Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 222

Writers On Writing ~ A List That Can Inspire

Interested in "writing processes, revision strategies, the business of publishing, and the overall life of a writer"?

I blog about topics like that and I look for other writers who do the same. But, like many things on the Internet, there are good sites and not so good sites…

I featured Kate Messner in a post titled, Critique Is Not A Bad Word, because I found her writing style compelling and her way of sharing information honest.

So, naturally, if she offers writing advice, I'm going to pay attention; and, if she lists other authors she likes to read, I'm going to share that list :-)

Check out her page called, Writers, for her top writing tips and her pick of 18 authors worth reading.

Her story about when she learned the importance of finding her own unique voice as a writer is priceless!

And, if you want my pick for best book by a writer about writing, try John Gardner's, The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers. ( "Young" in that title doesn't refer to chronological age :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

Take Part In Our Reader Survey

Get A Free Copy of the book, Notes from An Alien

Tagged: Art of Fiction, John Gardner, Kate Messner, writer, writer's voice, writers on writing, Writers Resources, writing

Who The Heck Knows The "Right" Price for An Ebook?

I self-published a book in May. I set the paperback price at $12.33 (US dollars) and the Ebook at $.99.

I'm also still giving the book away free in a digital edition. I explained my reasoning in the post: Free = Sales ~ Give It Away & Sell More…

An author I highly respect, who bought my book, told me I needed to raise the price on the Ebook…

I'm still thinking about it…

Two blog posts have got me thinking even harder.

Dave Slusher at Evil Genius Chronicles wrote the post, Ebook Pricing vs Revenue. Even though it was written back in January and the exact numbers used may need updating, the method for finding the "sweet-spot" price for an Ebook is valid–if you have a penchant for math :-)

The other blog post was from L. M. Stull and wrapped around my mind more comfortably. It hit some emotional-pricing considerations. Here are a few snippets from, Ebook Pricing: Too Low? Too High?:

"The biggest argument I hear is that by selling your ebook for so little ($0.99 and the like) you are devaluing your work product AND that you are not obtaining quality readers. I have a lot of issues with this argument."

"Personally, I refuse to buy an ebook for $9.99. The only exception to this rule would be if William Faulkner crawled out of his grave and published a new book – then, and only then, would I *think* about it. My reasoning behind this is my ebook reader cost me $139. I'm not going to buy an electronic version of a book that cost almost a tenth of what the reader did."

"So what is the perfect price point? Heck if I know. I think it comes down to your marketing campaign, the quality of your book (of course) and I hate to say it… but also luck."

Do, please, read the whole post. Much there to ponder…

I'm hard at work on the sequel to Notes from An Alien and will more than likely raise its price ( a bit) when the second book is published.

What are your experiences with Ebook pricing?

Do you have any friends who are experimenting to find that "sweet-spot" price?

Who The Heck Knows The "Right" Price for An Ebook?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

Take Part In Our Reader Survey

Get A Free Copy of the book, Notes from An Alien

Tagged: book pricing, Dave Slusher, E-book, ebook, Evil Genius Chronicles, L. M. Stull, Pricing, publishing

Author Interview ~ Linda Urbach

I must admit, I'm feeling very good about publishing this interview with Linda Urbach. It's the first time an author has visited this blog who's had someone say this about her recently published book: "A lavishly textured sequel to a timeless literary masterpiece."

Read on :-)

Linda, when did you begin writing and can you remember how it felt, inside, back then?

I first started writing in the third grade. It was a poem about Halloween. And every line rhymed. The next writing I did was for a Junior National Scholastic short story competition in the 4th grade (It was the story of a sardine who gets separated from his family).  I won first prize (A $25 savings bond).  My mother typed the story for me and I always had the sneaking suspicion that she re-wrote it and that's why I won a prize. The next year I also won a prize in the same contest. Still, I believed it was my mother's typing that somehow elevated my writing to a prize-winning level.

