William Amerman's Blog, page 5
April 25, 2014
Friday, our good man
What a day. Transition day from working to playing. Well, if you consider performing weekend Dad-taxi role for three boys and all the soccer games and sleep-overs. Can't complain, though. We're getting a bit of rain. Second book continues to sell reasonably well. Third book coming along ok as we rumble toward its due date of May 19th with the content editor.
Bloggers continue to sign up to read and review both books at a reasonably steady clip.
Twitter, though. I continue to amass followers yet still remain uncomfortable tweeting anything more than photos of meat that's going on the grill or smoker. Perhaps if I had more witty thoughts, I could share them? Or perhaps I could tweet banalities such as are tweeted at me?
Oh, yes, you might have noticed I'm sort of using the blog as a journal. So feel free to look the other way if these thoughts are too intimate.
Ok. On to the work of the third book. There is a conflict brewing at the City Police station where Anna and Nick are trying to get the Sheriff to break in (to his own office) to get a data connection to the SP world network. Unfortunately, the Sheriff has lost five men on this day and is trying to keep one of his remaining two alive. So his thoughts and motivations aren't exactly aligned to Nick and Anna's. In fact, given that the people who have taken over his office are the same ones who gunned down his men earlier, it's safe to say that he's not in the mood for playing host.
Bloggers continue to sign up to read and review both books at a reasonably steady clip.
Twitter, though. I continue to amass followers yet still remain uncomfortable tweeting anything more than photos of meat that's going on the grill or smoker. Perhaps if I had more witty thoughts, I could share them? Or perhaps I could tweet banalities such as are tweeted at me?
Oh, yes, you might have noticed I'm sort of using the blog as a journal. So feel free to look the other way if these thoughts are too intimate.
Ok. On to the work of the third book. There is a conflict brewing at the City Police station where Anna and Nick are trying to get the Sheriff to break in (to his own office) to get a data connection to the SP world network. Unfortunately, the Sheriff has lost five men on this day and is trying to keep one of his remaining two alive. So his thoughts and motivations aren't exactly aligned to Nick and Anna's. In fact, given that the people who have taken over his office are the same ones who gunned down his men earlier, it's safe to say that he's not in the mood for playing host.
April 20, 2014
Easter pugilism
Happy Easter. What a wonderful way to wake up on Easter Sunday--to the sounds of screeching boys from downstairs. I descended to investigate, to find the two youngest tussling over whose Easter basket belonged to which boy. Apparently, the Easter bunny has a sense of humour and did not leave identical sized baskets for each boy.
I plan to take this up with the bunny(her) before the afternoon's egg hunt. Yes, my two youngest boys are 11 and 9 years old, but apparently you're never too old to notice when your brother's basket is .5 microns larger than yours...
I plan to take this up with the bunny(her) before the afternoon's egg hunt. Yes, my two youngest boys are 11 and 9 years old, but apparently you're never too old to notice when your brother's basket is .5 microns larger than yours...
April 19, 2014
Bike tours
I forgot to mention. My great buddy from college runs a bike tour company. He's been doing it for a little over a year, although he's been an avid cycler for years. Because he's just getting started, his prices are a LOT lower than any of his competition. He is the nicest guy you will ever meet and if you've ever thought of taking a guided bike tour through Colorado, Austin or other places he goes, you can't go wrong with him.
This sounds like an advertisement, but I consider it a good deed towards anyone looking for a well-priced, top class bike tour!
https://www.facebook.com/VeloViewBike...
This sounds like an advertisement, but I consider it a good deed towards anyone looking for a well-priced, top class bike tour!
https://www.facebook.com/VeloViewBike...
It's done and, well, life goes on
Boy, the glow from finishing something fades fast when the next thing is staring you in the face, doesn't it?!
Okay, no complaining. The day has been productive so far. Coached the boys to a 9-0 win in indoor soccer. Have embarked on some marketing for Sky2, including adding a rotating ad on my Goodreads ad campaign. Am smoking four racks of ribs on the backyard smoker. Yard is mowed. Car to be washed and waxed after the sun gets lower. And, sad to say, as you can tell from the list of ANYTHING other than writing, am struggling to put together just 500-750 words on the new book.
