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For The New Subscribers
I try to keep things simple here at MFS. My goal is for a low-frequency, high-content publication, because we’re all busy and there’s already enough chatter. Between posts, you should be able to find something that catches your attention in the MFS landing page menus.
If you’d like to dip your toes in:
Please enjoy this review of a movie starring Aubrey Plaza.
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Check out the books launched through MFS, the Substack you’re reading right now!
For Everyone: New Projects, New Directions?
Work has been going a bit slower than I’d hoped for my next novel, They Also Breathe Fire (known around the shop here as TABF). I spent most of my time from Labor Day (September) through New Year’s being sick with the holiday trifecta of illnesses, and by the end of the year, just needed some time to regroup.
TABF picks up shortly after the events in The Good Killers (ad) and follows ex-combat medic Ben Rossi and sheriff’s deputy Riley Lopez on their next adventure. Part of the problem is that I’ve already written TABF as a novella and I want to expand it to novel-length, which presents one set of problems, and I’m not sure of which genre I want to fit it into, which is another problem. The Good Killers naturally landed in the crime thriller genre. TABF feels like more of a mystery/thriller as there is more of a mystery for Ben to solve, and so will feature a bigger role for the icy-cool Riley Lopez as she helps Ben navigate an investigation without screwing it up in some unexpected, Ben-like way. Or at least, it will if I decide to write it like that.
You see,
I’m
rethinking
this
whole
thing.
I’ve received feedback from you (subscribers) in the form of clicks, likes, comments, and the survey feedback. I’ve also received feedback from book purchasers in the form of units sold and pages read, click-through-rates and all that.
The feedback from MFS subscribers is almost completely opposite to the feedback from book purchasers.
MFS subscriber feedback strongly influenced the tone and subject matter of the novel version of My Favorite Suspects (ad) … and while it got many more positive responses here than the Good Killers-adjacent story “Coyotes in Winter” (ad) (also published previously on MFS), it’s not done well with book purchasers. Meanwhile, The Good Killers is my strongest seller. Even two years after its original publication, it still sells regularly both in the US and Germany, and has TWO very kind reviews from readers! My Favorite Suspects has no reviews and has not sold much past its original launch.
Obviously, there’s a lot more to book sales than book cover design and and market positioning, but it does make me wonder if I should focus my future work on the dark, gritty style of The Good Killers instead of the breezy, quirky tone of My Favorite Suspects.
What do you think? Drop me a note in the comments!
Please hang in there! I’ll have more updates on They Also Breathe Fire soon, and I plan on getting it out to readers as soon as possible. Until then, see you on Notes!
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