I think I was always writing in my head from a very early age. Putting down on paper gave me a sense of control of my young life, which of course, was an illusion.

Linda, please tell us what your goal for your writing is?

My greatest joy in life is entertaining people, in making them laugh. My goal in writing is to entertain and amuse myself in addition to as many people as I can. In other words, I write to write and I write to be read, hopefully by lots and lots of people.

I *love* that one of your writing goals is to amuse yourself :-)

Have you had any "formal" training in the art of writing?

I majored in English Lit in college. I took some fiction writing courses at the New School in New York. But I think my greatest training came from reading. Reading anything and everything.

Well then, I must ask, who are your favorite writers and why are they favorites?

Oh, so very many. But let me just focus on one of the greats: Charles Dickens. Nobody tells a tale or creates a character like he does. They live on long after you've closed the book. Read any Dickens and you'll see what a master storyteller he was. Dombey & Son is a particular favorite of mine.

Where and/or how do you get your ideas for writing?

I used to get the ideas for my writing for my own life experience. I published two novels of contemporary fiction under another name (Expecting Miracles and The Money Honey under Linda U. Howard, published by Putnam's). But to be honest my life wasn't that interesting so I got my idea for my recently published novel, Madame Bovary's Daughter, from, where else, but reading Madame Bovary, the great classic by Gustave Flaubert. In reading the novel I couldn't help but feel terribly sorry for the poor unloved daughter. Her mother cheated on her father, bankrupted the family and finally poisoned herself without ever giving a thought to her daughter.

Folks, I urge you to click that link up there for Madame Bovary's Daughter!!

So, tell us, Linda, what's your normal revision or editing routine?

I put down my first thoughts and it's like reading gibberish. I make a point to try and get as far into the story as I can in just broad, rough strokes. Then I go back and put it all in English. Then I look at it and think, who wrote this garbage? That's when the revisions really get going. My big concern is getting the whole story down before I start ripping it apart. Because I really rip it.

I love it–"Then I go back and put it all in English." :-)

So, what are you ripping into now?

I'm currently working on a novel entitled Sarah's Hair, the story of Sarah Bernhardt's hairdresser. Sarah Bernhardt was the Lady Gaga of her times (1870's Paris).  She made a name for herself on the stage and took her wild personality and unbelievable talent on the road. She toured all over the world. Pascale, her hairdresser had her hands full, not only with Madame Sarah's wild head of hair, but with her unpredictable temperament as well.

Oh, my, that sounds absolutely like a Must-Read!!

