Goodreads | Guy Portman's Blog

My Reading List

Apr 27 2018

As Frank Zappa once famously said, ‘So many books, so little time.’ I am sure many of you can empathise with that, I certainly can. As well as keeping busy writing (4 novels to date) I like to read. My writing genre is dark humour/satire. Because of this I tend to read a lot of books that fall into this category. However, I am something of an eclectic reader. Today, I would like to share with you a few books from my ever-growing TBR list.

Yes, I am aware the above is a picture of a dog not a book cover. Trigga has picked up some unsavoury habits of late, possibly from his owner. As a result I have decided to deviate from my usual reading matter to read …

The Dog Listener

Wish me luck.

I have not read much Irvine Welsh, but I was immensely impressed by Skagboys which I read earlier this year. My next Welsh book will be … What a great title, marabou storks are terrifying creatures.

Marabou Stork Nightmares

American Gods

Goodreads members have been raving about American Gods for a long time. It is high time that I read it.

Bret Easton Ellis has certainly had an influence on me and my writing. I didn’t think much of Lunar Park though. Hopefully this will be better.

Imperial Bedrooms

When it comes to entertainment, you can’t beat prison breaks. Somehow, I have never got around to reading:

Papillon

Like its prequel Blood Ties promises to be a gritty Manchester-based crime novel.

Blood Ties

The word ‘scarface’ was enough to prompt me to add the below to my to-read list. Just as many the world over, the film Scarface had a profound effect on me.

Hotel Scarface

The Journey of Crazy Horse

I have always been fascinated by indigenous Americans. Crazy Horse is an iconic figure and I have high hopes for this book.

Fiend

If you know you me, you will know that I cannot resist Transgressive Fiction hence the inclusion of Fiend on my TBR.

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Book Marketing

May 02 2014

It has now been just over a week since I released my satirical black comedy, Necropolis. This week’s blog post is about some of my book marketing efforts so far. Hopefully fellow authors might find some of this information useful.

Reviews

In my opinion it is imperative to start approaching reviewers before the release of your book. A few days before the official launch day Necropolis was reviewed on:

Crime Fiction Lover – (Britain’s biggest Crime Fiction website) awarded Necropolis 5 Stars.

The following is a quote I particularly liked from their review:

‘The book is full of razor-sharp satire. No politically correct madness escapes unscathed, and no sacred cow remains un-butchered and served up in freezer packs.’

A number of authors suggest that approaching Amazon Top 500 Customer Reviewers can be a beneficial strategy. You can recognise Amazon’s top reviewers on Amazon, as they have written in a blue font next to their names things like; HALL OF FAME and TOP 10 REVIEWER.

To receive a review from one of Amazon’s top reviewers gives added validity to your book/product, provided they like it of course, otherwise the opposite holds true. I would not recommend trying to contact any until your book/product goes Live on Amazon. This is a video link to assist you in finding them. Click here to find out how to do this.

From my experience only a very few have contact details, desire to be contacted and/or fall within a given target market, but if your book manages to entice one of these respected reviewers it is well worth the effort. There will be a couple of Amazon Top 500 Customer Reviewers of Necropolis on Amazon.co.uk in the near future.

It goes without saying that more reviews do not equal more sales, only visibility can achieve that, but reviews are critical in persuading customers to purchase once they are on your page.

Bloggers

Blog tours are a marketing strategy used by many authors to gain exposure when they launch a new book. Personally I never planned anything that formal. However, a number of kind bloggers have offered to interview me, provide a guest author profile and/or review my book. This offers a great opportunity for exposure, and in the case of interviews, allows readers to find out more about you as a person. Readers like this, so I am told. Here are some blogs/websites I have appeared on so far:

Fiction Favorites – Yesterday American author and prolific Haiku creator, John Howell, kindly interviewed me for his popular blog.

Bookingly Yours – My guest author profile.

