Jo Michaels's Blog, page 76

Two Hats to Wear and Finding the Perfect Cover

Happy Thursday, everyone! I know I missed my post yesterday, but I have great reason. You see, I wear two hats: My writer/editor hat and my designer hat. When it's necessary for me to be in designer mode, I have trouble writing. Not just blog posts, but everything. I begin to think about typography and imagery. Photoshop plants seeds in my brain I have trouble shaking off until the design is done.

In other words, I can't write until my designer hat comes off. Well, I can, but it ends up sounding like gibberish and meanders in a billion different directions.

So, today you're getting a post about book design; because that's where my head is at.

Recently, I got a job editing a Poetry book for teens titled Tbinkernese 101 (giveaway to come after publication), for the cover design and print formatting for that book, and the editing and cover design for a Young Adult Paranormal book titled Chasing Shadows (which I, hopefully, will also be doing the interior print book formatting for).

After a couple of weeks wearing my editor hat, I had to shift gears and put on my designer hat.

Now, it's probably pretty obvious to you that these two books are aimed a the same audience but have very different requirements.

Talk about your designer head-case! I was going back and forth between the two, trying to work out how to speak to the target audience without coming off preachy for the first, and too vague for the second.

It wasn't easy. But both of those authors now have 3 comps each to look at and choose from. Once we narrow it down to one, I'll move on to giving the cover finishing touches, tweaks, and creating the full wrap for each of them. Of course, my greatest fear is that both of them will come back and say they don't like anything I created. Then, I'll have to switch gears entirely and come up with a whole new concept to throw behind each one.

I stared at my blog yesterday, but the words wouldn't come. My brain was locked in design mode.

I know (from personal experience), when they see the cover they want, they'll gasp and say, "That's it! That's exactly what I love and what will speak to my audience!"

When you find the perfect cover or image for your novel, you know it right away. It'll be everything you hoped for. If you have a good designer, it'll be everything you hoped for plus some you never thought to include.

I love when my authors come back and tell me they found that little thing I added to the cover that speaks from the book. Yeah, I like to read the books I design covers for. I feel it gives me great insight.

I've studied typography for a long time. Still, I struggle with getting a handle on it. So I'm gonna start working on my digital swipe file and building things from the inside out.

I don't design book covers very often, I prefer to make the inside type/pages sing. But when I get the chance to design for a book I've read, the imagery on the front always speaks to the story inside.

So, here's your tip for today: Even if you have to go through ten covers, wait for the one that makes you gasp when you see it. That one will be the perfect cover, and you'll be glad you waited.

What's your favorite cover of yours so far? Who designed it? Give us links!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Formatting Made Easy

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm talking about book formatting. You know, that niggling little thing we all have to do before we can put our books up for sale to the masses. First, you have to format it for print! Then, you have to format it for digital. If you're on more than one platform, you have to format your digital version more than once. Sounds fun, huh?

No?

Well, allow me to introduce you to something that will save you a ton of formatting time. While you won't get the level of interior design you can achieve with a professional designer at your side (bleed, images that relate to your story, etc...), you can still have a professional looking book with less work on your end. If you're on a budget (as all Indies I know are), this is the answer to your fervent prayers.

I suggest using the service I'm about to tell you all about in The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book. That publication goes into where you can sell your book, how to format for each platform, and gives a ton of references you can use to make your book the best publication it can be.

BUT!

Come on, you knew that was coming. *grin*

If you've read TIAG, you'll know my referral was for the print version of your book only. Now, you can get templates for both the print and digital versions of your book.

It's genius (and I've said as much to the brains behind the project).

I know you're chomping at the bit to find out where you can get these templates. Well, here's your link:

Book Design Templates

Their templates include:
2 Way (these are the ones that work for digital and print) for Fiction, Memoirs, and Narrative Non-FictionFiction, Memoirs, and Narrative Non-Fiction (print only)Non-Fiction, Reference, and Technical (print only)Children's Books (yes, really! print only)Specialty - Book Proposals and even a template for a mini version of your book!
Who are the masterminds behind this awesome breakthrough? Joel Friedlander and Tracy Atkins from The Book Designer blog. If you've never heard of that blog, I invite you to jump on over and poke around. You'll find a lot of great stuff over there about self-publishing and book design.

What are you waiting for? Get going!

I'm in no way compensated for any links I provide on my blog (except those that go to my own books, and that's only if you buy one!). So you can always be sure the recommendations you get here are 100% for you .

What do you think of this awesome breakthrough? Will you use it?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

A Video We Need to See

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope your weekend went well. Today, I'm sharing this cute video from YouTube I think you'll all enjoy. So sit back, grab a cup of Jo (ha!), and watch. Hopefully, this will clear some things up grammatically.

