Lou Malloy learns of his sister's death right before he is released from prison, having served 15 years for the theft of $15 million from an Indian casino. He wants two things: to keep the $15 million, which no one has been able to find, and to track down and punish whoever killed his sister.
Lou Malloy teams up with Hilary Kelly, a private investigator. In no time, Lou has found the hidden $15 million, recovered guns and ammunition hidden with the money, and murdered two low-level mobsters and fed them to the crocodiles.
As the body count rises, the story grows more complex and his sister's death becomes more mysterious.
Before I begin my effort, I simply want to say that my words are for the first time author and not someone who has been scooped up by a big named agent. This is for the beginner and a writer who has decided to brave the wilds of the self-publishing forest, like myself. Critiquing one’s work is always easier after you have stepped into a few potholes along the way.
I can’t tell you how many times I have read a book only to find that the title of the book has nothing to do with the story. I suppose it is easy to do as a
writer to forget the reader in the publishing process. If you rely on a publisher to put your book to market, you have to satisfy the publisher’s need for the book to be a commercial success. All too often, however, the first time writer gets caught up in the perception that the publisher comes first, then the editor, then the agent, then the publicist, then the bookseller and finally the reader. What order you put them is not as important as the fact that they are all hovering. So how do you make everyone happy? The answer is simply you don’t. Remember, you are the writer. So write the book and think about the person who is going to read it. They are the ones with the money.
Often books become great books by accident. The writer finishes his manuscript and once the euphoria dissipates surrounding that event, you are left with the reality of what to do next. The first thing I do is put yourself in the position as a reader. Trust me, this is not easy to do, but do it anyway.
Next, don’t go it alone. Writing a book for the first time can be like taking flight. You have checked everything, you have your parachute, all the switches have been engaged, the weather has been cleared and the tower has given you the all clear, but you are missing something. You are missing a map. In the book business that can be the need for a proofreader. In finding a proofreader, remember, all proofreaders are not equal. Some specialize in technical journals, some poems, others non-fiction or historical fiction, and the beat goes on. If you are an author who has an agent and a publisher has picked up the book, the publisher will have a person who will proof your book, but it is not for you, it is for the publisher. For a writer in this position, this is where the rubber hits the road. You finally get the book back from the proofreader and you, as a writer, feel like you just sustained a head-on collision. Nothing about your book looks the same. So what happened?
The book was involved in a multi-car accident. The idea that you had has been changed to the idea of the publisher. Generally speaking, the writers with commercial presence are not affected by such happenings, but at some point in their professional life they were. Everyone gets the rejection feeling one way or the other. So what’s the solution? Hire a proofreader. Get active in the production of your book. Don’t surrender control. You wrote the book for a reason. Stick to it.
When I first decided to self-publish, I built a website that was functional. If you are using Amazon to sell and publish your books, you don’t need a website for the purpose of selling them. The website should be informative. It should be a site where the reader can learn about the writer. Next, get comfortable with the idea of social media.
Next, I would then take the time to study the various service providers in the field of self-publishing. They are not all equal. Some charged for their effort. My advice would be to use a company like Amazon to self-publish. With Amazon, getting your book to a reader in a printed or ebook format is free. A writer can’t get a better deal than that. Next, hire a proofreader that you can communicate with. Let them know what you’re trying to do. They have probably been there done that. If during the course of your effort you see that the proofreader may not see or buy into that you want to do, get another proofreader.
Last, but not least, write another book.
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