Blog Archives

5 Star Rating for Hallways in the Night from "The Guy Who Reviews Sports Books"

1/27/2014

I'm very proud (and humbled) to announce that Hallways in the Night earned a five out of five star review from "The Guy Who Reviews Sports Book Blog." This is a great book review blog run by Lance Smith, who specializes in reviewing sports books.

Most of Lance's reviews are non-fiction books, and if you are ever seeking some good recommendations on what to read and it pertains to sports, his site is a wonderful place to start. He has a template he uses for each book, which ensures that each review is thorough and also allows for "apples to apples comparison." He gives a star rating, an analysis of the book which some info on the plot and character, as well as his opinion on the pace of the book, whether or not he skimmed it and would he recommend the book.

Lance has a wide range of tastes so you might see a book about tennis, the Negro Baseball leagues, or a Hockey memoir. Definitely a great source for some good sports books.

For anyone who is also on Goodreads, Lance also posts his reviews and book ratings there. He posted his review of Hallways in the Night on Saturday, and it definitely made my weekend. It's always great to get your book reviewed, but to get a 5 Star rating on a novel from someone who specializes in reviewing sports books is even sweeter. What was so great about reading Lance's review was that he picked up on many of the aspects of the book which were my favorite.

Specifically, there is a post-verdict scene that was one of the toughest to write for me. In several earlier drafts of the novel, there was a different ending and this "reveal" was handled differently. Finally, after more thought and struggle than I want to think about, I came up with a scene that handled it in a different way. It's an important scene to the book in many ways, and one that the reviewer specifically identified as one he enjoyed reading.

Here is the actual direct quote that Mr. Smith put in his review:

"However, what really set this legal thriller apart from others I have read for me was that after the verdict was reached, Mackno and the district attorney Maurice Bass got on the same elevator. The conversation that took place there was an even better finale to the story than the verdict. Outstanding story that should be read by all fans of legal thrillers."

That quote really made my weekend because one of my goals in writing a legal thriller was to try and find a scene or event which would have more of an exclamation point after the trial. And, I wanted it to be a bit of a surprise. One of the things I have always enjoyed are books that have a twist or surprise at the end. Because I like them, that's what I tried to do in my own novel. So to see that a reviewer appreciated it, was truly an awesome moment for me.

I'm not going to reprint the full review here, instead, I highly recommend you click through to see the review, and more importantly, see Lance's website. I'm confident that if you bookmark it and spend some time there you will find some great reads recommended by him. Click here to go directly to The Guy Who Reviews Sports Books website.

The Aforementioned Updated Book Description

1/20/2014

I mentioned in my post yesterday that I updated my book description for Hallways in the Night based upon advice from @bookgal through Joel Friedlander's site. Below is the new description. Would love to hear any feedback you have on it and any suggestions on how it might be improved.

When a veteran cop tries to arrest baseball's home run king, one of them will end up on trial and the other will end up dead.

A routine stakeout is almost over when Dave Mackno decides to pursue a speeding Porsche. It’s a decision that will have deadly consequences because the Porsche is being driven by Remo Centrella.

There’s no way Remo is going to let himself get arrested. Not when the woman in his car has a fresh black eye. And not when he's at the tail-end of a steroid cycle that makes him feel invincible.

For Ray Manning, owner of the Atlanta Barons, the timing of the shooting couldn’t be worse. His oil company is on the verge of a financial death spiral, he's running out of cash, and his investment bankers at Cohen, Wolfe are lining up to take full advantage of his situation. He’s in desperate need of the kind of justice that only money can buy.

R.C. O’Leary has written a compelling novel with a fast-paced plot that keeps the pages turning. A legal thriller that features a mix of colorful characters, backroom dealing, and well-written action.

Hallways in the Night starts off strong and never lets up: from the initial confrontation through a courtroom showdown in which the stakes are much too high for anybody to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

All the elements necessary to make it a satisfying and enjoyable read, and plot twists that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Once begun, it’s hard to put down.

__________________________________________

About

Hallways in the Night is a legal thriller, but it is also much more. It is a novel with plot twists that surprise and will keep you guessing as you read the story. As each character joins the story, the novel widens out and becomes more complex. Each character helps add complexity to the novel because each character is pursuing their own agenda, usually at the expense of others. There's enough money, power, and consequences at stake that each character is impacted by it and it influences not only the choices they make, but also forces them to decide how much of the truth they are willing to tell and how much of the truth must be sacrificed in order to either maintain the life they have or to achieve a life they desire. As a result, two of the most powerful emotions <b> fear </b> and <b> ambition </b> have as much to do, if not more, with the outcome than the actual truth of what happened.

This novel also is a story about race and power. It's a story of how those with power wield it, often with little regards for those who will be negatively impacted by it and how they, themselves are impacted by it.

The novel also shows not only the role that race plays in modern day America, but how race relations have evolved over time and how that evolution affects the lives of those living when it takes place.

In all it's a book that will keep the pages turning. It manages to combine a complex and entertaining plot with an ease of prose that ensure an enjoyable read. By the end, the book wraps up in a way that respects the reader's time and ensures that the book was an enjoyable and satisfying read.

