Karin Cox's Blog, page 4

Review Finding Site: Great Idea or Simply Insane-making?

It may be that I'm completely certifiable for even thinking about it, but I've decided that a really useful writers' resource would be a site (name is yet to be confirmed), which allows indie authors to search for review sites that are suited to their content.

The idea was to collate information for a free ebook that would feature useful promotional information for indie authors. It will touch base on the basic pros and cons on some of the standard promo sites, Goodreads, LibraryThing etc, as well as list blogs and reviews sites that promote indie authors. I'd also like to include regular things like established blog tours, or annual blog hops.

Hopefully, this information will also be able to be included in the website, which will provide search functionality. The aim is to start collating the information in February to get things moving in March. If you know of a great review or promotional site, or if you review books yourself and wish to be involved, please visit my site and fill out the submission form. Inclusion is free and the ebook will also be free http://www.editorandauthor.com/review-finder.html

Also, if you have any tips to add regarding promotional sites you've had great success with, please email me on karinwork@hotmail.com. I'd love to hear your success stories as the aim is to scatter quotes from authors (and a link to their books/author central site) throughout the ebook.

Once the website is up and running, if it is successful and receives a high hit rate, I'd also love to include paid advertising and promotions for approved (read vetted) author services and also a place where indie books can be featured and promoted.

If you'd like to be involved in anyway, please let me know. I'll be scratching together the material and funds in my spare time, with the potential of using fundit or crowdsourcing it to help get things moving. I'm excited about it, but also knowing I'll have my work cut out for me.

Spam-I-am. [My Dr. Suess-style homage to anti-spam]

That Spam-I-am,

That Spam-I-am,

I do not like that Spam-I-am.

Buy it! Buy it!

Won't you try it?

You may like it. You will see.

Buy it! Buy it. Buy my book.

You can read it on a Nook.

You can read it on a Fire.

Buy it—it's my heart's desire.

I will not read it on a Nook!

I will not read it on a Fire!

I will not read your stupid book!

Revulsion's all that you inspire.

But you can read it on a tram!

Would you read it on a tram?

Or on the train? While giving birth?

Anywhere on God's green earth!

I will not read it with a baby,

that's definitely, not even maybe!

I WILL not read it on a tram!

Please fuck off with all your spam.

You'll read it on your Mac, I think.

Just go here, download this link.

Buy it! Buy it! Just you try it!

Or I'll drive you to the drink.

On my Mac I will not read it!

Really, I just do not need it!

Quit it! Quit it! Just you look.

I will not buy your stupid book!

But I've reviews—reviews, you see!

Not one or two or even three.

Four stars—five after another.

Some not even from my mother.

I will not buy your stupid story.

I am not a fan of gory,

nor of romance, or of chick lit.

Seriously, I WILL NOT BUY IT!

But I self-edited several times,

removing all the indie crimes.

It's good! I think it's even GREAT.

Try it. Buy it, won't you mate!

I'm not the mate you think I am.

Stop tweeting me your frigging spam.

And did you post it on my page?

That really put me in a rage.

Your bloody, shitty Spam-I-am

is all over the web. Goddamn!

Sample! Sample!

Please, I've ample.

You could even win this car,

if you give it a five-star.

I will not sample, nor review.

You cover seems to make me spew.

Your author profile's just not cool.

And did you finish primary school?

Buy it! Buy it! Now it's free.

Try it now, and you will see.

I know my grammar's slightly shocking,

But I WILL BE Amanda Hocking.

Not paid. Not Free. Not with a Kindle.

Your spamming really is a swindle.

Your work sucks BAD, take it from me.

I'll return it even when it's FREE!

Well, here's a gift. I DM'd you.

Pass it on to someone new.

Or read my blog and you'll agree

The next big indie hit is me!

A gift! Well thanks, that can't be bad.

I'll use the voucher for my dad.

Buy him something else for Nook.

I will not, WILL NOT buy your book!

Like it! Like it, then. Or tag it.

Tweet it! Goodreads it! Just snag it.

Get it now—99 cents.

Come on, you'll like it. It's intense.

I will not like it! I won't tag it!

I'd much rather just to bag it.

Might even put you on the list.

Of authors ALWAYS to be missed.

