Category: Bookish Question

What's the most recent novel you've read that has impacted you, and why?

Bookish Question #279 | What’s the most recent novel you’ve read that has impacted you? How or why?

I’ve recently finished my advance reader copy of Indigo Isle by T I Lowe. It’s not due to release until 6 June, so my review will post then.

But I can give you a few hints …

Here’s the book description:

Sonny Bates left South Carolina fifteen years ago and never looked back.

Now she’s a successful Hollywood location scout who travels the world, finding perfect places for movie shoots. Home is wherever she lands, and between her busy schedule and dealing with her boss’s demands, she has little time to think about the past . . . until her latest gig lands her a stone’s throw from everything she left behind.

Searching off the coast of Charleston for a secluded site to film a key scene, Sonny wanders onto a private barrier island and encounters its reclusive owner, known by locals as the Monster of Indigo Isle. What she finds is a man much more complex than the myth.

Once a successful New York attorney, Hudson Renfrow’s grief has exiled him to his island for several years. He spends his days alone, tending his fields of indigo, then making indigo dye―and he has no interest in serving the intrusive needs of a film company or yielding to Sonny’s determined curiosity. But when a hurricane makes landfall on the Carolina coast, stranding them together, an unlikely friendship forms between the two damaged souls. Soon the gruff exterior Hudson has long hidden behind crumbles―exposing the tender part of him that’s desperate for forgiveness and a second chance.

A story of hanging on and letting go, of redemption and reconciliation, and of a love that heals the deepest wounds, from the author of the breakout Southern fiction bestseller Under the Magnolias.

Indigo Isle is a Beauty and the Beast trope (or grumpy sunshine, if you prefer).

Now, my introverted self is obviously always down for a library and no one around to interrupt me while I read all the books (do I hear an Amen?).

What impacted me was the way the novel subtly reminded me that people are not always what they seem. While the scarred Mr. Beast had obvious external scars that attested to some kind of troubled past, the Instagram-perfect Ms. Sunshine also had scars … scars she kept hidden under a sunny personality and more makeup than a high school prom.

It’s a good reminder that things are not always what they seem, and everyone has scars,

What about you? What’s the most recent novel you’ve read that has impacted you, and why?

What are the benefits of joining an author’s street team?

Bookish Question #278 | What are the benefits of joining an author’s street team?

What are the benefits for readers of joining an author’s street team?

As a reader, the biggest advantage of being on an author’s street team is that you get an advance copy of their book.

There are other advantages.

Most authors will set up a Facebook group exclusively for members of their street team. The author will share their book news and promotional material for group members to share.

They will also invite group members to share their reactions, reviews, and promotions.

Some may offer a prize to the person who shares the most, or to everyone who completes a defined list of simple tasks.

Authors may also share personal news (similar to what they do in their newsletter). The best try to cultivate a sense of community, where they invite prayer requests and answer reader questions.

Most will also offer their existing street team first option at joining their next street team.

The best street teams generate a feeling of excitement within the team as books are distributed, read, and reviewed.

As a reader, what do you see as the benefits of joining an author street team?

Have you ever been on an author's street team?

Bookish Question #277 | Have you ever been on an author’s street team?

A street team (in case you’re wondering) is a team of readers who get early access to an author’s new books in return for agreeing to review the book on sites like Amazon and Goodreads, and/or for sharing about the book on their websites or social media pages.

It may be called a street team, a review team, an influencer team, or something more personal, like Jane’s Reading Friends.

Yes, I’ve been on several author street teams.

As a reader, I most enjoy getting access to review copies, and having the opportunity to get to know the author a little better based on what they share in their group.

As a writer, I appreciate the opportunity to be in a street team as a way of seeing what other authors do and how I could apply that to my own upcoming book launch … (more on that tomorrow!)

What about you? Have you ever been on an author’s street team?

Have you read books where you disliked the cover?

Bookish Question #276 | Have you read books where you disliked the book cover?

I’m sure you’ve all heard the old saying:

You can’t judge a book by the cover.

And I’m equally sure we’ve all judged books by the cover. In fact, savvy authors and publishers go to a lot of effort to design covers that will appeal to their target reader. They know we judge books by the cover, and they expect us to do so.

