So I was lamenting (and am getting over it) that sales for Savage are lower than I anticipated. I knew they’d be lower because of the zombie angle, but they’re really lower. That’s okay too. I can deal with it. What’s frustrating, though, is that, in between the people who have given it a chance and get where my story was coming from, there are people afraid to read it because of the zombie angle and other people complaining that it wasn’t chock full of enough zombie action.
Let me just vent this once and tell you why I find this pretty irritating. I don’t find it irritating that readers don’t want to take a chance. I get that. I understand why people would fear that the book would be something they wouldn’t want to read–zombies are, in one of my blogger friend’s words, a “hard limit.” I respect and understand that, in spite of the fact that I think most of my regular readers would enjoy it anyway.
Here’s the part that pisses me off. The last paragraph in my blurb reads thus: “This is NOT your boyfriend’s zombie book…” Why did I say that? The main reason is because I wanted readers to know, right off the bat, that it is not a story heavy with zombies. Yes, there are zombies; yes, there is zombie killing; but zombies are not the focus of the book. Zombies are not the main characters. Zombies are not the point. No, zombies are background. Zombies are the catalyst of the plot but they are not what the story is about. Not by a long shot. If you want zombie action, watch The Walking Dead. Watch Shaun of the Dead. Rent World War Z.
Don’t read it if you don’t want to, but please don’t go into it expecting Night of the Living Dead, ’cause you’re not getting it from me. In fact, nine times out of ten you’re not going to get a standard book from me, and the sooner you learn that, the happier we’ll all be. 🙂
My sincere thanks to all of you who gave it a chance and loved it. I appreciate it more than you know.
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