show it to us. After that I went looking for more historical novels, and found some I liked almost as much.

Storyteller, on the other hand, started in March of 1996, give or take a month—or at least that’s when I started writing it. I had just been to Wales, driving around the country by myself, staying at B&Bs, and trying to see as many standing stones, stone circles, Roman sites, museums, and castles (Welsh for preference, rather than Edwardian ones) as I could in two weeks. So when the editor of my local SCA newsletter asked for material to fill out his monthly issues, I offered to write a couple of brief travel articles about the places I’d seen. And then I thought it would be fun to do them “in persona” as a medieval Welshman, and one thing led to another. (Some of this, btw, is on my Lulu blog.)

POD Critic: So this book was a long time in the making. Your next book will be based in Scotland. Why that interests me so much is because I've been there. I went on a self-guided tour of the country, staying in B&Bs, much like yourself, and I took in Inverclyde, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Inverness in the Highlands, Stromness and Kirkwall on Orkney. But greatest of all—and my purpose for going to Scotland in the first place—is that I got to see Skara Brae, in Sandwick's Bay o' Skaill, which was well worth the trip. I learned a great deal that day. What can you reveal to us as regards the plot of the next book? Or, more simply put, what can we expect to see?

G. R. Grove: I’ve been to Skara Brae, on a late evening in early June, with the setting sun balanced on the westward sea, and the rising moon full and pale over the hills to the east, and no one there but my sister and I. It was well after closing time, so we couldn’t go inside the houses, but we could look in from above. It was a magical evening . . .

Regarding the next book, you’ll see a good bit of northern England and southern Scotland, including the 6th century vicinity of Glasgow and Edinburgh, with a few interesting side trips. Check my Amazon Listomania lists to see what I’ve been researching . I may say that I know a lot more about the Picts (or as least, various scholars’ opinions about the Picts!) than I did a year ago. You’ll also learn a lot more about Neirin, who is historically Aneirin, the poet of Y Gododdin.

POD Critic: I can’t wait to dig into that book; and I look forward to what you’ll write as regards Glasgow and Edinburgh. Sounds very exciting. I always saw Edinburgh as a sister city, of sorts, to London. By the way, the sum of my knowledge concerning the Picts is derived from the History Channel, . So I look forward to seeing what you’ll bring to the table. Now to the next question: Who is the character Gwernin based on, and why?

G. R. Grove: The short answer is that Gwernin is the character I portray in the SCA, a 6th century storyteller and bard. Most people in the SCA have a medieval persona, or at least a medieval name and nationality. Many don’t take it any farther than that. My official SCA name is Guernen Cimarguid, basically Gwernin with an earlier spelling. The SCA is not so much role-playing as learning-by-doing: in order to be respected, you need to be able to do what you claim to be. I actually do tell medieval or medieval-style stories, write and perform poetry, play a harp (the small folk harp, not the concert animal), and occasionally sing: all things a medieval Welsh bard would have done. Some of the interior stories in the book, by the way, are stories I tell myself.

The longer answer is that Gwernin started as a way for me to research—in great detail—a period and a people that interest me, and to share that information with others. In the course of this research, I have learned to speak Welsh, tell stories, perform poetry (I already wrote it), and play a harp. I have also read rather a lot of books, and long ago ran out of places to put new bookcases (I got the last one in by throwing out the television).

POD Critic: Talk about writing what you know. I figured you to be a member of the SCA; now you’ve confirmed it. Excellent! Are any of the other characters in the book inspired by anyone you know?

G. R. Grove: None that I’m aware of, though I suppose there are some composites. I did borrow Ieuan’s name from an English friend named John who was traveling with me when I visited Caerleon, but their personalities are nothing alike.

On a literary level, Taliesin shows up in a number of different author’s books, some of which I’m familiar with, and some of which (e.g., Lawhead’s books and The Mists of Avalon) I’ve deliberately avoided reading. My version of Taliesin is not much like anyone else’s that I have encountered, but it’s the one I know. You’ll see a lot more of him in the third book of the series, provisionally titled The Ash Spear.

POD Critic: Your prose style, as well as your writing on a whole, is highly polished. Your words seemed to be chosen with great care in order that your descriptions of settings and situations could be properly conveyed. What is your usual approach to writing, and in particular, writing a scene?