Literally.



Any questions?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Female Protagonists - Why Women Love Them

Happy, happy Friday, everyone! I'm thinking maybe the title of this post should be Strong Female Protagonists - Why Women Love Them; because I'm speaking from a female point of view, and I read a LOT of book reviews by women that cite that very thing as what makes the character great. Either way, let's get on to the discussion. I think this post may help female writers, but it might help some of the guys, too. Grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!


I suppose you all remember the post about your characters being too perfect. Well, that also plays into this discussion. Since all characters are on a journey from page one to page five hundred, we'll assume you're starting out with a flawed female who thinks she needs one thing, but will find out that what she's looking for isn't what she needs.

Being flawed is what makes us human. Remember: To err is human, to forgive is divine.

So, why do women love female protagonists?

It's not just any old protagonist with a vagina we ladies love to read about. It's the ones we want to be more like that move us emotionally (and women are driven by emotions). We have to connect with them on a deeper level. Here's a quick list of things that make a strong female lead (and some of the females that rock):
She doesn't know she's awesome and doesn't preen like a peacock (Jane Bennet-P&P).In a fight, she'll always come out on top. Maybe not because of her brute strength, but because of her brains (Hermione - Harry Potter).There should always be self-doubt as to whether she can do what she's about to attempt (Katniss - The Hunger Games).These ladies don't need a man, and they don't whimper in a corner when things get hard (Millie - The Help).Hard times or abuse have fallen on them in the past, and they grew from the experience (Kate - First Visions).Many of these women are completely selfless and put others first (every lady listed above).
Now, that's not everything that makes a great female protagonist; but it's a good list to start with. Add to that some skill with a sword or bow, a successful line of self-employment (all of Fern Michaels's leading ladies), some serious self-doubt that's overcome, or a hidden power, and you have a winner.

But she must also be the underdog. We must have some reason to root for her to succeed and the fear that she won't. A girl whose never seen the other side of the tracks is difficult to get behind. Let's face it, life isn't easy or fair for 99% of the population. If you make it fair, 99% of the population won't connect with your character.

If you do these things well, your readers will fall in love with your characters, identify with them, and want to be more like them. That's the key.

I bet you've heard of most of those women. Guess why? Yup, they were strong. If you haven't read Kate's story in First Visions, you should. It's free. Forever. On Amazon.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: If your female lead is weak, annoying, leans on a man all the time, or acts childish, female reviewers will ding you for it. Give us someone we can really root for.

Who's your favorite leading lady?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Review - The Bestiarum Vocabulum

Happy Thursday, everyone! Wow this week flew by, huh? Today, I bring you another book review. This one is a collection of beastly horror stories (from A-Z) and is titled The Bestiarum Vocabulum (TRES LIBRORUM PROHIBITORUM). There are a lot of authors on this book so I'll give you the full wrap cover rather than list them. It's yet another I'll be adding to the Indie Fever Reading Challenge 2014 page. You can join in the fun here.

As always, a little information about the book up for review today before the meat (get back in your cages):

Title: The Bestiarum Vocabulum (TRES LIBRORUM PROHIBITORUM)
Author: Many
Genre: Horror Short Stories
Length (Print): 398 pages
Links to Purchase: Amazon Kindle $3.99 Paperback $15.26


Synopsis:
A catalog of mythic beasts and demons that were summoned by esoteric means. Once owned by Count Allesandro Di Cagliostro, it was thought forever lost in a fire at the Chateau de Versailles.

Two hundred years later, twenty-six modern day masters of the macabre bring The Bestiarum Vocabulum back from the ashes. 

**Not to appear in review elsewhere - As for the cover of this book, I think it could use an overhaul. I can't really make out what that is supposed to be on there; but it looks like some kind of beastly egg. It just doesn't mesh with the great stories inside.**

Now, on to the good stuff.

I picked this book up during the 12 Days of Christmas event on my blog, where I ask Indie authors to pitch me their books, I grab a sample, and then I choose and purchase the 12 books to be reviewed over the next year. This one was another stand-out in that crowd. After the sample, I was horrified there were no pages left and zipped over to Amazon to buy it. Enough about that, let's get to the review, eh?

From a Reader's Perspective:
This was an enjoyable collection of short stories. There were a couple that really stood out from the crowd and a few I wouldn't read again. I read one of them three times and still couldn't follow the story. It meandered around and jumped in time telling things that didn't seem to be pertinent. However, if you're a fan of horror, there are a ton of other really great stories in this collection. Some of them had me cringing, a couple had me doing an internet search to find out the history of the fantastical beast portrayed. I'd never heard of many, others were all too familiar. Description and world building was great for 9/10 of the tales. I do enjoy a good horror story. All in all, a very cool collection that was well worth the money and kept me entertained for long periods of time.

