R. Frederick Riddle's Blog, page 17

The Riddle Report

The Riddle Report 02 01 2021

News Item #1

President Biden has called himself a Unity President. He touts his experience in the Senate as evidence that he can bring unity to the table. Let’s accept that definition and history of The Unity President, and considers what that suggests.

First of all, he means he will be a better President than Obama and will be carrying on the tradition of President Trump. The fact is that what Trump accomplished legislatively was through working with both parties. On the other hand, President Obama excluded the Republicans from participation.

Right from the start we have Biden discovering that being a President of a unified government is going to be difficult. There are huge pressures on him from the far Left that want ‘instant’ gratification. They don’t care about the economic risks. In their childish dreams they are willing to cause massive unemployment and a devastated economy worse than we now have to bring about their far Left dreams. Biden doesn’t necessarily embrace those same dreams, but they are his core support.

He wants to pull a Clinton who at the beginning of his second term moved toward the center. The problem is that there is not much of a center for him to move toward. It is hard to imagine a man who apparently has dementia problems being strong enough to move the dialog a notch or two to the right. But if he can’t do that, there is no unity.

Already we are seeing the Left wanting to shut the Republicans out of the picture. And while there are Democrats and Republicans willing to work together, they are few in number. Can you imagine relying upon Mitt Romney for political success? I just don’t see President Biden accomplishing this, but for our nation’s sake I wish him well.

News Item #2

The goal of being a unity President is a good goal. If President Biden is able to bring the two sides together, what can we expect?

For one thing, the New Green Deal would be moved to the back burner. It is too radical. If that gets passed within the first 100 days, then unity is gone. You are not going to find very many fiscally responsible conservatives willing to sell America’s future for what amounts to a pipe dream.

Another thing that we should see is the President putting the kibosh on the movement to expand the Supreme Court so as to make it nothing more than a rubber stamp for the Left. It would cripple our justice system and, in effect, do away with the Constitutional structure of our government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) and replace it with only an Executive and Legislative government.

News Item #3

Stimulus package. The package put together by the Moderates (Democrats and Republicans) does restrict the stimulus money to the lower income more so than the original. That is good. But does it also remove helping states that got in trouble because of their own mishandling of states budgets? And, what about the excessive funds going to other countries? Shouldn’t Americans come first?

Bailing out state governments to cover their own irresponsibility does not seem like a good use of taxpayer money. To bail out state government would only be a bandage that would have to later be replaced with a bigger bandage as the irresponsibility continues.

News Item #4

President Biden has his hands full. So far, his actions have not matched his words. It is a sad day in America when the President caves into party politics, but that is what appears to be happening. And such a cave-in signals that President Biden is going to be a weak President rather than a unifying President. I hope I am wrong, but that is what I see.

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AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

==========

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld and his Parler page is authorriddle.

A New President

The Riddle Report 01 20 2021

News Item #1

We have a new President. Actually two. We have a new current President Joe Biden and we have a new Standing By President Kamala Harris, although her title is Vice President.

Most observers don’t expect Biden to last more than one term with the Vice President expected to run in 2024. But there are also a great many who don’t believe Biden will finish his first term.

This is not due to any form of death, but rather to the strongly suspected, if not known, case of Dementia. We all saw evidence of it during the campaign to become the Candidate and again during the Presidential campaign itself.

But for the time being he is President of the United States of America. Some people are saying he’s not their President. That is foolishness. Whether you voted for him or not, he is your President as long as he holds that office.

As such, it is our duty as citizens to respect and honor him. You have the right to disagree with him, to oppose him, and fight against his agenda, but you do not have the right to malign him. Only the Democrats have that right as they demonstrated the last four years!

News Item #2

I did not watch the inauguration for two reasons. One I was busy and secondly, I have a pretty good idea what kind of President he will be. He may speak of unifying the country, but he and the Democrats in Congress have already telegraphed that disunity is their agenda.

The biggest question is what will he do beginning today? Will he push for the Green New Deal or for a stronger economy as Trump did; will he approach Covid-19 with a crushing lockdown or a balanced approach such as Trump did; and will he put globalism first or America first as Trump did?

Speeches are fine, but actions speak louder than words. We’ll wait and see.

News Item #3

I’ve noticed that Mitch McConnell has turned against Trump. Perhaps he thinks his constituency will forget. I doubt it.

News Item #4

While today is a sad day for Conservatives it is wise to remember that we survived 8 years of President Obama. We can survive Biden.

Christians need to pray for our new President as we are commanded in the Bible. America still has the best government in the world, and we need to pray for it and work to improve it. In two years the Biden/Harris legacy will be apparent.

What needs to be done is work to negate voter fraud and build a strong grass roots that can build upon the Trump campaign accomplishments.

News Item #5

Unsubstantiated

This was the term we heard over and over from the news media. The word means ‘not proven to be true’ or ‘not supported by other evidence’.