Thank you, Linda, for taking time away from your schedule to let us have a peek at your writing life :-)

~~~~~~~~~

So, dear reader, go on over to the Madame Bovary's Daughter's site and also visit Linda on her blog. And, speaking of that blog, I can't help but reproduce the post Linda did right after her book was published:

J'ai la dépression, bigtime.

Posted on July 29, 2011 by lindahoward

What do I have to be depressed about? The book is out. Well, that's just the point.  It is out. It's done. It's over. People are either reading and liking it or not reading it and "liking" it.  Giving it away as birthday presents or library donations.  Using it to stabilize a wobbly end table.  Taking it on public transport to impress fellow passengers and then dropping it into the nearest trash bin. I mean, you just don't know what happens to your baby once it's out in the world. You can follow anxiously behind, tweeting, retweeting, friending, unfriending, linking in and linking up and you still have no control over what will happen to le bébé Now, are you as depressed as I am? I hope so. What's the cure for post partum depression?  Ooooh! Oooh! Je suis enceinte avec un autre livre! *

* I am pregnant with another book!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

Take Part In Our Reader Survey

Get A Free Copy of the book, Notes from An Alien

Tagged: author interview, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Lady Gaga, Linda Howard, Linda Urbach, Madame Bovary, Sarah Bernhardt

Critique Is Not A Bad Word

Many people see the word "critique" and seem to secretly replace it in their mind with "criticism".

When I look in my dictionary, I find this for "criticism": "Disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings".

And, I find this for "critique": "A serious examination and judgment of something".

When I look in my Etymology Dictionary (showing the root meanings of words), I find both words coming from the word "crisis" which also gets a bad rap in common usage. Crisis actually means "to separate, decide, judge".

Oh, yeah, our attitudes regularly warp words' meanings. Criticism and critique are both instances of dealing with a crisis. Kinda hard to shake the bad vibes off that word "crisis", eh?

Authors regularly deal with crises, regularly face criticism, regularly seek critique…

I found a post on The Stenhouse Blog featuring Kate Messner, a teacher and author who said, "…I find myself on all sides of the critique fence—giving critiques myself, teaching kids how to critique one another's work, and receiving constructive critiques from my writing group members and my editors."

She goes on to reveal a letter from her editor with annotations explaining how the act of separating, deciding, and judging helped her in writing The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.

Whether your a teacher, writer, manager, parent, or social media participant, I feel you'll get some wonderful perspectives on the critique process by reading the full post: How to critique writing.

Kate closes the delightfully warm analysis of her editor's critique with this: "Remember, real revision takes time, and it can be messy, but the results are well worth the long trail of marked-up manuscripts and sticky notes they leave behind!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

Take Part In Our Reader Survey

Get A Free Copy of the book, Notes from An Alien

Tagged: criticism, critique, Kate Messner, Stenhouse, The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z, writer, Writers Resources, writing

First Response To Our Writing Challenge :-)

Back in June, I created a  Writing Challenge ~ Use The 1200 Most Common Words To Write A Story…

Looking back at that post, I'm surprised someone figured out how to meet the challenge since I was fairly vague; and, many folks probably thought I meant the 1200 most common words were the only ones people could use :-)

Happily, someone saw through my foggy description and took on the challenge. Gwenette WriterSinclair picked up the gauntlet and has produced chapter one of twelve chapters. As she put it:

Just to keep it interesting . . . Used in order (almost:), each 100 words defining a chapter.

Ch. 1 – Words 1-100:

One wonders where all this comes from . . . and where it will go:)

{ If you want to look for the words as you read, here's the download link to the 1200 most frequently used words in the English language. }

And, here is her Chapter One:

Currently Untitled

© 2011, Gwenette Writer Sinclair

To the sound of your voice and scent, I am drawn.

A memory in me is you.  That it leaves him out – for he was always on the outside . . .

are we surprised?  So you are with me here, yes?  His eyes closed; they are asleep. See?

Being this far from you, for so long, and now I have you here by me . . .

but in one breath, you are gone.

Had I only stopped breathing . . . but I had not.

What was I thinking when I found you? I have forgotten that, and all the memories that were you, when we were us and he was outside.  They are gone again and there is no place where I can find you. You are gone and his eyes – which are open now – each will watch me.  Their gaze wanders only when they look for you.  "Where is she?" If I listen, I do hear his whisper.

I do wonder how he came to be watching. Out, beyond the walls, up above the trees, every night I do see them. His eyes always open, hiding in the dark with stars all about.  Others only see the stars. Many knew him then, but none can see him now. Some pretend, hoping I will stop crying so very many, many tears.   I wonder that the water of my tears and the winds of my long sighs do so little to fill my empty heart.  These tears would stop if my eyes could look into yours, but no one has found you. "The two were like one." I do hear them whisper. "More time . . . . . .over it." Their whispers echo in my dreams.

I would rather die than forget, but the memories flee from my sorrow. At every day's first light I make new memories from ones captured in poems, captured in pictures . . . captured in people I wake at dawn with the sounds of my breaking heart.  I watch and wait for his eyes to close against the new light. The moon sets, the stars fade behind the clouds, the sun rises. Sunlight floods over the hills, down the canyon and onto my sheets, onto my cheeks drying each tear.  My tears only slow, but never stop. His eyes stop watching, but only for the day.

I wander each day to find you, to find my way, to find my words. I need just the right words that will call you back to me.  You will come running to me, the sounds of your laughter filling the canyon. I look for you in the barns;  I wait for you in the gardens. You know the words that will tell me the secret of where you have gone.  Where have your words gone?  Our story is lost in your silence.