G. R. Grove: The “chosen with care” aspect comes partly from twenty years of writing scientific and technical reports, some of which were legal exhibits, and partly from writing poetry. Oh, and ten years’ practice as a storyteller didn’t hurt .

As for how I do it . . . I write a chapter at a time, although occasionally episodes spill over into multiple chapters. I keep a list of planned chapters—mostly just as titles—in a spreadsheet, which also lets me track dates, locations, page count, word count, etc. The title of the chapter comes first, though occasionally it will change. That and the framing paragraph at the beginning tells me where I’m going, though I don’t always know how I’ll get there. After that follows a period of activity which is difficult to describe in words—typing what appears in my mind, followed by periods of housework or gardening until the next bit appears, then more typing, repeat cycle until complete. Reread and edit, ditto. This usually happens on weekends or evenings, since I have a full-time non-literary job. I don’t do plot outlines—I found that it bored me and led to boring writing. I start with the seed, and let things grow. Sometimes I do a little pruning, but I seldom rewrite anything entirely. Rather like gardening, in fact.

POD Critic: I love this. I could see now why your characters are so fully developed, and your descriptions and scenes so vivid. On that point, which writers influenced your style most?

G. R. Grove: That’s an easy one: Rosemary Sutcliff, Mary Renault, and Ellis Peters. There are others I enjoy reading—Lindsey Davis is a big favorite right now—but those are the most influential ones. Oh, and I suppose the Jones and Jones translation of the Mabinogion, which certainly influenced the language in some of the internal stories.

POD Critic: I’ll be sure to look them up. Now, what kind of literary training have you had, formal or otherwise?

G. R. Grove: Very little in the way of formal training—I audited a short story class while I was in graduate school. That stopped me writing for several years! Possibly a couple of technical writing sessions. I’ve read a few books about writing—I particularly recommend Ursula Le Guin’s Steering the Craft. On the other hand, I have been writing—and reading—prose and poetry of one kind or another since childhood. Language has always fascinated me—at one time or another I’ve studied Latin, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Welsh, and Scots Gaelic, and am still moderately fluent in Welsh and Spanish. Currently I’m trying to pick up a little Anglo-Saxon and Old Irish to use in the next book. Unfortunately Pictish has vanished—it’s a lost language—so I’ll have to fake it there.

On other lines, I have an M.A. and twenty years experience as a geologist (whence Gwernin’s gold mining episode!) and ten years experience as an Oracle database administrator, most of it with the U. S. Forest Service. I’ve lived and worked in Puerto Rico, Texas, Missouri, California, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, and Alaska, and currently live in Denver.

POD Critic: See what I mean about writing what you know, folks? Funny that you mentioned the gold mining episode. That has to be one of the most effective, well-written portions of the book. I really felt like I was there with them, and the way you described the methods they employed, and the whole ordeal—very well done. You have truly made me a fan of your work, and I intend to follow your career closely. What are your plans for Storyteller, if any, beyond this point?

G. R. Grove: No fixed plans at the moment—like the stories, I’m making this up as I go along! Right now I’m busy with the next book. After that, we’ll see.

POD Critic: Well, it was great to hear your thoughts, and I want you to let me know the minute you land a huge deal with a big publisher, as I can’t see why that wouldn’t happen. And happy writing to you. I eagerly await the next book in your planned seven-book series.

The POD Critic Special Selection Seal

So, how exactly does one earn the Special Selection seal pictured right, you ask? Well, the answer is very simple. It will all depend on the quality of your book. Therefore, as many of these will be handed out as are deserved. And if that amounts to two books, so be it; to twenty, so be it. The seal does not involve a contest where books compete against one another for the top spot. No. The seal will be given to books that contain the things I’ve discussed on this blog. To loosely quote from one of my posts, a book has to have “everything going for it—design aspects, editing, [and] solid story elements.”

As to the question of the design aspect, while a book has to have a decent interior, it doesn’t have to have an extravagant, complicated cover, with all sorts of graphics applied. It can be very simple, so long as it is in keeping with your book’s message, or else points, in some way, to the material within. If that means that your cover will have nothing more than a title above or below the author’s name, and either an image or a few lines showing, well, it just has to work. For instance, I wouldn’t complain about a cover like this.