But the media used it as a catch phrase. The fact is nothing can be substantiated if it is not first examined. At no time during the aftermath of the election was the evidenced looked at by the courts. Instead, judges dismissed the evidence without taking the time to examine it.

In the case of the Supreme Court, cases were refused because the litigants had no ‘standing’. This is foolhardy!

Every citizen of the United States, no matter what state they resided in, had standing. That is because everyone stood to lose or gain if fraud was found. The Court failed us. And this failure casts a cautionary light upon the Court for future cases no matter their nature.

It is scary.

What Will I Do?

First, let me tell you what I won’t do.

I won’t wring my hands and cry, “Oh me!”

I won’t take up arms against my government.

I won’t leave America.

But here is what I will do:

I will pray for our President.

I will pray for members of Congress.

I will pray for Supreme Courts judges.

I will pray for America.

I will pray for Revival.

By the way, that is what I have been doing for years!

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”) contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

==========

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld and his Parler page is authorriddle.

Riots, Ratings, and War

The Riddle Report 01 18 2021

News Item #1

The inauguration is only days away. Obviously, the government is nervous due to the riot in the Capital. A small fire occurred in a homeless encampment, but the Capital complex was shut down in an ‘abundance of caution’ by the Secret Service.

News Item #2

Insurrection versus riots.

The legal definition of an insurrection is: A rising or rebellion of citizens against their government, usually manifested by acts of violence.

Perhaps I missed it, but when were the riots out west that paralyzed government, caused damage and, I believe, death, ever called insurrections? They were called riots, peaceful protests, etc. They were justified because of perceived injustice, but I don’t recall them ever being called insurrections.

On the other hand, you had a riot in D.C. that involved the killing of an unarmed woman, a policeman and perhaps another, plus the attempted occupation of the Capital Building (remind you of occupations in the past?), and the damage of government property.

This last one never amounted to the scale of the riots out west, but it is called an insurrection. Both were against government, but one was definitely by the Left and the other appears to be by the Right (although there are facts surfacing that cast doubt on that).

Conclusion: If a riot occurs and is Left in origin it is a riot, but if Right in origin it is insurrection.

News Item #3

Trump’s Approval Rating

According to recent polls Trump’s approval fell sharply both before and after the riot. The problem is that these polls were primarily polls of Democratic voters. Only 30% or less of the voters polled were Republicans.

But the Rasmussen poll gave Trump 48% from a December 31st poll of 47%. Why the difference? The Rasmussen poll was undoubtedly more representative of the average voters instead of being weighted toward Democrats.

As has been pointed out here before, these polls don’t reflect actual voters or voting groups. Rasmussen weights its polls with actual registered voters who vote, which makes it the only one with a true touch of reality.

That tends to change the entire story. Instead of Americans wanting to get rid of and forget Trump they admire what he did. They may not like him, but they like what he did! And that is not good news for the Democrats.

News Item #4

War Against Christians

Under the Trump Administration Christians regained influence and protection, but that is probably going to end or at least there will be an attempt to end these protections. With more conservative judges in the judiciary, I expect legal setbacks for the government if they pursue their anti-Christian agenda.

But no matter how it goes down, we Christians not only have a merciful God, but our God rules and overrules the works of men. He may not act as soon as we want nor even how we want, but He will act!

And that is not good news for the anti-Christians!

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”) contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

==========

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld and his Parler page is authorriddle.

The 1st 100 Days

The Riddle Report 01 16 2021

News Item #1

Although the evidence of voter fraud was overwhelming and extensive it didn’t matter. The media called it unsubstantiated evidence, but in reality, it was ignored evidence and never got presented in a legal setting.

So, unless things change, it looks like Joe Biden will be President of the United States. As such, both he and our nation need prayer – which is always true no matter who is President. In his case there is the case of suspected dementia plus the ever-present Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States.

Therefore, I have consulted my crystal ball and arrived at certain conclusions regarding President Biden’s first, and possibly last, 100 days. As a reminder Trump is the only president in recent memory to actually implement or try to implement his campaign promises.

Here is my list:

$1,400 Stimulus package (when combined with previous $600 amounts to $2,000)Downsizing of Air Force, Army, Navy, and Space ForceAn Apology tour reminiscent of President Obama’s apology tour shortly after taking officeEstablishing new restrictive environmental lawsStopping or tearing down the WALLShutting down the economy and beginning his pride and joy 2009 Economic Recovery that both he and others have applauded (though it resulted in a lackluster recovery based primarily on low-income jobs)New Green Deal

Traditionally, Congress gives a new President most of what he wants in the first 100 days or Honeymoon. So, I expect him to press forward. I did not mention the impeachment of who will be former President Donald Trump because the impetus for that is coming from Congress.

His attempt to increase employment will probably raise us up to the dizzying heights of a stagnant economy, such as he accomplished under Obama.

