We Need To Talk....Snobs In the Bookish Community

You guys, we need to talk....

What about I'm about to talk about it isn't necessarily news. 

Snobs. 

More specifically snobs in the book community. Listen, I get it. I really do. I understand that you have spent the majority of your life getting degree after degree after degree and you've been featured in at least four literary magazines before you were potty-trained and blah blah blah blah....

STOP. 

I do not care how many books you have published. I do not care how many magazines, journals, radio interviews, or TV spots you have done. I don't. Don't get me wrong, those are all great accomplishments and you should be proud of yourself. However, you should not treat people, more specifically people who might read your work, as if you are better than them. If you are an author and you're walking around with your nose up so high in the air that if rained you would drown then you should probably check yo self before you wrickey-wrickety-wreck yo self. 

(I'm sorry, I saw an opening and I had to use it.) 

Since writing and publishing my book I've been perusing a lot of book blogger blogs and author blogs to find people to approach for reviews and for ideas of how to market my blog. I've noticed some authors, usually bigger name authors or authors who at least have a few books under their belt, are not very polite to their readers. In a world where social media makes everyone reachable, this is really a shame. You don't have to become best friends and swap Snapchats with every one of your fans. A simple and POLITE "thank you for reading my book" or "thank you for supporting me" would suffice. Don't be a jerk or just completely ignore people who are reaching out to you. If you didn't have fans reading your books, you would not be selling books. You would just be writing for yourself. 

This goes for book bloggers, too. Don't think I forgot about you! It's great that blog has taken off and has thousands of readers checking your pages every day. That's AWESOME! I hope to have that kind of success with my blog one day. I know it took a lot of hard work to get there but that doesn't mean you should be butt-holes to your readers and/or other bloggers. Be respectful of people who took the time to not only read your blog but to also take the time to comment. Just like authors, if you didn't have readers reading your blog, you'd just be writing posts for yourself to read. 

I get so tired of seeing authors and bloggers treating other people in the industry like they are better than them because they've sold more books, have 58 doctorates in writing, or have a larger fan base. Don't be a douche canoe. 

There are already so many other problems in this world. Instead of treating the very people who support you like they don't matter, show a little appreciation. Even if you're a high-class fancy pants and think that only other high-class fancy pants people should be reading your stories you should still be nice and polite when Delta Dawn from the trailer park in Woodstock, Alabama decides to praise your work. I promise you, as a reader, if I try to approach you about something on your blog or about your book and you are rude to me, I will no longer support your work. I will not bad mouth you or your work but I definitely will not spend any more of my hard earned money supporting your writing. And I'll probably throw your books in the burn pile next to 50 Shades of Grey and Twilight....

I feel like this all boils down to manners. If you are guilty of treating people like this then obviously you have misplaced your manners. It's really simple. When someone compliments you, you say "thank you". When someone insults you, you turn the other cheek and move on about your business. Be the bigger person and do not embarrass yourself by lashing out at someone else. If they simply say they didn't like your work, just thank them for taking their time to at least read your work and for their opinion. Use whatever criticism they gave you and make yourself better instead of taking everything so personally. 

If you can't be nice to people, well then....

REVIEW: Agamemnon Must Die - Hock G. Tjoa

***Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. Any thoughts and opinions are my own.***

To sail against Troy, Agamemnon sacrificed his virgin daughter Iphigenia. Ten years later, he returns victorious, hoping that Queen Clytemnestra has forgiven him. He is so wrong. 

The royal family of Mycenae has a bloody, monstrous history. Agamemnon returns with his war trophy, the Trojan Princess Cassandra whom he unthinkingly flaunts before his queen. After an epic sword fight in his own banquet hall, Agamemnon is killed. Cassandra has her nightmares/visions of the gory and unspeakable deeds of the House of Atreus; she is led away to be executed. Clytemnestra and her lover Aigisthus have their respective reasons, but this regicide must be avenged. Or so say the voices in Orestes' head. He must avenge his father. He must kill the regicides. He must kill his own mother. 