I updated My Book Description based on advice from Penny Sansevieri (@bookgal)

1/19/2014

I started my Sunday morning off by reading a great article by Penny Sansevieri (@bookgal) that was previously guest posted on Joel Friedlanders' site. it was a great read because the article gave me hope that I can get some more attention from Amazon.

Penny is one of publishing's most respected experts for marketing your books and she wrote a great post for Joel Friedlander on his Book Designer Blog. The article by Penny talked about how to get more recognition from Amazon's algorithm.

It's definitely an excellent read that you can find here. Her article discuses Keywords, SEO, categories and book descriptions. She also gives some very good insight on Amazon's algorithm. Some (but not all) of the key pieces of information I learned from her article are:

You need to have at least 500 words in your book description to get picked up by Amazon's search engine. When I looked at mine it was 299. I actually thought it was okay because my word count was about the same as John Grisham's. The difference is John Grisham doesn't need Amazon algorithm to find his books and promote them. Readers ping him enough he'll always get to the top. I do need to get Amazon to notice so I upped my word count.
Keywords: This was again where I was not taking full advantage of the Amazon opportunity. I think when I looked back at it I only had about 4 of the 7 categories. Not very smart on my part. Thankfully Amazon makes it very easy to make changes on the back end so I went in and added keywords to make it to 7.
Subtitle--My subtitle had been blank. I cannot manually change on Createspace so I sent a note to support and if that does not work I plan to go through Author Central. On KDP you can make the change yourself, which I did.
Changes to book description and blog: Google loves blogs that update their content and Penny thinks Amazon's algorithms may too. So it may make sense to tweak my description once in a while.

One other change I made, which I am probably way too proud about is that I figured out how to do some html coding so that my description, esp for the paperback version, should look much better. I did some bold, added paragraph breaks and even did an italics. I'm going to review some book descriptions today, especially from independently published authors, and see how many use html to improve the aesthetics of their descriptions versus those who were making the mistake of just having simple block text.

I'm excited to see how the changes look and I will up post the new description here in a future post. (What? You don't think I was going to post in this same post did you? Not after I learned that Google loves blogs that are frequently updated. The description is over 500 words which is what google likes so I'll show them some love by creating a separate post for them.)

If you want to learn more about Penny, you can find her on her blog http://www.amarketingexpert.com.

Reminder:

Please don't forget, you can sample the first 3 chapters of Hallways in the Night for free via PDF download. Simply navigate to the page and click on the Adobe logo. You can read right away or save to desktop.

When Marketing Your Book, Remember it's a Marathon

1/14/2014

Don't Get too Focused on How your Start

There’s no doubt that marketing a book and trying to get noticed in an increasingly crowded marketplace is difficult. But as I continue on this journey I’m doing my best to stay confident and optimistic by thinking of marketing my book like a marathon.

As a first-time independent author, I’m starting off in the back of the pack. I don’t have one of the coveted slots up-front that would allow me to start off at a full pace from the front. That’s just a fact. No matter how amped up I am or how prepared I am to run the race, I’m starting as an unknown number in the back.

The Ethiopians and other elite runners, i.e. the established writers with the big houses behind them, are going to have the advantage of being able to start from the front row. They’re going to have instant visibility from the start and the fact is they are starting ahead of me. When the starter’s gun sounds on book publishing day they have the chance to start off at a sprint, while unknown writers like me begin in the middle of a large crowd hoping to just find a little bit of elbow room as we cross the starting line.

While it would be great to have the chance to compete with the elite runners from the word “go,” it’s impossible to break out right at the start of a big marathon if you start in the pack. Anyone who has ever run a big race knows it begins with a slow walk that moves to a faster walk before you even get the chance to pick up the pace, much less even think about hitting your stride.

But the good news is that eventually, over time and during the 26.2 mile course, the field does inevitably break up and you do have a chance to run your pace. That means if you’ve done the training (written a good or great book), stay focused and keep taking stride after stride, you can eventually separate yourself from the pack and achieve your potential in the race. And when that happens, those spectators still watching the race (your readers) get to see exactly how good you are.

And while starting in the back in your first marathon likely means it will be almost impossible to catch up with those who began in the front, you can run a great race and post a strong time. And that is what just might get you the opportunity to start towards the front next time you run. And when that happens, when you have the chance to eventually start up front, then you will have the opportunity to compete with the elite for a potential win.

For writers, this is all good. Thanks to the changes in publishing, marketing a book is no longer a three month sprint. It is now a marathon that gives you plenty of time to separate yourself from the pack and show readers the kind of talent you possess. But it’s not going to happen at the start of your first one. You’re going to start off in the middle or back of the pack, at a pace that will seem excruciatingly slow, but if you don’t quit, you’ll eventually find your reach the open road and get the opportunity to achieve the result you deserve.

Book Promotion Tip: Make sure You Include Information about Your book in Your Email Signature

1/13/2014

This is a very simple and easy tool to use for book promotion. Add information about your book to your email signature. All email programs have the ability to automatically include a signature with email email you send and each reply you send. Here is what I use and I have had several people say they will buy my book after seeing it. And for those who say they will buy but "forget" it's a very subtle reminder each time you have an email contact with them.