Chunk Books – Author, Hollywood Actor and former skateboarder Eric Barry interviewed me for his new blog, dedicated to readers and authors of the Transgressive genre.

More to follow soon.

I had a pre launch giveaway on the popular reader site, as I did for my first book, Charles Middleworth. I offered 3 signed copies of Necropolis. 1,260 people entered, and nearly 500 added Necropolis to their to-read list. Goodreads giveaways provide a unique opportunity for your book to be seen by some of goodreads’ 20 million users.

The potential downside is:

There is a risk winners will fall outside your target audience. If an avid fan of Christian Fiction, positive thinking books and/or books featuring cute kittens/puppies wins a copy of my satirical black comedy, Necropolis, they will probably not like it, and this will no doubt be reflected in their review – but that is the risk you take.

For those that are unfamiliar with LibraryThing, it is the competitor to goodreads, with a purported 1.65m users. The LibraryThing Members Giveaway feature provides the opportunity to give away your book. In contrast to goodreads one can offer an ebook as opposed to a hardcopy. The advantage of this is that it will not incur any cost for the author. I held an ebook giveaway for Necropolis.

If you are not familiar with the site, be warned, it is easier to find your way through a maze than to navigate through LibraryThing. A lot of work needs to be done to make the site more user friendly, if it is ever to truly compete with goodreads.

There are now 5 Star reviews of Necropolis on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and goodreads.

Dyson Devereux works in the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council. Dyson is intelligent, incisive and informed. He is also a sociopath. Dyson’s contempt for the bureaucracy and banality of his workplace provides ample refuge for his mordant wit. But the prevalence of Essex Cherubs adorning the headstones of Newton New Cemetery is starting to get on his nerves.

When an opportunity presents itself will Dyson seize his chance and find freedom, or is his destiny to be a life of toil in Burials and Cemeteries?

Brutal, bleak and darkly comical, Necropolis is a savage indictment of the politically correct, health and safety obsessed world in which we live.

‘Not only a funny, twisted, erudite satire on the psychopath genre, this novel also boasts a compelling plot and finely sculpted characters’

‘A black comedy of true distinction’

‘I was at once fascinated and disturbed by the devious Dyson Devereux with his malicious pedantry, wicked schemes and grotesque good taste. A barbed joy’

Amazon.co.uk – Paperback & Kindle: £2.22

Amazon.com – Paperback & Kindle: $3.73

Thank you to all those who have purchased a copy and/or assisted me in spreading the word about Necropolis.

Next week I will be blogging about marketing on social media:

Social Media Reflections

Apr 04 2014

With the forthcoming release of my second book, Necropolis (a humorous work of dark fiction ~~– Release Date: April 24th~~), I have found myself reflecting on my place in the ever-growing medium that is social media. This week’s blog post is dedicated to social media.

Anyone familiar with my Twitter Species blog posts will be aware that my interest in Twitter is now an obsession. I like to consider myself a member of the Amica Garrulus (Convivial Communicator) species. We are social Tweeters, who like to engage with all other Twitter species (with the exception of members of the Vexo Tertius & Molestus Confuse species), who we avoid like the plague.

Here are a few of my Twitter observations.

Engagement – This is crucial (if your Tweets are never part of a conversation you are merely talking to yourself – and we all know what the first sign of madness is don’t we).
Endorsement – It is imperative that other Twitter specimens (regardless of species, well, almost) endorse us. This validates our efforts.
Discernible Tweeting Call – To be heard above the relentless clamour of the Twittersphere, a distinctive/unique Tweeting call is a necessity.
Pictures – The good news is users can finally effectively upload pictures. The bad news is Twitter is seeing an influx of pictures of kitties (c.f. @EmrgencyKittens – for when you need a kitten to cheer you up).