Try it on Sony? Mobipocket?

Come on! Help me to "John Locke-it"

Two more reviews and then I think,

I'll put it on Pixel of Ink.

Not PoI, not KND.

I will not buy your book, you see.

You've done your dash.

You're much too rash.

Why must you keep on spamming me?

You think I'm spamming?

Wham-bam-mamming?

I thought we were interacting.

My whole mail list I'm contacting.

Sigh! Just listen Spam-I-am,

You're shouting, trolling, drive-by-shooting.

All I hear is your horn tooting.

All you do all day is cram,

my inbox full of all your spam.

Here's a thought: just let me be.

Stop blasting your damn book at me.

If it's worthy of my shelf,

I'll find your bloody book myself.

Then if I like it, I'll review it.

Honestly. There's nothing to it.

Blog or tweet some other links,

stop spamming groups with stuff that stinks,

quit being pushy in your greed,

and I might keep you on my feed.

Just be truthful and polite,

and I might buy your book

… just might.

Beautiful things, lovely friends, and the start of the Silly Season…

Selena is all set for her first Christmas

Okay, okay, so string me up. I haven't posted in ages, I know. I have had a jam-packed editorial schedule, met some lovely new authors, and have managed to book in some big names for edits in the New Year. That has been keeping me super busy, which is how I like it. But it does mean this little blog of mine is suffering from neglect.

Today will be no different, I'm afraid, dear subscribers. I know I've promised you more posts on grammar, punctuation and style; they are coming. I'm hoping to steal a few days just for writing up some content over the Christmas break. But for now, I just wanted to share with you some things that put a smile on my face. I have VERY talented friends. Not withstanding all of you clever writer types, I know several excellent photographers, many wonderful designers, and even a few film-makers who do wonderful things. My sister and her friends are also extremely crafty (in a good way) and constantly making hand-made goodies.

Now I know this blog is usually lacking in sweetness (I'm more of a savoury—or unsavoury if you like—gal myself), but it's the season for giving gifts, indulging and making pressies for friends, if you are so inclined, so … caring's sharing!

Yesterday, my friend and former colleague Fanni shared with me a beautiful new online magazine she has started with friends. It's a little bit of sunshine in a gloomy day and I couldn't help but share it with you. If you want to check it out, you can see it here http://www.dashingmag.com/

Another friend, Elise, designs the most gorgeous party tables and printable, and makes cakes and cupcakes so divine I'd be several sizes larger if I had more time to pop over. You can drool over them here.

Yet more friends, Mike and Ilze, run Moa and sell hand-crafted and specialty furnishings in London, you can have a look at their wares here

And if none of that floats your boat, well, just look at the kitties for a little while here  and welcome to the Silly Season!

Pimp my pen: ten tips to get the most out of language

I don't advise writing with a Sea Pen, but it's pimpin' nevertheless. Image by CW Ye http://www.flickr.com/photos/cw_ye/27...

Okay, so it's Friday and this is just a little bit of Friday fun. I wrote it as a much shorter piece for a guest blog that never eventuated, and it is not the word of God. Moses did not bring this down from the mountain, people, so spare me any emails telling me you you've sold eight trillion copies of a novel that exposited the shit out of  fifty-five characters all written in first person point of view and you never touched a thesaurus and made every second word an adverb.

It is just (hopefully) somewhat amusing and marginally useful advice from an editor who sees quite a bit of weak writing and a hell of a lot of excellent writing from some truly pimpin' authors. So …

1. The thesaurus is your friend and will transform your vocabulary from meager to marvelous, but use it prudently—too many prodigious words and you'll start sounding scholarly or pompous, rather than just cleverly flamboyant.

2. Rather than throw a stupendous amount of measly adverbs in the ring in an attempt to add depth, consider substituting impuissiant verbs with more robust cage-fighting ones that lift your action (e.g. not walked quickly but strode; not hit sharply but jabbed; not said quietly but whispered, not had sex but … you can see where this is going, can't you?).

3. Throw in a fragment or two. Really? Sure. Like this? You betcha! Aren't they against the rules? Rules schmules! Used moderately, fragments can enhance your work, adding pace and passion. They're great for action scenes, hooks, and, ahem, (cue Barry White) bedroom scenes. Dig?