But killing one's own mother would break the greatest of ancient taboos and would result in even more voices in his head. Are they just voices? Can they be placated?
Find it! Buy it!  Goodreads  | Amazon
Agamemnon Must Die is a retelling of Aeschylus' Oresteia. I definitely recommend reading the author notes in front of the book if you are not that familiar with Greek mythology and works written about it. I am ashamed to say that the last time I really read something that dealt with Greek mythology was in my English 101 class in college. I had to take notes to make sure I could keep up with who was who and who killed who and why they killed them. It's a lot to keep up with if you do not know anything about Greek mythology.  I did thoroughly enjoy this book because it was more entertaining than it felt like getting a history lesson. Hock G. Tjoa definitely did his research and it shows in his writing. His characters are well-developed and you understand their motives and passions easily. Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife, has never been able to forgive Agamemnon for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia by order of the gods during a time of war. She's very modern in her thinking that women are important too and shouldn't be treated as mere property. I really admired this about her character. When Aigisthos, Clytemnestra's lover while Agamemnon is off fighting Troy, reveals to her that he finally wants to avenge his brothers' deaths on behalf of his father they begin to formulate a plan to kill Agamemnon.  One thing I liked about this book is that it like most tragedies, there are no actions without consequences. Aigisthos and Clytemnestra planned on telling the elders they killed Agamemnon and then simply abdicating the throne and handing it over to Clytemnestra's son Orestes. Orestes and his sister Elecktra were sent to live with their aunt while their father was away fighting in Troy. Because he had been gone for so long, when they heard of their father's death, neither of them really knew how to feel. Neither of them really knew their father at all. Vengeance of their father's death had not crossed either of their minds until the god Apollo starts giving Orestes visions and terrible nightmares that are telling him to kill his mother. Orestes will is tested as he questions the gods.  As far as the actual writing of this book, I liked that it changed from different character points of view in order to give you a more rounded idea of the story. I felt like some things in the dialogue were more for the reader's benefit than the actual character but that didn't really bother me too much since I was grateful to be clued in on all of the Greek scandals. This was a great, fast paced read and I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in history, Greek mythology, or just a good scandalous story.  About the Author

Hock G. Tjoa was born to Chinese parents and studied history at Brandeis and Harvard. He taught European history and Asian political thought at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. He is married and lives with his family in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California. 

He published in 2010 The Battle of Chibi (Selections from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms) that he had translated, and in 2011, Heaven is High and the Emperor Far Away, A Play that he translated and adapted from Lao She's Teahouse. Both are part of his project to make more widely known traditional Chinese values. In 2013, he published The Chinese Spymaster and The Ingenious Judge Dee, a Play. 

Become his fan on Goodreads! 

31 Days of Better Blogging: Day 28 - Contact Info

Day 28 is all about making it easy for your readers to contact you. You should have your contact information in a clearly designated spot where your readers will be able to find the info and feel confident about making contact with you. 

I have all of my stuff in my sidebar under my "about me" blurb. I also have my e-mail address on my About Me page and a contact form to make it easy. I used Google Sheets to make my contact form instead of the blogger contact form simply because I'm constantly using Google Sheets for something and I will probably see it there quicker. Whatever you use, if you do use a contact form, make sure that it is linked to your primary e-mail account so that you will be able to see something a reader has sent you fairly quickly. 

Where is your contact info? 

Tease Me: Volume One - Emily Goodwin OUT NOW!!!!

 Purchase On Amazon

**Do not read this book if you do not like fast paced, erotic plots, forward thinking women, dominant and tattooed Latin men, and dirty sex. Lots of dirty sex. Extra panties are recommended. Prudes be warned: this book is HOT. For readers 18+**

Ellie Morgan has played the role of the good girl her entire life. She follows the rules, works hard, does what she’s supposed to do, and rarely takes an unnecessary risk. But when she’s turned down again and again for a promotion at work, Ellie decides she must do something drastic to prove her skills as a police officer to everyone at work…and to herself.

But the small drug deal she tries to bust turns out to be bigger and more dangerous than she ever imagined, and she finds herself kidnapped and smuggled across the border to Mexico. Her life is now in the hands of Alejandro Calaveras, a handsome and powerful cartel leader.

Alejandro promises not to kill her…as long as she agrees to obey him. With his dark eyes, tattoos, and devil-may-care attitude, Ellie agrees, knowing that submitting to someone as dangerous and sexy as Alejandro could be her undoing…or her escape.

From the moment he lays eyes on her, Alejandro is drawn to Ellie. As an American police officer, Ellie is the forbidden fruit, the enemy, the one who has the power to destroy him.

After he gets a taste, he wants more. And Alejandro always gets what he wants.

TEASE ME is part one of a three part novella serial.

Tease Me, coming 1.27.15
Tempt Me, coming 2.17.15
Take Me, coming 3.10.15

About the Author: 

Website    Facebook    Twitter

Emily Goodwin is the international best-selling author of the stand-alone novel STAY, The Guardian Legacies Series: UNBOUND, REAPER, MOONLIGHT (releasing 2014), The Beyond the Sea Series: BEYOND THE SEA, RED SKIES AT NIGHT (releasing 2015) and The Contagium Series: CONTAGIOUS, DEATHLY CONTAGIOUS, CONTAGIOUS CHAOS, THE TRUTH IS CONTAGIOUS (Permuted Press).Emily lives with her husband, daughter and German Shepherd named Vader. She has degrees in psychology and nursing. Along with writing, Emily enjoys riding her horse, designing and making costumes and Cosplay.

31 Days of Better Blogging: Day 27 - Target Audience

Today is all about determining who your target audience is. I use Clicky (it's free) to see my demographics but you can also use Google Analytics or Alexa. It's important to know who is visiting your blog so that you can curate your content to their preferences in order to keep them coming back. You can also use the responses from your reader survey in order to determine what you readers like. Reader surveys are also good for finding out what your readers might like to see more or less of or to find out about things they would like you to change. 

Who is your target audience? Did you intend to have that audience or were you aiming for someone different?