Here is what I use and I like the simplicity of it

RC O'Leary
Author of Hallways in the Night
Legal Thriller, Available in print at Amazon
E-book at Amazon, iBooks, Kobo and Nook
When a veteran cop tries to arrest baseball's home run king, one of them ends up on trial and the other ends up dead.
rcoleary.com

I sent this tip to askDavid who added to his book promotion page. He offers 23 very good tips for writers to promote their books.

For those writers with a lot of good friends, you might even be able to ask some of your friends to add your book to their signatures.

Some Very good Book promotion tips from Askdavid.com

1/11/2014

At the bottom of this page on AskDavid.com there is some really good book promotion advice. One additional tip would offer authors is to add your book, where it's available, and a couple of lines about the story to your email signature.

I've added to all my accounts and it has led to some sales. People ask or reference it sometime

what is the Tipping Point when a good Book begins to sell Itself?

1/9/2014

Each day since Hallways in the Night has been published I have been doing some "hand-selling" of the book through a combination of phone calls, emails and some blog posts. I've essentially been trying to reach out to people on an individual basis versus going out with a big blast email. I've also been fortunate enough to get some positive referrals on Facebook.

I'm learning a lot in this process (full blog post on what I've learned in the future) but my question at the moment is how many books need to be sold before a tipping point is reached and a book begins to sell itself. I know the answer if a book is only average---it won't happen. In a world where readers have an almost infinite choice of books, an average book won't ever sell itself. Doesn't mean average books can't sell a lot of copies. They can and will but those sales will be due to fame, platform or huge marketing push. Not the book itself.

What I'm talking about is whether or not there is a number at which a very good or great book will reach the point where it begins to sustain itself. A point where a virtuous cycle can be achieved and the book will begin to replicate itself, eventually accelerating.

My guess, would be 5,000 copies for a book that people that readers think is great. Not a huge number, but not an easy one either. I would be interested to learn what other people think.

Send the Beer Guy by Shannon Shark: A Great Read on the Mets and Being a Baseball fan

1/6/2014

Recently, I began running a banner ad on the website Metspolice.com for my book and during the process saw the site's creator, who goes by the pseudonym Shannon Shark, had written a memoir of his experience as a life-long experience as a Mets fan. It’s called Send the Beer Guy and I figured I would read it. I downloaded the book and it turned out to be a real treat.

First and foremost, the book is a must-read for any Mets fan. If you grew up anywhere in the tri-state area since the 70s and have even the slightest interest in baseball, I think you’ll enjoy this book because it’s like taking a very pleasant stroll down a very charming Memory Lane. I grew up mostly a Red Sox fan in a NY Suburb in the pre-cable area. That meant 90% of my baseball was from WPIX 11 and WOR 9 in NY. Being a huge baseball fan, I watched a lot of Mets and Yankees. Shea stadium was where my Indian Guides summer trip went. It was great reading some of the names from the past that I had forgotten—John Stearns, Joel Youngblood and Craig Swan to name a few.

But this book was more than just about the Mets. It was about being a sportsfan and how vital a role our teams can play in our lives. After reading the book I realized that while the Mets don’t define the writer’s life, they definitely shaped a large part of who he is.

There are some great behind the scenes stories about the author’s time working as a vendor at Shea. Truly “inside stadium” information, as well as some poignant moments about the writer’s personal life and how it intersected with the Mets. The book jumps around chronologically, but I never felt lost because the narrative voice was so perfect.

By the end of Send the Beer Guy, you feel like you know the writer and that he’s the kind of guy you would want rooting for your team. Never takes himself or the Mets too seriously while always respecting the fact that being a devoted fan is a serious commitment.

One of the most authentic narrative “voices” I have read because the style gives you the feeling it’s just you and the writer and he’s speaking directly to you.

I think any sports fan who loves their team and read this book would say many times throughout the book “That’s exactly how I felt.” Great read and one that will help any baseball fan forget it’s the off-season, at least for a couple of days.

What is a Felony Clause in a Life Insurance Policy?

1/3/2014

Before writing HITN, I was not aware that almost all insurance policies have a felony clause in them. The felony clause is an exclusionary loophole that means life insurance companies do not have to pay out when the insured dies while in the process of committing a felony.

As Johnny Wiemer explains to Ray Manning in the book: "You rob a bank and the security guard shoots you on the way out, your wife's not collecting on the policy."

Two Easy Ways to win a Free copy of Hallways in the Night within the next week--Goodreads and Paul Piorek's blog

1/2/2014

Here is a link to Paul Piorek's Andrew Warde blog where you can enter to win a free copy of the book, and, if I can do it correctly, there should now also be a link on the site to Goodreads' giveaway for the book. Paul is giving away 1 copy and Goodreads is offering 3 copies. Good luck to anyone who signs up.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Hallways in the Night

by R.C. O'Leary

Giveaway ends January 08, 2014.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Don't Get too Focused on How your Start

Goodreads Book Giveaway

by R.C. O'Leary

Author

Archives

Categories