{"id":1734,"date":"2011-12-17T06:37:24","date_gmt":"2011-12-17T14:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=1734"},"modified":"2012-05-20T13:22:57","modified_gmt":"2012-05-20T13:22:57","slug":"open-thank-you-to-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/open-thank-you-to-readers\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open Thank You Letter to Readers"},"content":{"rendered":"

This one is for you read\u00aders. For those of you who took a risk on a rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly unknown quan\u00adti\u00adty (me) by plunk\u00ading down cash for my PI\/mystery nov\u00adel, A Real Piece of Work<\/em>. For read\u00ading it, and for express\u00ading your love of the book to every\u00adone you know.<\/p>\n

Your words of praise for the nov\u00adel have encour\u00adaged me more than I can express.<\/p>\n

I also feel vin\u00addi\u00adcat\u00aded as all hell.<\/p>\n

You have to understand\u2014I knew it. Back when I was sub\u00admit\u00adting A Real Piece of Work<\/em> to agents, and then my agent to edi\u00adtors, I knew<\/em> that if I could just get the book into the hands of read\u00aders<\/em>\u2026well, I knew you would love it. At the time, how\u00adev\u00ader, the book and I first had to run the gaunt\u00adlet of main\u00adstream pub\u00adlish\u00ading.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Indy out\u00adrun\u00adning the giant boul\u00adder in \u201cRaiders of the Lost Ark.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

Look\u00ading back on the expe\u00adri\u00adence, it was like that scene at the open\u00ading of Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/em>, when Indi\u00adana Jones is run\u00adning out of the cave, clutch\u00ading the gold\u00aden idol like a foot\u00adball as the cave col\u00adlaps\u00ades around him. Except in my ver\u00adsion, the cave was main\u00adstream pub\u00adlish\u00ading, the gold\u00aden idol was my man\u00adu\u00adscript, and the light at the cave entrance was pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion (prefer\u00adably in hard\u00adcov\u00ader).<\/p>\n

In the movie, Indy out\u00adruns the giant boul\u00adder and makes it to the light.<\/p>\n

In my sto\u00adry, the cave col\u00adlapsed around me.<\/p>\n

But I sur\u00advived. I sur\u00advived and crawled out of the rub\u00adble with my book intact. After a suit\u00adable recov\u00adery peri\u00adod, I looked around for a more direct route to read\u00aders, which I found in KDP (Kin\u00addle Direct Pub\u00adlish\u00ading).<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Bar\u00adbara Stan\u00adwyck and Fred Mac\u00adMur\u00adray in the film mas\u00adter\u00adpiece \u201cDou\u00adble Indem\u00adni\u00adty.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

