Monthly archive

October 2010

Friday, October 29, 2010

Rolling Around in the Political Mud

There's an election coming up on Tuesday. Have you heard? Or a better question might be, have you found some way not to notice?


For the better part of the past month, in Florida at least, the airwaves have been glutted with campaign ads, a huge percentage of them negative. When I first got down here and started seriously focusing on the various races, if I'd listened solely to the TV ads, I'd have packed my bags and headed to an off-shore island. Far, far off-shore. It seemed hardly anyone in any race was qualified to be dog catcher. That might still be the case in a couple of instances, but I've spent a lot of time sorting truth from fiction, and some candidates have risen above the muck.


What I find incredibly disturbing is thinking about how many voters rely on these ads to reach their decisions before going to the polls. Almost as disturbing is the fact that the candidates and the groups that support them are allowed to get away with the half-truths, deceptions and outright lies. And the Supreme Court has recently protected outside groups and their right to spend millions of dollars on these ads, in many cases without even needing to reveal who's behind them.


This is a particularly touchy topic for me because I grew up with a father whose job for the Internal Revenue Service's then-Alcohol, Tobacco Tax Division was to review liquor advertising for compliance with a slew of regulations, one of which had to do with the truthfulness of the claims. I clearly recall one instance in which he rejected an ad featuring the glamorous, long-legged dancer-actress Cyd Charisse. I've long since forgotten the particular product being advertised or even the grounds for rejection, but she sent my dad an autographed picture and wrote, "So, George, you turned me down!" 


Well, somebody ought to be turning down these blatantly distorted political ads just as forcefully. If they can't pass the stink-meter test, they shouldn't be on public airwaves. And think about this...there are billions of dollars being spent for these ads in an off-year election cycle. It costs a million dollars per week for a candidate to saturate the major TV markets in Florida alone! Some people want to buy these elections really, really badly.


Since nobody's shut down or changed the tone of this, my plea to you before Tuesday is to do your own homework. Voting is not only a right, but a responsibility. If you missed debates by the candidates in your state, see if they're available online. Really listen to what they have to say and determine if they can honestly deliver on what they're promising (700,000 jobs? Come on!) or if they're pandering to your fears just to get your vote. Read newspapers or watch TV newscasts -- across the political spectrum -- to hear what these candidates are saying in response to serious questions from reliable journalists. And if a candidate has refused to speak to the media under the guise of "taking their campaign to the people" consider them to be surrrounded by a thousand red flags! We have a couple of those right here in Florida and believe me, they don't want journalists asking too many questions for a very good reason.


As for me, I am so thankful that Florida has early voting. I've already done my research, listened to debates, read and watched news reports and cast my ballot. I can almost tune out all those disgusting ads.

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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Wishing you a merry Christmas...in October

Christmas is literally over two months away, yet not only are stores aready decorating for the season, but publishers are releasing a ton of Christmas books -- including mine, A Chesapeake Shores Christmas.


If you've barely even given a thought to your shopping list, much less lugged your own decorations out of hiding, this probably doesn't make a lot of sense. Many of us are still dealing with mild temperatures or, in a few instances, even unseasonably soaring temperatures. Believe me, in some areas it's definitely not beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.


So, why do they do it...or do you even care? Judging from a lot of comments I've seen and heard recently, many of you are perplexed by this. And never at a loss for a theory, I'll share mine with you. When it comes to holiday themed books, publishers want them on the shelves for longer than a minute.


Here's what I mean. If the Christmas books were released to stores, say, around Thanksgiving, that would mean they'd likely be on shelves for barely a month. They'd also be there just when you're starting to think about the mountain of gifts you need to buy and starting to forego any indulgences for yourself.


I've actually seen that kind of thinking in action. I've done a couple of signings over the years just before a Mother's Day weekend, thinking that would be the perfect time for someone to buy a signed copy of one of my books as a gift for Mom or as a treat for themselves. What happened? People barreled right past, intent on the robe or perfume they'd planned to buy. Ever wondered why bookstores don't schedule a lot of author events in December? The same reason. They're too busy and shoppers are too focused on the items on their shopping list.


So, as retailers put their displays together for the holidays -- be it giant gift baskets of indulgent body lotions and perfumes or Christmas books -- they want them out there when shoppers haven't already started to panic about seasonal expenses.


As a reader, I like to stock up on this kind of book so I'll have the perfect feel-good reads on hand when the stresses of the season kick into high gear. There's nothing like a cup of tea, a Christmas cookie -- or two -- and a book that will transport me into the holiday spirit. I hope you'll pile up a whole selection next to your favorite chair -- including, of course, A Chesapeake Shores Christmas -- and relax. And, if you're on Facebook, be sure to take the poll about this series or chime in on the discussion on my fan page. I'd love to have you join me there.


 


 

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Anger management and me

This has not been a good summer for someone like me, who wants all readers to be very, very happy with my books.


I know, of course, that reading is subjective and there are millions of folks out there who will never read a book by Sherryl Woods and probably survive quite nicely. There are others who will read one and decide my stories are not their cup of tea. I can live with all that. It's when people love my books and are driven away by other factors that I go a little crazy.


Today, for instance, someone to whom I'd just given a copy of A Chesapeake Shores Christmas pointed out that a chunk of pages beginning at p. 193 were upside down. Since I'd bought a few copies at various locations the other day and removed the price stickers, I have no clue which store had the defective books. I raced home and checked my author copies and the copies I'd bought elsewhere -- wherever elsewhere was -- and all were just fine. Thank goodness. Please, before buying the book, thumb through the pages and make sure they're rightside up. If it's not, pass it along to a store manager on the spot.


Earlier in the summer, thanks to a production glitch, a lot of readers bought copies of Welcome to Serenity, which turned out to have Seaview Inn inside. MIRA's customer service department has replaced a lot of books and I've answered a lot of emails. Talked about a whole bunch of perplexed people!


And then came the reissue of Dream Mender as part of the Bestselling Author Collection last month. Despite a small notice on the front of the book that it contains a bonus book, and a description of that book by author Allison Leigh on the back cover, some readers have been furious with me. They feel duped since my name is the only one on the cover. While most readers are delighted to find an older book back in print, they assumed -- quite rightly based on the cover -- that the entire book was mine.


Since I've heard from several irate readers, I suspect there are more out there, so here's the deal. The Bestselling Author Collection is a program over which I have absolutely zero control. Zero, zilch, nada, none! It is designed as a way to make shorter, older titles available in a way that not only gives value for the money, but exposes my readers to another author. That's a good thing.


That said, I have been very vocal  since seeing the actual book in pleading that any future books in this collection be very clear on the cover that the book contains works by two authors and not just me (or other authors included in the program) in the same way that anthologies do. The last thing I want is for even one reader to feel deceived or duped or tricked into buying something. My publisher, bless them, has assured me this is being fixed. I'm counting on that.


In the meantime, while I am always happy to hear from any of you with complaints about mistakes or anything else related to my books, there is a sysytem in place that can bring you real help much more quickly. If there's a problem with any MIRA, Harlequin, HQN or Silhouette book you buy, you can send an email to: customer_eCare@harlequin.ca and they will happily do whatever they can to rectify the situation.  Please note that the address is customer_eCare and .ca, NOT.com.


I wish every single book made every single reader happy and contained not a single mistake, but in the real world, things happen. In that case, the publisher and I will both do whatever we can to make it right. That's a promise.