Okay, no complaining. The day has been productive so far. Coached the boys to a 9-0 win in indoor soccer. Have embarked on some marketing for Sky2, including adding a rotating ad on my Goodreads ad campaign. Am smoking four racks of ribs on the backyard smoker. Yard is mowed. Car to be washed and waxed after the sun gets lower. And, sad to say, as you can tell from the list of ANYTHING other than writing, am struggling to put together just 500-750 words on the new book.
April 18, 2014
It's done!
Sky 2 - Detritus Machine is done. And I don't mean casually 'done' as if I've merely come to the end of the last chapter and slapped 'The End' on the thing. No. I mean done as in most of the first draft written over the past three years, new characters and plot line added over the last year to round out the scientists and poisonings at the labs story. Then multiple rewrites. Then off to Red Adept and Lynn for line editing. That first phone call from her always a bucket of cold water in the face. But then getting back the first line edit, carving it up, smoothing it out, cutting so deeply that we scrape the bones of the story.
Then doing it again four times over the next three months.
Finally, "there are no more edits to review" or whatever unbelievable message MS Word shows me when all edits are done, it goes to the first proofreader.
Perhaps my favorite part of the editing process is getting the copy back from the first proofreader. There are usually only ten to twenty suggested changes, most of them missing words, which takes about twenty minutes to go through on my side.
Then it's off to the second proofreader. After a week or so, it comes back to me with maybe five to ten changes. This step of the process, though, scares me. One, it shows how freaking easy it is to miss errors. I mean, I didn't catch it, editor didn't catch it and first proofreader didn't catch it. Which means there are probably a few that this proofreader didn't catch too. And two, as the last step in the process, it's time to start thinking about producing the variety of formats that will be uploaded to Amazon and Smashwords, marketing, pricing, finalizing the cover art from my Portuguese artist.
Then putting it up and seeing how people like it.
Oh, and let's not forget, continuing all the while to work at the real job so I give it justice, manage my people with sincerity and skill, AND continue to crank on the third book, which is due at the Content editor in May. Oh, and let's not forget to set the starting line-up for the boys soccer team I coach and remember to buy a brisket for the all-day Saturday meat smoking gala.
Ha. Life is Good baby! Happy Friday!
Then doing it again four times over the next three months.
Finally, "there are no more edits to review" or whatever unbelievable message MS Word shows me when all edits are done, it goes to the first proofreader.
Perhaps my favorite part of the editing process is getting the copy back from the first proofreader. There are usually only ten to twenty suggested changes, most of them missing words, which takes about twenty minutes to go through on my side.
Then it's off to the second proofreader. After a week or so, it comes back to me with maybe five to ten changes. This step of the process, though, scares me. One, it shows how freaking easy it is to miss errors. I mean, I didn't catch it, editor didn't catch it and first proofreader didn't catch it. Which means there are probably a few that this proofreader didn't catch too. And two, as the last step in the process, it's time to start thinking about producing the variety of formats that will be uploaded to Amazon and Smashwords, marketing, pricing, finalizing the cover art from my Portuguese artist.
Then putting it up and seeing how people like it.
Oh, and let's not forget, continuing all the while to work at the real job so I give it justice, manage my people with sincerity and skill, AND continue to crank on the third book, which is due at the Content editor in May. Oh, and let's not forget to set the starting line-up for the boys soccer team I coach and remember to buy a brisket for the all-day Saturday meat smoking gala.
Ha. Life is Good baby! Happy Friday!
March 31, 2014
My new hobby - missing flights
Fantastic golf trip with brother in Arizona with the usual cast of suspects. Even managed to shoot 79 on the last round at We-Ko-Pa in a 25 mph wind, the seventh round of golf in four days.
Dropped everyone off at the airport, then raced to drop off the rental car. Check-in line at SouthWest airlines in Phoenix was a nightmare. Security line was like standing at the back of a crowd of hungry zombies all trying to jam into one security line. Have never seen so many people packed into security. TSA guy finally came over and told people if we wanted to hoof it to the next terminal that we could go through much less crowded security there.