It probably depends upon how aggressive he is as to whether factory jobs depart during this Honeymoon or afterward. But if he presses forward on his massive recovery act, as I think he will, then businesses will have to rethink whether they stay in America or leave.

News Item #2

Another item that it increasingly looks like we will be seeing is the impeachment of former President Trump. Such an action appears to fly in the face of the Constitution, but Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is not deterred by such technicalities.

Aside from the cost of such a trial, no matter the length, this would be disastrous for the nation and, eventually, the Democrats. The latest figures are that some 74% of the voters are against it. Right now, the Democrats feel that they can do no wrong, and may step into this mudpie.

News Item #3

Big Tech and Big Social Media have begun what some are calling ‘censorship’ and ‘rein of terror’ by becoming the arbiters of what is free speech and what is not. In launching their attack upon supporters of President Trump they have assumed that they have both the might and the right to censor speech. However, the American people have reacted to this and these Social Media types have lost billions of dollars in the stock market.

Only time will tell how this will turn out.

Tighten your belt folks. We may have a bumpy ride ahead.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”) contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

==========

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld and his Parler page is authorriddle.

Announcing New Novel

The Riddle Report 01 11 2021

Today I am announcing the publication of my newest novel, World War III. This novel is the prequel to Christland.

As many of you know I built my career on writing historical fiction, novels that were based on historical events recorded in the Bible. These have been my primary interest and will continue to be so. However, in the last couple of years I have delved into speculative fiction with my first series Christland.

With this publication the series will include World War III, Death Ship to the Stars, Pauline: A New Home, Task Force Hunter, Black Death, Rise of I.S.I.S., and Battle at Proxima Centauri. It is a series that carves out its own niche within the Sci-Fi or Speculative Fiction genre.

It is also a series I am proud of and have been encouraged by. That being said, I felt that the buildup to the Death Ship to the Stars needed greater exploration. Therefore, I set about writing what is called World War III.

World War III introduces many of the characters that are found in Death Ship to the Stars. You get to know them before those tragic events. One particular character you meet is Don Michaels, one of the heroes of Death Ship to the Stars. You get a deeper understanding of him and of the men and women around him.

But the biggest thing is you get to view World War III, which turns out to be one of the shortest world wars in history or is the shortest. In any case, you get to read and experience the war itself, but also the events leading up to it and following it.

Then there is General Abner Smith. This is a man who is both a brilliant general and a monstrous person. His hatred for all things Christian and Jewish comes through loud and clear at the expense of innocent people!

The writing of this novel allowed me the freedom to explore the world of speculative fiction in greater depth while adding to and, hopefully, expanding the experience of the Christland series. As a result of the new novel, I am rewriting portions of Death Ship to the Stars. This revised version should be coming out soon.

The eBook is in Pre-Order now and the Print book should be available this week. Here is the data:

Title: World War III

Publisher: T&R Independent Books

Author: R. Frederick Riddle

Pages: 357

ASIN: B08SLK6P83

ISBN-13: 9798571715317

Print Retail: $13.99

eBook Retail: $2.99 (in pre-order now)

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”) contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

==========

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld and his Parler page is authorriddle.

5 Proactive Actions for Authors in 2021

The Riddle Report 01 06 2021

Today I am writing about the pursuit of your writing career. The title is Be Proactive.

What do you mean?

One definition of proactive is: Acting in advance to deal with an expected change or difficulty. 2021 lies ahead of you. There are a lot of unknowns right now.

Take the election of the President. No matter the outcome of today’s voting, it is unlikely we will know who the next President is until the Supreme Court gets involved. There is a lot of evidence of voter fraud, certainly a great deal of mistrust of election results, and the abuse of power by state governors and their administrations.

That’s just one area of uncertainty. Connected to those issues you also have the economy, international relations, Covid-19, and so on. In other words, you, and all the rest of us, don’t know what 2021 will be like.

That being the case, I think we authors need to be proactively engaged. This blog contains 5 Proactive Actions for Authors in 2021.

Budgeting

This involves looking back and forward. How did your writing budget work out last year. This would be a great time to analyze your success. While I am speaking of money, success has many faces.

You may not have made much money, but did you position yourself for success. In a moment we will talk about goals but positioning yourself involves financial investment for sure yet there is much more involved.

For instance, are you ready to write a new novel? I published some novels last year, but I have also laid the groundwork or have already started writing other novels. What about you.

If you been writing for any length of time you may have gotten to that stage where you can work on more than one novel at a time. If that is the case, it is a good thing. If you haven’t started working on the next novel, this would be a good time to start.

How about publishing and marketing? Now’s the time to start on them.

Goals

We hear about setting goals all the time and the reason is that goal setting can be very effective. Set short-term, intermediate term, and long-term goals.

For example, in locally marketing our TR Writing Services I began last year putting shoe leather to my marketing efforts. I began visiting local strip malls and getting out business cards and flyers to let people know about our products. I plan on continuing and expanding these efforts in 2021.

