Bidinotto's New Novel

[Philip Coates]

That's a nice picture. (It's hard to say exactly why since I've known Robert since back when he was only Bob Bidinotto. But if I were looking at a stranger I'd never met, I think I'd probably say the face has a certain calm or satisfaction or serenity. Holding what he's achieved in front of him....does anyone else get that sense from a photo? Especially if it is of a stranger?)

[Peter]

Quite proud, quiet pride

Peter

[Peter]

Thank you so much for ordering my debut thriller. I really appreciate your interest in my book. But before I inscribe and send it to you, I want to make sure that the personalized inscription should be made out to “Peter Taylor,” and not to anyone else. Please let me know right away with any special instructions about the inscription, and I’ll mail the book to you right away by Priority Mail. If I mail today, you should have it in two days.

Again, thanks!

Robert Bidinotto

I received the above in my inbox today. If you want a signed copy order today! I told him about this thread.

Peter Taylor

[Peter]

I bought a paper book and received the following and Robert is fine with me sharing it.

Peter

Dear Peter,

Thank you so much! When I didn’t hear from you right away, I took a chance and inscribed the book to “Peter Taylor,” then sent it off earlier today. You should have it in two days. And no, I don’t mind you sharing my message with others.

If you are not aware, HUNTER has had an amazing run. It had sold a respectable 4,000 copies and compiled scores of “five-star” Amazon reader raves…up till November 26. On that day, it sold a middling 27 copies and was ranked # 2,988 on Kindle at midnight Eastern time.

But then, at 3 a.m. Eastern on November 27, the Amazon Kindle editors listed it as their #1 “Editors’ Pick” for a week.

When I woke up that morning, HUNTER had soared overnight to # 24 on the overall Kindle bestseller list. It sold a whopping 1,919 copies that day. But that was just the beginning; the sales just continued to climb for the rest of the week. The next day, it sold over 3,200 copies. Within a couple of days, it was in the Kindle “Top 10.” Then, in succession, it zoomed past the latest bestsellers by Stephen King…Janet Evanovich…James Patterson…John Grisham…and then, on December 2, Michael Connelly.

For 48 hours, I was the best-selling male author on Kindle.

On December 3, HUNTER sold well over 4,900 copies—missing the 5,000-copy milestone only because the Amazon site was having access problems for hours that evening. At last, it soared past the most recent title in the phenomenally best-selling “Hunger Games” young-adult fiction trilogy by Suzanne Collins; at that point, it topped out at # 4 among all 1.2 million items sold on Kindle (fiction, nonfiction, games, calendars, subscriptions—the works). Only Collins’s other two books in her blockbuster series, plus one by romance writer Catherine Bybee, stood between HUNTER and # 1.

In total, HUNTER sold over 50,000 copies in the 37 days following November 26. It made the Wall Street Journal’s “Top 10 in Fiction Ebooks” bestseller list for the week of December 4, and it made the Kindle “Top 100 bestsellers lists” for both November and December.

A recent newspaper profile about me and the book’s amazing success was published about ten days ago and distributed nationwide by Associated Press; it can be found here:

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/lif/2012/01/22-08/Success-with-a-vengeance.html

Needless to say, Peter, this has been life-changing for my wife and me. The royalties from November and December alone are sufficient to take care of us for this year, and sales have continued at a very strong (though no longer spectacular) pace throughout January. This will allow me to write and publish the first sequel this year, and to start the second.

I deeply appreciate your “vote of confidence” in my book, Peter. Ayn Rand was, first and foremost, a romantic artist; as she noted in “The Goal of My Writing” and elsewhere, her philosophizing came later, to explain and provide a rationale for her projection of “the ideal man.” I often think that Objectivists forget that. They are like the theologians of a religion, who forget that theology isn’t an end in itself; its purpose is to validate the code of values that individuals are supposed to practice. I would have thought that more Objectivists would be celebrating, reviewing, and commenting upon the most successful novel by an Objectivist since Atlas Shrugged. But I forgot that most of them are obsessed with the schematics of the philosophy, rather than its cultural applications and manifestations. A major reason that I have withdrawn from organized Objectivist activities, taking to heart Rudyard Kipling’s words: “He travels the fastest who travels alone.”