4. Make your characters act—to a degree. By this, I mean give your characters actions that frame their dialogue and make them more than just talking heads, without descending into writing entire scenes that read like screenplay, and without stage-managing them by giving every little detail. She wrote, tapping at the keyboards quickly. Then she looked up at the television and ran a hand through her newly dyed red hair. It was a LG television that was large and flat and hung on the wall to the left of the red couch opposite the painting of Elvis and next to the photo frame depicting her cat Schmoo-moo licking its butt. Dr Phil was on. She glanced up at his moustachioed, egg-bald head, frowned and picked up the remote. She clicked the channel option and changed the channel. She yawned. Then, tired of being overwhelmingly stage managed, she lapsed into a goddamn coma. Don't do that. Don't. Do. It. Step away from the courier font unless you're writing a script.

These actions should not be just additions to the dialogue, they should add nuance and meaning to it. They should embellish it and enliven it. People rarely stand in one spot and converse for half an hour (who has the time). They gesture. They fidget. They multitask. They think about how to respond. They wonder if it would be rude to swipe at that little bit of spittle that just flew onto their cheek (No? Just me?). So provide your "cast" with relevant actions that reveal something about them as they engage in discussion, she said, adjusting the red bra strap that peeked out from under her demure blue cotton dress. Oh my.

5. Yo! Use slang. Bring it in off the street, bro. Not so much in your narrative, but in your dialogue. Dialogue needs to be authentic. That doesn't mean you should add every "ahem," "well" and "like" that peppers actual conversation, it means you need to create the illusion of plausibility, and slang is a great way to do that. (Caveat: IF it suits your character's voice. Don't be having grandma enter the room with a "Wasssup!" unless she's supposed to be a creepy old bogan.)

6. Have you ever noticed that people rarely refer to each other by name, Dear Readers. Dear Readers, it's true they rarely do. I think you, Dear Readers, should refrain from using your characters' names too much in dialogue. Dear Readers, it comes off a little stilted and obsequious and downright weird otherwise. ☺ Seriously, try to limit dialogue tags wherever possible, and have your characters sparingly address other characters by name. Your characters should have unique voices and your dialogue should be clear enough that unless you have many people involved in a discussion, your reader should be able to follow it without you constantly needing to inform them who is speaking by tacking on "Bubba said" or "said Hugh Jackman" or "Franky spat" or "Bella Swim simpered" every two seconds.

7. Don't be a wimp; be a pimp. Usually, this would be very poor advice indeed, but I'm talking about a "word pimp" here, people. Dress those words up and make them work for you—get them on their knees, bend them to your will, make them dance. Dance, I say. Their job is to show you the money. If they're not working, slash them. That's right—you heard me, tough guy—SLASH them. Kill your darlings. That might mean not every book you write needs to be out there earning you a cut. Some might be skanky moles better locked out of the metaphorical brothel lest they disease your reputation and spread a festering pox among your other, prettily primped and preened lovelies.

8. Ignore the word police (sometimes). Yes there are some offenses that should be punishable by a prolonged beating with a bold solidus, but … most rules can be bent, if not buried on occasion. Following every single piece of advice you get on writing message boards or blog posts—even from editors (yes, yes, it IS ironic)—can leave your work a touch vanilla. So don't be afraid to use "insisted" rather than "said" as a dialogue tag on occasion, or to split an infinitive, or to use passive voice, to provide back story or narrative in small doses, to use a well placed adverb or twenty, to experiment with point of view, or even to interject occasionally if you have an omniscient narrator (but not too much or it'll seem like you've got a God complex).

9. Add spice. Sprinkle some colon on that baby, add a dash of em dash, season with metaphor. If you feel stuck in a rut, try to write something entirely out of your comfort zone and cut it with some cracky, trippy word weirdness, just for fun. It may be like snorting ajax (don't try this at home, Dear Readers), it might be a brain haemorrhage waiting to happen (a little like this blog post), it might end up being another scraggy wannabe that no amount of pimpin' makeup and feather boas can save, but it also just might enliven your style a little.