To earn the seal, the book also has to earn four golden eggs, and nothing less. This means it has to be “Simply Unputdownable” in my view. In other words, I have to really, really like it. This particular stipulation is actually dependent upon several factors: (1) how engaging your story is, despite the genre (2) the level of editing, and (3) the quality of writing—and I will take your prose style into special consideration.

To quote another of my posts—and this in order to give you a broader sense of what I’m looking for—consider the following:

Character development is something I tend to look for most in novels, especially when the material is character-driven, rather than plot-driven. If a story centers more on plot and action, then I will be inclined to lend greater consideration to the symmetry of the plot—whether there is a harmonious arrangement of the rudiments in the overall story; whether the story rises and falls with creative tension; and whether the author maintains a narrative and thematic balance. Be it character- or plot-driven, however, the story must be well-structured, being set inside a sturdy framework that includes a strong beginning, a captivating middle, and a satisfying end, with the usual character arcs and ebb and flow of events therein.

Well, there you have it. This is how it works, folks. So when you see a POD Critic Special Selection seal featured in a review, you’ll know why it was awarded.

Storyteller - A Review

Author: G. R. Grove
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 978-1-4303-0524-8
Pages: 252

Excellence personified! G. R. Grove spins a Welsh tale out of a surprisingly accurate grasp of life in the Middle Ages, as well as an apparent appreciation of this time period, hence her dedication to the Society for Creative Anachronism—a group, I presume, of which she is a member. The book is obviously inspired, and it exudes a high degree of intellectual and linguistic fervor that is nearly unmatched—a compliment that is hard-won, considering the company of accomplished writers, living and dead, Grove is up against.

The novel is episodic, with short, almost self-contained chapters that, taken together, make for an exquisite historical travel narrative. But bear in mind, the book is so much more than this; therefore, it cannot be categorized by a single genre type. Over the course of the novel, the details accrete, and the world we are led through—a picturesque, colorful, delightfully Celtic, and refreshingly whimsical place—unfolds like a blossoming rose in time-lapse. The dialogue too is insightful and precise, and it is written with a subtle edge that affords us a view into the minds of a set of well-drawn characters. Like Gwernin, the beloved bard in her book, Grove is a consummate storyteller, and her carefully woven prose is as ornate and intricate as the delicate, silken web of spiders. G. R. Grove, in short, is easily one of my favorite writers living today, as well as one of the best. In fact, her book is on its way to me from an online bookseller as I write this.

So much happens in the novel, and the language is so rich and detailed, that Storyteller merits multiple reads, if only to allow for the complete absorption and digestion of its many layers. But readers new to this kind of story (or material), and the unique telling of it, should acclimate without difficulty upon reading a few chapters. The one caveat is that there are several minor spelling errors sprinkled throughout the book, but that is a small thing.

At the outset of the book, we meet an old bard, the wise and experienced Gwernin, who begins to weave a tale that centers on his life as a youth. Many of young Gwernin’s encounters set the stage for the aspiring bard to spin his seemingly fanciful stories before great crowds, and sometimes within the confines of lavish courts, no less. With his friend Ieuan at his side, Gwernin is met with adventure of every kind while wandering the green hills and valleys, and idyllic countryside of sixth-century Wales. But his experiences are too varied, too comprehensive, to yield a fitting summary; therefore, I direct you to the book itself, wherein awaits a tale of tales that will regale you well into the night if you are not careful.

End of the Week Already?

What a fast week it has been in POD Critic land. Came and went just like that. Well, the weekend is upon us, and I’ve got a lot of reading to do. You authors out there have a lot of writing to do; and for the others who frequent this site, well, you can do whatever it is you do on the weekend.

I am thoroughly enjoying the book I’m currently reading, but I won’t say what it is. The review will be posted soon, and it promises to be a welcome change for this blog. Speaking of reading and reviewing, I have to say, I don’t have to like a book in order to judge its quality. I can read any book I choose, whether it’s of interest to me or not, and evaluate its worthiness. If a book is written well, and has everything going for it—design aspects, editing, solid story elements—why should I excoriate the thing solely for the sake of it being out of my reading realm? And who is to say that I won’t eventually read something that I’m not used to reading and immediately be made a fan?

