Announcement on New Sci-Fi Title from M.D. Benoit.
From 28 March to 11 April, M. D. Benoit will be going on a virtual book tour to promote her upcoming alternate reality novel, Synergy. During that period, ten people will host her on their blog for one day. There will be discussions on the book, Synergy, its themes, characters, interviews with the author, reviews of the book, etc.
Every day, on her own blog, Life’s Weirder than Fiction (http://mdbenoit.com/blog), she will announce where she will be that day, as well as talk a bit about her host.
Synergy’s Virtual Book Tour will culminate with a Virtual Book Launch, on 15-16 April (http://mdbenoit.com/synergy). M. D. can be contacted at mdbenoit (at) gmail (dot) com.
Benoit is a terrific author. Several of her other sci-fis are reviewed on my companion blog, http://www.gottaread.blogspot.com. I'll be one of the first to buy Synergy. If you like sci-fi and are looking for a new author, check it out on Fictionwise.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Death Game Links Story to Teenage Killers
DEATH GAME FOCUSES ON ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY AND MISPERCEPTION OF REALITY -- News Story in Posting Press
In the suspense/thriller Death Game, debut novelist Cheryl Swanson explores the mass psychology behind a worldwide teenage obsession—Internet games. In the novel’s opening chapters, fifteen-year-old Jimmie O’Brien is accused of shooting another teenager in connection with a violent and bigoted game carried on between unidentified players on the Internet.
Jimmie shares similarities with many teenage rampage killers, including Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold of the infamous Columbine school shootings, or (more recently) Jeffrey James Weise, who killed seven people at Red Lake High School in Minnesota in 2005. Weise created violent Flash animations and posted them on the Internet (including Newsgrounds) using the alias “Regret". One animation entitled Target Practice depicts the shooting of three people with an assault rifle, followed by blowing up a police car with a grenade.
Like Harris, Klebold and Weise, Jimmie O’Brien is presented as a lonely and somewhat isolated, prone to angry outbursts and obsessed with a violent fantasy world in cyberspace. What gives Death Game an interesting twist is that Jimmie does not appear to be abnormal, at least not to any parents of a modern teenager. He is presented as an idealistic, kind-hearted boy who is enraged by injustice. When a drunk driver escapes punishment after killing Jimmie’s parents in an automobile accident, Jimmie’s teenage angst explodes. But while Jimmie’s gaming partners are motivated by bigotry and specifically target Jews and other minorities in their killing games, Jimmie is simply trying to ease his rage and emotional pain.
Swanson sets the stage for the psychological thriller’s obligatory "analytical scene," by bringing in Jimmie’s clinical psychologist, a pony-tailed retired army colonel. Psychologist Nate Jordan explains to Jimmie’s sister, Cooper O’Brien, the appeal of total immersion in screen violence. When told that explicit, obsessional killing can also be a form of sexual titillation, Cooper responds: “For the first time I thought I understood why Jimmie had sat endlessly in front of his computer, pulling on a phallic-looking joystick with the empty-eyed look of someone whose spirit had been extracted out of his flesh.”
The book quickly progresses into twisted computer games, ‘closed cities’ and the religious extremism of terrorism. The almost-obligatory terrorist plot is unusual in that it is involves ordinary American human beings. “There are any number of thrillers about terrorism, but Death Game brings it into the living room, where it’s not about unidentified strangers but people we know,” said Elizabeth Burton, executive editor with Zumaya Publications.
Certainty of solution used to be a staple of detective fiction, but it is becoming more common for crime fiction to end as Death Game does, without very little completely resolved. The astute mystery reader can figure out what is left unsaid on their own, including whether Jimmie is really guilty. As Sherlock Holmes said: "Whatever remains, however improbable, must be truth" (from Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles).
Death Game
Cheryl Swanson
Zumaya Publications
ISBN: 1554103258
Distributed by Ingram, Baker and Taylor
Suggested retail price: $14.99
In the suspense/thriller Death Game, debut novelist Cheryl Swanson explores the mass psychology behind a worldwide teenage obsession—Internet games. In the novel’s opening chapters, fifteen-year-old Jimmie O’Brien is accused of shooting another teenager in connection with a violent and bigoted game carried on between unidentified players on the Internet.