10. Cultivate a unique, original voice; don't steal someone's style. Write like you think, or like you talk, but most importantly, write from the heart and not from the grammar guide. There will be time to put on your clear heels and tart things up. That time is later (after dark) when the editing begins. If you're afraid to reveal your delicious, pimp-pushing self to your readers, your characters will veil themselves too. They'll be wooden when you want them to be warm, wonderful and wholly believable. Write honestly at first, then pimp, pimp, pimp, pimp your characters up.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T — find out what it means to me

It's been a while since I've moseyed on in to this here blog, y'all, and for that I must apologise. A busy life has been getting in the way. This is a blog post I've been meaning to write for several months, because it deals with a subject that is very important to me: respect.

The world of indie publishing, or indeed publishing in general, is a stressful and competitive one. Writers jockey for attention for their latest offering and everyone has their own view of how publishing in this new age should be done. Some insist that free is the new bestseller; others argue that making work free reflects a lack of confidence in a writer's work or implies a work is worthless. Some argue that trade publishing is far from dead and any reduction in trade sales is a product of the flagging economy; others spout statistics that suggest e-publishing is outselling trade publishing by the tens of hundreds and print is, indeed, in decline. Some vehemently defend the old guard, decrying those who turn to self-publishing as failures who can't get published traditionally; those who have chosen that route often shrug and go and check their Kindle Direct Publishing sales figures with a small smile.

But this post isn't about the validity of any of those arguments. It's not about opinions … it's not even about emotions (although they run high on these topics, reverberating around this vast echo chamber that is the internet). It's about common courtesy for others and the way they choose to do things and about LISTENING, truly listening, and at least considering, what others have to say, be they trade publishing professionals, novice writers, experienced authors (self-published or otherwise) or even … gasp … readers.

A very popular writers' website, which is mostly a wealth of sound information for writers, has one simple rule: Respect Your Fellow Writer. Seems simple, doesn't it? Except that this rule is frequently ignored over on this message board, particularly when it comes to self-publishing (or indie, as a vernacular label) authors. The forum that deals with self-publishing is generally a hostile, rather than a helpful, place and any author who dares to question the prevailing opinion of the moderators or a few dogmatic posters is, it appears, summarily dismissed, berated and quickly banned (often, even if their posts are level-headed, courteous and well-referenced, and sometimes with a "get the f*ck out" from the admin). I kid you not. Uncalled for personal attacks on authors' work on other social networking media, such as Facebook or Twitter, have also ensued following an indie author's posts on that forum, a situation I find deplorable. And these attacks are being made by people who claim to be publishing professionals with many years' experience. Let me tell you, there is nothing professional about this behaviour, which has nothing to do with "protecting authors" (poor fragile little kittens that can't think or research for themselves!), and absolutely nothing to do with respecting fellow writers.

Then again, indie publishing is not immune to a lack of respect either. Don't get me wrong, indie writers are generally excellent at supporting other authors—they know what a hard slog it is to publish and promote your own work, and they're great at inspiring and encouraging others to go it alone. But, in the indie world, the chain of respect doesn't always seem to filter down to the reader, and there is often a blatant lack of respect for those old guardians who still insist that publishing the traditional way is the only path for "serious authors".

As an editor with a background in trade publishing, I have seen my fair share of posts from self-published authors labelling editors as bloodsuckers, scum and idiots who couldn't tell a bestseller from a doorstop. I tend to ignore them, sadly noting the many misspellings as I do so.  But editors are big enough and ugly enough to mostly shrug off such insults. Many sensible self-published authors are coming to realise the value of having their work edited and that editors can be excellent sounding boards and provide a wealth of helpful writing advice. So, it's not respect for editors I'm campaigning for here. Although it is a general courtesy, editors get paid to take the flak. Readers do not. And, at the bottom of the publishing food chain, is the reader. They put their hands in their pocket, and that ought to be enough to buy them our respect, too.

I've seen many posts by self-published authors (and, admittedly, some trade published authors as well), berating reviewers on Amazon, goodreads, librarything or other sites for leaving a book a bad review. "Thick as two planks", "idiots who can't read","illiterate goats" — all of these are terms I have seen bandied about referring to readers. I've had other authors tell me that they pay little heed to reviews. One even recently went as far as saying that they ignore emails or comments from readers who say their book is full of typos or formatting issues because, as an author, they're working on a new book and once the old is "done" it's in the public domain and it's the reader's problem if they don't like. That one, which was bundled in with an attack on editors too, was truly gobsmacking. But it's not an isolated incident.