As for novels, I have three novels I am working on right now. All three were begun in 2020 and now being enhanced. In some cases, the novels may have major rewriting involved. Don’t know yet, but it is a possibility.

Writing

I just mentioned my plans for writing in the Goals segment. But being proactive requires more than just establishing goals. It involves actually doing some writing. Keep writing!

If you don’t have a plan for writing your books, develop one. It doesn’t have to be hard and fast, set in stone. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend that.

A better idea, specially if you are writing multiple books, is to work on one project and then switch to another. This will help keep your mind alert.

Plan ahead, maybe even schedule your books, but nothing set in stone.

Publishing

Publishing is a very important area. Have you decided to become an Indie Publisher? Whether you are traditional, self-publishing, or indie publishing, you need to start working on that now.

If traditional you need to have an agent who can find the right publisher for you. If you are going Self-Publishing you need the money so you can pay upfront (remember, it could be $800 or more). If Indie, it may not be money, but it could be getting all your pawns in order.

Whatever you plan on doing in 2021, now is the time to think about it and put your plans in action.

Marketing

Marketing is the final step. It involves advertising, selling, and record keeping. You may be one of those persons who can just do it and don’t need a calendar or some other reminder. Me, I need reminding.

And we all need good record keeping. I am not going to go into any detail on that because we all have different needs and expectations. But now is the time to get started!

Here at TR Writing Services, we stand ready to help you. Our motto is “We edit, proof, and publish the book within you.”  As for marketing, we can advise you and provide certain tools, such as your own dedicated book page that you can use to begin marketing. This page is free and designed to help your prospective reader to find and buy your book.

For more information see below.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”) contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

==========

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld and his Parler page is authorriddle.

Business of Writing

The Riddle Report 01 04 2021

I’m starting this year by bringing important news regarding your writing career whether you have written a book or plan to write a book. This is important information that I would have benefited from having when I first started.

I’m Just a Writer, not a Businessperson.

You’re thinking I just want to write and sell books. But surprise, that is a business! While writing can certainly be fun, it is for me, it can also be profitable. And for that reason alone, you need to think of your writing career, no matter how many books that entails, as a business.

The Government thinks you’re a business.

That’s right. When you do your income taxes and show that you made money through royalties or the sale of your books, the government regards that, and you, as a business. So, you should also!

But all I’m doing is writing a story.

Actually, your Business includes the authorship, publishing, and marketing of your book(s). And like any business you need to think like a businessman or businesswoman. And this thinking will impact your whole life.

For example, do you dress like a businessperson?

I am speaking of what you wear in public, especially when you are out in the public signing books, being interviewed, etc. I dress casually in normal situations, but if I am marketing myself, I wear a shirt and tie, at least. Your appearance matters whether you think it should or not. If you are attending a book club or making a speech or doing an interview how you dress makes a difference.

As a general rule I’d recommend business casual. You might consider business attire (suit & tie for men, dress for women) or something a little more casual yet still reflecting that you are serious about your business. In previous videos that I made I opted for a shirt and tie. It suggests business without being overpowering.

What about having an Office?

That depends on you. I have an office at home although I have considered having an actual office independent of my home. There would be certain advantages, but it is not necessary. The whole matter comes down to what works best for you. Some writers like a formal setting like an office, while others prefer a more casual setting. I’ve found that I can write in just about any place.

Publishing nowadays requires access to the Internet. You can get that just about anywhere. So, if you are a publisher your manner of dress may not be important unless you are meeting someone formally in the course of business.

We all know the standard ones: Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. But there are new players on the field now, such as WeMe (alternative to Facebook), Rumble (alternative to YouTube), and Parler (alternative to Twitter). I’m currently investing time and energy to see if these work, but if they

How do you carry yourself?

Another aspect of thinking like a businessperson is how you carry yourself. This is something I had to learn. Slouching, hands in pockets, and staring at your feet are not positive selling points. I wasn’t that bad, but I did have to learn to not only be confident, but to act confident (although not overbearing).

But that’s not all!

But the concept goes deeper than clothing and acting like a businessman. It also includes having an idea of how you are going to run your business. For example, you have a book. Who’s going to publish it? How do you plan on selling it?

In our case we created our own publishing business, T&R Independent Books. The T stands for Teresa and the R for Ron. We are the exclusive publishers of our books. I have blogged in the past about having your own publishing business and probably will again. But for today I will just say that it gives you all the power and all the profits but also entails you doing all the work. We use Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for our Print and eBook formats.

There are a number of items you need to know to be a successful businessman. Before moving on, lets nail down the concept itself.

When I think of myself as a businessman, I have several pictures in mind. I see myself being interviewed about topics other than my books. I see myself as someone people respected and wanting to know. I also see myself making decisions, supporting charitable works, and so forth.

Face it, you’re a businessperson. Face it and embrace it!

