Readers, help me out. A reviewer for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association concluded that my Joe Harding series is “A welcome addition to romance and military fiction collections, Captain Harding belongs in any adult fiction collection.” “Captain Harding’s Six-Day War,” the first book in what turned out to be a trilogy, was voted Best Romance by readers in the TLA Gaybies poll and named best book of 2011 by the historical romance blog, Speak Its Name. “Only Make Believe,” the second in my Florida-veterans series, was named Best Gay Mystery / Thriller of 2012 in the international Rainbow Awards competition, with an honorable mention ranking of number eight among almost 500 entries. I could go on.
“Welcome Home, Captain Harding,” the final novel in the trilogy, seems to have failed to find an audience or to have drawn much notice. To date, there are only three reviews (two five-star, the third very critical) on Amazon.com. Reviews on other platforms were similarly sparse. I don’t know why this is, and I’m hoping readers will give me some feedback. If the truth hurts, so be it. In my former life, I was the restaurant critic on a big-city daily. I can take it. I’m tough.
To kick off the discussion, let me list several possibilities that come to mind.
First, my novels are novels, not strictly one genre or another. “Only Make Believe,” my first, was a finalist for the Lambda Foundation Mystery Award. Katharine V. Forrest, the eminent editor and author of the Kate Delafield lesbian mystery series, told me later that it did not win because it is “not really a mystery.” That’s right, it’s as much romance and why-dunnit as it is who-dunnit. There’s more sex than sleuthing. It’s been in print, off and on for more than a decade. More than one reader has told me it’s on their desert-island list or that he or she has read it multiple times. What’s not to like?
“Welcome Home, Captain Harding” is similarly composed of elements of romance, adventure, well-behaved erotica and mystery. That’s how I write. I’ve seen a lot of the world and have stories to tell. Most of them don’t fit the tropes and conventions of typical romances, mysteries or thrillers. To paraphrase my publisher, Steve Berman, “If Elliott was writing heterosexual fiction, no one would try to shoehorn his books into one genre or another. They’re novels.”
Second, unlike my other five novels published by Lethe, there are no human beings on the cover of “Welcome Home, Captain Harding.” This was, in part, the result of my mistaken impression that I’m better at thinking up cover images than some of the very talented and skilled people I’m lucky enough to work with. I certainly won’t say that every character-driven novel needs sexy models on the cover. Quite often, however, it doesn’t hurt.
Third, I’m a trained historian. Probably ninety percent of the military and government action in the Harding novels is based on verifiable, well-documented incidents. Each of the three novels contains at least one spectacular plane crash, criminal interference by the CIA and high-level misbehavior by senior officers who should know better. The fatal incident in “Welcome Home” was captured on video and resulted in a major investigation by the Department of the Air Force. A commanding officer pleaded guilty to charges of dereliction of duty. Before, and while writing the novel, I watched the footage and read the damning reports numerous times. B-52 bombers (which I worked around in a minor way when I was in uniform) are highly complex machines, their maintenance and operation equally multifaceted. It may be that I ended up giving the reader too much technical information.
Fourth, maybe we shouldn’t have noted that “Welcome Home” is the final novel in the series. Several readers who contacted me or posted on line were unhappy about it. More than one suggested a later-in-Joe’s-life continuation. That could happen but it’s not on my mind right now.
Finally, and avoiding spoilers as much as possible, Joe’s emotional and romantic arrangements at the end of the book are unconventional, even by the standards of popular fiction. I didn’t plan it that way, honest. When I’m writing, to some extent I’m taking dictation. The characters are there–talking, joking or making love, and I’m typing as fast as I can. This time, the characters took over the narrative toward the end of the story and I had to let them have their way. Rewrites to make it fit with earlier incidents in the book? Sure, required. That’s why a book is also called a “work.” It’s what I do, and what I’ve just finished doing in polishing a third novel in the Florida-veterans series, tentatively titled “Sunset Island,” to be published by Lethe later this year.
OK, readers, I’m ready. Hit me up.
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Elin: Welcome Home Captain Harding is a terrific book, and rounds off the series in a very satisfying way. Can’t WAIT for the new Florida-veterans offering! Roll on September.
Elin Gregory 
It’s a perennial mystery, isn’t it? Why do so many good books sell badly while so many bad books sell well? Maybe it’s some kind of principle of cosmic fairness – you can get the kudos OR the money but not both 🙂
I don’t understand why that book wouldn’t sell — it’s unpredictable, beautifully written and pretty darn awesome. Most important, the characters are fully developed — that’s something many m/m publishers don’t seem to require and maybe readers get lazy. (And yes, I’d love to see another book in the series, but that just means you’ve done a great job!)
Beats me. Some of my best work doesn’t sell but gets awards. The only one that’s done well on both fronts is Capture and Surrender, which won a couple awards AND got me some nice royalties. Others sell extremely well but don’t win anything.