I've also had authors tell me, when major loopholes, deus ex machina, uncharacteristic actions by the protagonist, a lack of any discernible plot, head-hopping or other issues with their manuscripts are pointed out, that they "don't think the average reader" will notice. While it is the author's prerogative not to change those things in their manuscript if they don't want to, I disagree that readers aren't savvy enough to notice such abominations (and, of course, some may be more abominable than others; some may actually be okay if the rest of the yarn is compelling enough).

Who, after all, is this "average reader"? I know that my aim is not to attract the lowest common denominator, but to attract those who delight in the beauty of words, in the complexity of a well-crafted story. If you're targeting what you think is the "dumbest mule" (a phrase used by one website to describe its average reader to those wishing to guest blog), then your expectations are too low. Incidentally, I was asked to guest post for that blog some weeks ago and spent time creating a personal post for them. They then edited it, in doing so introducing a number of basic grammatical errors. When sent a proof link, I politely asked them to correct it, reminding them, courteously, that my post was about editing and that, as an editor, it might be damaging to my reputation to send it out with typos and comma splices in it. They responded that they were "unable and unwilling" to correct it and that they edited it for their "average reader". I pulled the post. With respect for their readers like this,  I wonder how long they will HAVE readers. Their guidelines  say, "accessible to the dumbest mule… no posh language or high intellectualism required here". Clearly, their dumb mule readers don't care about run-on sentences, misplaced commas or accidentally doubled up brackets. Silly me. Why they asked me to blog on editing, then, is a mystery.

Now, of course, I've seen some comments from readers that are not to a Mensa standard. I've read reviews that were less than considered, reviews that said "I didn't like this book Serial Killers on Mars because I hate violence and I don't read fantasy space books". One commenter reportedly returned a book that had the word "witch" in the title because she didn't like witches. So, the silly readers are out there, but … dismissing all readers who leave poor reviews—or worse, responding snarkily and condescendingly to their comments on Amazon or elsewhere—is not only disrespectful to those who have (ostensibly) paid for your work, it is spectacularly unhelpful for a writer, not to mention more damaging to a writer's reputation than a few, obviously hastily scrawled reviews.

Certainly, not all one-star reviews are helpful, some may be written by trolls, but I've seen a lot of one-star reviews that are constructive … and I've written a few myself for trade published books. Some of the reviews labelled "stinkers" by authors contain real gems of writing advice, some pinpoint very real issues with plot, and many, very many, are correct in pointing out a multitude of silly errors in grammar or punctuation. I've heard readers' opinions dismissed with the old chestnut, "I write for myself." To that I say, "Good on you—if you're the only one reading it." If not, then you need to respect your readers enough to ensure your product is worth the money, even if that money is under a buck.

All of these things—respecting the opinions of professionals even if you don't agree with them, respecting your fellow writers, respecting your readers, respecting your guest bloggers—all boil down to one thing in my mind: respect your reputation. And not just your reputation as a writer, your reputation as a kind, decent, thinking person who values the thoughts and opinions of others and is at least prepared to listen to them, even if you don't agree with them.

After all, we all know that social networking, and even attracting readers, works on one simple premise … "they like me, they really me!" So respect your work, respect your colleagues, respect tradition (even if you choose another path to success), respect innovation and change (I know I'd rather have my head in the clouds than my head in the sand, or, worse, my head up my own arse), respect your readers, but above all else, respect your reputation. Colleagues may "unfriend" you, readers may desert you, message boards may ban you, but your reputation is for life.

R. E. S. P. E. C. T

And the winner is…

I promised you all a winner today for the "Win a Manuscript Appraisal" Competition for Cage Life, and here it is…

…. as drawn out of the crazy white Thai hat …

… Alex Casey!

Alex will receive either a free manuscript appraisal (to the value of $480) or 11 hours worth of free editing.

Big thanks to everyone who joined in the fun and helped me promote Cage Life. There are also two runners-up prizes of a blurb edit. They go to (as drawn out of the hat):

Nixie Turner and Laura Yirak.