At any rate, thank you again for the kindness of your purchase. I hope that you enjoy HUNTER…with a vengeance!

Warmest regards and wishes

Robert Bidinotto

[william.scherk]

I would have thought that more Objectivists would be celebrating, reviewing, and commenting upon the most successful novel by an Objectivist since Atlas Shrugged

I read into the book at the Amazon site ... and should mention that my light reading no longer extends to science fiction, thrillers or American Stalker type fiction. Michael Connelly I am a fan (Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch, LA detective/cop), Alex Patterson, meh ("He must find her killer before it's too late!") .

It is really something that Hunter has sold 50,000 copies (and looks set to pay the bills for 2012). Congratulations to Bidinotto for that.

I just do not think he should expect, nor fish for, Objectivish recommedations or reviews. I think he should cash his cheques, do a Happy Dance, and roll up the sleeves and crank out another Hunter book. He is doing Very Well, and needs no backup from the churls ...

That said, although Robert mentions the faboulous 181 five-star reviews at Amazon, the fact remains that he has 25 one-star reviews. They are SCATHING (which of course does not matter in face of sales figures!).

Here is a random sample of the book from the Kindle preview:

Wonk leaned forward: the chair's metal legs creaked ominously. He couldn't bend more than a few inches, but his chubby arms somehow manage to reach past the curve of his belly to grip the green canvas bag at his feet. He lifted it laboriously and balanced it precariously on what little remained of his lap. Then he poked around inside and extracted three manila folers, held together by rubber bands.

"Here they are," he said, panting from his heroic exertion. He pushed the folders across the desk. "All three files that you asked for."

They bore official Department of Corrections stamps and labels. Hunter whistled softly. "Amazing. How did you manage to get your hands on all this stuff?"

Wonk looked like a puppy tossed a treat. "Trade secrets. That is why I am the highly paid professional researcher, while you are the high-profile professional journalist." He hesitated. Hunter knew Wonk was waiting to be begged for details. Amused, he ignored him, and instead took his time removing the rubber bands.

I won't belabour the point: this is a formula thriller vigilante paperback/Ebook. It sold a lot. This is good. However, a picky jerk reader like me is still thinking about those Enormous Rubber Bands. Where do you buy them? Wouldn't a clip have worked as well\? Perhaps a briefcase to carry the folders would have been wiser? Why can't I get the picture of J Neil Schulman out of my mind? Why does the author slur over the mechanics of purloining Official Secrets?

And ... if Wonk is so huge he can barely use his arms or bend his body, then how exactly does he resemble a puppy tossed a treat? A huge butterball puppy? A gobbling puppy who cannot bend? If he cannot bend more than a couple of inches, how the hell can he reach the frigging bag? My reading mind simply cannot proceed without these kind of stupid nagging questions.

All the best to Robert Bidinotto's commercial success. But compare this thriller to Kira Peikoff's appallingly bad piece of shit . . . it is like the many rings of hell for me. Beyond a certain point of awful, one omits measurement and runs screaming for the exit.

Edited February 1, 2012 by william.scherk

[9thdoctor]

Here is a random sample of the book from the Kindle preview:

This doesn’t seem bad at all. I assume the obvious typos are not in the book. If you told me this was by Lee Child I’d believe it. I’d say it’s kind of heavy on the adjectives and adverbs, but who asked me? Like putting “laboriously” and “precariously” in the same sentence, that rubbed me wrong.

This isn't a genre that does much for me. I tried a Raymond Chandler book because people told me Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice is partly an homage. I didn't even finish it. I only read the first Lee Child book.

And ... if Wonk is so huge he can barely use his arms or bend his body, then how exactly does he resemble a puppy tossed a treat? A huge butterball puppy?

Picture a bulldog pup. Aww so cute!

[9thdoctor]

Alrightee, I finished the Kindle preview. The prose has rhythm, this is real good stuff. I must retract my comment about heaviness, by the time the sentence in question rolls around (which is the very end of the sample) it’s a welcome, and only momentary change of beat, well suited for the scene introducing this Jabba the Hutt looking character. I assume he’s going to be a minor player, in fact it’ll be a wonder if he’s not in the ER by the next chapter.

