writing isn’t a knife fight!
I read a comment from someone arguing that it’s foolish for me as a writer to recommend books, because if someone buys another writer’s book, they’re not gonna buy my book.
That’s incorrect. This isn’t the Hunger Games – publishing isn’t a zero-sum game. That’s just not my personal opinion, either. I can prove it with math.
For example, I published 14 books last year. But I’m betting that nearly everyone who will read this reads more than 14 books – sometimes quite a bit more – in the space of a single year. For that matter, there are 15 books in the FROSTBORN series, and (so far) six books in SEVENFOLD SWORD. I published the first book in August of 2013, so it’s taken me five years to write those 21 books, and this spring someone I know read all of them in the space of a few months. Five years of writing read in three months! 🙂
Hardcore readers are the bread-and-butter of writers, and they read way faster than any one writer can write. The demand outpaces the ability of the writer to produce the books. So writers aren’t really in cutthroat competition with each other the way that, say, Amazon and Wal-Mart are. From a business perspective, that’s because the chief customers of writers can consume our product faster than we can produce it, and they’re always looking for more.
In that spirit, here’s my list of recent book recommendations!
-JM
Hmmm. I’m not so sure about that.
I’ve started numerous books of other authors that were (to me) okay, but I found myself thinking, “I’d rather just reread Ghost in the Cowl or Sky Hammer or …” and then I’d put the book aside basically bailing on that book and series which probably really did cost that author some revenue.
You’re the winner of those “knife fights” but if I hadn’t been introduced to some other authors (not by you) I might well have read more Frostborn books. They’re fine books, I just don’t like them as much as a number of other books and series. So you’re losing those “knife fights.” Of course, since I’d prefer to reread Ghosts instead of reading about Ridmark whacking yet another Orc over the head with a stick, I guess you’re kinda in a knife fight with yourself. Perhaps it’s your left hand against your right hand? 🙂
I think it’s wise to take the long view with that – I’ve had some people tell me they started FROSTBORN (or GHOSTS or CLOAK GAMES) and couldn’t get into it, and then they tried it again a few years later and something just clicked. I think that reading is something people do in different phases of their life – like they have a lot of free time for a while and read a lot, and then get a new job or a new baby or something and don’t have much time to read, but start up again a few years later when things settle down. I suspect reading tastes operate on something of a similar cycle. So a book that doesn’t click with someone now might click with them later.
But what would clearly be overwhelmingly beneficial for all is for you to come to agreements with other authors to recommend each others’ books. But it looks to me like you’re recommending their books unilaterally. For example, why not come to an agreement with someone like Nuttall to recommend each others’ books?
BTW, on that note, have you ever read any of Robert Crane’s Girl In The Box series? His main character, Sienna Nealon reminds me Nadia. My guess is that nearly anyone who likes reading about Sienna would also really like Nadia and vice-versa.
People keep telling me I need to read Girl In The Box, so I should check out the first book one of these days.
Well, Crane’s Sienna, your Nadia and Caina, and Nuttall’s Emily (who you recently discovered) are some of the best female characters ever written as far as I’m concerned. Intelligent, powerful, driven, mostly unstoppable, self-reliant, yet somewhat flawed (and therefore human). And not part of love triangles with vampires and werewolves – in other words, the romance isn’t overdone at all.
So you know three of them. You might as well meet the 4th eventually.
The first one is in KU right now, and I am trying KU as a reader…
The first three Girl In the Box books are always permafree.
They’re very short, umm, sorta like Cloak Games books.
As some one who often reads 15 or more books a month even an author as prolific as yourself can’t keep me satisfied so I appreciate the recommendations. I have found there are a lot of very good authors who receive very little publicity and the real challenge is in finding them.
You mentioned the Kormak saga by William King in a previous post and I would highly recommend his Terrarch chronicles series. The Cloak Games series actually brought back memories of those books, it’s set in a more traditional fantasy world but there are some fire arms but it’s similar to Cloak Games in that the Elf race are invaders who fled after losing a civil war on their home world and then conquered the humans.
I see the first book is now free if any one is looking for a new book.
Christopher Nuttall has an excellent series titled Angel in the whirlwind, the Schooled in magic series is one I keep meaning to start.
Even if all I did was read and sleep for the rest of my life I wouldn’t run out of quality books to read.
Thanks! I’ve read both the TErrarch books and the Angel in the Whirlwind and enjoyed them.
If a book is good, you read it. If a book isn’t good you don’t read it. The plethora (I love that word and can’t EVER seem to find a place to use it) of good books just means you don’t have to waste time reading other people’s junk.
Also if we’re recommending authors, The Kate Daniels Series by Illonya Andrews is pretty awesome. A best selling author series but that isn’t its fault.
Although I do feel that (unless the author starts it) recommending author A’s books on an author B’s blog is kinda gauche. Kinda like going into somebody’s house and telling everyone about the awesome new pool his neighbor just put in. Rude IMO.
I figure it’s only tacky if the author or publisher himself shows up and starts promoting books.
Writing isn’t a knife fight! SO TRUE. Well said, Jonathan – you must be talking about me – I think I read all the books associated with Richard, Caina, and Mazel. I “discovered” you in March 2017. I love your strong women and that your men appreciate them. I have about a dozen favorite authors and they can’t keep up with my reading speed; my record is 4 books in 1 day. (I’m a book pusher – I got my spouse hooked!) So, Jonathan, keep ’em coming – recommendations too.
Thanks! More books coming soon!