Danielle Blanchard also received a spot prize of a free 1000-word edit for her excellent efforts at promoting Cage Life.

Special thanks must also go to Heather Jacobs and Jimi Ripley for their excellent promotional efforts. You've all been wonderful.

For those who joined in, thanks again. I sincerely hope you enjoyed Cage Life and being a part of the competition. Please stay posted for similar competitions in future. It was fun!

Trolls, Tuscany and the Wizard of Time … Sue Owen joins me

Sue's book Wizard of Time

Sue Owen joins me on the Neverending Blog tour this week. The author of young adult book Wizard of Time and several works in progress, Sue lives in Oregon but dreams of Tuscany. When not writing, she is an awesome troll hunter! Read on…

Q.1 Tell me what made you decide to self-publish and how you've found the experience?

It is certainly challenging. I find I spend more time promoting my published work then doing any actual writing. It gets frustrating at times because I know I have to promote to sell, but I'm not seeing sales so I want to write my new stuff, but I know I have to promote… see?

Q.2 Your book Wizard of Time is a young adult book with historical and mythological elements. How much research did you have to do to get it right? 

I did a lot of research in the time period and in the historical references of King Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin, etc. I wanted to make sure what I was proposing would be plausible. I also had to do some research on what tools and things were available during that time. One of my proofreaders caught the fact that I was having them eat meat and potatoes in a time that was about 500 years before potatoes were even known about in Europe! Who knew?!

Q.3 Do you write for adults as well or is writing for children and young adults your main passion?

I'm working on a couple of adult books. I do like the YA genre because of all the possibilities. Kids have way more imagination than adults. With adults you have to point everything out and then make them believe it. With kids that age, you just point and they get it.

Q.4 You live in Oregon and you write in your bio that you can't imagine living anywhere else with the exception of Tuscany. Have you been to Italy?

Never been to Italy. I've been told that, other than the language, it's just like here temperature wise. So everyone buy my books and send me to Italy and I'll write about it!

Q.5 What life experiences have you drawn on in writing your novels?

Mostly it's my imagination. However, I do owe some of my story idea to a game called World of Warcraft. Maybe I'll use more real experiences in my other books.

Q.6 Do you listen to music when you write? If so, recommend some rockin' writing tunes for the nice people. 

Nope. I like peace and quiet when I write. Bird song is about my only tolerance.

Q.7 How did you go about finding your editor, and how have you found the process of working with an editor?

You could say that I "grew" my editor, since she happens to be my oldest daughter. However, I do have two others I rely on heavily and they are my great friends. We edit each other's work.

Author Sue Owen

Q.8 Tell me one crazy fact few people know about Sue Owen.

I love video games… Just got an x-box and discovered Dungeons and Dragons. I love killing the trolls!

Q.9 What is the one tip you would give other indie authors?

Hang in there. This is NOT an overnight success industry, despite what authors like Amanda Hocking might lead you to believe. If you listen to closely to Amanda's interviews, she had almost 17 books written before she started publishing anything, and even then she keeps 7 or 8 active at all times. Sure she sells amazing amounts of books, but you can bet she's worked her little twitter fingers off to get there.

Q10. What do you hope readers take away with them after reading your books?

Happiness. I am not out to educate anyone. I love to read for entertainment and I write for the same reason. I hope they get a great story that makes them happy. I'll give away a secret … NEVER will you find a book written by me with a sad ending. If I have to kill off the good guy, you can bet something great will happen afterwards. I hate books that make me cry at the end, so I will not write one. Hopefully I won't have to eat my words, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

You can buy Sue's books here (come on, help her get to Tuscany):

eBook: Amazon

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

Paperback:

The Book Patch

Follow Sue on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/bySueOwen

Follow her on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/bySueOwen

Follow Sue's blog: http://bysueowen.blogspot.com

Lizzy gets busy and shares some top tips…

My Neverending Blog Tour guest blogger today is Lizzy Ford—a great example of an indie author doing an

Indie inspiration, Lizzy Ford

excellent job of self-publishing, self-promoting and really sticking it to those agents and publishers who once neglected to pick up her stories.