From an Editor's Perspective:
Most of these stories were very well edited. A couple could've used a hand in the punctuation and redundancy department. After all, it's a short story and every word matters. Having said that, I read a disclaimer in the front of the book that talked about keeping the author's voice intact (because they're from around the globe). Okay, I get it. Keeping the idioms makes sense. But it's a whole other beast to let blatant errors through. I've read books from every country, so I'm familiar with differences in writing. However, with so many authors, surely they could've shared the editing hand before going to print/publication. Those few that made little to no sense left me reeling and I don't feel like I enjoyed the other stories as much as I could have because my brain kept checking out to think about why I didn't get those that meandered.

Rating:
+1 Star for a wonderfully creepy collection
+1 Star for descriptive writing
+1 Star for bringing me to the edge of my seat more than once
+1 Star for teaching me (I love books that do this)
-.5 Star for those meandering/unreadable stories (there were only about three out of twenty-six)
+.5 Star for the editing on the others

Overall, 4.5 Stars! We all know I round up, so you'll see a 5 star rating everywhere ratings are used. Highly recommended for lovers of Horror.

What do you think? Have you read this book?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Cover Reveal - Pariah by Casey L. Bond

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! I hope you're all excited about tomorrow being Friday and the weekend to come. I know I am. A break is very badly needed by me. Such exciting things going on, I'm feeling like I'm about to jump up and dance the salsa. If you recall, there's a giveaway going on here for a chance to win an e-copy of Keepers of Arden (The Brothers Volume 1) by L. K. Evans, and today I have a cover reveal for Pariah by Casey L. Bond! I can't wait for you all to see this cover. You're going to flip out!

Ready? Let's get going!

PariahThe New Covenant Seriesby Casey L. Bond
Synopsis:
What are the things that you need most in life—the things you crave? Solara longs for freedom. Having been raised under the Kingdom’s lock and key since the age of two, she wants to see the world. Upon turning seventeen and receiving no mark from the Lord, she believes freedom is finally within her grasp.

Unfortunately, she is wrong. The Kingdom has been fooled. She is marked by an angel of light and one of the fallen dark ones. Solara is God’s chosen, and with her birth, the new covenant made with mankind is made manifest.

Solara also longs for love, strong enough to last a lifetime, and beyond. Riven loves her. But is one of the fallen prophesied to betray the chosen. Can she trust him? Love him? Prophesy states that she is the key. The fate of humanity rests with her decision. She alone will determine whether the doors of Heaven or the gates of Hell open upon the Earth.

But how can a normal girl, who has been raised with no knowledge of either side, make such a decision? And how can she turn away from finally tasting those things she has craved for so long.

For fun, here's the full wrap cover:

Everyone say, "Oooooooooooh!"

Isn't it gorgeous?

Now, if you want to add Pariah to your Goodreads TBR list, go here:

Pariah on Goodreads

If you'd like to check out Pariah's Pinterest board, check it out here:

Pariah on Pinterest

While you're hanging around here, why not check out Casey and give her a follow on social media?

Website
Facebook
@authorcaseybond


Or, you can check out other books by Casey L. Bond: Winter Shadows, Devil Creek, Reap (3.17.14)

Tomorrow, I'll be putting up my review for The Bestiarum Vocabulum. You want to come back for that one!

What do you think of the cover?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Keepers of Arden The Brothers Volume One Re-release and Giveaway

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I bring to you an awesome re-release and a wonderful giveaway. If you recall, a few weeks ago I wrote a review of Keepers of Arden. Well, the author is re-releasing it and INDIE Books Gone Wild is doing a giveaway promotion! That's right, you'll have a chance to win one of two e-copies of the book. I hope you all have a clicking finger ready to go! I'm gonna start with information about the book, then move on to the Rafflecopter widget. Enjoy!

Title: Keepers of Arden (The Brothers Vol. 1)
Author: L. K. Evans
Genre: Fantasy & Sorcery
Length (print): Approx 459 Pages
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $2.99

Synopsis:
"Slowly, year by year, day by day, hour by hour, the evil grew stronger while he grew weaker. It found ways around his shield, and, even as he sat in the sun on a beautiful spring day, he could feel the tiny nibbles
the evil bit off from his soul."

This is just the beginning of the Laybryth brothers' journey, to not only rid the lands of Arden of a vile evil, but for one brother to save the other from the darkness that lives within him.