What I’m saying is that I don’t always choose books based on my tastes, else this site would have a very narrow perspective, and I can’t have that. So, my choices will definitely be eclectic, and I will strive to appeal to as broad an audience as I can. For the record, the book I’m reading is right up my alley.
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On another note, congratulations to Sonya Bateman (whose pen names are, Sonja Baines and S. W. Vaughn) for finally landing an agent. I’m sure you’re beyond ecstatic right now. Your book is still in queue to be read and reviewed, but it’s doubtful you’ll want me to do either, now that you’ve arrived. *POD Critic Smiles*

Schadenfreude - A Review

Author: Olga Swan
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 978-1-8472-8566-9
Pages: 268

When you begin a novel (and I don’t care if it attempts to be literary or action-packed) you want to grab your reader’s attention immediately; and once you grab their attention—preferably with the first sentence of the first paragraph on the first page—you want the rest of your first chapter to hold their interest. The end of your first chapter must contain something that will impel a reader to turn the page; and then you’ll do a little more of what you did in the previous chapter—that is, present material that will hold interest and keep readers reading. This makes for a page-turner. And a book does not have to be action-packed to be a page-turner. The Good Earth is a page-turner, as is Lolita—two very different books that plumb great depths and offer incredible character studies.

Schadenfreude—essentially a story that recounts the travels and experiences of a Jewish man named, David Klein—fails to engage the reader early on. A great deal happens to David over the course of this novel—he survives the sinking of the Titanic; he survives life in a German prison during World War II; and, not to be outdone by those two momentous events, he even survives Depression-era New York. Sound interesting? Well, sure. Until you read it.

The story opens in 1933, when David is older—I suppose wiser—and moving about with a young son in tow. The obvious problem in the first chapter is the author’s reliance on reverie. David Klein is constantly reflecting on the past, and he frequently calls up moments from 1912 (where the story really begins, given the events of the next chapter). The way this is done makes one think that the present (1933, New York) is far less interesting than the past our protagonist is constantly dwelling on. If the first few pages of a book are focusing too heavily on past events, before a present-day story is even established, it is possible that the present-day setting and events your characters are placed in will be overshadowed, thus killing interest in the book altogether. This is the case with Schadenfreude.

This also led me to beg the question: Why didn’t the author begin this story in the past? I would have suggested that the book commence with chapter two—which does its very best to set early events in motion—but it too falters before long, giving us more reverie into David’s father’s past, as well as more information on Jewish customs than is necessary. That issue aside, chapter one, as it is, could have come much later in the story, after we’ve familiarized ourselves with some of these past events and connected with the lead character in his youth. The grown David Klein, as we see him in the first chapter, is not drawn in a manner that allows us to sympathize with him. I couldn’t have cared less if he met his demise at the end of the first chapter (come to think of it, that would have caused me to turn the page with eagerness, rather than under the pressures of commitment—after all, I did agree to read and review this thing).

Never mind the fact that the reverie in the first chapter I referred to above sweeps through time, going from 1912 to 1929, where the author unleashes a bit too much information about the stock market crash. For instance, we are informed of the exact amount of shares that were unloaded by desperate shareholders in one day (12,894,650, for those who care); however, we are given little in the way of David’s inner workings—what makes him tick. He doesn’t come to us living and breathing; but rather weak, a little despondent, and wholly uninteresting.

Too late does the book really bloom—probably a third of the way in—and by the time it does, my interest is only marginally piqued. Large portions of the book provide details that only the author seems to take interest in, and she lavishes a great deal of attention on trivial happenings—and boy does she like to trip back and forth across the fourth dimension; going in and out of the past like a deranged cuckoo bird popping in and out of the double doors of a cuckoo clock. Then there is chapter three, where we come up on “Fred, the recruitment office manager” of the White Star Line, who takes “great pride in telling David something about the shipping company’s history.” And let me tell you, this dreaded history goes on for pages; to the point where I found myself reaching for a loaded gun that wasn’t there. The simple truth is, either the author has to learn to go easy on the research, and only include what is necessary to the story without dropping anchor and unloading every little detail, or she should start writing non-fiction.

