Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 142

Almost Against My Will ~ Yet Another Look At The Amazon–Hachette Dispute…

I write my blog to help folks explore Reading, Writing, and Publishing.

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I often cover various hot topics in the news but, more often, lead people toward valuable information.

I’ve covered the Amazon–Hachette battle a number of times (links at the bottom) and, the last time, I almost didn’t do the post because I’m plainly disgusted with the way “business” intrudes on the smooth flow of the river of creativity.

There’s someone at Amazon...

Friday Poll ~ Online vs Offline Bookstores

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The results of our last Friday Poll—What Are You Reading?—had a tie between Fiction and Non-fiction, with the top specific genres being Literary and Religious.

This week we’ll check out online and offline bookstores.

Do you use them?

Is Amazon the only one you use?

If you shop somewhere besides Amazon, where is that?

Do you buy books only online or only offline or both?

There’s a blank space called “Other” where you can li...

Two Words Left Out of Most of The Book World’s News . . .

So much news about e-books, traditional publishers, and Amazon—so little about libraries and bookstores…

Image Courtesy of Brenton Nicholls ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/bjn

It can seem like words, no matter how well strung together, are just some commodity—market them aggressively—package ‘em up and ship ‘em out…

And, even though libraries and bookstores are attempting to integrate e-books into their offerings, more creativity and commitment are necessary…

I’ve posted quite a bit about e-b...

5 “Power Tools” for Writers

Do you write?

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Anything—Business reports, Letters, Novels, Poems, Technical Manuals, Recipes, Short Stories?

Well, PC World shared reviews of 5 writing tools and I bet you could use at least one of them…

Let’s take a look (there’s more info at that last link):

Quip—Android, iOS, desktop browser; free

“…lets you create documents and share them with a group of collaborators, who can then make edits and chat about the fi...

Getting Lost on The Path . . .

Ever felt lost?

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Ever had a great plan—trustworthy as a compass—and ended up in someuntraceable wilderness?

Being a writer, I can sympathize with lost souls; since, even those who don’t pursue writing can stumble through meaningless plots, meet surprising characters, and wonder when the pointlesschapter is going to end…

And, how many of us have become lost on our paths but discovered we’d actually founda new aspect of ou...

“Writerisms and other Sins”

Dare I say it—there’s too much crappy advice for writers on the Web.

Image Courtesy of Mateusz Stachowski ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/mattox

Far too much of it aims to teach the rules of genre-writing rather than the ways to write clearly.

If a writer is trapped in someone else’s mold, their true creativity will be strangled.

My all-time favorite fiction writer (after my Best Friend) is C. J. Cherryh;and, I’m going to share some of her writing advice.

She’s written more than 60 books since...

Is Blog Traffic Something That Takes Hard Work?

I’ve been blogging for around 8 years—3.5 on this blog.

Image courtesy of Svilen Milev ~ http://efffective.com

I’ve tried many things to encourage folks to visit.

Most of them seemed extremely artificial…

I write the best content I possibly can—posts that have what I consider Value for the reader.

I don’t look at my Stats much anymore—just plugging away, saying what I feel I must say…

Yet…

I thought it might be interesting to ask my readers what they’d like to see me do.

I’ve had many polls here—rece...

Friday Poll ~ What Are You Reading?

The results of last week’s poll—“Which Genre(s) Should Be Bestsellers“—put Sci-Fi in the lead with a three-way tie for second—Fantasy, Speculative, and Literary—last place went toHumor; and, “Other” had the write-in“Saga”…

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This week’s poll is an idea from one of our regulars—What Are You Reading?

There are the options of Fiction and Non-Fiction—then, a short list of genres—then, the all-purpose “Other“…

You can choose e...

Making Certain Authors Eat Their Own Words . . .

Can over 900 authors all be wrong about the same thing?

Image courtesy of Ry Young ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/ryasaurus

Well, I think most authors can be dead wrong about many things.

Take this Amazon-Hachette tussle.

Huge publisher, Huge retailer—a fight over pricing—some authors feeling they’re caught in the middle.

I started gathering material about this business fracas weeks ago—started getting fed up with all the childish behavior—told my Best Friend I wasn’t going to blog about it…

T...

Do We Really Understand The Words We Use?

Last month I wrote a post called Is That Really A Word?? which included a great video from a woman who helps decide what dictionaries say.

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And, while the average person may not consult a dictionary very often, writers certainly should—especially if they have the slightest doubt about meanings…

Naturally, if the writer has no doubt yet is misinformed about the meaning of certain words, they’re spreading confusion.

So, in the interests of...