Jimmie shares similarities with many teenage rampage killers, including Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold of the infamous Columbine school shootings, or (more recently) Jeffrey James Weise, who killed seven people at Red Lake High School in Minnesota in 2005. Weise created violent Flash animations and posted them on the Internet (including Newsgrounds) using the alias “Regret". One animation entitled Target Practice depicts the shooting of three people with an assault rifle, followed by blowing up a police car with a grenade.
Like Harris, Klebold and Weise, Jimmie O’Brien is presented as a lonely and somewhat isolated, prone to angry outbursts and obsessed with a violent fantasy world in cyberspace. What gives Death Game an interesting twist is that Jimmie does not appear to be abnormal, at least not to any parents of a modern teenager. He is presented as an idealistic, kind-hearted boy who is enraged by injustice. When a drunk driver escapes punishment after killing Jimmie’s parents in an automobile accident, Jimmie’s teenage angst explodes. But while Jimmie’s gaming partners are motivated by bigotry and specifically target Jews and other minorities in their killing games, Jimmie is simply trying to ease his rage and emotional pain.
Swanson sets the stage for the psychological thriller’s obligatory "analytical scene," by bringing in Jimmie’s clinical psychologist, a pony-tailed retired army colonel. Psychologist Nate Jordan explains to Jimmie’s sister, Cooper O’Brien, the appeal of total immersion in screen violence. When told that explicit, obsessional killing can also be a form of sexual titillation, Cooper responds: “For the first time I thought I understood why Jimmie had sat endlessly in front of his computer, pulling on a phallic-looking joystick with the empty-eyed look of someone whose spirit had been extracted out of his flesh.”
The book quickly progresses into twisted computer games, ‘closed cities’ and the religious extremism of terrorism. The almost-obligatory terrorist plot is unusual in that it is involves ordinary American human beings. “There are any number of thrillers about terrorism, but Death Game brings it into the living room, where it’s not about unidentified strangers but people we know,” said Elizabeth Burton, executive editor with Zumaya Publications.
Certainty of solution used to be a staple of detective fiction, but it is becoming more common for crime fiction to end as Death Game does, without very little completely resolved. The astute mystery reader can figure out what is left unsaid on their own, including whether Jimmie is really guilty. As Sherlock Holmes said: "Whatever remains, however improbable, must be truth" (from Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles).
Death Game
Cheryl Swanson
Zumaya Publications
ISBN: 1554103258
Distributed by Ingram, Baker and Taylor
Suggested retail price: $14.99
Finding Out A Book's Sales Numbers
Contrary to popular conception, there is no fast path to fame and fortune as a novelist. Still, those of us on our way to best-seller status (we can all hope) would like to know if our latest opus is selling 100 copies a week.
Or no copies at all.
Those reading this blog who aren’t authors, look at it this way: If you beating your brains out trying to boost sales, wouldn’t you like to know if anyone even noticed? Those reading who are authors know exactly what I’m talking about. (You can send me $1000 for the tips below, because that’s what you’d have to pay for this information otherwise.)
First, let’s discuss why we can’t simply email the book’s publisher, or look on their website to find out how we’re doing. No author can on a regular basis–no matter who their publisher might be–because publishers keep sales numbers more secure than they do their bank accounts.
There are several excellent reasons for this, however, and it’s helpful to know them.
A few years ago, Bookscan tracked sales of 1.2 million books in the United States. Of those 1.2 million, only 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies. Fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000 copies. Only 10 books sold more than a million copies each.
If you work through all the numbers, (I did and double-checked, so don’t bother) you’ll discover something horrifying. The average new book in the United States sells about 500 copies. (Yep. Only 500. Time to stop reading if you’re an aspiring author and have a weak stomach.)
You can understand from this why small publishers keep the numbers private. Most have such low sales numbers they don’t like posting them publicly. Others simply feel that tracking and reporting numbers takes them away from the fifteen other jobs they’re maintaining to finance their “We’re gonna be Doubleday someday” addiction. In the meantime, the big guys don’t like to admit that they’re not doing much better. (And spending a lot more money.)
If they’ve got a recent best-seller, they’re happy to brag. Otherwise, mum’s the word.
The bottom line: the entire book industry treats sales information as proprietary; something they can sell or bargain with.