So I did. Much less crowded. Sprinted out of security with my belt slapping against my legs. Roared up to the gate after about a 400 yard sprint, gladdened beyond belief at seeing the plane still at the gate and the boarding dock still attached.
The grim-looking gate lady, though, informed me that she'd given my seat away two minutes earlier to a standby person. Looking for another flight but everything in the Bay Area is already four hours delayed.
Boy, what a feeling to stand at the window, watching your plane so close yet so far away. Then they retract the dock and push back and you're just another struggling traveler looking to find a way to get home as soon as you can. Fun.
Dropped everyone off at the airport, then raced to drop off the rental car. Check-in line at SouthWest airlines in Phoenix was a nightmare. Security line was like standing at the back of a crowd of hungry zombies all trying to jam into one security line. Have never seen so many people packed into security. TSA guy finally came over and told people if we wanted to hoof it to the next terminal that we could go through much less crowded security there.
So I did. Much less crowded. Sprinted out of security with my belt slapping against my legs. Roared up to the gate after about a 400 yard sprint, gladdened beyond belief at seeing the plane still at the gate and the boarding dock still attached.
The grim-looking gate lady, though, informed me that she'd given my seat away two minutes earlier to a standby person. Looking for another flight but everything in the Bay Area is already four hours delayed.
Boy, what a feeling to stand at the window, watching your plane so close yet so far away. Then they retract the dock and push back and you're just another struggling traveler looking to find a way to get home as soon as you can. Fun.
March 16, 2014
Holy Crap!
I just got word back from one of the toughest reviewers I've come across that she's finished Sky1 - Foundation. And the part that inspired the title of this blog entry? She freaking rated it 5 stars on Amazon, Goodreads and 4.5 stars on her personal blog.
So why does this inspire such wonderment in me? Validation. Validation that years of work and pretty damned massive editorial expenses and cover design expenses and effort were all worth it.
Because she's not just tough, but seems fair and discerning as well. Yeah, easy for me to say now after she's rated the book so high. But If she doesn't like a book, she doesn't hesitate to rate it poorly. If she likes a book, she rates it well. She seems to read voraciously and I've started to use her book ratings to help me find new stuff to read because her tastes seem to mirror my own.
Some of my fellow writers have accused her of being overly harsh when reviewing their own works. Admittedly, I'm not able to be completely objective, but to me it seems like these writers just don't want to hear anything but praise. I plan to send my next book her way as well, and if she has issues or complaints then I'll take those as areas to explore for improvement. Her one issue with this book was my use of the words immigration vs. emigration, which is right on the money. I struggled with when to use each one for months, then hoped that my ace editor would sort it out. Which, I think she did, but there is some ambiguity in when to use each one. Either way, her comment is right on the mark.
Anyway, she just made my Sunday. Here's a link to her bookslike blog (I hope it's okay to post that here)
http://misanthropicreader.booklikes.c...
So why does this inspire such wonderment in me? Validation. Validation that years of work and pretty damned massive editorial expenses and cover design expenses and effort were all worth it.
Because she's not just tough, but seems fair and discerning as well. Yeah, easy for me to say now after she's rated the book so high. But If she doesn't like a book, she doesn't hesitate to rate it poorly. If she likes a book, she rates it well. She seems to read voraciously and I've started to use her book ratings to help me find new stuff to read because her tastes seem to mirror my own.
Some of my fellow writers have accused her of being overly harsh when reviewing their own works. Admittedly, I'm not able to be completely objective, but to me it seems like these writers just don't want to hear anything but praise. I plan to send my next book her way as well, and if she has issues or complaints then I'll take those as areas to explore for improvement. Her one issue with this book was my use of the words immigration vs. emigration, which is right on the money. I struggled with when to use each one for months, then hoped that my ace editor would sort it out. Which, I think she did, but there is some ambiguity in when to use each one. Either way, her comment is right on the mark.
Anyway, she just made my Sunday. Here's a link to her bookslike blog (I hope it's okay to post that here)
http://misanthropicreader.booklikes.c...
March 10, 2014
What are reviews and who should they benefit?
