5 good bets punting on #BYNR

For many of us, books are staple commodities, not luxuries.

I have invented a book race to see which of my five Bent Banana Books April Specials sells the most.

I am calling the race the Grand Notional Staplechase. I am against horses jumping over obstacles but new books have to do it all the time.

I will list the form of the five horses/ books as they appear in the official race-guide, http://bentbananabooks.com/

The race finishes April 30.

1.        

Well-bred by Bernie Dowling out of Pop Culture.

Runs a funny race with short sprints and seems to always want to chase Rock Music, Aussie Slang and Crime.

Had only two starts before review judges and scored first (5-stars) both times.

Lack of experience may hinder.

Discount cost $1.99

Odds 7-1

In the stables of Amazon, Apple, B&N, Google Kobo and others: Amazon stable http://geni.us/3mZH

2.        

Novel on aging, a horse some punters don’t like to look at.

By newcomer Christina Debi.

Runs on lines of comedy and drama.

Mixed performances in reviews, because of the topic???

Definitely a winner in the right race.

Discount cost $2.99

Odds 6-1

In the stables of Amazon, Apple, B&N, Google Kobo and others: Amazon stable http://geni.us/2QX5

3.

First horse to race from the Vision stable.

By Jane Sharp

Five short sprints in each race

Stablemate to the more fancied Vision Complete Trudy Harper Psychic Investigations.

Excellent in reviews with 11 starts for 4.7* average.

Note recent stable change when moved exclusively to Amazon to make it free to punters of Kindle Unlimited.

Bit of a smokey if it attracts KU support.

Discount cost $1.99

Odds 5-1

Amazon stable only http://geni.us/3y7d

4.

Regular visitor to World’s Top 100 Psychic Suspense.

By Jane Sharp

20 short sprints make it a value runner

Marginally behind its stablemate in review stakes with 12 starts for 4.2* average

Short priced favorite.

Discount cost $2.99

Odds 1-2

In the stables of Amazon, Apple, B&N, Google Kobo and others: Amazon stable http://geni.us/1l36

5.

Cult favorite over many years

By Bernie Dowling out of Pop Culture, sibling to another runner.

Runs a funny race over a true course with darts down sidetracks.

Suited to Australian tracks so international punters, prepare for a wild ride.

Could take off at any stage.

Discount cost $2.99

Odds 3-1

In the stables of Amazon, Apple, B&N, Google Kobo and others: Amazon stable http://geni.us/3LXG

And they’re OFF.

Support your faves from the above field and follow their fortunes in the Grand Notional Staplechase.

Here is our song

Encourage Christina

EVERYONE needs encouragement along the path to accomplishment.

     Christina Debi is a debut author from the Australian seaside suburb of Redcliffe.

     Christina’s novel When Life Walks on Bare Soles is a realistic comedy drama.

Central character Maria has turned 55.

Book in the New Year

READERS around the world buy more books in January than any other month.

Christmas Day and Boxing Day are the easily the two biggest book buying days of the year.

But January beats December on monthly sales.

Why so? Well, the predominant theory from those who theorize about such things is you, the reader, give indies and small publishers a go in January.

People with new Kindles or other eReaders in their hands on Christmas Day or Boxing Day are not inclined to take chances so they choose best-selling authors. By January they are more likely to flirt with a tempting book by a writer previously unknown to them.

But how do readers choose indie books or small publishers? How do they even find the good ones among the three million books Amazon alone stocks?

Good question and I do not know. How do you do it? 
(You might need to be a Google+ member to comment below. I am not sure but sometimes I can be a hard marker and I may have whimsically made that stipulation. Anyway, you can see my email link right of this blog so there is little excuse not to continue the conversation, admittedly one-sided ATM.)

I received a good review for my neo-noir novel Iraqi Icicle in Publisher’s Weekly which resulted in few sales. I received another good review in our State newspaper and a fellow author said that must have provided a sales boost. Nope. 
Professional reviews do not seem to cut it anymore.  Print media supplies book reviews less frequently than they used to. The reviews are shorter and harder to find.

I suspect the 80-20 rule applies to book buying as it does in many situations: About 20% of readers buy 80% of books, that is what I believe.

If you are a 20 percenter or know of one, please alert them to the books on my website. See if any tickle their fancy. Ask them to take a little time to read the reviews on Amazon. There are not a stack of them but they are authentic and should ring true to the reader. 

Tell me how you find books you wish to read.

Here is my Publisher’s Weekly review in case it might spark you into investigating my novel Iraqi Icicle.

PW Review 

AND here are all the wonderful books you can buy from #BBBooks retailers in January. Oh, and please pass on this post to other 20 percenters. I am sure they are lovely people unlike those nasty 1-percenters. No I am not talking about Hell's Angels.

Bent Books

OUR song is associated with a true story in the novel, Iraqi Icicle, which is set in Brisbane Australia, BTW, despite references to international cultures and conflicts.

The U.S. invaded Panama on December 20, 1989, to arrest that country’s president Manuel Noriega for drug and arms smuggling.

Noriega took refuge in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City. 

Armed Forces Radio launched a rock music attack of soldiers' requests on the Embassy. It is not quite as straight-forward as that and you will need to read the novel for the full story, or my version of it.

Noriega had been in the pay of the CIA for many years before he became a designated bad guy. One U.S. soldier certainly knew this because here’s his request for a war blast at the Vatican.

Start reading groovy

Do you want this man rampaging through your house?

ARE readers actually reading books these days? It is a fair question.

How you write a book review

WHAT the world needs now are reviews, book reviews; they're the only things (apart from fresh water, social justice and quite a bit of other stuff) that there's just too little of: reviews, book reviews.

Reviews roll on

REVIEWS are coming in to Amazon for Bernie Dowling's non-fiction work 7 Shouts:The Best of My Shout.
Gleaned from seven year's of his My Shout newspaper columns, the book establishes Australian humour at the off-centre of the Universe.
The first two reviewers each gave 7 Shouts four stars.
Here is what they had to say.


4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read, June 10, 2012
By baggy
This review is from: 7 Shouts (My Shout) (Kindle Edition)
Bernie Dowling has a unique voice that really brings his columns to life. I highly recommend this to anyone that enjoys Australian humour. Even if you don't laugh you will be entertained and informed. My favourite is the Slanguage chapter. For the record I say 'marown'.



4.0 out of 5 stars Fun book for the person who loves journalism!, June 7, 2012
By Heather Marie Adkins
This review is from: 7 Shouts (My Shout) (Kindle Edition)
Bernie Dowling has compiled years of journalistic endeavors into one compendium, along with pictures (some of them quite funny), and has thus given readers "7 Shouts". For the individual with a love of journalism, an open-minded viewpoint on all things living, and often insightful blurbs on life, I highly recommend this book. Love, tragedy, success, and history--it's all there in the funny, intelligent, and sometimes satirical voice of Dowling. Definitely a getaway read for the nonfiction crowd :)

Reviews are also at Google eBooks for the Kindle-less lovers of lit.
Visit Amazon 
or Google Books http://goo.gl/DxFCc
Give yourself a giggle.