So, What do I Do?

Below is a breakdown of what you need to do to set up your business.

Name: [Title of business]

This is important. Your name is going to be used on your website, your advertising, business transactions, bank accounts, etc. This should reflect you as an author, a business, or a career.

My business began as RFRiddle referring to the fact I was an author. But after I began writing more books, I began marketing my business instead of a single book. In 2014 Teresa and I cofounded T&R Independent Books as Indie Publishers. At that time we were only concerned with our own books, but we have now evolved into helping others get published, so we have a subdivision of T&R Independent Books named TR Writing Services.

Your name is vitally important!

Website: [Get yourself a website]

If you are only going to write one book, the name of your website can be variable. But if you are going to write two or more books you will want a website that reflects you or your business.

I had a personal website where my name was paramount. So, it was called RFrederickRiddle.com. And it was R Frederick Riddle that I marketed. However, when my wife and I formed T&R Independent Books the emphasis shifted.

Now I emphasize T&R Independent Books plus my name and later Tess’s name. Originally, I had a large website and didn’t want to kill it. But we decided that having a publisher’s site with individual author sites under it was the right way for us to go. So, for reasons too complicated to explain here, we took over my blog website (RFrederickRiddleBlog) and built our website there. To make it easy for customers and clients, we use tr-writingservices.com as an forwarding address.

The new website became a publisher’s website with RFrederick Riddle having a home page and Tess Riddle having a home page. In addition, we have a Catalog where people can view what’s available and order directly from Amazon.

And, of course, we have landing pages for TR Writing Services. By the way, we have useful videos available for free that provide additional information about being an Indie businessperson.

If you have the money you might want to invest in business cards with your business name and website on them.

Key Words:

For starters think of words or phrases that best describe your book(s). You can update later. To help you do this Google any authors who write in your genre. What are their key words?

A simple way to find out is to go to the author’s website. Right click on the mouse and click on “view page source.” Don’t be overwhelmed. At the beginning of the html document that you see you will find the word meta name=”keywords” followed by a series of words or phrases. This is what you are interested in knowing.

PO Box # [Not necessary, but maybe desirable.]

Mission: [What is your mission or dream. This is not the purpose.]

Organization type: This can be a DBA (Doing Business As), Corp. (corporation) or Partnership or Limited Corporation(LLC). You would also need a State Sales Tax certificate.

Purpose: Your stated purpose is a statement outlining what you will do. Sample: “To publish and promote our own books, cards, etc.” Or a simple, Author.

Structure: Officers, such as President and Vice-President

These are some of the basics you need to put some thought into from the very beginning. Don’t put it off. For example, the name of your business will be on your books, marketing tools, internet website, and more. It’s important.

When deciding upon officers you need to consider a number of things, such as Who or What are you marketing, Who will be making decisions, and What tax breaks exist that you can take advantage of?

For example, we chose the T&R Independent Books with the T representing Tess and the R myself. Since we both are authors the purpose was related to both of us. And because my wife has a Masters in Business and there are tax breaks available to business’s run by women, she became President and I became Vice-President.

Logo

Just as the business name is important, the Logo is important. This logo will go on your advertising materials, your books, website, and business cards.

Experiment. Your goal is to create a logo that reflects what you want people to know about you.

Legal

Here you need to be aware of your state’s legal requirements. Increasingly states are demanding  sales tax on internet sales. Whether you think that is right or not it is here.

But aside from the internet, you will probably be selling books on your own and will need to get a Sales Certificate. Each state handles it differently, but you should be able to discover their requirements by going to [state].gov.

If you are collecting taxes and/or paying income tax you will need to keep accurate records. Again, you have multiple ways of handling this. You can purchase a tax program, hire an accountant, or some other tool.

More and more authors are discovering the value of the Indie approach. Yes, it requires more work on your part, but it’s worth it. Go to our website and check out our videos, all free, that give you a head start on building your own writing and publishing business.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”) contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

==========

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Self-Publishing vs Indie Publishing

The Riddle Report 01 02 2021

A new year has started, and you are dissatisfied with your writing career. Perhaps you are making money writing for someone else, but publishing books has not really happened for you. You wrote a book that you think is the all-American novel, but you can’t get it published.

You’ve tried the traditional press and they won’t look at your novel unless you have an agent. So, you went out and submitted your books to agents, most of whom turned their collective noses down on your book. And those interested were either in the wrong genre or too expensive.

What to do When Traditional Publishing Doesn’t Work.

There are several options, but we are only going to look at two: Self-Publishing and Indie Publishing.

Self-Publishing.

Self-Publishing has been around for a while. The name suggests that by using their service you are self-publishing your book. That you are in control.

This is not accurate. You, the author, are actually paying a publisher to publish your book and the publisher gets the benefits. Here’s a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

No agent required, although some suggest you should get one.Time from signing contract to actual publication usually only a few months.Virtually able to have book published.Author owns ISBN.Royalty paid.