With over 1.23 billion monthly active users, Facebook remains the behemoth of social media platforms. However all is not well in the home of countless millions of cute kitties. Facebook has started to resemble a police state in recent times, with the major change to its timeline update a little over a year ago, which resulted in less of one’s Likers getting to see one’s posts. Under the current draconian measures, Facebook seemingly arbitrarily decides what percentage of your Likers/Endorsers get to view your posts

Not all Likes are equal – Seeking random Likes is counter productive, unless your sole objective is to make your page appear popular. But as we all know appearances can be deceptive.
>200 Likes – If you have a page with >200 Likes it is not currently possible to change the name of that page. Instead you have to start a new page. This is something to consider when starting a page.

I had the >200 Like issue yesterday with my Charles Middleworth (my first book) page, and was forced to start a new page for my forthcoming book, Necropolis. My Necropolis page currently has no Likes, and is feeling lonely and isolated. Feel free to Like it and I might Like yours back, unless your page is full of pictures of kitties, in which case I won’t.

We are currently witnessing something akin to the mass migration from the countryside to the cities of yesteryear, as Facebook users increasingly disillusioned with the draconian measures, and/or influx of kitties on Facebook, seek a new home on Google+. Google+ is supposedly geared towards businesses and professionals, but as a cursory glance at my homepage reveals, there is a disturbing influx of kitties, in addition to pictures of home baked cookies; which leaves me wondering whether this is still the case.

Google Rank – There is considerable evidence to suggest that effective use of Google+ (SEO optimisation, +1s etc.) leads to preferential treatment on the Google search engine.
Innovation – As one can expect from the creators of the Google search engine, Google+ is constantly innovating and is quite complex. New users need to be prepared to spend considerable time becoming familiar with it.

goodreads is a haven for readers and writers alike to liaise in a kitty free environment (earlier this week I did receive a message from an author who has just written a book about his relationship with his three kitties, but that is the exception rather than the rule).

Giveaways – Are an effective way for authors in a congested marketplace to gain some exposure for their book/s. In January I had a giveaway for my first book Charles Middleworth, a humorous tale of the unexpected (entries: 800, added to to-read list: 294). I will be having another for Necropolis (starting soon).
Groups – Some of the groups provide a great way to meet readers and authors, as well as to share our universal love for books (not Romance & Christian Fiction in my case).

My second book, Necropolis ~~(April 24th)~~, is a humorous work of dark Fiction about a sociopath, who works for the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.

‘A black comedy of true distinction’

Next week I will be sharing the blurb.

Earlier this week author and Hollywood actor, Eric Barry, interviewed me for his new website, CHUNKBOOK. Click here to see the interview.

My Year In Books

Jan 03 2014

Shortly before Christmas goodreads emailed me a report listing the 22 books that I had read during the calendar year.

(Click on the book links to read my reviews).

Transgressive Fiction/Black Humour

As my second book, Necropolis, due out this spring (date to confirmed soon) is a work of dark fiction, a significant proportion of the books (27%) that I read last year were of the Transgressive Fiction/Black Humour variety. They were:

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Haunted by Chuck Palahaniuk
Damned by Chuck Palahniuk
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis

Beat Generation

Maggie Cassidy by Jack Kerouac
On The Road by Jack Kerouac
Queer by William S. Burroughs

Indie Books

Barry Braithwaite’s Last Life by A R Lowe
The Earth Shifter by Lada Ray

Others

Candide by Voltaire
Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler
Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Men Who Stare At Goats by Jon Ronson
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The Red House by Mark Haddon
The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth
Pure by Andrew Miller
Pulp by Charles Bukowski

Biggest Disappointments

I enjoyed 19 of the 22 books that I read last year. The exceptions were Pure, The Red House & The Men Who Stare At Goats. The following 2 shared the honour of Biggest Disappointment of the year. I appreciate that many readers will disagree with me on these, especially regarding my choice of Pure, the winner of The Costa Prize in 2011.

Paris’s oldest cemetery, Les Innocents, is overflowing, the city’s deceased having been piled in there for years, resulting in the surrounding area having been permanently permeated more….