My feeling is that Olga Swan has read works by Frank McCourt, because there are traces of him in this book. In fact, Swan’s first chapter reminds me of the chapter that opens McCourt’s memoir, Tis. If only Olga Swan would crack the pages of that book again (presuming she has before), study the elements that made it work, and apply them here.

The author has a handle on the English language somewhat, but not necessarily a command of it; yet her grasp of story mechanics is quite weak. There is also very little dialogue in the book—a result of the author’s devotion to delivering a detail-ridden narrative, no doubt. (It is very important that a story be told through narrative as well as dialogue. Dialogue is action, and it builds both character and plot when used effectively.) Olga Swan submitted the continuation of this story to me on the day Schadenfreude was submitted, but I declined to commit to the second book at the time, seeing it would have been unfair to the other authors whose works were in queue. I’ll go on record as saying I have no desire to revisit these characters . . . now . . . or ever.

Getting Things Off My Chest

When a publisher (and this includes an author who self-publishes) decides to offer a book to the public—for sale, mind you—and that book doesn’t quite measure up—be it in production value or quality of writing—I have to take occasion with this. In essence, I am your intended audience’s first line of defense against the perfect bound, trade paperback, poor quality fare some people have the audacity to call “a book.”

As a critic—and this is what critics do—I review whatever is placed before me with an unflinching eye, though nothing is assigned, as I have the freedom to choose what I will. I have said before that I am not solely looking for great books; and I’ve read the comments of several people saying that I haven’t had a lot of “luck” with my choice of books lately. I have heard others say that I need to start doing what POD-dy Mouth did, and choose only the gems from among the refuse of POD offerings out there. I will definitely offer gems, but my purpose is not in alignment with POD-dy Mouth’s, nor with the reviewers listed in my De Facto POD Review Ring; my purpose is singular, and it will accomplish what I have set out for it to accomplish, or this blog won’t work.

Some have even said (and this from agents and fellow reviewers and the usual flock of bloggers) that I’m rushing in to fill the vacuum created by POD-dy Mouth’s departure. Say what you will; my intention is not to fill a vacuum. I am just doing what I know best; and in doing so, I am not attempting to emulate anyone. If you’re coming here expecting POD-dy Mouth, you’ve come to the wrong place. You’ll only get POD Critic.

Having said that, I will now say this: if you intend to submit something to me and you have even the slightest doubt in your mind as to the quality of your work, or the overall level of the material, do not submit your work to me—that is, unless you are ready to have your work dissected and thoroughly criticized. If you have thin skin, or will be sent into a despondent state that will leave you without the inspiration to continue writing should you receive a bad review, do not submit to me. I have no patience for that sort of thing anyway, and I don’t make apologies for my reviews; and I will not remove an unfavorable review because you disagree with it or feel that it will hurt your sales. Let Warner Bros. tell the circle of film critics out there to remove unfavorable reviews of bad movies released by their studio. It won’t happen.

What is more, if you’re offended by my reviews, or are hurt by the honest opinion put forth by me, and wish me to cease and desist, then you are in the wrong business. If you can’t take the criticisms of a New York editor, you won’t hack it in a business that is subject to public opinion. You are in fact opening yourself up to the public when you put up a book for sale; and certainly when you send the same book my way.

Bear all of this in mind when submitting books to me for review.

What the . . . ? Lulu Does the Impossible

Lulu.com, by the looks of it, moves a little faster than I do, because I can’t seem to keep up. I was mistakenly under the impression that the old paradigm was still in force over there (you know, all that stuff about being listed as the publisher of record being impossible once they have purchased ISBNs from Bowker and resold them to self-published authors). Well, it turns out there is a new game in town, folks; and that game has caused me to put my proverbial foot in my mouth.

Read ’em and weep—or celebrate—because Lulu really deserves a lot of props for this one. I am duly impressed. Thanks to Elmore Hammes also, who was instrumental in getting me up to speed on this little point of interest.

The following is taken from Lulu.com:

Published By You

Lulu offers the Published by You distribution service for $149.95. This new Lulu service allows you, the author, to register to become your own publisher and purchase your own unique ISBN from the official US ISBN Agency. This ISBN is directly mapped to you as the official, registered publisher. The Books In Print database and others will show your registered details as publisher.

To purchase this service, click the “Purchase a Distribution Package” link to the right of your project in your Projects List. Select the Published by You option. You will be required to complete a form with the following information before you may purchase this service.