You can’t blame them, or…maybe you can, but it won’t do you any good. So what’s the hapless author to do?
Well, you could sign up for Neilson Bookscan, which gets reports from the majority of retail outlets. On a yearly basis, that would set you back around $1000 per title. Like I said in the beginning of this article, if you ‘ve got that kind of money, send it to me. I can use it.
ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH OF FREE ADVICE
Fortunately, there are several fast, free ways to get immediate information on your book(s) sales—without having to mug your publisher.
The easiest method is to call Ingram directly. (Assuming that Ingram wholesales or distributes your book.) The number is: 800-937-8000. Pick option “4″ when prompted, then dial ext.#36803. When given the chance, dial your book’s ISBN number.
An automated service will tell you how many books of yours are in their warehouses and how many have been shipped.
Remember that this number only represents the books that went through Ingram, which typically shows how many books you have sold to bookstores. Books bought directly through LSI probably wouldn’t show up in these numbers.
Many authors compulsively check their sales ranking on Amazon, which is a waste of time. In case you haven’t figured this out yet, you can’t determine anything from a single rank under the new system at Amazon, and even their old system wasn’t that accurate. What you want is your long-term rank/average. A new software (free because it’s in beta) will allow you to track your long-term average on Amazon. It’s simple to set up and easy to use.
Surf on over to http://www.titlez.com/ if you want to give it a try. (Consider all the typical warnings on using beta software issued. And if your computer crashes after loading it, please don’t tell me. Mine did fine.)
One thing that all authors should know is how the book industry defines a “bestseller.” Bestsellers in mainstream categories are up for grabs. The number of sales per week required varies with the season and competition. Even worse, if the book is in an unusual niche, it could be declared a bestseller simply because it has no competition. A recent publisher declared their book about organic food for pets a bestseller before it was even printed. (I made that up.)
If anyone uses these tips, please be sure to check out my new website at www.cherylswanson.net and at least leave me a nice comment. (Buy my latest thriller, Death Game, and help my sales numbers! Please!)
Otherwise, Cooper O’Brien, my sassy heroine in Death Game, has a good Irish curse for you:
May the curse of Mary Malone and her nine blind illegitimate children chase you so far over the hills of Damnation that the Lord himself can’t find you with a telescope.
Oh, yeah.
And may you lose $1000 tomorrow.
Cheryl Swanson, author of Death Gamewww.cherylswanson
Or no copies at all.
Those reading this blog who aren’t authors, look at it this way: If you beating your brains out trying to boost sales, wouldn’t you like to know if anyone even noticed? Those reading who are authors know exactly what I’m talking about. (You can send me $1000 for the tips below, because that’s what you’d have to pay for this information otherwise.)
First, let’s discuss why we can’t simply email the book’s publisher, or look on their website to find out how we’re doing. No author can on a regular basis–no matter who their publisher might be–because publishers keep sales numbers more secure than they do their bank accounts.
There are several excellent reasons for this, however, and it’s helpful to know them.
A few years ago, Bookscan tracked sales of 1.2 million books in the United States. Of those 1.2 million, only 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies. Fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000 copies. Only 10 books sold more than a million copies each.
If you work through all the numbers, (I did and double-checked, so don’t bother) you’ll discover something horrifying. The average new book in the United States sells about 500 copies. (Yep. Only 500. Time to stop reading if you’re an aspiring author and have a weak stomach.)
You can understand from this why small publishers keep the numbers private. Most have such low sales numbers they don’t like posting them publicly. Others simply feel that tracking and reporting numbers takes them away from the fifteen other jobs they’re maintaining to finance their “We’re gonna be Doubleday someday” addiction. In the meantime, the big guys don’t like to admit that they’re not doing much better. (And spending a lot more money.)
If they’ve got a recent best-seller, they’re happy to brag. Otherwise, mum’s the word.
The bottom line: the entire book industry treats sales information as proprietary; something they can sell or bargain with.
You can’t blame them, or…maybe you can, but it won’t do you any good. So what’s the hapless author to do?
Well, you could sign up for Neilson Bookscan, which gets reports from the majority of retail outlets. On a yearly basis, that would set you back around $1000 per title. Like I said in the beginning of this article, if you ‘ve got that kind of money, send it to me. I can use it.
ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH OF FREE ADVICE
Fortunately, there are several fast, free ways to get immediate information on your book(s) sales—without having to mug your publisher.
The easiest method is to call Ingram directly. (Assuming that Ingram wholesales or distributes your book.) The number is: 800-937-8000. Pick option “4″ when prompted, then dial ext.#36803. When given the chance, dial your book’s ISBN number.
An automated service will tell you how many books of yours are in their warehouses and how many have been shipped.
Remember that this number only represents the books that went through Ingram, which typically shows how many books you have sold to bookstores. Books bought directly through LSI probably wouldn’t show up in these numbers.
Many authors compulsively check their sales ranking on Amazon, which is a waste of time. In case you haven’t figured this out yet, you can’t determine anything from a single rank under the new system at Amazon, and even their old system wasn’t that accurate. What you want is your long-term rank/average. A new software (free because it’s in beta) will allow you to track your long-term average on Amazon. It’s simple to set up and easy to use.
Surf on over to http://www.titlez.com/ if you want to give it a try. (Consider all the typical warnings on using beta software issued. And if your computer crashes after loading it, please don’t tell me. Mine did fine.)
One thing that all authors should know is how the book industry defines a “bestseller.” Bestsellers in mainstream categories are up for grabs. The number of sales per week required varies with the season and competition. Even worse, if the book is in an unusual niche, it could be declared a bestseller simply because it has no competition. A recent publisher declared their book about organic food for pets a bestseller before it was even printed. (I made that up.)
If anyone uses these tips, please be sure to check out my new website at www.cherylswanson.net and at least leave me a nice comment. (Buy my latest thriller, Death Game, and help my sales numbers! Please!)
Otherwise, Cooper O’Brien, my sassy heroine in Death Game, has a good Irish curse for you:
May the curse of Mary Malone and her nine blind illegitimate children chase you so far over the hills of Damnation that the Lord himself can’t find you with a telescope.
Oh, yeah.
And may you lose $1000 tomorrow.
Cheryl Swanson, author of Death Gamewww.cherylswanson
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Web Site Gets a New Look
My website has just been completely redone. Check it out at http://cherylswanson.net
New look, new info, new ways to find some good authors. (Click on the madten blog, see what the authors in my cyber writing group are up to these days.)
New look, new info, new ways to find some good authors. (Click on the madten blog, see what the authors in my cyber writing group are up to these days.)
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Cheryl Swanson Featured in Newspaper The Garden Island
Borders Books and Music in Lihu‘e will be hosting the launch of the suspense/thriller “Death Game,” by Kaua‘i novelist Cheryl Swanson tomorrow at 2 p.m.
A second book-signing event is set for Hanapepe Art Night on Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. at Talk Story bookstore.
Swanson began writing full-time after giving up a six-figure income as a consultant and motivational speaker in medicine and dentistry.
She was a clinical editor of Dentistry Today magazine, headquartered in New York, the author of three non-fiction books on medical technology and spoke at medical/dental schools and conventions in the United States and Canada.
The author of “Death Game,” which was published by Zumaya Publications, drew on her experiences with troubled teenagers as a child advocate to pen her first novel.
As a child advocate in San Francisco, she worked extensively with children who experienced sexual and physical abuse in their homes and had been removed from that environment by local police.
According to J.C. Hall, the author of “Legends of the Serai” and a reviewer with Epinions, “Death Game” is a “stunning debut novel with all the hallmarks of a great thriller.”
According to Mystery Scene magazine consulting editor and Edgar nominee, Jeffrey Marks, “A taut novel of suspense, ‘Death Game’ had me on the edge of my seat from the very first chapter.”
MidWest Review, December 2006 said: “Talented author Cheryl Swanson maintains a quick pace that reaches a spine-tingling, heart-stopping climax.”
“One con about ‘Death Game’ is that after you’re reading it, you’ll be worrying about your teenager even when she/he’s at home,” Swanson said.
The book tells the story of a teenage boy who is obsessed with Internet gaming and ends up being the prime suspect in the shooting death of the heir to a shipbuilding dynasty in San Francisco.
The novel links the seemingly harmless teenage fixation of video and Internet gaming with the training of military operatives and more sinister consequences.
