Monday, September 20, 2010

To Preface or Not to Preface

I've received a few comments recently regarding the Preface to The Guns of Mars.  It's not a long bit of writing, by any stretch, and when I first wrote it I believe it was a clever way to summarize the first two novels that featured Morgan Asher.  However, several readers seem to have a different opinion.  They said they felt the Preface didn't mesh with the rest of the book.  One reviewer actually said he was going to pass on interviewing me about the book after reading the Preface, and it was only after he gave the book a second try, and read further into the text, that he realized my work was interesting.

The comments have been too numerous to ignore, so I must ask myself if I blundered by writing the Preface.  How many readers have checked out the free preview and gone no further than the opening couple of pages, deciding The Guns of Mars wasn't their taste, all because of a short start which isn't representative of the rest of the novel?

I'd like all of you to do me a favor.  Read the free preview of The Guns of Mars, and tell me what you think of it.  Tell me your thoughts on the entire thing, the Preface and the first two chapters.  Call it morbid curiosity, or marketing analysis, but I'd like to get some feedback.  Is the Preface a dud, or a misunderstood gem?  You decide.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Martin, Just wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Creative Blogger Award, you can check out my blog for the details.

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  2. Thank you for the honor, Alva. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but it's nice just to be nominated.

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