Note: Published By You distribution service is only offered to publishers located in the United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.

[. . .]

Once the service has been purchased, Lulu will work with the US ISBN Agency to process your information. Your ISBN will be assigned within 3-4 business days.

Registration includes:

• You will be registered as the publisher.
• A single, unique ISBN which you should allocate to a single, available book title. The ISBN should never be re-used. The ISBN is the property of the registered publisher and as such is non-transferable.
• A scannable Bookland-EAN bar code placed on the back cover. (Not applicable to one-piece covers.)
• Bibliographic data on your book will be fed by Lulu to major international bibliographic databases and available to booksellers. At the booksellers’ discretion, your book may be made available for sale online or in bookstores.
• Lulu will convert your retail price into five currencies (US dollars, British pounds, Australian dollars, Euros, and Canadian dollars) to facilitate global availability and purchasing.
• A listing in a wholesaler’s catalog, giving you access to online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Again, this is truly, truly impressive on their part. And I have verified this information (too bad I didn’t do this when that nice little Lulu employee posted a comment on this site—in an attempt to give me a heads up, no doubt. Oh well, maybe next time—and there will be a next time, seeing I’m not perfect).

Seems to me like Lulu is going to have thousands of little imprints running around before long. Eat your heart out Penguin Putnam; Simon & Schuster; HarperCollins . . .

Why You Should Publish POD, and How

To lessen the confusion caused by some of my posts (and not everyone seems to be confused, just a trickle among you; an insignificant trickle at that, who are not worth my cyber ink) I must say that when I speak of the print-on-demand industry, I usually speak in terms of this side and that side; meaning print-on-demand at the self-publishing/micropress level versus big name trade publishers and university presses, etc. You’ll find that my posts are more concerned with the former.
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I’ve been approached by two authors living across the pond with questions regarding what publisher, employing print-on-demand technology, I thought would be best. I know their mutual question surrounds those publishers that would force you to apply a lot of self-publishing know-how once you’ve signed on with them and handed over a few dead Presidents; in other words, subsidy presses. Well, I lump them all in the same category and can’t recommend any in particular.

I wrote to both of these writers, saying, “In lieu of going with an established POD company [meaning a subsidy press in this case], I would suggest—and this is just based on my diligent research—that you set up your own imprint and release all of your titles from that. All that would be required is the purchase of a block of ISBNs from Bowker, filing business papers with the court, getting a tax ID number from the state (I believe this would be the same in your country) and signing up with Lightning Source, Inc. (LSI) directly. All of the POD companies are already signed to them, so you would cut out those middle men and go straight to the source of printing, which, in effect, would earn you more per title, as you wouldn’t have to share profits with anyone. Just my two cents. You’re already doing all the work [if you’re signed to a subsidy], so you’re already prepared to go it alone with LSI. That would be my advice to any serious writer who intends to publish on a regular basis.” [Emphasis added]

I make this suggestion only because I know that Lightning Source will only take serious candidates. One has to pretty much know what one is doing when signing up with them. It’s not as simple as logging onto a subsidy publisher’s website and uploading a file for publication. I would encourage everyone to learn as much as they can about publishing practices before attempting to get behind the wheel of a micropress, however. In fact, unless you have prior experience as a publisher, I wouldn’t advise that anyone start up a micropress, unless they would be truly dedicated to learning this business and applying that knowledge to their efforts.

Now I know a few employees of some of these subsidy presses have been lurking about this site, and one or two might be bold enough to posit a few heated thoughts against some of the salient points made in this post, but I suggest they do something more constructive with their time. One such employee (and I’m not saying that I know her intent, as she might have spoken in ignorance) recently posted a comment on an old post, claiming that, after purchasing an ISBN through Lulu, one has “the choice to be listed as the publisher of record for their books,” and that “two packages are actually named Published by Lulu and Published by You.” This employee maintains that the Published by You package will cause an author to be listed as the publisher of record for a given title. Don’t be fooled folks; this is not how the system works. And I have gone into it in detail on the post this person responds to. The truth is, you’ll be listed as the publisher of record on Lulu.com, but nowhere else. Mark my words on that one. [Update: Uh, on second thought, don't be so fast with your marking. I stand corrected on this particular item. See comments. And while you're at it, see this post.]