Lizzy recently hosted me on her every successful blog, so I've been looking forward to turning the tables on her, but with all her writing (she's got more than six ebooks out there attracting a host of fans), responding to her many many readers, and promoting her works, she's a hard girl to pin down. Here's what she had to say about her indie journey and why, like so many self-publishers, she just wishes she'd done it even sooner.

Q.1 Tell me about Lizzy Ford's journey to self-publication and how satisfied you are with the results?

The journey to self-publication was rough, rife with doubt and anger!  After ten years of trying (and failing) to land an editor or agent, I decided to give self-publishing a shot.  It's been one of the best decisions I've ever made for my writing and my self-esteem.  I was ready to give upon both!

Q.2 I see you've just realised a new title, Kiera's Moon, a sci-fi fantasy romance available for free download on your blog. You do free releases quite a bit. How is that working for you as a strategy?

Lizzy's latest release

I've built up a fantastic reader base and am increasing my Amazon sales and free downloads every month.  My mailing list is growing, and I've been among Smashwords top 5 most viewed authors for awhile, in addition to seeing my website bring in more and more traffic.  All but one of my books have made Amazon bestseller lists in their categories, and a few have hung out in one or more list for quite awhile.

Q.3 You like to do a bit of a genre "mash-up" in your novels. Who would you say are other authors in genres that have inspired you?

I love Lynn Kurland, who writes sweet fantasy romance.  Jane Austin, literary fiction, and Walter Farley, young adult fantasy fiction.

Q.4 In Kiera's Moon, I love the idea of Kiera's friend dragging her across the universe to find a man. It really speaks of the desperation of some girls, particularly in their thirties, when it comes to the man drought. I've been there myself, but wouldn't go back there for quids. Do you enjoy tapping into that single girl mentality and living vicariously through your characters?

I'm closer to Kiera's character than her friend's! I'm an introvert who's happy with my little world and never understood the party, bar, or other scenes that seem to be of interest to normal girls.

Q.5 What life experiences have you drawn on in writing your novels?

My background has been in strategic planning and program management, and I apply the concepts I learned there to my approach of my writing. As for life experiences … I guess those that taught me perseverance and self-sufficiency. My characters are routinely challenged by situations where they must make tough decisions about themselves and others, even when all their options seem bad.

Q.6 Do you listen to music when you write? If so, recommend some rockin' writing tunes for the nice people.  

Sometimes, when I need to focus or when I have to write something dark. I'm happy by nature, so scenes that require anger, sadness, or similar aren't easy for me to write without something to drag my mood down. For dark moods, modern composer Rene Gruss is on my go-to list. When I need to focus (because the TV is on), I listen to Kanye West and other rap, or dance songs.

Q.7 How did you go about finding your editors and how on earth did you get them to work gratis—do you pay them in chocolate or something, Lizzy?

Haha!  My good editor, Christine, I pay—I just don't pay her much.  ☺  I offered her a 12-book deal and to help promote her. Christine gets about two referrals a month from me, of which at least one ends up as a new client. My cover artist, Dafeenah, is free.  I do the same for her: send her referrals and pay her in books. She's gotten about one new client a month from me that way. In addition, I offered them both raises at the beginning of 2012, when we plan on monetizing my books, and am looking at either a cut of royalties or paying them above-industry standard for their services.

Both Christine and Dafeenah are wonderful and awesome to work with. I just have to refer someone once and s/he will end up going back.

Q.8 Tell me one crazy fact few people know Lizzy Ford.

If I ever make it big as an author, I'm going to buy a mini micro pig. They're just so cool looking. I also travel a lot for my job, so I tend to fall off the radar for 2–3 days at a time.

Q.9 For all indie authors, blogging and social media promotion is a must, but it can also be very time consuming. How do you manage to run such a successful blog and still find time write?

I'm really lucky; my husband handles all the IT, online presence development and search engine optimization chores. I post once, sometimes twice, on my blog every week and focus more on generating fun and genuine conversations with those who leave me comments.

In general, we're smart about where I spend my online time and efforts.  We use Google Analytics to identify where traffic is coming from, which allows us to measure the impact of what I'm doing when I'm online elsewhere and tweak my activities on a near real-time basis. I also prioritize what I do online, which usually involves responding to readers and requests for interviews/guest blog posts then surfing blogs or Kindleboards or Facebook or Twitter or GR, etc.

