If you have any questions about me or my work, post them here! I’ll answer most, within reason, but be warned: I reserve the right to be obtuse and vague. To kick it off, I’ve prepared a few questions and answers that, to be honest, I’m kinda anticipating.
Q: Hey Josh, what genres did you tag to Duck’s Misery?
A: I originally submitted Duck’s Misery for the 16/ 17+ age range. (Most of us have been that age and all of us know what really goes on … and yeah, a lot of it really is legal–even moral.)
I first released Duck’s Misery via Amazon Kindle. I was vigilant in watching all the Amazon sites to see how my chosen categories, keywords, and blurb wording would get it shelved. On all but one Amazon site, the book was categorized as expected, LITERARY, ROMANCE, SHORT STORY, to name a few–though, how UK-Amazon has deemed it worthy of WOMEN WRITERS & FICTION is beyond me, but if it boosts sales … what the hey, right?
Now, for that one site–I’m looking at you, Mexico–I was highly amused, stunned, mortified, but mostly highly amused to see that Mexico-Amazon had tossed Duck’s Misery in INFANTIL Y JUVENIL–basically, CHILDREN’S. It could go without saying that I changed the age requirement to 18+ faster than underwear after an accident; though to be fair, there were a shitload of books that had no right being shelved there so generally. Mexico-Amazon seems to use INFANTIL Y JUVENIL as a kind of catch-all–491,053 books as of 04.24.2016 … fellow writers, take note!
Q: Couldn’t you have just vanilla-ized the language, Josh, to make it more YOUNG ADULT-friendly?
A: The language used in Duck’s Misery was what was used during that time, among those guys and girls. No shit.
Q: Um, Josh … I read Duck’s Misery and … why isn’t this book considered EROTICA?
A: Did some bits get you aroused? Seriously? … But seriously: The sex scenes were not written with arousal in mind, rather to convey the characters’ thoughts and feelings, and to chart the (d)evolution of the relationship featured throughout. But make no mistake: Duck’s Misery is intended for mature readers.
Aaaand, I opted to not issue a mature warning in the book’s blurb owing to my discoveries on said-topic while lurking forums of KDP, Goodreads, et al. There are many elements going on in Duck’s Misery that make it quite LITERARY, and having it auto-censored and tucked away in the erotic cellars would not do it justice. As this book is shelved under LITERARY and ROMANCE, and there’s a Look Inside that openly hints at what’s to come–why insult the reader?
However, I’m not uninterested to know what readers think of my decision–it wasn’t exactly a picnic for me in deciding on the labels that would help or hinder my book.
Also, head on over to Goodreads to post a question. I’m answering questions daily up to the release of the second instalment of Caution, Girl Up Ahead, titled The ’86 Olds!
J.M. Denholme 