But since the article is really about “why don’t MY books sell”, I think the covers aren’t helping. I’m not a cover artist by any stretch, but the three covers above are inconsistent and suggest different moods and times. I’d go with a more unified look if possible.
Also, asking readers to post reviews can help – I keep telling readers that reviews make all the difference in sales and visibility, especially on Amazon (this is why some authors pay a lot of money for fake Amazon reviews). This might change, but generally still seems to be true. Also, try to get more eyeballs – a Bookbub isn’t cheap, but is very good visibility, as far as I’m hearing.
Good luck!
I’ll try to go and put a review on Amazon. I liked Welcome Home – even if it did break my heart!
I think some readers get very married to the way they want to see the romance especially play out in a book and if it doesn’t go that way they get very riled up. Certainly I have ideas about the way I want to see a book go, but I try not to think that if it doesn’t go that way the writer had betrayed me somehow. It’s their book, not mine!
Hi Elin, I must admit that I have to concur with Aleks. Although book covers say sometimes very little or a lot about the content, getting the cover art right is I feel is a huge benefit and a must. For me personally, all three books here from the cover art don’t look as though they belong to one series. Again there is no need for hunky six-packs, but on our blog we do notice those covers with hunks to lust over get the most clicks – dirty bunch of followers we have – lol!
I read M/M stories for escapism. Usually that includes a happy ending, not necessarily conventional but I don’t have the stamina for unhappy hero left alone stories. I like character driven stories so a landscape cover for an M/M story couldn’t attract me. I may still read it if I’m invested in the series. I’m not a history buff but I like an author to know their stuff for plausible backstory. The author needs to have the details, I don’t have to.
I loved your Florida veterans stories but haven’t yet read the Captain Hardy books, although I’ve bought the first two. I mean to read them but there are so many real world wars right now – Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Gaza … so I don’t real realistic war set books for escapism. Not your fault but a reality – escapism means different to what’s on the news. That sort of timing issue may change in a few years.
Other factors? Engagement with possible fans especially via social media can help … some of the Facebook and Goodreads LGBT readers groups are helpful in promoting books.
Aleks and others: The first image above was not the cover as published. My name isn’t even spelled right.Don’t know where this came from. Long story. Don Weise at Alyson accepted the book, printed galleys but then held it for a year while the money men bled the house dry. The campy Egyptian art was a trial run, quickly abandoned for something else that wasn’t published either. I managed to get the rights back just in time, Steve Berman at Lethe Press was happy to take “Captain Harding’s Six-Day War,” and all that followed, including a new edition of “It Takes Two.”.
That said, the covers in both the Florida-veterans series and the Captain Harding trilogy are consistent in style and image, as a look at my website will reveal. http://www.elliottmacklebooks.com/
That’s the cover that pops up when you search Goodreads for the book, Elliott. If the wrong cover has been linked to it maybe you can get a Goodreads librarian to link to the correct edition. I apologise for displaying the wrong cover.
I use Goodreads as a source for the covers because they allow linking while authors’s websites often don’t.
I’m a Goodreads librarian so I can probably fix that. It’s probably just a case of changing which is the default edition, which I can make into one of the ones with the current cover.
Thanks, Becky. That’s a kind offer.
I’m looking forward to reading Dream For Me. 🙂
Looks like it’s been sorted! I can’t take credit.
Hope you enjoy the book, Elin.
Thanks for the tip, Elin. I have contacted the Goodreads librarian, explained the situation and given them links to the correct image.
Editor Laura at Goodreads has excised the campy Egyptian cover so all is apparently well.
Thanks for the comments. Hope discussion can continue now that the art is more or less resolved.
Good to hear. 🙂
I’m not really much help when it comes to gauging why one book sells and another doesn’t. I’ve only got two out there plus a few stories in anthologies, which have a completely different selling pattern to novels or novellas. As a reader, I don’t think I’m typical. I’ll pass by almost anything with 2 bare torsos in favour of looking at books with clothed figures, I search amongst the historicals, thrillers, mysteries and sci fi for books that don’t have the word ‘erotic’ in the blurb or tag line and amongst the reviews for comments like ‘ too much plot, not enough sex’. I assume that there are a whole tranche of readers who do exactly the opposite. Guessing why we do what we do has to be on a case by case basis.
I’ve gone and done a review now, so it will show up soon. On Amazon UK, but I think it shows up on .com as well. If not I’ll add it on there too,
Thanks, Becky. Much appreciated.
It could have a lot to do with marketing, and an author’s presence on social media. Tweeting, Facebooking, Tumblr-ing, etc probably helps.
I’m also surprised that good books sometimes don’t sell as well as what I consider not-so-good books. Just thinking of the “Twilight” series and “Fifty Shades of Grey” makes me shudder. How DO things go viral??