Finally, I accepted that this writing gig and all it entails is my second full time job and spend about 6 hours every weekday and 12–16 hours on the weekends writing or being online.

Q10. What is the one thing you hope readers take away with them after reading your books?

When they're bored, I'll take them somewhere new (and probably wacky.)

Thank you, Lizzy. You're an inspiration.

Please all do stop by Lizzy's blog. There is plenty of useful information for aspiring authors and even established authors there. You should also check out her work and you can buy her books from:

Amazon

Smashwords

BN

Also, Follow her on Facebook

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On editing and praise-singing…

Listening to the author and understanding his or her vision is vital. Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosengra...

Here I am enjoying a lovely sleep-in, courtesy of my wonderful partner (who has put up with Selena's sooking for several hours this morning) and meanwhile David Gaughran is singing my praises over on his very popular blog! Thanks Dave. I couldn't ask for a lovelier author to work with, and such a go-getter too.

I wanted to weigh in to say that I believe several factors, above all others, make an edit effective, but this got way to long to post over there, so here it is instead. The first—and I think the most important element of successful editing—is that the editor respects the author's work so that the "essence" of the work remains intact (how very existentialist of me). That doesn't mean a sentence can't be completely flipped on its end and made better for it, that a paragraph or even a subplot can't be deleted, or that a scene shouldn't be rewritten from scratch, but that the "point" of the sentence, the paragraph or scene remains the same, although enhanced by the change.

I notice someone mentioned in the comments on Dave's post that their editor amended colloquial language crucial to the story, and that is a case where the editor has failed to understand the essence of the work. As an editor, part of the process is understanding that this is the author's work, not your own, and that there may be parts that irk you but may not necessarily bother the "average" reader, or aspects that are critical to the character portrayal and "feel" of the work, even if they bend the "rules" somewhat. (And let me tell you, when it comes to fiction most rules can bend and several should be entirely snapped in half and thrown in the trash).

Authors should ensure they seek a sample edit, but they also need to instruct the editor if there are elements they specifically do not want changed. The editor may still make suggestions if something really bothers them, but will then know not to spend a lot of time on those sections of the text. Another must-have element is an author who maintains an open mind and doesn't let his or her ego determine what gets changed, but instead employs logic, critical reasoning, or even intuition to the process of amending work. Some authors instinctively know what is right for their work and their characters, and that is a wonderful thing. Ego, however, makes a very poor proofreader.

I don't think any freelance editor expects that an author will accept 100% of their changes, but when an author is able to critically assess those recommendations and cherry pick the ones that work for a story that is a wonderful thing too. Apparently, I have about a 90% to 95% "acceptance" rate for my suggested changes with my clients. Would I like it to be higher?—sure. I'd love it to be 99%. "Ninety-nine percent?" you ask. "Why not 100%?" Well, you see, I don't want my authors to be automatons. I don't want them to just blindly take my word for it; I want them to learn how to make editorial decisions for themselves. The author is the master of their own words and they must also be judge, jury, and executioner. I need to grant them the right to be that.

Much of an editor's job is persuasion and negotiation. In order for them to see the value in my changes, I must explain those amendments to them in such a way that they feel compelled to adopt them. If I don't—if I fail to do that—then of course they will reject that change; their ego will reject it and their critical mind will reject it because it hasn't been convinced that it is necessary or beneficial. Only explanations I make coherently, honestly and convincingly will make that author a more formidable writer.

Perversely, that may also mean there will come a day when they no longer need lil' ole freelance me, because they've landed a lucrative trade deal and an inhouse editor (who may well edit their work entirely differently, but that's okay, there is more than one way to edit a novel effectively). Dave Gaughran, I'm watching you!

Author on tour

Dear subscribers and lurkers,

Your usual blog service has resumed, but I'm on tour over at Author Julia Crane's blog today, chatting about all manner of writing and publishing matters. You can check it out at http://bit.ly/nrUPKF

Thanks for putting up with my rants, my erratic posting, and my frequent absences. It's back to the business this week and I'm working on a post about copyright for next week.

Cheers

Karin