~~~~~~~~~

I'll post the other eleven chapters as I receive them from Gwenette :-)

Plus, here's Gwenette's Facebook Page and her Virtual World Development site.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

Take Part In Our Reader Survey

Get A Free Copy of Notes from An Alien

Tagged: 1200 most common words in the English language, 1200 most frequently used words in the English language, Gwenette Sinclair, Gwenette WriterSinclair, most common words, Most common words in English, Virtual World Development, writing challenge

Virtually Real Discussions

I'm still debriefing myself from the Thursday Global Peace discussion I host on Book Island in the virtual world, Second Life.

The discussions have been going on now for thirteen weeks and each one has its own texture. I'm learning about, even though I have lots of experience in, facilitating amicable group discussions.

Amicable is key in these global peace chats since most of the topics can be considered "hot-button".

There's even a joke circulating the Island about the fights that break out at the global peace chats :-)

The idea for the weekly peace discussions came from my recently published book, Notes from An Alien. It follows the torturous path of an alien civilization from a 500-year interplanetary war to enduring peace. It was written as a Message for Earth…

During today's discussion, one participant did something I've been waiting for–he introduced an idea from the book into the chat about peace on Earth.

I should mention that folks don't have to read the book to be in the discussion but I do offer anyone a free copy of the book if they'd like to supplement their idea-store on ways to achieve peace.

I wrote the book to give us humans a leveraging perspective on the challenges of creating a path toward peace–being in a situation can often fog resolution and entering a different but related situation can offer more light…

The first Sunday in August is the start of a second edition of the chats specifically timed to attract college students. Can't wait to start the cycle of topics with them!!

One of the best parts of having these discussions in Second Life, rather than up the street, is we have folks from all over the world attending. Rather appropriate, eh?

Do you engage in productive conversations about what it will take to achieve a lasting peace on Earth??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

Take Part In Our Reader Survey

Get A Free Copy of Notes from An Alien

Tagged: Activism and Peace Work, alien, Earth, global peace, Notes from An Alien, peace, Second Life, virtual world

Genre Reconsidered ~ Reader-Driven Fiction

I was in a hangout with Eric Dorsett tonight on Google Plus.

I felt inspired to ask him what I should blog about and he said, "Genre.".

Some of you may have noticed the strange punctuation at the end of that last sentence.

That's the way the maverick in me wants it to look and that brings me to what I want to say about genre; right after I mention three previous posts…

Do You Write For The Reader or Should You Write For Yourself?, What Is A Genre & Should You Try To Write In One?, and  Genre, Genre, Who's Got The Genre ? :-)

At the end of that last post, I wrote: "So the question of whether a writer should try to write in a particular genre could become completely moot. What matters most is good writing, creative writing; even writing that pushes hard against genres and rules and conventions–steps up to the literary plate and belts one out of the authorial park :-)"

So back to that maverick streak in me with a few questions for you:

Do you think the wave of self-publishing, which seems to be promising the reader more say in what gets published, could lead to readers "shaping" the whole concept of genre and driving a transformation of what genre means?

Can readers inform authors in such a way that they write in "new" "genres"?

Will the increased interaction between writer and reader being facilitated by social media eventually make "genre" a useless concept when judging a book?

Is it conceivable that the reading public could select books based on plot characteristics or character interactions or theme arcs?

Do some readers do that now?

Should more readers demand that authors forget about genre and write what the unique combination of theme, plot, and character demands of their creativity?

Am I a hopeless dreamer?

Do you have answers for any of these questions??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

Take Part In Our Reader Survey

Get A Free Copy of Notes from An Alien

Tagged: creative writing, genre, Google Plus, literary genre, reader, writing, writing genre, wrtier

Virtual Hangouts & The Escapades of Writers

Being a self-published author presents some interesting challenges in the arena of promotion.