Disadvantages:

Publisher still in charge.Author gets low royalties, usually a formula that starts out at 8% or something similar.Marketing tools available with a price.

On the face of it self-publishing looks good for the author. And for some it probably is good. But if you want to have control of your book from creation to marketing, then there are problems. In the list of Disadvantages, I listed “Publisher still in charge” as the first disadvantage. Why? Because if the publisher is in charge of your book then you aren’t. It’s as simple as that.

Try this simple quiz:

If I use their editing services, do I still have final say?Most self-publishing companies offer their authors their editing services. In some cases. they may charge for it.When I published my first book, I used a self-publishing company, but I chose to do my own editing. Why? Because I did not want them to make any corrections unless I agreed to it and I wasn’t convinced that they would do that.How long do I have to review a Proof before returning it for correction or publication?In self-publishing the publisher makes the rules. When I was with a self-publisher, I was given 72 hours to proof the book. Sounds like a lot of time, but you are proofing to find any and all mistakes. For example, I found errors that were repeated throughout the book. I found some and noted them, but not all. So, some errors remained in the published version.Can I pull the book, edit it, and republish after I have already published it?Yes, if you are willing to pay for another book. Generally speaking, once your book is published, it is done. If so, how much does it cost?This varies but I would estimate between $400 and $800 for one book.How much help do I get marketing the book?I didn’t get much. They did have a variety of tools I could purchase. But actual help, no.What do the marketing tools cost?That varies from publisher to publisher. In my opinion, too much.

Although the answers to the above questions are not ideal, self-publishing is still better than traditional publishing in that you do have more control than before and the book gets published faster.

INDIE Publishing

In 2014 my wife, Teresa, and I went out to lunch at a small McDonalds located in Murdock, part of greater Port Charlotte, and made a very important decision. As we sat there and discussed my writing career and the possibility of hers, although at that time she hadn’t started writing her first novel yet, we decided to establish our own publishing company called T&R Independent Books. The T was for Teresa and the R for Ronald.

Let’s look at the Why form our own publishing company.

Up to that time I had been publishing using what is commonly called self-publishing companies to publish my books. But as I studied these companies I discovered:

They controlled the contentThey controlled the coverThey determined the royaltiesI still had to do the marketing

In other words, while I had more freedom and control that I’d have with a traditional publisher I still didn’t really have control of anything. By going independent and truly publishing by myself, I would:

Have control over the contentHave control over the coverDetermine the royaltiesStill do the marketing

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t consider myself a control freak. Rather, I believe that if the author is going to invest his or herself into writing a book, any book, then they deserve to benefit from it.

Case in point. With traditional and self-publishing companies the average author’s royalties are scaled. It varied from publisher to publisher but in general it might go like this: 8% of retail for the first 2,500; 15% for the next 5,000; 25% thereafter. Now the numbers I just used may not be accurate (I did it from memory), but the concept is true.

But by doing my own publishing I can receive 35% or 70% right from the start! That is a major difference.

What about the content?

With traditional publishers you generally have to first go through an agent who then tries to find a publisher. The agent has certain criteria which may involve you changing the content. But just finding an agent can be long and frustrating. Then the agent gets to tell you whether the book is good enough for publishing based on their expertise.

Even self-publishers exert control. For example, say you are writing a book and you quote from the King James Version Bible. It is possible they will substitute a different version whether you agree or not. They may also reject passages they don’t like. In other words, just because you are pleased with your results they might not be and can act accordingly.

Another thing involved is the ability to correct. No matter how or to what extent you have had your book previewed and edited, there is always the chance of errors. Moreover, the publisher may have printing errors. I ran into this with my books. I was sent a ‘Proof’ copy and given about three days to review, find errors, make corrections, and return (electronically, of course). (For more on this see above in section about Self-Publishing.)

But by publishing the book myself I am able to take my time and do a more thorough job of previewing and editing. And, if there are still errors in the published version, I can correct the errors and republish at no cost to myself!

What about the Cover?

I have discussed Cover Creator in previous blogs, but Kindle’s Cover Creator and Photo Gallery provide free pictures or frames in which I can upload my own pictures. Moreover, if I am willing to hire someone to do a professional picture including the bar code, I can do that. Just have to meet KDP’s criteria.

And one last thing: Writing a book can be and is stressful; so is marketing. Having greater control over the publishing removes a lot of stress; and having greater control over price and royalties is far more rewarding.

The result is that you can approach marketing with far less stress than before.

Have you considered Indie Publishing?

More and more authors are discovering the value of the Indie approach. Yes, it requires more work on your part, but it’s worth it. Go to our website and check out our videos, all free, that give you a head start on building your own writing and publishing business.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”) contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

==========

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

TR Writing Service 2021

The Riddle Report 12 29 2020

Today we are looking at TR Writing Services in 2021

TR Writing Services was founded in 2019 as a service of T&R Independent Books. Since that founding, we have been slowly building it up. In 2020 we have already helped clients and expanded our services. Now, we are looking forward to 2021.

