We can spend years writing and polishing a manuscript and preparing it for sale. One of the great struggles of selling your own books is that you can’t get out of your own head and take a look at your books and marketing from a completely fresh perspective. In this Market Analysis, I will take an objective look at a book and the author’s platform to see what we can all learn from him or her.
I opened up my Book Cave e-mail and saw the ad for LeVar Ravel‘s KILLJOY.
To be perfectly honest, the description seemed all over the place, but in a good way. There are much more graceful ways to say that the protagonist is an “accountant for the mob.” We don’t get any description of who Corbin is. I don’t know to whom “they” is referring in the following sentence.
Still…I clicked because the book looked fun. The cover doesn’t evoke “the mob” in my head…more like a techno thriller. Again: I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but you can’t beat the price of free.
Here’s what I saw after clicking:
That tagline was also a little awkward. It seems strange to use “joy” as a verb. (A quick jump to the OED seems to indicate the verb form of “joy” is an archaic use.)
But: Mr. Ravel’s book keeps attracting my interest. The protagonist is named “Gwen Orangegrave!” And wait…she’s married to a Boston mob boss? That’s interesting. The book is also a bit of a political thriller, it seems. What does “dark magic” mean in this case? Is this also fantasy? (The book is categorized that way a little further down the page.)
Ordinarily, it would be a problem that I am not quite sure what to expect from the book. And as all of the “self-publishing authorities” point out, many readers want straightforward description with few surprises. In this case, however, the book just looks like fun.
So let’s take a look at the first page-ish:
I definitely see the “fantasy” tone in the dialogue and I was a little surprised that the book didn’t open on Gwen. (Perhaps because I’ve been reading so many romances and women’s fiction novels of late.)
The mysterious hit man character is appealing because he is so strange. To my mind, most hitmen (at least those in literature) are famously quiet and reserved and do what they can to blend into their surroundings. This hitman seems flashy and fun, which is also satisfying.
Mr. Ravel earned my One-Click purchase in part because he was using it as a loss leader. More importantly, I downloaded the novel because, above all, it was clear that the author wanted to entertain me. The book promises a lot of interesting ideas and situations, and isn’t that the most important thing you can offer to a reader?
What Can We Learn from the Author and His Book?
- Our primary responsibility is to offer the reader a fun experience.
- Our characters should sometimes defy stereotypes. Hitmen don’t need to be silent and sullen.
- Blurring a number of genres can be rewarding.
And on that note, I’m off to read the book! See you next time!