Having greatly enjoyed A Spot of Bother and The Curious Incident by the same author, I was very much looking forward to reading The Red House more…

Favourite Book of 2013

This was a difficult decision as I really enjoyed so many of the books that I read last year. After much deliberation I decided that Fight Club, Maggie Cassidy and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich were my favourites. The one that made the biggest impression on me was Solzhenitsyn’s controversial and morose novella, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, a book that I am yet to review.

I look forward to hearing about your 2013 reading experiences.

Social Media Reflections

Sep 06 2013

Prior to the publication last year of my novel, Charles Middleworth, an insightful and humorous tale of the unexpected, my social media presence consisted of merely a Facebook profile with a couple of pictures (not of cats). Shortly before the book’s release I made a foray into Twitter and have since embraced a range of social media platforms. In this post I reflect on my social media observations to date:

Twitter – A little over seven years ago a Tweet was the sound emitted by a variety of small birds. Today Tweets are synonymous with only one bird, the blue Twitter bird; a bird that tweets incessantly 24/7. To date approximately 170 billion Tweets have been sent by 500 million Twitter users.

As my blog followers know I have become somewhat obsessed with Twitter and have devoted numerous posts to Twitter related subjects, ranging from studying the species that inhabit Twitter, to Twitter grievances including Justin Bieber and the ways in which authors sell books on Twitter.

Observation: The value of Twitter lies in the personal connections one makes, not in intrusive and counterproductive blanket promotional Tweeting.

Facebook – Facebook remains the behemoth of social media with over a billion users each month. Much of the promotional efforts on Facebook revolve around getting Likes for your given page/s. However the value of these Likes is more often than not derisory. Research suggests 99% of Facebook fans are worthless.

It is worth noting that Facebook only displays your posts to a small percentage of the people that have Liked your page. Facebook also charges users to promote their posts after reaching the 500+ Like threshold.

Observation: Not all Likes are equal. The value of a given Like is derived from its origin (i.e. authors require Likes from their target-readership not other authors).

Linked-in – The site’s 238m users take their jobs seriously and turn up smartly dressed and ready to network. They do not appreciate the ruckus of some other social media sites (i.e. Twitter) and expect decorum at all times. Self-promotion needs to be conducted with restraint. Some have argued that the platform’s obsession with stamping down on self-promotion has become overly aggressive of late (see this Forbes article). Personally I do not use the site a great deal but can occasionally be found at one its numerous groups dedicated to writers.

Observation: A great place to get advice and network with others, but remember that the party hat people might find amusing on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest will probably not go down well here. Oh and there is no need for those pictures of your cat – I don’t care if it is cute.

Goodreads – With 20 million members and 2.5 million reviews, goodreads is the place to be to network with readers. I find myself relishing this Bieberless enclave every time I visit. Goodreads is a place where one is able to concentrate on book related matters without being interrupted by scantily clad South-East Asian jail-bait promising to love you long time whilst trying to sell you thousands of Followers for $10.

Goodreads is an ideal place for authors to meet readers; readers being the key word. If one only socialises with one’s author friends on the site, then the whole dog chasing its own tail scenario starts all over again.

Observation: Etiquette is the key word with goodreads. Its users are fastidious in embracing social norms and will more often than not meet unsolicited friend requests and self-promotion with contempt.

Google+ – There is much evidence to suggest that the Google search engine matches search results with Google+. This is reason enough to join the 500m users in calling the place home. It was only recently that I turned up at Google+, bunch of flowers in hand. However I received no love, so I came back with a box of chocolates, but my efforts still went ignored. I am determined that one day in the not too distant future I will be viewed as a valued member of this increasingly influential community.

Observation: Backed by its big brother Google, Google+ is set to grow exponentially over the forthcoming years and may well be where the party will be at.

What happens when Adrian, an actuary, has his banal and predictable existence turned upside down by sinister forces that he can neither understand nor control? How will he react to a revelation that leaves his life in turmoil? Will he surrender or strive for redemption in an altered world, where rationality, scientific logic and algorithms no longer provide the answers?