I've mentioned before that I follow a relationship-oriented philosophy when it comes to folks finding out about my work. I build relationships and let people know where I hang out. If they come to where I am, they can find links to my work…

One place I hang out (and, work) is Book Island in the virtual world, Second Life.<<link to posts about Second Life.

I want to share three posts by a new writerly friend of mine from Second Life. I've been there for three years and she's rather new. Her enthusiasm for the literary potential of Book Island is infectious :-)

Writers Need A Life

A Scrabble of Scribblers

My New Neighbor Nazz

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

Take Part In Our Reader Survey

Get A Free Copy of Notes from An Alien

Tagged: Book Island, hang out, hangout, relationships, Second Life, Virtual reality, virtual world, writers

7 Posts Especially for Readers :-)

This blog's main topics are Reading, Writing, and Publishing. Lately, I've been talking a lot to writers.

So, to redress the imbalance, I've reached into our archives and retrieved seven past posts that focus on the Reader (even when they're addressed to the writer).

The Dreams of The Writer Lead To The Dreams of The Reader… is a bit heavy on the writer's dream state but readers should know a bit about it since the writer tries to induce the same dream in the reader's mind…

Considering The Writer/Reader Relationship… is, again, focused on writer's but from the standpoint of what they need to consider about their readers.

The next two posts are part of a series gathered together on a special page called *What Are Words?:

What Happens When We Read? ~ Part One

What Happens When We Read? ~ Part Two

Readers' Reprise is a post that brings a few other posts back up from the archives :-)

Reading Helps Writing & Writing Helps Reading is pretty much about what it says it's about…

And, The Author's Platform ~ Community of Interest is for writers but a savvy reader could benefit from the discussion about what a writer does to tempt readers toward their books.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

Take Part In Our Reader Survey

Get A Free Copy of Notes from An Alien

Tagged: author, read, reader, Readers, reading, writer, writers, writing

We're All Writers & Some of Us Know We Are :-)

Our last post explored the meaning of the word "write" and attempted to establish a wider use of the activity–"…we all write our lives for others to read."

One thing writers can tell you is that the craft/art of writing has much more to it than putting words on paper/screen.

First, the idea for the written piece needs to happen–sometimes coming out of the blue, sometimes the result of personal training in fetching ideas from the depths of the unconscious mind.

And, if we are all "writers", we all receive or fetch ideas that we then want to express.

Here's another quote from the last post: "…the word "write" came from roots that meant 'carve, scratch, and cut'."

So, expressing an idea in "writing" can have many forms other than words in a book…

Then, there are the organizing and editing tasks of the writer–putting ideas in order, changing the order, realizing that certain ideas beg for more ideas to fulfill them, sharing the composition of ideas with a few trusted others to see if the project is progressing properly, retreating back into the privacy of the mind to ponder the flow of the effort to Express–have you done some or all of these activities then expressed the result, in words or other creative action?

I feel the expression of creatively-ordered ideas, no matter the vehicle of expression, is "writing".

If a writer can "paint" images in our minds with words, why can't a painter "write" feelings in our heart?

Why can't the mother "write" life lessons with her daily behavior that her child can "read"?

Why can't the inspirational speaker "write" hidden messages in the minds of their audience that later "paint" vivid meanings they can apply in resolving life issues?

Why do the corporations "write" so many messages into their advertising calculated to "read" themselves to us over and over and over?

Why do addicts "write" plays with their drugs which compel them to "read" a script that kills them?

How do children so easily "write" love songs in our hearts?

We can "read" omens in the skies and threats in a glance. We can "write" prescriptions for failure with our actions. We can "author" a memorable experience for others.

We can even use those slippery entities called words to re-create our understanding of words themselves :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)

Take Part In Our Reader Survey

Get A Free Copy of Notes from An Alien

Tagged: read, reader, reading, word, words, writer, writers, writing