Writers Benefit from Developing Loyal Readers

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for Southern Writers Magazine

Monday on her FaceBook page, Sue Grafton, author of the Kinsey Millhone mysteries posted, "An alert reader---Sarah Nicole B.---spotted a site where it would appear my books are being downloaded without charge and therefore without compensation to me. It occurred to me that others of you out there cruise the net, and I would love it if you'd let me know when you come across sites that appear suspicious. I know there are those who earnestly believe that all books should be made available to the public without charge. I'm not sure what the logic is since a free download is the equivalent of piracy if it's done without the writer’s permission or consent...and most particularly if it's done without attention to copyright laws. Please post a note to me here if you see a link that you have questions about. The legal team at my publishing house will check the source and see if something egregious is going on. Thanks!"

Hats off to Sue Grafton for acknowledging the situation, complementing the reader that reported the issue, and urging all her fans to alert her to anything that appears pirated. Clearly her publisher will actively pursue the pirates around the oceans of the Internet, to protect their product and profits that could potentially be lost. An author's work is legally protected and should be. 

School children are taught early they cannot copy someone else's work. Plagiarism will get students removed from classes if not school. More information about plagiarism can be found at http://www.plagiarism.org. Most colleges for the admission process and class work along with some high schools require work to be run through a program like Turnitin.com just for this reason. 
The point is, with all this emphasis on plagiarism, how has the world accepted that it is okay to download an author's work from questionable sites and it be okay? As Internet consumers we know trusted sites that have credibility and if in question go to the author or their publisher and ask. 

Publishing giant Simon & Schuster has a link to a piracy form if anyone suspects one of their authors has been pirated. Thereby, allowing the public to alert them which allows them to have the possibility of gaining information directly and without delay, which will only compound a loss of revenue for both the author and publisher.

Thanks has to go to the reader of Sue Grafton who questioned it and contacted the author. Ms. Grafton was unaware as was her publisher until a reader made an inquiry. Creating your tribe of loyal readers as an author certainly benefitted Sue Grafton, who unlike some best-selling authors is easily reachable on Facebook, her website and other normal social media links. 

Hopefully, this will not happen to you. However with a cultivated tribe of readers it will allow for you to immediately send out a "rescue party of readers" and elicit their help in trying to locate the faceless internet pirates. Take the time to help out a fellow author and report it to them. As authors, readers and book lovers we are all in this together. 

Has this ever happened to your books?

BANG OUT OF THE GATE With Your Writing

By Craig Faustus Buck

Bang out of the gate.  Or else.

Are you one of those readers who scan the first paragraph of a book and puts it down if it doesn't grab you?  I am.  If I'm feeling ornery, I'll give the author only one line to snag me.  So, as a writer, I make a point of trying to write openings that pop in order to avoid losing those readers who are as quick to judge as I. 

A lot of writers like to set the scene before diving into a story, but most readers aren't interested in what a character feels or how a setting looks unless they're already invested in that character or wonder about that setting.  As Elmore Leonard famously advised, "Never open a book with weather." 

I write noir.  Perhaps cozy, romance or "literature" readers have more patience than my readers, but hardboiled fans want to be grabbed by the throat and hurled into a story.  One way to do this is with a twist. 

A twisted open implies right up front, that more surprises are in store.  I like that in a story. Sue Grafton used the device to launch an empire.  Here's how she opened A is for Alibi: "My name is Kinsey Milhone.  I'm a private investigator, licensed by the state of California.  I'm thirty-two years old, twice divorced, no kids.  The day before yesterday I killed someone and the fact weighs heavily on my mind."

She lulls you with a straightforward description of a single-divorced detective, then smacks you awake with the unexpected.

Another opening tactic is the suggestive hook.  In the first paragraph of my first novel, Go Down Hard I use an image: "I look through the spyhole.  Gloria has a bottle of gin in her hand and a pair of cuffs hanging from her belt loop.  A deadly combination."

It's a soft open for a noir thriller, but doesn't Gloria pique your interest?   

Michael Connelly opened The Poet with a suggestive concept: "Death is my beat.  I make my living from it." 

How can you put that book down before you've satisfied your curiosity about the narrator?  Make readers wonder and you buy time to hook them on your story.

These are just two of a multitude of possible opening tactics, but I've run out of space.  Bottom line: hit 'em fast and hard and where they least expect it.

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Craig Faustus Buck is an L.A.-based journalist, nonfiction book author, TV writer-producer, screenwriter, short-story writer and novelist.  Among his six nonfiction books, two were #1 NYT bestsellers.  He wrote a short film that was nominated for an Oscar.  He was one of the writers on the seminal miniseries V: The Final Battle. His first noir mystery novel, Go Down Hard, will be published May 2015 by Brash Books and was first runner up for the Claymore Award at Killer Nashville.  His indie feature, Smuggling for Gandhi, is currently in preproduction.  His novella, Psycho Logic was published May 1 by Stark Raving Group and his short story, Dead End, the novella's prequel, is a current Anthony Award nominee.  http://craigfaustusbuck.com

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Twitter: @CFBuck