Believe me, it's awesome. I read it and loved it, then the author let me do the proofread on it and I loved it again!

Enter away, readers! Here's your Rafflecopter widget:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good luck!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Dialogue Traps to Avoid and How to Fix Them

Happy Monday, everyone! I do hope you all had a fabulous weekend and are raring to go for the week ahead. Today, I'd like to talk a little bit about dialogue traps many authors fall into and how you can pull yourself from the quagmire of quicksand that's sucking you down. These are things I find in many of the books I edit, and the author usually does a little head slap once I point out what's going wrong. Grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going! Be sure and check out the link to some dialogue exercises near the end of this post.


One of my most popular posts, He Said, She Said, Who Said What?, goes into ways to keep the local vernacular true to the characters. It uses extremes, but I did it to make a point.

Let's expand upon that and talk about how to keep the speech true to humans.

In I, Zombie, I used dialogue to help pull the reader into the culture. Some people enjoyed it, some didn't. However, it's true to the location and that's what I was after. Bronya, book one of the Mystic series, is also set in Southern Louisiana, but I chose not to use the local dialect. I both loved and hated that aspect of the book, but it's a choice an author has to make.

Note what I said there: Choice. It's up to you how your characters will speak, but the key to doing anything well is consistency. I know, there's that word yet again! Remember when I talked about creating a style guide for your novel? If your characters are gonna talk a certain way, be sure you're consistent. Your style guide will help you (and your editor) do that.

Now, a few things to keep in mind when characters are speaking to one another:
You don't always have to use a dialogue tag (said, mumbled, asked, answered, etc...), an action tag (Sabrina put her feet up on the couch, Luke took a long drink of his coffee, Pig plopped his big, round bottom down, etc...) will work as well.There's no need to name the character the one speaking is talking to unless: There are more than two characters in the room and he/she is speaking to someone out of the group specifically, or there's no action tag like: Pig looked at Sabrina.When a character uses another character's name in speech, it sounds like a lecture or like one is lording their superiority over the other. Think about how you speak and when you use someone's name.We speak in contractions unless we're speaking formally (old English, Historically, etc...). Use them. It'll help. Remember to practice writing in contractions everywhere, not just in your novels. If a character doesn't use contractions, be consistent and don't ever use them. One day, you'll thank me. *wink*Watching the rename will help with pronouns. Time for an example! 
If we know Pig and Luke are having a discussion, it might go like this: 
Pig looked at Luke. "So, you're saying I didn't need to sit?"
He answered, "That's exactly what I'm saying."
His tail uncurled and his ears drooped. "I thought I was being good."
This is wrong, wrong, wrong. It creates a pronoun problem. Either you have to rename Pig (which gets irritating to readers if it's done too often) or remove Luke. We know who Pig is talking to because the scene has been set.

How about: 
Pig looked up. "So, you're saying I didn't need to sit?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
His tail uncurled and his ears drooped. "I thought I was being good."
Note that Pig was the last male named so the pronoun his is used correctly. There was no need to rename Pig or worry that we couldn't use the pronoun his after we named Luke.

Please, know your action tags and your dialogue tags. Here's a post that will help with that. Some get commas and others get periods. Be sure you're varying what you use. Dingle said, Pig said, Sabrina said, Luke said, Howey said, Dog said, gets redundant and boring after a while. If it's obvious who said it, leave it alone. If you must give a name, use an action tag now and then.

Are you ready to practice flexing your dialogue muscles? Here's the fifth post in a series with links to the previous four: Dialogue Exercises. There are fifteen practice scenarios for you to use. Have some fun, okay?

Did you know these loose rules? Do the examples above help at all?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

I, Zombie Soundtrack

Happy, happy Friday, everyone! I hope you all have something awesome planned for the weekend! In order to kick your weekend off the right way, I've compiled a little soundtrack for the book I, Zombie. These are the songs I've heard that made me think of the story (or songs others told me were brought to mind as they read). When possible, I used the videos with lyrics so you can read along if you choose to do so. I'll give a short explaination of why I used each one after. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the videos below and the sound of music!

#1: Zombie by The Cranberries



This may seem like an obvious choice, but really listen to the lyrics. If you've read the book and this song doesn't make you cry, I don't know what to say...

#2 Let Her Go by Passenger



Again, seems like an obvious choice given the nature of Trixie and Jack's relationship. But he didn't know he loved her 'til he let her go...

#3 Dust to Dust by The Civil Wars



Takes one to know one? Thank you for the recommendation, Casey L. Bond! I listened to this and bawled my eyes out...

#4 I Need a Hero by Bonnie Tyler



The epitome of Jack.