“Death Game” is both timely and relevant, and a sharp reminder of the startling vulnerability of ordinary American citizens,” Hall wrote.
According to Book Review Club, “The horrifying implications in ‘Death Game’ are not far from reality in the present world we live in.”
Swanson herself is fascinated by survivors, partly because ‘Death Game’ was completed during chemotherapy. “I was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago,” she said in a release. “Being a victim is a matter of luck — bad luck. Being a survivor, on the other hand, is a matter of character and faith. There is a lot of bad in the world — and boy, with all my research as a novelist, do I know it. And I think that gives everyone a fascination with heroes. How do they find the strength? What secrets have they learned? The world isn’t going to magically get better anytime soon, so we could all benefit from that strength.”
Swanson is not the only survivor in the family. She and her husband adopted a child from tough circumstances in Guatemala several years ago.
“My husband Bob calls our daughter Carmen and myself his two survivors,” she said. “We know something in our family about making it through tough times.”
Swanson will be featured in a live interview by Tracey Schavone on KKCR, Kaua‘i Community Radio, on Feb. 7.
She can be reached through her Web site at cherylswanson.net, where the first chapter of the “Death Game” can also be read.
Email this story Print this story Return to print_only index
Related Links:
Island-wide book launch for Kaua i novelist starts tomorrow
A second book-signing event is set for Hanapepe Art Night on Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. at Talk Story bookstore.
Swanson began writing full-time after giving up a six-figure income as a consultant and motivational speaker in medicine and dentistry.
She was a clinical editor of Dentistry Today magazine, headquartered in New York, the author of three non-fiction books on medical technology and spoke at medical/dental schools and conventions in the United States and Canada.
The author of “Death Game,” which was published by Zumaya Publications, drew on her experiences with troubled teenagers as a child advocate to pen her first novel.
As a child advocate in San Francisco, she worked extensively with children who experienced sexual and physical abuse in their homes and had been removed from that environment by local police.
According to J.C. Hall, the author of “Legends of the Serai” and a reviewer with Epinions, “Death Game” is a “stunning debut novel with all the hallmarks of a great thriller.”
According to Mystery Scene magazine consulting editor and Edgar nominee, Jeffrey Marks, “A taut novel of suspense, ‘Death Game’ had me on the edge of my seat from the very first chapter.”
MidWest Review, December 2006 said: “Talented author Cheryl Swanson maintains a quick pace that reaches a spine-tingling, heart-stopping climax.”
“One con about ‘Death Game’ is that after you’re reading it, you’ll be worrying about your teenager even when she/he’s at home,” Swanson said.
The book tells the story of a teenage boy who is obsessed with Internet gaming and ends up being the prime suspect in the shooting death of the heir to a shipbuilding dynasty in San Francisco.
The novel links the seemingly harmless teenage fixation of video and Internet gaming with the training of military operatives and more sinister consequences.
“Death Game” is both timely and relevant, and a sharp reminder of the startling vulnerability of ordinary American citizens,” Hall wrote.
According to Book Review Club, “The horrifying implications in ‘Death Game’ are not far from reality in the present world we live in.”
Swanson herself is fascinated by survivors, partly because ‘Death Game’ was completed during chemotherapy. “I was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago,” she said in a release. “Being a victim is a matter of luck — bad luck. Being a survivor, on the other hand, is a matter of character and faith. There is a lot of bad in the world — and boy, with all my research as a novelist, do I know it. And I think that gives everyone a fascination with heroes. How do they find the strength? What secrets have they learned? The world isn’t going to magically get better anytime soon, so we could all benefit from that strength.”
Swanson is not the only survivor in the family. She and her husband adopted a child from tough circumstances in Guatemala several years ago.
“My husband Bob calls our daughter Carmen and myself his two survivors,” she said. “We know something in our family about making it through tough times.”
Swanson will be featured in a live interview by Tracey Schavone on KKCR, Kaua‘i Community Radio, on Feb. 7.
She can be reached through her Web site at cherylswanson.net, where the first chapter of the “Death Game” can also be read.
Email this story Print this story Return to print_only index
Related Links:
Island-wide book launch for Kaua i novelist starts tomorrow
Monday, March 05, 2007
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