How to Torpedo a Book in Three Easy Steps

All authors with well-written new books start out even. Then they face decisions about genre, the cover, cover text, advertising and marketing. Unless a book was written specifically to fit a genre, with specific genre tropes, the genre decision can be complicated. Since I write mysteries and thrillers I want to read, rather than for a specific sub-genre, this can be a challenge. Take the book in question: Booth Island. A psychological thriller with romance. A story about redemption. About loss and pain. About a dead brother who won’t let the heroine move on. All in the same book. Is it a thriller? Is it a romantic thriller? Is it a ghost thriller? What the heck is it?

You got it. I made every mistake possible. Pick one or all of the below.

It’s a good read, a gripping thriller, and a pretty nifty tale of deception and loss. One reviewer suggested it is a hybrid of psychological suspense, domestic mystery, romantic tension, and regional Gothic. Okay, except the initial cover had a YA appeal. It is anything but a YA book. It also had a romance feel. It isn’t a romance, though romance is strong in it. The cover text emphasized the protagonist’s painful loss of her brother and implied it might be a ghost thriller. The cover quote called it “a mystery rich with unease.” Is it no wonder that the ratings are all over the place? Half the readers were disappointed it wasn’t the book they expected.

Anyone expecting a romantic thriller would be disappointed. YA readers wouldn’t know what the heck was going on. And it ain’t a ghost story. By now, you can see how completely I torpedoed myself. I probably even gave it the wrong title: Booth Island. One suggestion was The Island Between Us. I kind of like it. I might have called it The Death Between Us. Too darn late for either title. And, yes, I am the world’s worst at naming my books; I’ve even written a blog about it.

I guess I could add a subtitle to the cover. Hmmm?

Here’s a decent summary of the book (not by me; I mess those up, too): “Boo Treader thought returning to Booth Island would finally give her a chance to make peace with her brother’s death. But as Boo digs into the past, she uncovers a tangle of grief, family myth, and long-buried resentment stretching back decades—far deeper than one tragic drowning. Now Boo must decide whether she wants closure or answers, because on Booth Island, those may not be the same thing. For the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous the island becomes, and the more obvious it is that Roy’s drowning may not have been an accident at all. If so, will she be ready when the killer comes for her?”

For now, it has a new cover and new cover text. Darn, I wish I’d thought up the subtitle, see how writing a blog post can make you semi-brilliant. Of course, the cover would need to be updated. But, heck, it can happen. The Amazon copy is new, too. I’m promoting it as I write this, free for four days.

I know I’m crazy. But there is the blind hope that the right people, since it is being promoted as a thriller, will read it and rate it and maybe pull up the average.

But what if that doesn’t happen? Do I just give it up? Or do I take it down, do a bit of editing, wait a while and republish it in a quest for new ratings? I hope the promotion will help me decide whether to keep fighting or say goodbye to bad trash (it isn’t, truly) and pull it off the market.

Yikes.