Getting back to the topic at hand, however, if an author is not willing to go it alone—designing a cover, doing a layout, managing every step of a book’s development beyond the manuscript stage, and what have you—then there is another option. Why not submit your work to any one of the various micropresses out there devoted to print-on-demand and short run printing? There are several: Velluminous Press, Bedazzled Ink Publishing Company, Hollyridge Press, to name a few. Perhaps a few employees of other micropresses out there will write me with a link to their site. And after I peruse their web pages, I may very well link a few of them in my sidebar—for the convenience of authors seeking publication, of course.

Royalties paid through these micropresses (and, yes, they pay you, even after doing most of the work) will be far greater, percentage wise, than those from large publishers, but we all know general sales of actual books and even sell-through rates aren’t nearly as high—but that depends on the book, as well as what might seem like sheer luck in some cases, as some POD books have sold far more that many from midlist authors. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about associated expenses, from design to editing, as this would be handled in-house. So, if you’re thinking of going with a subsidy, I’d advise that you forego that idea and opt for submitting your work to a few indie micropresses instead. If your book is worthy, they’ll bite; if not, then maybe you should try polishing it some more, instead of plugging it through the subsidy system, which pretty much accepts everything—in effect, adding to the deluge of bad books.

In my view, subsidy presses are good for a few things, and publishing personal materials is one of them. Say you wanted to give a journal a more professional look, or a family photo book, or whatever else you can think of that would fall into this category. What I’m saying is this: unless you’re a seasoned writer with a good understanding of standard publishing practices, I would only recommend subsidy presses for books or materials that will not see wide or global circulation, or distribution, which would require the purchase of an ISBN. For any other reason, I would say: submit your works to any one of the various micropresses out there employing POD technology and are currently open to submissions—of course you’ll only do so after careful scrutiny.

Another exception I would make is this: if you feel that there isn’t a micropress out there that would be a good fit for your work—perhaps you wanted to publish a book recounting your unique travel experiences, for instance; how you became so ingrained in a particular culture that you ended up sacrificing a goat in Bahrain, or eating Tibetan yak blood cubes—then maybe you would consider Lulu (or the subsidy of your choice) because starting up a press solely on the strength of a book like this might not be a wise move.

I review books by authors who have published through various subsidy presses, and, many times, it really shows. That is not to say that the quality of the books from all of the micropresses fares better; Breakneck Books, for instance, released a pair of books with a slew of errors showing (way more than the norm, in fact). I chalk that up to inexperience. According to news on their website, however, they’ve since hired a new lead editor; one they are placing considerable faith in. This, to me, is a sign of growth, and they are obviously on a learning curve, which is good.

The publishing industry is extremely crowded; so much so that, despite the quality of your work, landing an agent is a lot like winning the lottery these days. And after landing an agent, a plethora of hoops have to be jumped through by that agent and various editors of whatever house your book is sent to before it is even greenlit by the top brass—if it ever is. Say you’ve been sending out queries and submissions for the past five years—without fail—you may tell yourself: “I could continue doing the query and submission rounds,” but deep down you might feel like your window of opportunity is shrinking; and your material is dating by the millisecond. Does that mean that the highly polished, meticulously edited, thoroughly workshopped book you hold in hand doesn’t deserve to see print? I think not!

This would be a good reason to go POD. In closing, however, I must say this: if you’re (1) convinced you have a great product; and (2) you really, really know what you’re doing, then, by all means, do whatever you want: start your own press, publish through a subsidy, or submit your work to a micropress. You, after all, have the final say.

The Mars Run - A Review

Author: Chris Gerrib
Publisher: Lulu Press, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-4116-9973-1
Pages: 187

The Mars Run commences with a gripping scene that sets the tone for the rest of the book, and the reader is immediately thrust into a futuristic world that is realized through a solid prose style. A simple training exercise—a Damage Control drill carried out inside a vacuum chamber—goes horribly awry, claiming the life of a promising young trainee, Raj Vajpayee, of the United States Merchant Astronaut Academy. Fingers point in one direction concerning the reason for Raj’s sudden death: his girlfriend, Janet Pilgrim. Pilgrim is a trainee herself, and was paired with Raj during the unfortunate exercise. But despite a pending coroner’s inquest—the results of which might spell the end of her career plans—the incident proves to be the least of Pilgrim’s troubles before all is said and done.

Pilgrim’s father and grandfather, working in tandem, managed to squander the family’s life savings (what little of it there was) in a bad investment deal—this included a considerable portion of the money that was in Pilgrim’s trust fund. College, therefore, would have to take a back seat. After wasting a few precious moments in an Army recruiting station, in a futile attempt to find a way to earn money for her higher learning, Pilgrim later seeks work. A generous sponsor enlists Pilgrim as a crewmember on one of his company ships—what turns out to be an old commercial freighter—and she is soon barreling through space on a six-month routine Mars run.

Before long, danger appears in the form of pirates, who—as is common with cutthroat pirates featured in space operas such as this one—leave none of the freighter crew alive, save for Pilgrim herself. She is forced to join their ranks, following a crucial scene in which she subjects herself to the unthinkable—this in a desperate bid to save her life. From here on out, the book takes a sharp turn and the action is eventually ratcheted up. Our heroine even manages to settle a few scores as the book races to a thrilling conclusion.

The Mars Run isn’t concerned so much with action as with the intricate details of an ambitious young woman with big dreams. By the end of the book, Chris Gerrib leaves us with a heroine we’ve come to know through and through, though she isn't quite fully fleshed. Her triumphs and her sufferings, however, are all etched in the reader’s mind by the story’s end, and that is how it should be.

Gerrib also has a way of painting vivid scenes; and the book is full of settings that are colorful and clearly defined, within which many of his supporting characters move about and have their being, a few of them practically brimming with life. Moreover, Gerrib leaves nothing to chance when it comes to laying down his descriptions, which he seems to accomplish with an expert hand. Consider the following:

The Windy City was a GR-30B Hercules, and had first flown in 2039. It was a “fore and aft” ship, which meant that it traveled in the direction of its long axis. She was generally the shape of a long tin can with a pair of rectangular “fins” or solar power panels running lengthwise down the sides. She was just over 100 meters long, and her smooth surface was punctuated by bumps, ridges and spars wherever needed. Not designed to operate in any atmosphere, she had a wide, flat bow, and measured almost 20 meters across at her beam.

Like the action detailed on the first page, however, this book thrusts a load of errors at you early on, and Gerrib keeps them coming throughout the read. Take the following, from page 2, no less:

The carved wood nameplate on her desk, out of place in the plain, almost generic office, said read Alison Hill. [Emphasis added]

The author couldn’t decide which verb’s inflected form to go with, so he went with both. Other errors crop up on that very page, such as this one: “ ‘Thank you for you advice,’ I said.” Also, while there are editorial conventions that can be ignored, some must, under all circumstances, be subscribed to, especially if you’re a writer living in America, as Chris Gerrib is. One such convention is the use of the comma when associated with quotation marks: they should never fall outside of a closing one, despite the quote being a part of a clause that is your own statement. On the other hand, unlike the comma, colons and semi-colons must never fall inside a closing quote; question marks and exclamation points must fall outside of quotation marks only when they act as a clause that is part of a sentence formed from your own statement or question. Again, this is not so with the comma (and not so with the period, for that matter). Therefore, the following use of the comma—taken from page 2 of The Mars Run—is incorrect:

“Home” in this case meant the “Carlos X. Montoya Memorial Housing Unit”, on the south end of campus.

On top of all that, page 3 is numbered “123” for some strange reason (as are a number of other pages) but who am I to question the reason for this. Why I’m so bothered by the oversights is because the book is a worthy read, and in many ways it resembles a professional product. The writing is simple and fluid, for instance, which is a major plus on the part of the author, but the errors really jump out at you because of this. A few errors here and there I wouldn’t mind, but when they begin to stack up—as they do in this book—a few points, of necessity, must be shaved off to reflect that.

My one suggestion to Mr. Gerrib is to release a second edition of this book once it has been thoroughly proofread and copyedited, seeing the grammar is a bit rough in places. Fixing the page numbers wouldn’t hurt either. I stopped counting the mistakes when I got up to a certain number. This is not to say that there isn’t a solid story contained within the pages of the book; the errors just tend to distract from the read.