What follows is an overview of the business and a look into the future.

TR Writing Services is for the Little Guy

Back when I was in my twenties, I had a desire to write books. I found and signed up for a writing course. Although the course was not considered expensive by the experts I ended dropping out because of lack of money. This was at a time when I was laid off which wiped out my savings and delayed my writing career by decades. I never forgot!

Over the years I have discovered that just about any kind of writers’ aid that is out there is beyond the budget of most people. This includes the art of writing, editing, publishing, and marketing. The “little guy or gal” doesn’t have much of a chance. Having experience this problem myself I increasingly felt a desire to help others get published.

Why We Founded TR Writing Services

Our first love as far as writing is concerned is writing our own books. I’ve experienced the highs and lows of writing, whereas my wife, who published her first book in 2020, is currently experiencing the same. All writers must face obstacles, overcome them or change directions. But getting the help they need at the time they need it is a great need that is often priced out of their reach.

TR Writing Services was established with the purpose of creating a low-cost service that addresses the editing and publishing aspects of being an author. When considering our services you will find that our service is considerably lower than our competitors.

What is TR Writing Services?

TR Writing Services is Entry Level Proofing and Editing for the author(s) who cannot afford the more expensive services you find online. If you are looking for a professional extensive treatment of your manuscript, then this is the wrong place. We at TR Writing Services are here to expedite your ability to publish your book at an affordable price yet with high quality. You will have a book that you can be proud of

This service will focus on such things as grammar, spelling, formatting, and other quality issues. This is not aimed at academic books but rather fiction, nonfiction, and how-to.

What Plans Do We Offer?

We have a variety of plans beginning with our Custom Plans (120 and 150 plans). These custom plans are designed for small books of 120 pages or less and 150 pages or less. Both of these custom plans will edit and prepare your books of less than 100 pages for publishing, but the actual publishing is left to you. In these cases, you would publish using local printers and we would work with you and your printer to get the book published.

Those are custom plans at minimal cost, but we also offer the following 4 plans:

Bronze Plan

This plan is for books up to 50,000 words and slightly higher. We edit, proof, and publish the book for you. The entire process involves us working with the author and the author is in charge. That means that we may advise you something is not recommended or not professional, but you may want to stick with what you have. We do everything we can to adhere to your preferences.

The cost may change in the future but as of 12/29/2020 it is $145 plus an additional $150 for eBook service. For both the Print and eBook formats you can provide your own book cover image which we upload and use with a Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) template or your own book cover privately prepared (it must meet KDP guidelines).

You have the option of a free ISBN (recommended), free copyright, and free KDP account setup.

Total cost is $295 (Print and eBook) plus any other expenses you incur on your own.

Silver Plan

The Silver Plan includes all of the Bronze Plan but is for books up to and slightly more than 75,000 words.

The cost for this is currently $195 for Print only or $345 for the Print and eBook combination.

Gold Plan

The Gold Plan includes all of the Silver Plan but is for books of up to and slightly more than 90,000 words.

The cost for this is currently $295 for Print only or $445 for the Print and eBook combination.

Platinum Plan

The Platinum Plan is the best plan. It is for books up to and above 120 words. If the word count exceeds 120,000 the price will reflect the costs described below. This plan comes with the eBook, however if you do not want an eBook published, the cost would be $150 less.

The cost for this is currently $390.

If you have priced out our competitors you have already seen that our most expensive plan is approximately less than half their standard plan.

What Does It Cost?

Cost varies depending on page count and what you the author want.

As the years have passed, we’ve noticed that the high cost of help remains. Some services advertise a word-by-word cost. For example, they may charge $0.005 per word. That sounds great until you do the math. A book of 50,000 words would cost $250 just for the proofing! We at TR Writing Services charge only $0.002 per word meaning the same book would cost $100 for the proofing, a saving of $150.

A book of 100,000 words at $0.005 costs $500 while TR Writing Services would charge $200, a whopping savings of $300. In addition, TR Writing Services offers many FREE services, such as Setup of KDP Account if needed, Copyright page, ISBN (KDP free), Uploading your manuscript, Uploading Bio Picture for Back Matter, and more.

That is just the basic costs. But it gives you an idea. For greater detail simply contact us at marketing@tr-writingservices.com and we will email you a free copy of our brochure at no obligation on your part (we also will email you a copy of our book A Guide to Writing for free).

Can I Use TR Writing Services?

The short answer is yes. Basically, we accept anyone who submits a form (found in our free TR Writing Services brochure) plus the first three chapters of your book. We examine the form and the chapters to determine whether you fit the profile that we are looking for. If approved, we send to a letter of approval with a link to a page where you can purchase the service.

What Is Prohibited?

