To Each Their Own

I want to share my experiences with two authors I have met on what I lovingly call the “author circuit”.  The first I met last year at the Irish Book and Music Celebration in Chicago.  He and his wife drove all the way from New Jersey.  He is an independent author and at that time offered two historical fiction books.  He’s a retired professional who decided to explore his wife’s Irish family history and his own Irish family history in America.  His wife’s grandfather climbed the political ladder like many Irish Americans in eastern cities and became the mayor of Pittsburg.  He claimed to write historical fiction but it was closer to historical docudrama since the book included pictures from family albums.

Based on that books success he wrote a second book about his own family’s journey to America and he used the same format as the first book since that had been successful.  The second book was not as well received as the book about his family.  The book about his wife’s family had name recognition and a well defined readership in Pittsburg at least.

When we met the New Jersey couple they were spending their summer crisscrossing America participating in a variety of Irish themed events.  He was very aggressive about selling.  Our tables were directly across from each other and as people looked at my book he would walk up to them and ask if they were interested in reading a story about Irish family history in America.  His wife was noticeably embarrassed with his assertiveness and I had to ask him to politely return to his table.  His next strategy was to stand in front of his table and try to engage people in conversation as soon as they left my table.

He didn’t get it.  People didn’t want to be attacked; they wanted to browse like in a bookstore or library.  I don’t think he sold more than 5 books all weekend and he didn’t understand why.

I met him again at the Milwaukee Irish Fest this year.  He didn’t remember my name.  A tent was set aside for book sales.  He stood outside the tent in +90 degree humid weather handing out a blurb about each of his books to anyone that walked by.  I tried to engage him in conversation.  He spat out a few sentences as he handed out his flier to the ill prepared passersby.  He still doesn’t get it.  He did teach me a lesson about how to not be “in your face” book promoting/selling.

Recently I attended an author presentation at a local independent bookstore.  The author was the brother of a friend of mine.  He’s a policeman in an average size California town and has written his debut police crime mystery, has an agent and was published by an imprint of McMillan.  His agent secured a two book deal for him and his second book is scheduled to be published in February 2016.  The format was to have a local journalist, recently fired from the newspaper, interview the author.  The questions centered on the author’s childhood history in Wisconsin and the Wisconsin setting for most of the novel.  The interviewer didn’t want to discuss the plot of the book, but did generally discuss three of the main characters in the book.  The author was asked if he considered independent publishing and he said he never considered it because he was focused on commercial fiction.  He also related how he had no voice in determining the title of his books, he was given a non-negotiable schedule to turn in the draft of the second book and the editing was done for him.  He is determined to be a commercial success.

I felt sorry for him because both the interviewer and the audience were not interested in the book but only interested in his life as a cop.  He did read a few paragraphs from the prologue to his book and it should have hooked a few in the audience.  His hardcover book sells for $26 which I find very expensive for a debut author.  Unless you are a true crime story zealot that is too much money for a book.  The next day I saw him and he wouldn’t reveal how many books had been sold.

His path was to be a commercial novelist, in a very specific genre that he has credibility for because he’s a cop.  He doesn’t need to spend time researching the details and he admitted that he fictionalized his own experiences. 

He has given up creative control of his writing in exchange for commercial success.  He never talked about having readers – just selling books.

Talking with him reinforced my decision to be an independent author.  I retain total creative control of my work.  I want to have a relationship with my readers.  My life as an author has opened many unexpected doors including my own radio show interviewing local authors, leading two book groups, working with a team of teachers to teach writing skills to fourth graders and many author events.    

So, to each their own.