RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Another Turkey Day bites the dust. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was good. Whenever I manage to celebrate the holidays with my family without any drama, it's a good thing. Not that my family is prone to drama mind you. Well, not much anyway. But the holidays can be so stressful and tempers can easily flare. I ate to excess as I do at every holiday gathering. I even managed to get a chunk of Christmas shopping out of the way and snagged this great throwback gift for one of my loved ones. I didn't brave the stores at 5 am the day after Thanksgiving. They'd have to be offering iPods for a dime or diamond rings for a dollar for me to EVER consider rising that early on a day when I don't have to go to work. More power to you if you were brave enough to tackle the malls in all that madness. I hate shopping in general and QVC is my best friend.

I was watching Recipe For Success on the Food Network yesterday. For those of you who've never watched it, Recipe For Success is a show that features people who have given up their careers to start a business in the food industry. It shows their struggles to get their new business ventures off the ground and all the work, and money it takes to really get a new business going. Not to mention all the heartache and hassles. Yesterday's episode featured a woman named Laura who started a cookie business called A Dozen Eggs. As I watched Laura struggling mightily to get her business off the ground, I realized how much I had in common with her.

Even though I'm a writer and she's a baker, we both have a products we're trying to sell. One of her main problems was trying to spread the word about her cookies just as I'm trying to spread the word about my book. It ain't easy. Another one of her major problems was money, which I can truly relate to. Unlike Laura, I haven't quit my day job. But even though I have a steady source of income, the costs of promoting a book with the expense of travel, printing, postage, membership dues, writing supplies, etc etc etc can really add up quick. By the end of the show Laura had been in the cookie business for six months and had barely turned a profit. My book has been out for six months also. I'm eagerly awaiting my first royalty statement. I know it will be several more months before I get a check. Laura and her husband had mortgaged their home and were in a lot of credit card debt but the show did end on a hopeful note when Laura's cookies were chosen to appear in a prestigious catalog. Why in the world would anyone put themselves through all of this trauma? That's an easy one: Love & Passion. Love of what their doing and a passion to succeed. If you don't have those two things than why bother?

BOOKS AND BOOKSTORES

I'm continuing to commit time to reading out of my genre. It often helps to clear my head and understand writing essentials. Last time I mentioned I was reading Barbara Kingsolver. Um...I was disappointed in a general way about Kingsolver's novel, Pigs in Heaven, but I understand she wrote it before she wrote the Poisonwood Bible. She is sardonic, and there are some lovely passages in the book, told in a unique way and I appreciate that talent.

I wondered, however, why the library book I checked out came from the Young Adult Section and could be similarly found in the Adult Section. It has a child in it, but it's an adult novel. Which brings me to the question of the mishmash categorization of the African American novel. Perhaps you'll find African-American children's books categorized consistently. The rest? Well, maybe in a store devoted exclusively to selling African American books. But in the chains and other independent bookstores? Please. Why does one have to run all over the store as if on a scavenger hunt to track down "our" books?

And another thing. It seems to me that historically, there has been the kind of writing from the African American community that will forever appeal to Caucasians, is marketed to Caucasians, and is read thirstily by Caucasians--those works that open a window to black folks souls and let them peek in. These kinds of books are often found on a classic literature list somewhere and usually catalogued appropriately. Or maybe not. I've seen Richard Wright stocked smack next to Zane's books. ??? What could be in the bookseller's heads?
I like mystery/thriller books and so I trot dutifully to the mystery section of a store. I'd like to know if there are brothers and sisters writing in the category, but will I find their books there? No, and marketing by publishers "disguise" these categories, and so it's a hunt and search to find the kinds of books I'd like to read. Why is that? Can somebody tell me? I've learned more as a published writer meeting other writers and being introduced to their works than I have going into a bookstore. So what about GP? General public? Shouldn't it be an easy chore to select books? Hey, I'd like to hear some opinions on the subject.

In what section of a bookstore do you usually shop? Anybody? Somebody? I assume, if you've checked out Crime Sisters Blog that you have some interest in crime fiction/mystery/suspense? So tell me how you shop? Do you go straight to the African American section of your favorite bookstore? If you do, you'll find my books there. Or will you go to the mystery section? A few stores--that I've asked, or begged-- might stock my books there. Other writers? Where are your books found? And is anybody else disturbed about this?
Gammy L. Singer
Look for Down and Dirty, coming in March, 2006