Month: October 2018
The Curse of 29
If we were having coffee today I’d be lamenting the curse of twenty-nine.
“What is that?” you might ask.
I’d sigh and tell you about Amazon.
Twice in the past year or so my first novel has breached the number of twenty-nine reviews. Thirty looks so cool hanging out there on a book listing.
Ah, but twice, for unknown reasons, a review has been deemed unworthy by Amazon and the counter resets to 29. The interesting thing is, it isn’t necessarily the most recent review that gets swatted away.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to have any reviews at all. It is very humbling to get any kind of feedback on one’s work. I’m even happy to have the ten reviews on my second novel and the two reviews on my cookbook. ANY number is good. I just don’t understand this seeming curse with the number twenty-nine.
There is a theory among authors, that Amazon has a mythical number of reviews where they begin to spontaneously help authors with an added marketing push. I’ve heard several supposed benchmarks for this point, anywhere from twenty-five to over a hundred. Fifty seems to be the consensus. What all this has to do with twenty-nine, I don’t know.
A fellow author, Marianne Reese, has noted a similar trend with her books — stuck at twenty-nine. What are your experiences with disappearing reviews?
Anyway, I had a good two week run this time. It felt so good.
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Thomas Fenske is a writer living in NC.
Help him beat the curse: https://thefensk.com/fever.html All reviews will be appreciated by me, even if they are rejected by Amazon. Hey, it’s on KindleUnlimited … and it’s a good time of year to read it since all the action takes place between now and New Years.
WeekendCoffee Reflections
If we were having coffee today I’d admit I didn’t have much to talk about today until I read the lead-in WeekendCoffeeShare posting from EclecticAli.
Her 80’s Mystery Party reminded me of something. I always think of my first published novel this time of year. Virtually all of the action takes place from October through December, and it is set in 1980. I liked writing in the 80s. All this fancy technology we enjoy today was still in an infant state back then; things were simpler. It is an easy era for me because, well, because I lived in it. I just have to reflect on my own experiences as I allow my characters to do whatever it is they do.
A writer can’t help but add a little autobiographical info into anything they write, but writing in the recent past allows for a bit of mundane reflection. If I wrote in, say, the 1860s, I would have to do a tremendous amount of research. Writing in the 80’s, I’ve already done that research. When my character found themselves in an ice storm in the middle of nowhere with a non-functioning heater in the car, I can draw on my experience because, yes, that happened to me. (I had one reader tell me she had to get up and put on a sweater while she was reading that section — high praise indeed). It’s what I call “writing with a slice of life.”
Anyway, it’s fall, and I am once again thinking about my novel, The Fever as the season progresses. This weekend would easily match the late-October setting in the opening of the novel. It’s an adventure and a time machine.
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Thomas Fenske is a writer living in NC. You can catch up at http://thefensk.com
Note: my fall giveaway contest continues for another week at tometender-bookblog.
October Notes
It’s Autumn and you know what that means. No, I’m not talking about fall colors or Halloween or even Thanksgiving. I’m talking about BASEBALL.
I’m a lifelong Houston Astros fan. I grew up with the team. I’ve lived in North Carolina for twenty-nine years … still a die-hard Astros fan. Last year, finally finally finally they put it all together. And here we are again. The playoffs are full of ups and downs.
Baseball is a wickedly simple game. And it is played without time limits. The irrepressible philosopher Yogi Berra said it best (and it is entirely true), “it ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
Still, the ups and downs for fans will continue until the end, so I want to share the other most memorable, yet appropriate quote about baseball, this one from the movie Bull Durham (couldn’t find any other attribute).
Sometimes you win
Sometimes you lose
Sometimes it rains.
All I can add at this point is another unattributable quote: “PLAY BALL!”
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Thomas Fenske is a writer and baseball fan living in NC.
http://thefensk.com
Fall Giveaway
If we were having coffee today I’d remind you to enter my giveaway. Yeah, I’m shamelessly using our coffee share to point it out. Well, it IS what I’ve got going on this week.
Actually, I have had one in quite a while. I recently had the opportunity to purchase several copies of my ebooks for a reduced price so I got them, basically book purchase redemption links. I got enough for three sets of all three books. Yes, they are all kindle copies. What? You don’t have a kindle? Did you know you can get a kindle reading app for just about every type of device? I even have one on my Nook (which still somehow seems so wrong).
So, mosey on over to the contest entry link and try your luck. While there you can read all about the books and even buy them if you don’t like the disappointment of not winning.
Thanks for your support. Please reblog this post to get the word out.
Enter here: https://tometender.blogspot.com/2018/10/traces-of-treasure-series-by-thomas.html
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Thomas Fenske is a writer living in NC … check him out here: http://thefensk.com
WeekendCoffee Genre Rebrand?
If we were having coffee today I might just mention cozy mysteries. Up until yesterday, I didn’t even really know what the term cozy mysteries meant. A reader asked me why I didn’t market my books as cozy mysteries. They were, she said, a pretty close match to the genre.
I’ve struggled with genre ever since I considered publishing. These ideas came to me and I worked them through a believable story arc. I polished them. Worked out the kinks. A publisher got interested. Nobody ever mentioned cozy mysteries.
I did a little research. I’ll admit, The Fever is a stretch, but still, it’s almost there. I’d call it a quirky take-off on the genre. Nobody dies after the initial hook. But the hero is an amateur sleuth of sorts and he has to work through solving his mystery, with whatever help he can find. Like I said, I guess it’s a stretch but as a lead-in to the series, it does set the stage.
Ah, but A Curse That Bites Deep fits right into the genre. I think. And the third book does too … but you’ll have to take my word on that. So, I have to wonder, have I suddenly stumbled upon something here? Sure, they might be sitting in the far left-field corner of the genre, but I think they are still in the ballpark.
If you like cozy mysteries, I honestly think you might like these books. They’re probably not quite like any other cozy mysteries you’ve read but you don’t seriously want them ALL exactly like one another, do you? The stories are comfortable and quirky and the characters and situations are down to earth and believable. Give them a try and let me know.
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Thomas Fenske is quite possibly a cozy mystery writer. http://thefensk.com
Scratching the Surface 