Over the course of 25 years, I watched The (Daily) Oklahoman expand its Book Section from a one-pager once a week to a 2-pager where Oklahoma authors and their long-suffering efforts could be featured. And, there was a point person, that is, a book editor, who freely communicated with authors. Then it all imploded. With USA Today taking over The Oklahoman, many local authors returned to being second-class citizens. Currently, syndicated reviews occupy less than a half-page, and for local authors, the great hope is that, in the absence of a formal review, one’s upcoming signings will be listed (my last signing didn’t even make it that far). Regardless, I originally thought I might be able to sneak in a review of my trilogy – The Brainbow Chronicles – or, at least the first book — the award-winning NUTSHELL. My intent in the query email was to humbly brag that, 23 years ago, I had a successful novel reviewed in USA Today (not the local rag, but the Big Kahuna), and that I was merely inquiring about a review to appear in the OKC version of the newspaper. Slam dunk. Right?
After I sent a copy of the book to the newspaper to accompany the email, the response was nil. Nothing. Silence. Zip. Not even a thank-you for the book. Later, it was the same response after mailing the subsequent books as they were released over a 2-year period. Next, I figured I would bypass the local staff, especially since the OKC newspaper doesn’t have anyone designated as Book Editor. I sent my next query directly to the Big Kahuna USA Today offices (where they DO have Book Editors) since I’m in the club (sorta) of authors who have made USA Today national headlines with their books (FLATBELLIES in this case). On the bright side, they did not reject the offer; then again, they didn’t accept the offer. You guessed it. No response at all.
I understand the New Ethics don’t require you to answer anyone you don’t feel like answering, but it’s still amazing given the ease of email. In the days when writing a letter was comparatively tedious, a query in the book business was always answered, even if it generated only a form letter. But today, the mantra is: “I don’t have the 5 seconds it takes to write ‘no thanks’ and press SEND.” You might call this “ghosting,” but you would be wrong on a technicality — “ghosting” requires a relationship prior to cutting off all forms of communication. My ghost was never alive.
Marketing one’s book through self-promotion is awkward, embarrassing, tedious for friends and family who serve as beta readers, and simply no fun. And if you have a small publisher, you are going to spend 10X the effort for one-tenth the success. (When the Big Kahuna reviewed FLATBELLIES, I didn’t lift a finger. The publisher arranged it all.) So, faced with the New Ethics, I figured it’s better to return to one’s hometown, where the venerable newspaper still functions by the Old Ethics, in this case, the El Reno Tribune, with editor Ray Dyer. Having followed my writing career, Mr. Dyer suggested a feature article about my life as an author rather than the standard book review. Since my writing history pre-dates FLATBELLIES, we ended up with a long article that spills off the front page to include 2 more pages (links below). Of course, there is fairly strong interest in El Reno, given that my most successful book, FLATBELLIES, was based in a town called “El Viento,” and it’s no secret that this coming-of-age novel is semi-autobiographical.
In the article, you might be surprised to learn that my first book was NOT Flatbellies. In fact, I wrote a book in 1977 that had greater overall potential than Flatbellies. The “story of this story” is surrealistic even today. Here’s a teaser: As a surgery resident-in-training, I walked out of the VA hospital in OKC on a Saturday, flew to Los Angeles to sign my “rich and famous” contract with a prominent Hollywood agent, then flew back to OKC in time to take call on Sunday. I hope to tell the complete story someday, perhaps along with the never-published PROGNOSIS: GUARDED. When it all came crashing down, extinguishing the stars in my eyes, it was FLATBELLIES that emerged from the rubble, over 20 years later.
If you read the article in 3 parts below, be aware that you’ll probably need to Zoom at least 100% to read clearly. And to ZOOM, you might have to access the controls listed at the bottom as “pdf tools.”
Thanks again to Editor Ray Dyer of the El Reno Tribune.
Here are the links in 3 parts, top to bottom, to access the article in the El Reno Tribune:
https://1drv.ms/b/s!ApS4jrFztbqmgagsOozWYNE5xRKWcw?e=PrISGg
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