(I suspect the old saying dates from the time when all books were hardcovers with nothing but the title and perhaps a little gold leaf around the edges.)

If the publisher and cover designer have done their jobs well, readers will look at a cover and want to buy the book. That works in a paper environment like a real-life bookstore where the book cover (or spine) is the first thing you see.

It doesn’t work so well in an online environment which places more emphasis (in terms of space) on the book description and reviews than on the cover.

The result is that yes, I have read books where I didn’t like the cover …

Perhaps because it was already an author I wanted to read, or because I’d already been drawn in by the book description.

The other reason I might read books where I don’t like the cover is when I’m reading an older book. Cover design has trends. The older the book, the less likely the cover will follow the latest design trends … which is why authors and publishers will often republish books with new covers, to capture new readers.

For example, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers has been topping bestseller charts for close to thirty years. Here are some of the cover designs I found:

Cover images - Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

The oldest cover does look somewhat dated. The newest cover is the movie tie-in version, and I have to say it’s my least favourite.

But it’s the same book.

So yes, I have (and do) read books where I dislike the book cover … but they are typically books by authors I already know and enjoy, books I find on an online store such as Amazon, or books recommended by a friend.

In these cases, the book description is more of a selling point than the cover.

What about you? Have you read books where you disliked the book cover?

Do freebies inspire you to join an author's newsletter list?

Bookish Question #275 | Do freebies inspire you to join an author’s newsletter list?

A lot of authors offer some kind of freebie or incentive to sign up for their email list to receive their newsletter.

Do freebies inspire you to join an author’s email list?

If so, what kind of freebie do you like best?

My least favourite freebie is a download that sounds interesting or insightful but turns out to be just two or three pages of sparse text.

My favourite freebie is a novella that introduces the author’s work … or perhaps even the first novel in a series. I find this gives me a good introduction to the author’s work. Sometimes that’s good, because I’ve found a new favourite author.

Sometimes it’s less good (for the author) because I decide I don’t really gel with their style, so I unsubscribe from the newsletter. Most authors do pay an email list provider, and their monthly subscription cost is based on the number of subscribers. I figure if it costs them for me to be on their list, then I’m doing them a favour by unsubscribing if their writing isn’t for me.

The issue is that I’ve downloaded so many over the years that I’ve learned I have to make a conscious effort to read the free book as soon as I download it so I know whether I want to stay on the list, and whether I want to look out for more books from that author.

What about you? Do freebies inspire you to join an author’s email list?

If so, what kind of freebie do you like best?

How so you feel about welcome sequences when signing up to newsletters?

Bookish Question #274 | How do you feel about email welcome sequences?

When you sign up to a newsletter list, you often receive a few emails in fairly quick succession to introduce you to the author and their writing.

Newsletter marketing gurus will often call this the welcome sequence.

As a reader, the value of the welcome sequence is correlated to how much I already know about the author. If it’s an author I’ve read before and I’m joining so I don’t miss out on future books, then I sometimes feel like I don’t really need the welcome sequence … but it also doesn’t bother me.

If the newsletter is for an author I don’t know so well, then the welcome sequence is a good introduction to that author because it sets the tone for what future newsletters are going to be like. It may also provide insight into what the author’s books are like.

I generally prefer shorter welcome sequence for fiction.

Don’t drag it out forever. Instead, let me get on the regular email list so I don’t miss any of the announcements I signed up to receive.

I don’t mind longer welcome sequences for nonfiction, as long as there is a purpose e.g. the welcome sequence is actually a free email course examining some aspect of writing, editing, publishing, or marketing.

For example, my nonfiction email list (at www.christianediting.co.nz) has a two-week email course on self-editing for fiction writers, which is a combination of a freebie and a welcome sequence.

James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) has a similar welcome sequence, an 11-part course on how to build better habits that’s delivered over 30 days. He then sends a short weekly 3-2-1 email with useful quotes and ideas. Going back to last week’s it’s a newsletter I’m inspired to keep receiving because it’s short, regular, and interesting, and has an element of predictability embedded in the 3-2-1 format.

What about you?

How do you feel about the welcome email sequence you receive when signing up for an author newsletter?

What inspires you to keep subscribing to an author's newsletter?

Bookish Question #273 | What inspires you to continue receiving an author newsletter?

