...and I can't help wondering, as I look over the entrants for the giveaway, if they've read the book's description prior to entering.
Way more entries than I anticipated, and I'm not operating under the delusion that people are breaking down the doors to get at my story, but I'm still tickled pink that the giveaway is so much more successful than I ever thought it would be: unknown self-published writer, debut title.
At this posting, 678 entries. It does pick up as the giveaways wind down because Goodreads moves your title into that last tab, under "Ending Soon." That gives you that good 'one last push.'
However, I did mark not only the giveaway but the book's cover itself very clearly:
"Middle Grade" - that means it's a children's book for readers aged 8 - 12
"Christian Fiction" - that means it will have faith-based content.
Both of those categories also suggest quite strongly that there will be no sexual or drug content, and that morality will be a message throughout. Now I'm getting a bit worried. I hope reviewers, if they feel disappointed, will first take into account that perhaps they were not the stated target audience for this particular story before they pan it. Cringe.
One thing that has been discouraging to me, and to other Christian writers I've spoken with, is that kids are drawn to dark works--gothic and dystopian themes. This is pulling kids out of the church and into secular works which lead to that dead-end culture which is concerned with little more than sex and drugs. No hope, no higher purpose, no reason for living at all beyond partying and satisfying physical urges. It's a soulless life that leads nowhere.
Well, popular culture trends like a madman, and our children are exposed to it daily. Can we not have fun themes--even though they're dark in nature--and still foster love and faith in God? I believe we can, and that was my purpose in writing this story. If we want to stop losing our kids to this dead-end culture, we're going to have to learn how to have fun with gargoyles, even if we have to travel all the way to the dark, creepy underworld to do it.
Wish me luck.
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