We are a Christian organization that applies Biblical standards.

We do not work with anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, excessive graphics, profanity, or any work that violates our Biblical stand.

If during the course of the contract excessive graphics or any profanity is found the author shall be informed and corrections/deletions required. Failure on the author’s part to provide this update will constitute a violation of the contract and subject it to termination.

How Do I Sign Up?

It’s simple. Simply go to our Facebook page and click on the “Learn More” link. This will take you to our web page. You can also simply go here. In either case you arrive at the first step that explains what you need to do to get started.

Basically, you will email us and seek a free copy of our TR Writing Services booklet. This booklet describes our services in greater detail and provides a form to fill out. Once filled out you copy it and post in another email along with the first 3 chapters of your book. No fee at this time.

We will review and decide. If we decide to accept you, we will email you a link and password to get you into the secure payment page. You then select the plan you want and pay for it.

Simple as that!

Then What Happens?

We go to work!

We will examine the entire book. Since we use Kindle Direct Publishing for our books we will examine your book in the light of their criteria. We will diligently examine the grammar, spelling, and more depending on the plan.

2021 Outlook

We have all had a tough year (2020), but we are excited about the future. No matter the outcome of the Presidential election there will still be people writing books. And some of these people will need our help. We stand ready to assist them (and you) in producing a quality book at a budget friendly cost!

As authors, we will be publishing our own books and you can learn about them at our website (just go to tr-WritingServices.com and look at our catalog where you have links to Amazon.com).

In the meantime, we wish you a happy and productive New Year. May your writing career be all you want it to be.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”) contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

==========

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Stimulus Checks

The Riddle Report 12 28 2020

President Trump signed the Stimulus package.

Yea!

So, how do I feel about it?

I’m against the stimulus checksI’m for the stimulus checks.

Do I sound confused?

Hear me out.

I am against the stimulus checks because of its negative impact on the economy . The entire bill is loaded with pork and pushes our country into being a debtor nation. Experts say that it will take a long time, years or decades, to pay the debt down. Every time we pass legislation like this it adds to our national debt. I’m for the stimulus checks because people are suffering from this panic driven economic malaise. People are out of work, companies are closed or severely restricted, lockdowns are resulting in depression, sickness, and suicides. It is a terrible situation. Even $600 can make a difference! I know I could use it and I’m not as bad off as a lot of folks are. Plus, the $600 will stimulate the economy.

There is another way of looking at it. Caregivers are often told to take care of themselves so that they can take care of the people they are responsible for. This is not only good advice for care givers, it is good advice for working people throughout the nation. And the United States is a caregiver.

If we are going to take care of other nations, then we first need to take care of ourselves. The United States is acting like a caregiver and therefore should follow the above advice. The world needs a strong, viable United States and that only happens if we maintain our military, political, and economic health.

Still another reason for being in favor of the stimulus package is that when it gets to us, the people, we take it and pay bills. Then the person who gets paid, pays their bills, and so forth. Its impact multiplies and injects a stimulating shot of adrenaline into our economy.

So, this shot of adrenaline to the economy makes it worthwhile?

Yes. Principles are good things to have, but sometimes you have to ask what is the greater good. Besides, if Trump is reelected it is relatively safe to expect a reviving economy. Of course, a Biden/Harris Presidency means all bets are off.

What about the Recount?

It is going pretty much the way anticipated. The lawyers knew that the state courts would probably reject their suits. They also knew these courts wouldn’t even look at the evidence.

The evidence, which the news media says doesn’t exist, is constantly growing. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of affidavits plus videos pointing to fraud. The lawsuits, and the evidence, is now in the federal system where they are likely to receive greater scrutiny. It is unfortunate and sad that liberal judges are so agenda focused rather than evidence focused or at least constitutionally focused, but it wasn’t unexpected.

A Constitutional Solution

Another interesting factor is that come January 6th when Congress convenes to tabulate the electoral votes, the President of the Senate, i.e., the Vice President, has the power to determine which slates of electors will represent the different states. This constitutional power has been used at least once, as President of Senate then Vice President Jefferson used the power, and thereby became President. It might well cause an uproar, but it worked then, why not now.

The Constitution in Article II, Section 1 and in the XII Amendment provides that the Vice President as President of the Senate shall ‘open all the certificates’.

Another Constitutional solution is going on right now. This is the act that the state legislatures are the only body, including courts, with the Constitutional power to determine who their state electors will be. That power exceeds the power of the governor, secretary of state, and even the state supreme court. Several state legislatures have already begun movement in that direction.

So, we get the Stimulus plus Trump is Reelected?

Yes, and maybe. Yes, we will get the stimulus. It has been passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President. And since the previous stimulus caused the distribution machinery to be set up, it should be either this week or next that we get the money.

Maybe Trump is Reelected. The above information is valuable and in some regards is already being pursued. But there are no guarantees.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”) contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

==========

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.