What inspires you to continue receiving an author newsletter? That’s not an easy question, so I’m going to turn it around and instead share what is likely to encourage me to unsubscribe from an author newsletter.

The first is if I get too many newsletters.

For obvious reasons, particularly given the state of my overflowing inbox.

The second is if the newsletters don’t have any content I find useful or interesting.

Send me too many uninteresting newsletter, and I will hit the unsubscribe button 🙂

I’m also not a fan of too-long newsletters, which is somewhat awkward, as I suspect I sometimes write too-long newsletters. It’s balance – send the newsletters often enough that no single newsletter drags on, but not so often that readers feel like they’re being spammed.

So what inspires me to continue receiving an author’s newsletter?

  • When it’s not too long
  • When they don’t come too often
  • When the content is interesting and relevant

That means some book news, but a balance between the author’s own books, what they’ve been reading (because author’s should also read),and general life news.

What do you think? What inspires you to continue receiving an author’s newsletter?

Do you subscribe to author newsletters?

Bookish Question #272 | Do you subscribe to author newsletters?

I do 🙂

I subscribe to a fair few author newsletters. I don’t actually know how many.

Some are favourite authors. Others are authors I don’t know and haven’t read, but signed up for their newsletters as part of a promotion. And there are a couple I am part of simply because I enjoy their newsletters.

I have my own author newsletter, and you can sign up below. I do need to update my sign-up freebie as it’s several years out of date …

However, I do keep subscribers up-to-date with my journey to publishing, something I haven’t yet shared on this blog, so stay tuned …

I also have a very irregular newsletter for writers, and I’ll tell you about that next week.

What about you? Do you subscribe to author newsletters?

Does knowing you will be added to author mailing lists stop you entering multi-author contests?

Bookish Question #271 | Does knowing you will be added to author mailing lists stop you entering multi-author contests?

While I am actively trying to reduce my email, knowing I will be added to author mailing lists wouldn’t stop me entering multi-author contests.

No, because modern privacy laws mean they always have to offer an easily visible Unsubscribe button, and Gmail makes it easy to block any authors silly enough to not offer that option.

(Or, to put it another way, any author who doesn’t follow the Biblical command to obey the law.)

What does stop me signing up to multi-author contests?

I’m reluctant to enter if too many of the books/authors don’t appear to be Christian fiction, especially if signing up means getting a whole lot of free books I don’t want (e.g. because I don’t read the genre, because they’re books from authors I don’t read … perhaps because they’ve spammed me before, or if they’re books I already have).

The other thing that stops me signing up to some giveaways is geography: paperback giveaways are often US-only because of the cost of posting paperbacks internationally. Even ebook giveaways may not work for non-US readers e.g. if the books are going to be gifted from Amazon.com, that cuts out any readers who can’t access Amazon’s US site because they are required to use their local site (e.g. Australia, Canada, or the UK).

What about you? Does knowing you will be added to author mailing lists stop you entering multi-author contests?

What do you like or dislike about Facebook reader groups?

Bookish Question #270 | What do you like or dislike about Facebook reader groups?

As I said last week, I have a love-loathe relationships with large multi-author Facebook groups like Inspy Romance or Avid Readers of Christian Fiction.

I love them because I get so many great recommendations (contemporary Christian romance from Inspy Romance, and all genres of Christian fiction from Avid Readers). I love the fact that you can ask for what feels like an obscure kind of book yet still get dozens of recommendations.

My wallet and my overburdened Kindle love them less, as I already have too many unread books on my Kindle (and on my bookshelf). Exhibit A: yesterday, I reviewed a book that’s been sitting on my Kindle since 2016. And that’s not the oldest unread book …

I have one other love/loathe to share:

I like Facebook groups that truly feel like a community. For example, Canadian Romantic Suspense author Darlene L Turner has built a group of readers she truly cares for, and who care for her and for each other. She will often share news or post prayer requests from group members, which I find inspiring. I always enjoy reading posts from her group.

I dislike Facebook reader groups that are all about the author: pre-order my book! Buy my book! Read my book! Review my book! The constant sell-sell-sell feels selfish in comparison to the groups which are more community-minded.

What about you? What do you like or dislike about Facebook reader groups?