Paul Whybrow
Full Member
I've just begun a crime novel by Mason Cross, who I haven't read before. Don't Look For Me is his fourth novel, and the cover has the usual plaudits of endorsement from well-known authors, including Lee Child, who I think must have a second career as a writer of blurb as he's praised half of the crime novels I've read this year.
Mason Cross has an unusual approach to his story, for it begins with a 'Dear Reader' letter of introduction. (Click on the Amazon page Look inside tag to read his greeting.)
It begins: 'Dear Reader, I'm really excited to share my latest book with you. If you're not familiar with Carter Blake, then this is a great place to start. I've so enjoyed building his character and seeing it develop over the series.'
He goes on to hint at what happens to the male and female protagonists, before encouraging you to read the earlier novels, which 'contain little rewards and Easter eggs for regular visitors to the series.' Mason Cross closes with invitations to visit his website, Twitter account and to join his Readers Club.
The overall impression feels less like a warm welcome, but more like being ambushed by an unctuous car salesman at the door to his showroom, who explains his sales ethos before letting you look at the cars. I have no idea if it was the author's idea or if the dreaded marketing department pushed him to the fore.
I'm used to Prologues, which appear in a good third of crime novels. I like them, as they set the scene by foreshadowing the action, giving the reader something to remember and cogitate the significance of....
Elmore Leonard's disliked prologues, in his Ten Rules for Good Writing, but he also advised against opening a story with the weather, yet in the last few months I've read a dozen crime novels by acknowledged masters of the genre which do just that, as the climatic conditions have an impact on the action.
Reprints of classic novels often have an introductory essay by a literary expert, a critic or fellow author, analysing the significance of the story you're about to read. Occasionally, the acknowledgements and thanks to friends, family and experts appear at the start of a novel, instead of at the end, but this is the first time I've had an author greet me at the door.
What do you think of this technique?
It feels like the publisher is trying to form a crossover between different forms of media—the printed book and the internet. It would be less intrusive in the Kindle version.
Mason Cross has an unusual approach to his story, for it begins with a 'Dear Reader' letter of introduction. (Click on the Amazon page Look inside tag to read his greeting.)
It begins: 'Dear Reader, I'm really excited to share my latest book with you. If you're not familiar with Carter Blake, then this is a great place to start. I've so enjoyed building his character and seeing it develop over the series.'
He goes on to hint at what happens to the male and female protagonists, before encouraging you to read the earlier novels, which 'contain little rewards and Easter eggs for regular visitors to the series.' Mason Cross closes with invitations to visit his website, Twitter account and to join his Readers Club.
The overall impression feels less like a warm welcome, but more like being ambushed by an unctuous car salesman at the door to his showroom, who explains his sales ethos before letting you look at the cars. I have no idea if it was the author's idea or if the dreaded marketing department pushed him to the fore.
I'm used to Prologues, which appear in a good third of crime novels. I like them, as they set the scene by foreshadowing the action, giving the reader something to remember and cogitate the significance of....
Elmore Leonard's disliked prologues, in his Ten Rules for Good Writing, but he also advised against opening a story with the weather, yet in the last few months I've read a dozen crime novels by acknowledged masters of the genre which do just that, as the climatic conditions have an impact on the action.
Reprints of classic novels often have an introductory essay by a literary expert, a critic or fellow author, analysing the significance of the story you're about to read. Occasionally, the acknowledgements and thanks to friends, family and experts appear at the start of a novel, instead of at the end, but this is the first time I've had an author greet me at the door.
What do you think of this technique?
It feels like the publisher is trying to form a crossover between different forms of media—the printed book and the internet. It would be less intrusive in the Kindle version.