I left this comment on the blog of one of the new bloggers I follow. She's the strongly opinionated reviewer I mentioned in a previous post, which I enjoy because it means I can follow her recommendations for new books without wasting a lot of time sifting through poor quality ones. So far, her tastes seem right in line with my own. Oh, and she likes the Sky book so far but no, no, no that's not clouding my judgement :)
I've been reading a lot about reviews and authors and the various efforts by authors to reconfigure rating systems for their own benefit. I am an author, and I believe reviews and ratings exist to benefit READERS, not authors. As a reader, I don't want to base my purchase on criteria that exist to benefit authors. I want to know if the book rocked or if it sucked. I will say that, as a reader, I want the reviews to make it clear if they're only reviewing the sample, but most of the time they do.
Authors, especially self-published ones (like myself) can't seem to fathom that some people may not fawn over every word they publish. First, they take any criticism of their work personally and two, they think that most critics are bullies or have some personal vendetta against them. Yes, people can be assholes. Critics are people, too, so yeah, they can be assholes, too. So can authors. But most of the time the one-star reviews, in my experience, come from people who just didn't like the book very much.
These authors also don't hold their potential readers in very high regard, treating them like children who will see a negative review and run away, never to return again. Yeah, it's tough being an independent writer and when you're just getting started a one-star review can feel like a harpoon to the back. The first one-star review I got made me livid. I went through the classic stages of grief. Anger, denial and all the rest until I found acceptance and realized the reviewer was right. Which led me to save my pennies and buy the best editing services (shameless plug for RedAdept editing :)) I could buy.
The solution, as an author, is to keep writing. Publish quality books that attract tons of good, genuine reviews. Take the bad reviews as opportunities to examine what might be wrong with your books and not as attacks on your worth as a human.
I've been reading a lot about reviews and authors and the various efforts by authors to reconfigure rating systems for their own benefit. I am an author, and I believe reviews and ratings exist to benefit READERS, not authors. As a reader, I don't want to base my purchase on criteria that exist to benefit authors. I want to know if the book rocked or if it sucked. I will say that, as a reader, I want the reviews to make it clear if they're only reviewing the sample, but most of the time they do.
Authors, especially self-published ones (like myself) can't seem to fathom that some people may not fawn over every word they publish. First, they take any criticism of their work personally and two, they think that most critics are bullies or have some personal vendetta against them. Yes, people can be assholes. Critics are people, too, so yeah, they can be assholes, too. So can authors. But most of the time the one-star reviews, in my experience, come from people who just didn't like the book very much.
These authors also don't hold their potential readers in very high regard, treating them like children who will see a negative review and run away, never to return again. Yeah, it's tough being an independent writer and when you're just getting started a one-star review can feel like a harpoon to the back. The first one-star review I got made me livid. I went through the classic stages of grief. Anger, denial and all the rest until I found acceptance and realized the reviewer was right. Which led me to save my pennies and buy the best editing services (shameless plug for RedAdept editing :)) I could buy.
The solution, as an author, is to keep writing. Publish quality books that attract tons of good, genuine reviews. Take the bad reviews as opportunities to examine what might be wrong with your books and not as attacks on your worth as a human.
March 9, 2014
Blood feud
There is a feud going on amongst some of the Indie writers in one of the forums I frequent. One of the poor writers was so aggrieved by what she perceived as a negative review, that she warned the rest of us "lemmings" (a term she called us after we dared to question her advice) not to submit our books to this reviewer.
I dug a little and discovered that the "negative" review in question mentioned how the reviewer loved the characters and story and really wanted to finish, but couldn't get past the editing errors. Furthermore, if the author would fix the editing, the reviewer would be happy to give it another look.
Doesn't seem too unfair to me. In fact, it seems wonderfully fair and as an author my response would have been "thank you, thank you for the kind words and I'll get on that editing asap." But Indie writers are, to generalize, married to their own sense of genius and infallibility. ANY criticism seems to set off sparks and they can't disassociate themselves from their writing. Writing is just words. They come from my brain, out my fingers and onto the screen. Sometimes that process works great. Many times it doesn't.
I have not listed any links or names because I have no interest in perpetuating this feud. I've asked the reviewer to review my own book because I've found her other reviews to be tough, but very fair, and her comments to be insightful. If she has problems with my book, I'll take her comments as suggestions on how to make it better.