‘An insightful and humorous tale of the unexpected’ – Reader

‘A sardonic delight. If Thackeray had lived in the 21st century, then he might have written Charles Middleworth.’ – Reader

Charles Middleworth is available through most regional Amazons on Kindle (£1.96/$3.17) and in paperback.

United Kingdom – www.amazon.co.uk

USA – www.amazon.com

Amazon’s Domination

Jul 05 2013

Amazon’s aggressive empire expansion shows no sign of abating. An arms race between the major players in the online publishing industry has seen the world ravaged by the ‘Ebook Wars’. Technological advancement and investment has resulted in Amazon’s heavily armed Kindle offerings leaving Barnes and Nobles’s Nook on the brink of annihilation, in a war reminiscent of the carbine rifles versus sharpened bits of coconut conflicts of yesteryear. Barnes and Nobles announced last month that they will stop manufacturing Nooks all together and that they are currently seeking an ally to build them. In the previous fiscal year the Nook lost close to $475m. The continual bombardment also resulted in 20 Barnes and Nobles retail businesses being reduced to dust last year. Amazon currently occupies about two thirds of the US online publishing market and ninety-percent of the UK’s. Analysts argue that Amazon’s updated supersonic multi-attack fighter, the Kindle Fire, is already riding a-mock through the smoking rubble of the online publishing industry.

Tank (Courtesy of www.dragart.com)

The ‘Ebook Wars’ were followed in quick succession by ‘The Pricing Wars’, as Amazon’s enemies battling for survival in the face of a relentless attack, have mimicked their strategy of offering 70% royalties to authors within a certain price category. Kobo, seen by many as the friendly face of online publishing are offering 70% of sales for ebooks between $2.99 and $9.99. Only time will tell if Kobo have any defense for the predicted retaliatory Amazon carpet bombing campaign. It seems doubtful that the friendly face will provide it. Barnes and Nobles’s highest rate for authors is 60%, which might yet prove shrewd in allowing them to slip under the radar, but this strategy offers little defense against the stealth bomber that is KDP Select (An author offers their book for free on Amazon for a limited time as a promotion on condition they remove it from competitors sites).

Of course many have argued that global domination is Amazon’s main objective and that the publishing side is merely a means to an end. Perhaps none have put this as eloquently as @JoeWikert, who Tweeted:

Books are nothing more than roadkill on Amazon’s highway to total retail domination: http://onforb.es/RypySa #TOCcon

Some people have been up-in-arms over the accusation that our sacred books are being used as cannon fodder, others have argued that anything is fair game in war.

Technological advancement has been the deciding factor in global dominance throughout history and this appears to hold true for Amazon, whose complex algorithms and list features, give an arguably more streamlined, user-friendly and informative experience than any of their competitors. Another reason for their success is their sense of community (some claim propaganda) recently bolstered by the capture of Goodreads. For Amazon’s enemies this is a major strategic loss as they will no longer have bases on Goodreads linking them back to their mainland sites. All links will go directly to Amazon HQ.

(Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org)

Goodreads users can expect a considerable reconstruction investment from Amazon, resulting in more complex algorithms that give better book recommendations and an improved interface. However some self-proclaimed whistleblowers are warning users on Goodreads forums to flee and seek refugee status elsewhere, in the face of what they claim is Amazon tyranny, arguing that a take-over will result in a loss of independence. Whether these whistleblowers face extraordinary rendition and detention in some Central Asian Amazon affiliate or become assimilated in a new and improved online environment remains to be seen.

We all have our own opinions about the new world in which we find ourselves, but I am sure that all us book lovers will hope that once the dust settles, a few undamaged bookshops will remain standing, if only for nostalgias sake.

Click here to read Part 2.

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My Reading List

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My Year In Books

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Amazon’s Domination

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