The great Bil\u00adly Wilder, screen\u00adwriter of two of my favorite films, Sun\u00adset Boule\u00advard<\/em> and Dou\u00adble Indem\u00adni\u00adty<\/em> (co-writ\u00adten with Ray\u00admond Chan\u00addler), had great faith in an audi\u00adence. Remark\u00ading on the wis\u00addom of movie the\u00adater audi\u00adences, he once said, \u201cAn audi\u00adence is nev\u00ader wrong. An indi\u00advid\u00adual mem\u00adber of it may be an imbe\u00adcile, but a thou\u00adsand imbe\u00adciles togeth\u00ader in the dark\u2014 that is crit\u00adi\u00adcal genius.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Although my audi\u00adence for the nov\u00adel has yet to reach a thou\u00adsand, I\u2019m grat\u00adi\u00adfied that so far they\u2019ve been in agree\u00adment about the nov\u00adel\u00ad\u2019s virtues. Fol\u00adlow\u00ading are snip\u00adpets from their Ama\u00adzon reviews, as well as some of their com\u00adments on Face\u00adbook and Twit\u00adter:<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cI read <\/em>A Real Piece of Work in three days. I could not put it down. Did\u00adn\u2019t get much sleep for a cou\u00adple of nights, but it was well worth it.\u201d<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cI can\u2019t believe how addict\u00ading this book was.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/em>\u201c<\/em>Orcut\u00adt\u2019s mas\u00adter\u00adful addi\u00adtion of wit and humor makes <\/em>A Real Piece of Work that much more irre\u00adsistible for those who haven\u2019t his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly flocked to the mys\u00adtery genre. Dako\u00adta Stevens and his indis\u00adpens\u00adable sidekick\/chess cham\u00adpi\u00adon Svet\u00adlana Kr\u00fcsh are intox\u00adi\u00adcat\u00ading and a delight\u00adful mod\u00adern take on the noir detec\u00adtive style.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/a>\u201cThe author\u2019s abil\u00adi\u00adty to paint a pic\u00adture or scene with words is astound\u00ading.\u201d<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cThe char\u00adac\u00adters came to life in 3D for me. I know Hol\u00adly\u00adwood will come knock\u00ading on this door, and even though it is pre\u00adma\u00adture the movie could nev\u00ader hold a can\u00addle to this book!\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cFrom chap\u00adter one, you don\u2019t want to put the book down.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201c<\/em>A Real Piece of Work is a prop\u00ader, old-school P.I. nov\u00adel. It\u2019s fast-paced and excit\u00ading, with snap\u00adpy dia\u00adlogue, lik\u00adable char\u00adac\u00adters, and a thrilling plot that kept me guess\u00ading right to the end.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/a>\u201cLook\u00ading for a good win\u00adter read? I\u2019m proud to share the work of a great writer (and hap\u00adpy to say, a friend), Chris Orcutt.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cI found myself amused and intrigued in every chap\u00adter. Orcutt<\/em> can weave a sto\u00adry that keeps you hang\u00ading on until the very end. The action, ten\u00adsion, and sus\u00adpense make you feel the need to des\u00adper\u00adate\u00adly turn the page.\u201d<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cRead this jour\u00adney. It\u2019s a rare lit\u00ader\u00adary mys\u00adtery.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cIn the pres\u00adence of a shape\u00adly vix\u00aden whose hair smells like mint, a guy can stand idly by in his shorts for only so long.\u201d OMG @chrisorcutt<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>\u201c<\/em>A Real Piece of Work claims to be the start of a series of books cen\u00adtered around a detec\u00adtive named Dako\u00adta Stevens, and I for one hope that the series goes on for\u00adev\u00ader, for what we get in this first out\u00ading. Peo\u00adple in the reviews keep men\u00adtion\u00ading Spenser\/Robert B. Park\u00ader, and they\u2019re right; but add a good streak of John Le Car\u00adr\u00e9, turn the roast\u00ader up a notch, and maybe you\u2019re get\u00adting in the ball\u00adpark.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cI have enjoyed all of the Spenser nov\u00adels, but Dako\u00adta Stevens and his sassy side\u00adkick Svet\u00adlana, are my new favorite detec\u00adtives.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cThe writ\u00ading style is engag\u00ading and wit\u00adty, the plot twists reel you in from the first page, and the char\u00adac\u00adters came to life. I lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly could\u00adn\u2019t put this book down until I fin\u00adished it. I am now stalk\u00ading this author on Ama\u00adzon, anx\u00adious\u00adly await\u00ading the release of his next book in the series.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>

Hard at work on my beloved Her\u00admes 3000\u2014arguably the best man\u00adu\u00adal type\u00adwriter ever made.<\/p><\/div>\n

Of course I\u2019m still wait\u00ading for the oth\u00ader shoe to drop\u2014the inex\u00adplic\u00ada\u00adble one-star review that claims my nov\u00adel is the worst thing that review\u00ader has ever read and that I should be sum\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly exiled to Antarc\u00adti\u00adca for pub\u00adlish\u00ading it<\/p>\n

But in the mean\u00adtime, I\u2019m going to bask in the wis\u00addom of the audi\u00adence.<\/p>\n

Thank you again to all of you who pur\u00adchased and reviewed the nov\u00adel, and I invite any\u00adone else read\u00ading this to pick up a copy<\/a>\u2014whether for your\u00adself or as a gift for a mys\u00adtery lover.<\/p>\n

Thank you, too, for vin\u00addi\u00adcat\u00ading me, for prov\u00ading I was right.<\/p>\n

I wrote the nov\u00adel for you read\u00aders, not agents and edi\u00adtors, so to receive your praise and the ulti\u00admate compliment\u2014your time\u2014makes what has been an ardu\u00adous jour\u00adney com\u00adplete\u00adly worth it.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This one is for you read\u00aders. For those of you who took a risk on a rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly unknown quan\u00adti\u00adty (me) by plunk\u00ading down cash for\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,30,19,21,7,8,11,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-real-piece-of-work","category-chris-orcutt-books","category-fiction","category-kindlestuff","category-personal","category-publishingandthemarket","category-dakota-stevens-mysteries-series","category-writingexperiences"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1734"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5064,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734\/revisions\/5064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}