At least that's what I say now. Who knows, maybe a one star review would make my own inner petulant child awake! I'll admit, after the one star review on Aries at Dawn I fumed for a month. Then I took the reviewer's advice and found a better editor. In fact, I contacted the reviewer to thank her and she's now agreed to review the Sky1 book. Yes, I'm so enlightened. Ha. Ok. Need to get Sky2 back to the editor because that sucker needs to build on the momentum of Sky1, within a few weeks.
I dug a little and discovered that the "negative" review in question mentioned how the reviewer loved the characters and story and really wanted to finish, but couldn't get past the editing errors. Furthermore, if the author would fix the editing, the reviewer would be happy to give it another look.
Doesn't seem too unfair to me. In fact, it seems wonderfully fair and as an author my response would have been "thank you, thank you for the kind words and I'll get on that editing asap." But Indie writers are, to generalize, married to their own sense of genius and infallibility. ANY criticism seems to set off sparks and they can't disassociate themselves from their writing. Writing is just words. They come from my brain, out my fingers and onto the screen. Sometimes that process works great. Many times it doesn't.
I have not listed any links or names because I have no interest in perpetuating this feud. I've asked the reviewer to review my own book because I've found her other reviews to be tough, but very fair, and her comments to be insightful. If she has problems with my book, I'll take her comments as suggestions on how to make it better.
At least that's what I say now. Who knows, maybe a one star review would make my own inner petulant child awake! I'll admit, after the one star review on Aries at Dawn I fumed for a month. Then I took the reviewer's advice and found a better editor. In fact, I contacted the reviewer to thank her and she's now agreed to review the Sky1 book. Yes, I'm so enlightened. Ha. Ok. Need to get Sky2 back to the editor because that sucker needs to build on the momentum of Sky1, within a few weeks.
March 8, 2014
Goodbye guilt, hello fairway
As the limping salesman said, the driver was "born angry." Played this morning, hitting 64% of fairways and missing a ten footer for 79.
Hmm, perhaps I should re-brand this as a golf blog?
Writing going well, too. The new book has two four-star and two five-star reviews and is selling better than expected, so I am busily churning on the second one in the series. It's already been written, edited and re-edited and then sent to the editor and now back to me, but I needed to add some scenes and pay at least a little attention to making the characters likeable. Funny thing, I've discovered, is when you make your characters unlikable, readers don't like them. And, in turn, they typically don't like the book.
Of course it's supposed to be fashionable these days to craft books with loathsome characters. A mark of "true art." Yeah, and a mark of a book that's no fun to read. I decided quite a while back that I would not create tortuous, multi-layered, over-wrought-with-symbolism, bloated books. Screw trying to be the next literary giant. Yes, Mr. Delillo and Mr. McCarthy, you rock. Especially Mr. Mc. However, I could spend five years in the desert with a laptop and a thesaurus and not come close to the lyrical language you use, so why not focus on my strengths instead? Which consist of hitting a golf ball close to 300 yards and creating fun, innovative stories that move at a fast, fast pace.
Hmm, perhaps I should re-brand this as a golf blog?
Writing going well, too. The new book has two four-star and two five-star reviews and is selling better than expected, so I am busily churning on the second one in the series. It's already been written, edited and re-edited and then sent to the editor and now back to me, but I needed to add some scenes and pay at least a little attention to making the characters likeable. Funny thing, I've discovered, is when you make your characters unlikable, readers don't like them. And, in turn, they typically don't like the book.
Of course it's supposed to be fashionable these days to craft books with loathsome characters. A mark of "true art." Yeah, and a mark of a book that's no fun to read. I decided quite a while back that I would not create tortuous, multi-layered, over-wrought-with-symbolism, bloated books. Screw trying to be the next literary giant. Yes, Mr. Delillo and Mr. McCarthy, you rock. Especially Mr. Mc. However, I could spend five years in the desert with a laptop and a thesaurus and not come close to the lyrical language you use, so why not focus on my strengths instead? Which consist of hitting a golf ball close to 300 yards and creating fun, innovative stories that move at a fast, fast pace.