I’m going to have to give the rest of this a try. There’s a good amount of sowing going on, I bet come reaping time it’ll all be amply rewarding.

For example, just to readdress WSS’s complaint about the puppy simile, here’s a favorite animal to human reference of mine (from Foucault's Pendulum):

Professor Bramanti sat behind a table covered with a red cloth, facing a rather sparse and sleepy audience. He was a corpulent gentleman who might have been described as a tapir if it hadn’t been for his bulk. He was already talking when we came in. His style was pompous and oratorical.

Alright, how many people know what a tapir looks like? When I first read this, I didn’t, I had to look it up. The scene takes place in Brazil, btw, and I gather tapirs are common enough there.

Now, the payoff, the reaping. About ten chapters later we get:

“Certainly not, although on that particular subject a great deal of rubbish is in circulation. In any case, every sound form of occultism is a gnosis.”

“Just what I was going to say,” said Garamond.

“And all this would be enough?” Belbo asked innocently.

Bramanti puffed out his cheeks, abruptly transforming himself from tapir to hamster. “Enough?[…]”

So, will there be more puppy related tie-ins for Freddie Diffendorfer aka Wonk? Love the names, btw.

[Peter]

I just got my inscribed, signed copy of “Hunter,” in the US Mail. That was fast. I read the inscription. Wow. He knew who I was. I better be more careful about what I say on OL. Warning Will Robinson! Warning Will Robinson! There are celebrity spies everywhere.

Peter

[william.scherk]

So, will there be more puppy related tie-ins for Freddie Diffendorfer aka Wonk? Love the names, btw.

Thank goodness for taste. I am happy you get pleasure out of the book, and look forward to more reading of Hunter through the Eco filter. As I mentioned, there is something wrong with me -- I can't get by the prose stylings no matter how I try.

As for Seymour, the cross-gendered discoursing hurricane newly arrived at OL, although she is in the doghouse, I look at every fortieth post she makes, just to be sure she is still raving and still not quite yet with the programme here.

[9thdoctor]

I am happy you get pleasure out of the book, and look forward to more reading of Hunter through the Eco filter.

No “Eco filter”, they’re not at all alike. Let’s not get infected with this “filter” meme, that’s all coming from that squawking loon we’ve been animal sitting lately. Oh, wait a minute, you’re making fun of it too, I think. Anyway, I was just giving an example of an animal to human appearance simile that, when first presented, doesn’t pay off in full. I had to look up what a tapir looks like, and yeah it was funny, I picture the sloping forehead of the pianist Solomon, but with the lower half of the face more, as Wodehouse might say, opisthognathous.

Ok, so you get a unique image of this minor character, it brings in some local color, it’s pretty funny on its own, but the reader probably has to put some work into it. Then later, work done, you get the laugh-out-loud payoff when his cheeks puff out in surprise. Assuming of course, that you know what a hamster looks like...

So, is pup Wonk going to get more training and positive reinforcement from his master, Hunter? I don’t know yet, and even if not, we still may see this revisited in a later volume, that is, assuming Wonk isn’t already taking a dirt nap by the end of this one.

[Brant Gaede]

It's also a terrible precedent, abetting such restrictions. [...]

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Unfortunately, you and the other Borg who are pushing a universal regime of draconian "intellectual property" enforcement, whether it coheres in the digital age or not, are getting the ear of legislators. As routinely, and for decades, has happened with every industry that turns to the whip-hand of law when its business model is dying.

And without regard for how that hands new, sweeping, and utterly arbitrary powers to government. What a lovely "minarchism" it is that you (and, as it happens, Bidinotto) espouse.

"Expert Body" To Decide [in the UK] Which Sites to Block for Copyright Infringement

Blacklists, ahoy! "PROTECT IP" Act sails on to [uS] Senate floor

Maybe this was Steve's last post.

--Brant

edit: no

Edited April 7, 2012 by Brant Gaede