#5 Bring Me to Life by Evanescence



Oh my... It's that scene! You know of what I speak if you've read the book. If not, pick it up, listen to the music after you've read it. Heartbreaking, no? *grin*

Okay, so if you don't have a copy of I, Zombie yet, you can snag one over on Amazon (for Kindle) for just $3.99. It's sitting at 4.3 stars on 31 reviews, so it's doing pretty well! Get yours here.

I hope you all enjoyed this little foray into the world of I, Zombie and what music speaks to the author (and why).

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

What Kind of Editor do You Need?

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! I missed my post yesterday! But, it's all good because I'm caught up with work and back to one hundred percent. Kids are back in school, there's no snow days causing my internet to malfunction (you wouldn't believe how slow it is when the whole neighborhood is home and online!), and I'm back in my office after being run out by the cold. So nice! Anyway, today we're gonna talk about the different kinds of editors and how to decide which one is right for you. So, grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

You've written a novel! Yay! Good for you. Now you have this manuscript you don't know what to do with. Well, first things first. You need to do at least four rounds of edits on it yourself. Start by following the steps listed here and the tips on what to look for here. Once you're done with that, then you'll be ready to start looking for an editor. But there are so many to choose from. Hopefully, this list will help you choose the right kind for your novel. Heck, you may think you need more than one. Allow me to open your eyes to a fabulous secret! But, that's on down the page. Keep reading!

First up, we have the Developmental Editor.
These guys will check your plot, structure, and flow. They'll make sure you don't have holes in your story and ensure your facts are kept straight. Yeah, they're the ones doing all the research and making copious notes on long, yellow legal pads. They're the right choice if you aren't sure about your novel's storyline, character building, or facts.

Next, I give you the Beta Reader.
These folks are fans of your genre and know what they're looking for in a story. Giving them a questionnaire to answer will help them give you much needed feedback. Commonly, a beta reader is used before you go through a ton of editing, but huge errors will have them complaining that you need to write your story better.

On to the Copy Editor.
These folks check facts, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. They do exactly what their title implies: edit the copy. They won't be looking for what the Developmental Editor looks for. There will be no plot, storyline, or character development checking. They live and breathe the written line.

Now, the Proofreader.
Your proofreader is NOT your editor. They exist to find those little, niggling errors missed by your editor (and yourself). Their whole purpose in life is to make sure your copy is clean and error free after the editing is done. It shouldn't take them as long as it did your editor because they should be able to skim your work to find what was missed.

Next up is the Content Editor.
They live and breathe plot, characters, voice, and setting. These folks don't give a hoot about your grammar, punctuation, spelling, or otherwise. All they care about is the story and making sure you aren't jumping tenses, head-hopping, or meandering off the storyline.

Bet you're freaking out right about now, huh? I suppose you can see how you could need more than one of these folks for your novel and how it would behoove you to have them all in your corner. Well, that leads me to the last (but certainly not least) type of editor on the list. This is the fabulous secret I mentioned earlier. Your secret weapon.

I give you the Line Editor.
These folks do it all. They check facts, grammar, punctuation, POV, plot, characterization, flow, tension, storyline, word count, redundancy, tenses, and every other manner of novel content. It should take them a long time to edit your novel. They don't play around and a lot of writers become dismayed by the amount of feedback given by a Line Editor.

Line Editors will cost you a little bit more. But, that's understandable, right? They're a one-stop shop. This is the service we provide at INDIE Books Gone Wild. We check it all. Your MS will have so many comments, you'll think you died and went to heaven. Plus, we hire one of our own to do your proofread after your edits are complete (yeah, it's included in the cost of editing). That's just good business.

Which one do you need? I'm sure by now you're foaming at the mouth. You already know. Indie authors should expect to use a Line Editor and then a Proofreader. *** Warning! If your proofreader gets your MS and it's obvious it hasn't been edited, they'll send it back to you (and will have every right to do so). So be sure you've used an Editor before you contact a Proofreader.***

Most importantly, be sure you know about your editor; no matter what kind you use. Vet them. Do the work to find out if they're worth it. Don't get snowed. Refer to Monday's post and Tuesday's post to know what to ask, what to expect, and what to look for in your contract. This is SO important. I won't take it personally if you don't use IBGW. I just want you to be careful and know what you're getting into.

I can't stress it enough. Watch your back because you're all you have. There's no big publishing house that's gonna do it for you unless you're traditionally published.

Questions? Comments? Pop them in below and I'll answer everything I can. If you have an editor you'd like vetted, feel free to shoot me an e-mail and I'll do everything in my power to check them out for you. Let's not use the comments section for that, okay?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo