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MAILING LIST: I just started a mailing list for my publishing company. Will mail out every 2 months and will include excerpts from my Robert’s Roundup columns and other random stuff. MASTADON: https://booktoot.club/@nagletx
Abbreviations: KU means Kindle Unlimited, and APUB means it was published under an Amazon imprint.NYP means “Name Your Price” (that’s an option on Smashwords and other booksellers). If you’d like to submit an ebook to me for review or mention in this column, see my instructions here.
Wow, I just realized that this is my 48th column! I’ve can’t believe how many I’ve done — I’ll have to do something fancy when I do #50.
I’ve been buying a ton of fiction titles over the last three months ever since I discovered the secret of locating discounted ebooks from the Major 5 publishers. Frankly, though, I’m switching gears and now focused more on job stuff; finding additional books is the last thing I should be spending my time and money on!
I’ve devised a new rubric for analyzing the power of short stories: the Awesomeness Score! I actually converted it into a mathematical formula:
Awesomeness Score =3 X (SUM OF PRIMARY QUALITIES) + (SUM OF BONUS QUALITIES) – (SUM OF UNDESIRABLE QUALITIES)
Indie Author Spotlight
Jake Seliger (1983_2024). If there ever was a Pulitzer Prize for blogging, then certainly Jake Seliger would have won it hands down for this year’s blogging. I wrote a literary tribute to Jake’s blog and his writing. Jake got a fast-acting form of cancer and died with his wife Bess at his side. Seliger published two novels (one of which I read and enjoyed), but he’s remarkable first because of his steady litblogging for 17 years and the fact that he blogged in depth about his disease and dying in general over the past year.
I have already blogged about some of Jake’s more notable blogposts. But frankly that only scratched the surface, and I’m preparing a post or two about some of his more interesting blog posts. Stay tuned!
Texas Author Indie Book Fair
A week ago I had the delight of walking through the Author Indie Book Fair which took place a few miles from where I live in Katy, Texas. Before going, I didn’t really know what to expect, but I enjoyed meeting and greeting lots of writers in genres I haven’t read much in. I was frankly surprised that I didn’t recognize a single author on the list (which is here). All writers live in obscurity to some extent, and it is nice to find book people hiding out in your own neighborhood.
I spent about 5 hours at the event, but I eventually had to leave because my jaws were too tired from talking and I was afraid of getting on the nerves of the captive authors. I visited only about 1/3 of the tables there.
Tarif Youssef Agha (author page) is a Syrian-American poet based in Houston who writes poetry, kids books and political books about his home country. (here’s a 3 part lecture he gave about Syria and a 25 minute author interview. I look forward to reading his Hearts, Tears & the Journey of Life: Loving, Lamenting and Meditation, Middle Eastern Style. He’s lived in USA for several decades, so his English is practically flawless, and his books are available in translation.
E.M. Rensing (author website) has written several sci fi books. She’s a former Air Force Academy grad with a background in cyber operations/security. She has 2 series: Heliosphere Trilogy (space opera) and the Abiota Series (AI, military, aliens). Here’s an author interview.
Carl Reinelt (author website) is an affable raconteur who grew up in Michigan (and now lives in McKinney, Texas). In addition to writing poetry . His ebooks aren’t on Amazon, but you can find them on Google, Apple, etc. His recent book Charlie’s Ladder was described in Book Life as “A gripping tale of survival, Charlie’s Ladder delves into the darkest recesses of the human mind, while touching readers with glimmers of hope and restoration.“
Ynes Freeman (author/publisher website) runs Memento Vivere Press and recently published Beautiful Serpent, which is the first book in a series about a woman with special empathic powers. We had a fun little chat about editing and publishing stuff. Also, looks like she has been publishing with several anthologies and writing websites — sometimes pseudonymously.
Jeff Folschinsky (author website) writes comedy/horror with some fun/outlandish book covers. Looks like he has some solid credentials in comedy writing too. About one book Hell, Incorporated, reviewer Ben Haskett calls it an accessible read that successfully oscillates between absurdist comedy, terror, and detective procedural. Fans of Seth McFarlane, or really, any reader looking for a slim, standalone adventure with a humorous punch will find a lot to love.
Under the Radar
When Eve Was Naked: Stories of a Life’s Journey by Josef Skvorecky. Autobiographical short stories by Czech writer who has witnessed a lot of history.
Retribution: Stories by John Fulton
High Roads by Edna O’Brien.
Universe.exe: New Insights, Evidence and Implications of Simulation Theory by Matt Charles.
Love Crisis: Hit and Run Lovers, Jugglers, Sexual Stingies, Unreliables, Kinkies and other typical men by Carol Botwin. Sex therapist book. Mostly anecdotes. Written in 1979
You will Never be Forgotten Stories by Mary South.
Stories We Keep by Shawna Holly
Big Sheep Novel by Robert Kroese. Sci fi writer whom I like.
Tenants by Bernard Malamud
Man Alive! by Mary Kay Zuravleff
When You Had Power (Nothing is Promised 1) by Susan Kaye Quinn.
Rules for Saying Goodbye Novel by Katherine Taylor.
Invisible Love by Eric-Emmanual Schmitt. Existential political postmodern novel about the life of physicist Werner Heisenberg.
XZARDAK: When The World Ends by Scott Cato.
Before this is Over by Amanda Hickie. (Author website, interview )Australian author who writes about how an epidemic affected a family in Canada. Published in 2015.
The Principle by Jerome Ferrari
Fat Bald Jeff Novel by Leslie Stella
Made-Up Man Novel by Joseph Scapellato.
Confessions of a Spent Youth novel by Vance Bourjaily. I actually have a print copy somewhere, but can’t resist buying a digital edition because of the low price.
Peace Processes: A Novella and Stories by Bruce Jay Friedman.
Apology a Novel by Jon Pineda
Day/Night: Two Novels by Paul Auster
The Enchantment of Lily Dahl: A Novel by Siri Hustvedt. 1996 Coming of age story about a young waitress discovering sensuality and adventure. This sounds a little less cerebral than H’s usual. (PS, she’s married to Auster who died recently).
Jacob’s Folly by Rebecca Miller. Imaginative novel about reincarnation.
Untold Stories by Alan Bennett. Autobiographical essays by this British funnyman.
Falling Touch by Algis Budrys. 1959 Sci novel . Earth is conquered and humans are banished to Alpha Centauri, but want to take their planet back.
Of Silence and Song by Dan Beachy-Quick. Poetry title about an older person searching for meaning in modern life.
Interrogation Poems by Michael Bazzett.
Two books by Derek Walcott: What the Twilight Says (Essays) and Dream on Monkey Mountain and other Plays.
Manifestation Wolverine: Collected Poetry of Ray Young Bear,
Good Music: What It Is and who gets to decide by John J. Sheinbaum
And It Don’t Stop: Best American Hip-hop journalism, Edited by Raquel Cepeda.
What He’s Poised to Do: Stories by Ben Greenman Widely published author who also writes music journalism. A few years ago I bought his Emotional Rescue: Essays on Love, Loss and Life–with a soundtrack.
Collected Memoirs Vol 1 (3 books) by Doris Grumbach.
Mr. Tall: A Novella and Stories by Tony Early. Mid-career story collection by a Vanderbilt professor who writes about North Carolina.
Eat, Drink and Be from Mississippi: Novel by Nanci Kincaid (W). Also wrote the excellent Verbena which I read a few years ago.
Politics of Petulance by Alan Wolfe.
Obituary Writer by Porter Shreve.
In the Province of Saints: A Novel by Thomas O’Malley.
Lux: A Novel by Maria Flook. (W) Here’s a 2003 interview with Robert Birnbaum.
As it Happened (novel) by David Storey.
Castle of Whispers by Carole Martinez. French translation. 12th century tale of a 15 year old girl who refuses to marry and instead enters the convent.
Pearl City: Stories from Japan and Elsewhere by Simon Rowe (Author Website, Zoom Interview, Interview, and his Seawood Salad Days blog with a post about how he scored a book deal with Penguin).
Introducing National Book Critics Circle
For some time I’ve wanted to highlight the reviews of the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) which are featured in a weekly blogpost and email blast. Each post/blast contains two sections: reviews and interviews.
I have some complaints about NBCC which may or may not be fair. First, a lot of the review coverage focuses on Big 5 books (which aside from being a limited subset of books being covered today, tend to be the most expensive when they are first released). Second, I once recommended that a very bookish colleague apply for membership, and I was appalled to discover that NBCC rejected his application. It’s true that my friend wrote more filmcrit than litcrit, but critics rarely fall into neat categories. Third, a number of these reviews are about nonfiction or academic books. Sure, there’s a place for that — and I enjoy reading a lot of these too, but NBCC’s coverage of indie authors is less than adequate (compared to coverage of prize winners and well-known authors like Sally Rooney, Neal Stephenson, Louise Erdrich and that sort). Finally, several of the reviews/interviews are behind paywalls.
These seem to be petty complaints. Frankly, it’s difficult keeping track of interesting book reviews in this fractured media environment. The national newspapers review such a small number, and some of the book review journals aren’t that accessible. If anything, it’s really helpful having Michael Schaub and the NBCC throw together reviews from so many different places into a single post. Also, performing as a book critic these days is becoming harder and less sustainable even as the need for quality book criticism is greater than ever. The paying market for writing book reviews for periodicals seem to be fading at the same time that sponsored reviews (Kirkus, City Book Review, Publishers’ Weekly) seem to be doing relatively ok. For this reason I am going to include more links to columns from them.
Literary journalism is also an important part of writing about books. I confess that I shiver with excitement every time I discover a new article is out by Laura Miller (W) or (sigh) Michael Dirda (W). But I feel almost the same way while perusing the headlines of the always interesting Lithub or The Millions.
There’s a ton of author-run literary newsletters (mostly on substack), and I try to keep up with everything, but I can’t. Maybe no one can?
The trade journals publish a lot of distinguished book reviews online, but these tend to be more succinct and more descriptive than analytical. The problem is that the length of the review depends more on what kind of sponsored review has been purchased than on the quality of the book. I find myself reading Midwest Book Review a lot more simply to get exposed to books by authors and presses I’d never heard of.
Library Purchases/Printed books
THE LANGUAGE OF CLIMATE POLITICS: FOSSIL-FUEL PROPAGANDA AND HOW TO FIGHT IT by Genevieve Guenther. Guenther has been a guest on multiple climate podcasts, and her analysis and rhetoric is always brilliant. I will post a real review later.
Creative Commons/Freebies
Owen Johnson (W) is early 20th century American author famous for his Lawrenceville Stories (which he wrote in the 1910s). Almost all the books are free on PG.
Literary Articles and Essays
How much do freelance writers make when reviewing a book? The answer is not pretty. See also WhosPaysWriters freelance database.
From an interview with Jonathan Lethem:
What do you always want to talk about in interviews but never get to?
I think that over the decades the thing that’s surprised me the most is how no one ever asks about a book’s dedication. It isn’t as though this is because interviewers restrict themselves to the text, since everything else seems fair game—blurbs, jacket design, author photo, acknowledgements, disclaimer, paper stock. Yet a dedication hovers in free space, requires a page of its own, and represents a kind of thread tethering the published book, which has otherwise escaped the private sphere of its author, to the author’s life. A dedication is Poe’s proverbial purloined letter, ignored in plain sight. Why this person, how’d you decide, was it easy or hard? (Often hard. Sometimes easy.) Are you trying to apologize, or right a wrong? (There are better avenues for that.) Do you worry about fairness? (Hopeless to even begin.) Why dad, not mom? (I do love mom, but she’s gone, dad’s here. Dead-ications seem like wasted gestures.) Have you developed rules, as you go along dedicating books across the years? (The dedication should be to someone you could actually imagine enjoying the book in question.) Why this stunt play—the self-dedication, the vast collective, the ironic deflection? (Never did one of those, myself, so that’s a question for someone else.) Why are you hiding a person behind an initial? (Ditto.) Did you tell the person in advance? (Sometimes.) Has anyone ever said ‘no thanks?’ (No. But maybe they were just being polite.) Ever go to someone twice? (Dad.) Is a book “to” or “for” someone, and why? (I prefer “for.” Nations dedicate themselves “to” causes or programs, scaring the shit out of me. “For” feels more like the act of one person handing a book to another.)
Rant
(Here’s a response I made to a person on reddit about whether it’s illegal for bloggers to review books for money. )
I’m a literary blogger, author and publisher. It’s not violating a TOS to post a review on your blog. In fact, many honest bloggers do that — as does Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, MidWest Book Review etc.
Publishers who use these services have the option to repost the review on the book descriptions on the bookseller’s page. That is also allowed — in fact it’s quite common. Some bloggers write these kinds of reviews on their blogs and make sure they label it as a sponsored review.
It’s debatable about whether a reviewer can repost it on Goodreads or Librarything. I would say no, but I really haven’t looked at their TOS.
As a publisher I would gladly pay for reviews on books which are hard to describe or esoteric reading. Frankly, I’d like to think that it’s just a matter of finding a reviewer to volunteer their time to review it, but some of the people who write high quality reviews have the least amount of time to review titles. So authors are stuck between the choice of paying $400 for a Kirkus/Pub Weekly review or begging a small number of bloggers to review something for free.
Reading a book and writing a review may strike some as “fun” and “recreational” ( i do a lot of them myself), but it also is very time-consuming. Book reviewers have been paid by newspapers in the past; now that most newspapers have eliminated book reviews, we need new ways to support a community of reviewers (beyond simply providing ARCs).
I for one wish that more review bloggers were available to do sponsored reviews at a more modest price than Kirkus. MidWest Book Review seems to fulfill that role quite admirably — (Diane Donovan at MBR is one of the best reviewers out there).
Capsule Book Reviews
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Multimedia/Podcasts, Etc
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Personville Press Deals
I run Personville Press, a small literary book press where all the ebooks cost less than $4. Prices normally appear highest on Amazon, Apple, Kobo and BN, somewhat lower on Google Play Books and lower on the two DRM-free stores which are Smashwords and Payhip. Personville Press is committed to selling DRM-free ebooks and audio files directly from the Personville Press payhip store or from Smashwords. The prices listed here are the non-discounted price on Amazon. Check the links to see if they are discounted at the moment (it happens often).
- Existential Smut 1: Youthful Indiscretions by Hapax Legomenon. These artsy erotica stories are published on one of Personville Press’s imprints (Ripe Mango Take Two Press). You can buy it on Payhip | Eden Books | Kobo |Google
- Boxes of Time (Stories) by Jack Matthews. 2.99 Stories about messy emotions, troubled families and damaged personalities. 11th Story Collection. Payhip | Google | Kobo |Smashwords | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Apple | BN
- Minor Sketches and Reveries by Alberto Balengo. ($2) Introspective tales involving animals, allegories and the melodrama of everyday life. Payhip | Amazon | Smashwords |Google | BN | Apple | Kobo.
- My Heart For Hostage by Robert S. Hillyer. This tender love story between a young American lieutenant and a French girl in Paris after the first World War was published by poet (and Pulitzer Prize winner) Robert Hillyer in 1942. Out of print for several decades, this novel will be re-released for the first time as a low-cost ebook. A New York Times critic called it a “superbly written book, written perhaps as only a poet with and expert in the discipline of verse could write it.” Includes a critical essay by Robert Nagle. Free download from the publisher’s site, but also available at a nominal price from ebook stores: Payhip | Smashwords | Google Play | BN | Apple | Kobo | Amazon | Amazon UK. You can also read the whole thing online!
- Pre-Pulitzer Poetry by Robert Hillyer. This new poetry collection contains six of Hillyer’s pre-Pulitzer books in their entirety, including a longer narrative poem (Carmus) that is a haunting fairy tale for adults. Amazon US || Amazon UK | Amazon CN || Amazon AUS || Amazon IN || Google Play || Smashwords || Payhip
- Second Death of E.A. Poe and other Stories by Jack Matthews. $2.99. Did Edgar Allen Poe fake his death? That’s what a Baltimore doctor needs to figure out in the title tale for this 11th story collection. Payhip| Smashwords | Google Play |BN | Apple | Kobo | Amazon US | Amazon UK |
- Interview with the Sphinx. By Jack Matthews. ($1.50). Hyperintellectual Tom Stoppard-like play which reads like a novel about a strange interview with the ancient Sphinx character. Freud and Florence Nightingale show up too. I loved this play and even produced an audio version of it which you can buy for $2 on payhip (mp3/m4a) but the script reads well too. The audio book is available from most audiobook streaming services like |Audible $6 | Apple $3 | Google Play $3 |
- A Worker’s Writebook by Jack Matthews . $2.25 Matthews distributed a photocopied version of this writing guide to his Ohio U. creative writing students over the decades.
- Soldier Boys: Tales of the Civil War by Jack Matthews. $1.50 Philosophical Stories Taking place during the US Civil War.
- Abruptions: 3 Minute Stories to Awaken the Mind by Jack Matthews. Flash Fiction. $2.25
- Hanger Stout, Awake (50th Anniversary Edition). by Jack Matthews. Coming of age novel. $3.00
- Three Times Time Story Sampler by Jack Matthews (Always Free!) US Amazon customers can sometimes get it for free, but to make things easier, you can down these files directly without having to register: Epub, Mobi.
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