Meri Benson's Blog, page 23
July 24, 2015
Presentation: It’s not just about the Cover
Presentation is a huge thing for an author, and for their books. You always hear the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But in reality, that’s exactly what everyone does. If the cover is striking, or draws attention, people are more likely to read the synopsis and potentially buy the book. It’s the first thing that a buyer, a reader, sees in the bookstore and so we use it to gain attention. It’s the author’s version of the red carpet in a way, there are beautiful works, and sometimes there are the ones that leave people wondering what they were thinking.
It’s why cover artists pay so much for copyright free photos – in order to work their magic, and why cover artists, whether they draw their own art or use the copyright free photos are paid so much to create the covers. We, as authors, are hoping to have a striking visual that draws people in, that makes people spend those few extra seconds to pick up the book – or pause on it in the ebook store, read a little about it, and hopefully if we’ve done a great job, add it to their cart.
But it’s not just the cover that has to draw people in. The books don’t always sell themselves, and any good author and publisher know that you need to market. It’s our job to spread the word, by tweet, blog, radio or tv ad, booths at trade shows or craft shows that fit the genre, giveaways, etc. If you can use it to get more attention, all the better, and all the best for getting the word out there that this wonderful piece of fiction, or non-fiction, that you, the author, dedicated so much of your time to is out there for people to buy. This great shining thing that you want to shout about is now available, all your hard work paid off because it’s written, it’s edited, and it’s being published (or is published).
But you, the author, need to be just as polished in some ways, as the book(s) that you’re trying to put out there to the people of the world. If you really want people to think that your book is worth reading, then you while you market it and get the word out need to be aware of how you present yourself as well. If you are constantly not using punctuation correctly, or not grammatically correct in your sentence structure, or using ‘ur’, no (for know), r, etc. it DOES, at least in my opinion, hurt your chances of getting people to buy your book. If you in marketing your book and trying to announce to the world that this great thing you did is, or will be, for sale, can’t properly write that announcement, than how can I trust that the book itself will really be great? You’re presenting poor grammar, and poor use of slang as the author in your announcement.
For me, not only is it hard to read and wade through to understand exactly what you’re trying to say, it leaves me with no confidence that this book will be worth my time. I don’t need a book riddled with errors, and that really is what your presentation of the announcement leaves me feeling I will get.
Just like people who go to a 9-5 job, and have a dress code, we as authors need to have a dress code of sorts, but on a more literary level. You need to present your best face when making announcements about a new book, give people the confidence that your book is worth the read because what you say flows, is legible, and makes them want to pick it up, not switch to the next available offer.
July 9, 2015
June 23, 2015
Book Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: YA Dustopian Fantasy
Rating: 3.5 Stars
The story follows Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old girl living in poverty with the rest of her cast, those who bleed red. Red blood means that you’re a working, slaving for the better of the people in the silver blooded station above, or worse that you’re shipped off to the lines of a pointless war with another nation who has the same hierarchy based on blood. But one day sees Mare in the Silver Court as a servant, and in an accident she finds she has a dangerous power similar to those that have silver blood.
Over all, the story was pretty interesting. Mare herself has no real skills of her own, at least none that she can sell like her sister’s ability to sew and embroider. Mare’s skills are more solidly in stealing, pickpocketing, and evading the police force that her little town has. But, having no marketable skill means that once she turns 18, she’ll be shipped off to the war to fight like her brothers before her.
Things in her little town start off a little slow, though that’s to be expected some because the author is setting up the world, the hierarchy of the class system, and letting us know that those with silver blood, those that rule, have different powers that make them more than the red they rule over.
Once we get to Court, everything picks up pace, and things are far more than they seem. As in any Court where the strong rule and the weak are usurped, no one is trust worthy, and everyone is suspect.
The intrigue, growth of Mare into herself and her strange new found power is fairly believable and well written. The plot twists were just the right amount of jerky that they kept you guessing, wondering, and at the end, for me anyway, stunned because I didn’t see the final twists coming.
Why then did I only give it 3.5 stars? Because there were somethings that I wish were done better. The description of the world is jarring over all. There’s electricity, there are power generators, there are televisions and cameras, even an underground tram and yet most live in simple houses, travel by boat or horseback, and short of the smaller things electricity isn’t used. So it’s in this odd not quite fantasy with no electricity but not quite dystopian either. From what I’ve heard from others that have talked to the author, it’s supposed to be expanded on and explained better in book two which comes out in 2016, but that’s a LONG way away to wait for a better description and explanation of exactly what kind of world Mare is living in. Setting wise, that should be ironed out in book one. If we live all of book one in it, we should know it.
The other reason is because I found some of the names for the powers a little… trivial. You have a power that allows command over people, down to being able to wipe memories, with just a voice called Singers, which feels quite appropriate given the power. And then you have the ability called Eyes, which is the ability to see into the future. It’s like she came up with powers but didn’t want to really think on names for some of them, and they were last minute additions to just make sure they had names. It makes it feel a little sloppy to me.
Over all, it’s definitely a good read, and I am curious on where book two will go when it’s finally out in a couple years.
June 17, 2015
Long Days, Hard Nights
Sometimes I really don’t know where the time goes. It’s not just a fairly used expression, but reality for me. I really don’t know where my days go sometimes.
For starters, I can’t believe that I haven’t been on this blog in almost a year. But at the same time, I stepped away from my work in progress for almost that long after I finished the final draft, so I guess I kind of can. I guess it’s mostly just the time passing that I don’t always catch. Wednesdays feel like Mondays, and I blink and it’s suddenly Saturday. Or I get to work at 9am, and I feel like I blink from under the pile of work I have to do and suddenly it’s time to go home.
Maybe it’s because I feel like I’m sinking under more and more work and I just don’t really know how to pull myself out of it. Every second of my days seem spoken for, and not one of those seconds goes to something I have a passion for, like my writing. And my reading has fallen into a quick second behind my writing.
I get home from work, and after I finally settle in for the night after dinner it’s nearly time to go to bed. I think I’m going to have a free weekend, and suddenly I have to be at an Aunt’s house for something, or a friend has an emergency that needs to be dealt with, or there’s medium work and house cleansing to do because my mom’s friend’s husband hasn’t moved on and wants to tell her something. There’s just this never ending parade of things to do. And I’m not saying I resent doing things for friends, or family, or spending time with both. That’s not what I’m saying at all.
I just, I guess what I’m saying is that it’s hard. Adulting and having responsibilities and a job that takes up most of the day is hard. I know it’s supposed to be, it wouldn’t be life if it wasn’t. But sometimes I wish that I could find a better handle on managing my time, and being able to fit everything in that I both want and need to without feeling like I’m dropping something on the other end.
Some people would say make a schedule, and stick to it, but well, I’m just not that organized. And I’m not exactly the kind of person that can follow a strict schedule. The minute reading my To-Be-Read pile feels like work, or editing my novel (or working on a few WIPs I have on the back burner) feels like work, I lose a lot of my motivation. My creative switch gets flipped and the lights go dark and I spend more time just staring at the screen, or piece of paper than I do actually reading or writing or working.
Maybe it’s because I really haven’t had a break in over a year, and I know some of that not getting a break is because Mom and I have a LOT of things on our plate. We never really found a balance after dad died, and we’re just kind of moving day to day as we can. And the one ‘vacation’ my mom and I take isn’t really a vacation because it’s a festival that I run and coordinate, and while I do enjoy it it’s not just a vacation – it’s work too.
Here’s hoping that I can work out something. I was able to finish The Red Queen, the first book I’ve really been able to finish in at least two months. I also finished editing chapter 1 of my roughly drafted novel. I’m hoping I can keep up the momentum, continue reading, continue editing, and hopefully get the short story I have in my head out and onto paper. Though the short needs to be a little more planned out before I can really get my teeth into the meat of the story, because it’s a mystery and I want to make sure it isn’t given away too soon into the book.
June 24, 2014
Musings of the day
Do you ever take a look at an author you follow, after a long break of reading their books because something in life just didn’t let you get to it, or you just have so many authors it takes a while to circle back to them and by the time you do they have a long list of books that you’re now sorely behind on? That’s me right now. I have so much going on at my 9-5 and at home that I haven’t been doing much ready, as you may remember from my last update. But also, I follow so many authors, and am trying to read/keep up with so many series that occasionally I let one slip. And I turn around and what used to be on book 3 is now on book 16. And I look at my bookshelf with it’s full stacks and no space and whimper because where am I going to find space for those 13 books, and how am I going to find the time to read all 13 books, and truth be told because it’s been that long I might as well call it 16 and start at the beginning in reading them.
It’s not just one author I’ve done this with either. I have several authors I paused in my reading when their books were in single digits and now that I’m looking at the series we’re into double digits.
Aside from finding the time to catch up on them, I have another serious question that I’m facing. Do I finish out my printed, sits on a shelf collection, and buy a new bookshelf in the process, or do I throw the feel of those pages in my hand to the wind and just start getting the series in ebook format? I’m torn on which to do because as someone that suffers from very, very mild OCD it really bothers me to not have the complete collection of things, and I like the feel and weight of books in my hand while I read, and there’s something awesome about the look of them on the shelf, all together and spines cracked because they’ve been well read. On the other hand, I’m running out of space in order to store my books and I am starting to fear the move if I ever need to go anywhere.
What are your thoughts on ebook verses print copies?
May 22, 2014
Reading
My To Be Read list is growing ever longer, and I’m afraid I’m not getting through it nearly as fast as I wished. I haven’t actually finished a book in months, and it makes me wince. Especially since new books are catching my attention all the time.
I think that I am going to try and carve out at least one hour a night, after dinner, to read. No TV. No games. Not even writing, which I’m slowly getting back into. Just me and either the book if it’s one I have in hard back or my Kindle. No distractions.
That way I can get back into reading, finishing books. And possibly fill my blogs pages with some new reviews of the books that I finish. I still have one that I am about two thirds of the way through, that I should by all rights finish. And yet my slight obsession interest with Motorcycle Clubs, thanks to Sons of Anarchy on FX – and the fact that I have biker friends, has me reading a book that is based in that society. It’s a serious step away from the science fiction/fantasy genre that I usually submerse myself in, but I’m liking the change. We’ll see which I finish first.
What is at the top of your reading list, my dear readers?
May 16, 2014
Update of Sorts
It’s been… more than a long time since I’ve updated my blog. Granted, to be fair, it’s been more than a long time since I worked on anything original too. I was able to win NaNoWriMo last year, adding 50K words to my WIP, which helped me come closer to finishing it by a ton. It got my main character through two of her four tasks, and set her up for the third pretty well. And then the Holidays hit. Because of everything that goes on at my house for Holidays, I didn’t really allow myself time to write. And that is on me, no excuses that I was too busy, I just didn’t carve out the appropriate amount of time to let myself when I should have. Couple the Holidays with my 9-5 job that pays the bills from December to February due to a deadline that came due, and my writing suffered more than I wanted to.
February was the worst month though. I lost my father on February 5th unexpectedly. And it’s been hard, getting through, helping my Mom through. Trying to make sure everything goes as it needs to, or where it needs to. On top of that, we had a whole business (he had a self-owned business) to try and figure out, inventory, and get up and running in the wake of his absence. And truthfully, I’ve been low enough that trying to write original stuff has been really hard, trying to focus and keep going where I was. For the first month or so, I had a really hard time writing in past tense at all, and while some people might be saying then don’t write in past tense, my WIP – all 100+ pages already written – is in past tense. So it made working on it near impossible when I kept slipping into first person. And for a while I felt like everything I wrote period was coming out pretty crap.
Knowing myself, I knew that for the good of the novel, it was better to not touch it until I was in a more stable place. Because especially when low I can be one of those temperamental artists that turns around and just scraps everything in a fit if I’m not careful. I haven’t had a fit like that in a while, a long while, but that’s partially because I’ve learned from my past, learned the signs that it was coming on, and learned to put some space between me and whatever it is I’m working on to better keep things whole and ready for me when I come back from my low.
I think I’m about ready to start trying to finish my novel now though. To start working on original ideas again. I’ve been getting some new original ideas recently, ones that give me that small smile because they just scream ‘write me’ loudly and start creating their own main character so I can work on them. But, I’ve been trying to be good, to not start another project before I finish this novel. It’s been put off, re-drafted, re-written, too many times to put it on the side burner for a new idea after everything. And I really do want to get there, to feel that sigh of relief that the first draft can officially be called finished. Maybe start a new project while I give it some space before going back to edit it and have my trusty editor help to comb through it, make sure it’s as good as it can be. And I’m ready to get back into this blog, to writing even if it’s here to keep up being active again.
November 25, 2013
Book Review: Captured by the Billionaire (The Complete Series) by Julia Sykes
Author: Julia Sykes
Publisher: Independently Published via Kindle Direct & CreateSpace
Genre: Erotica/BDSM Romance
Rating: 2 Stars
This is the compiled version of all six installations of the series: Pursue, Captured, Teased, Bound, Tested, & Collared.
The story starts off with Mallory working as a server for Jake’s party, where we learn that he knows all the right people and has more money than any one person should ever really have. From the moment the two meet, Jake seems to want Mallory, and goes to lengths to get her to agree to go out with him. It than follows their ups and downs as he shows her the BDSM lifestyle he lives by to her ultimately agreeing to wear his collar.
The story over all would be an interesting one, except for the fact that I don’t feel that the characters are given enough time to truly develop. Everything happens so fast, and certain betrayals that should take a couple days to work through and get over ends up being worked through in a matter of hours. In that regard, it’s just a matter of pacing. I feel like if she’d lengthened the ‘books’ to be longer, worked out more of the character’s personalities and reactions to a more believable time frame, this would have been a lot better.
I also had problems with how Jake handled Mallory. Their very first time together, he bound her hands with a belt. To me, having Mallory just go with it and find it hot, this stranger she isn’t even sure she likes binding her with a belt like that, is a little too fast when she’s supposed to have been a straight vanilla before Jake entered her life. As well there are a couple scenes where he knocks her knees out from under her in order to settle her on her knees in front of him, or knock her to the ground. I know this is supposed to be a BDSM book, but personally I don’t see that as anything but manhandling her in all the wrong ways, BDSM relationship or not. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t feel like doing that to a woman shows all that much respect or care, which is supposed to be at the very heart of a relationship like this.
Over all, the premises is interesting, but the execution of it just really didn’t hit me as great. It also could have used an editor, because a couple sections were littered with spelling errors and it completely throws me off to find more than one or two.
November 12, 2013
And thus starts week two…
As many are aware, we’re currently in the flurries of National Novel Writing Month. Pens, keyboard, tablets. They’re all being exhausted as thousands of people across the world write vigorously to try and reach that 50,000 word goal. Or in some cases, surpass that 50,000 count goal.
And me? I’m completely caught up in the insanity. And so far, I’m doing good. Though, it is only a day or so into the second week. My over all goal is to write 2,000 words a day minimum in order to not only reach the 50,000 words this month, but hopefully surpass them and get my book as close to complete as possible. With the goal to have my rough draft done by Christmas so that come the new year I can start to work on editing it after the Hols are over.
I have found that sometimes it’s a struggle to get my word count done depending on the kind of day I had, but I’ve been fighting harder over all to work through it and get things done. I will say, even with occasionally fighting, there’s a mighty great feeling to know that I’ve gotten my goal completed for the day and I go to bed a little more relaxed because of it.
Today I’ve taken a slight pause in time that could otherwise be spent writing to type up this and to work out the map of my fantasy land that my character will be traveling for the remainder of my novel. I wanted to have a visual that I could go back to and go okay, they should be reaching this forest soon, or this town soon.
Though, the fault lays down in naming everything, because the map starts to look barren when you only have your plot relevant locations on it. And then I have to start filing things in with forests, mountains, random towns to speckle the land.
So. On map creation. Question for the masses.
Do you meticulously plot out each location when you create your maps or do you just kind of toss things at the board and let the land kind of form itself the way it wants to?
Do you name everything you put on the map right away or do you let some towns or forests or lakes lay nameless until they are of importance or their name comes to you later?
October 29, 2013
Gone are the days…
First and foremost? I want to know where October went. Because hell, it’s way too late for me. I feel like I should have done a LOT more with this month than I did, though honestly that’s because I had wanted to do a lot more than I did.
I never kept up with the drabbles I had wanted to do this month, though I do fully intend to continue with my plan to write for NaNo. I’m just going to have to be more careful about staying on task and not letting the month slip away from me. Because in all honesty, I’d really like to win this year. And about two weeks in I always taper out because of Holidays and family stuff, and finals and school which I no longer have to distract me.
Secondly, I had a small issue with something today while I was browsing the Nano Forums this morning. Someone in one of the regions I’m part of posted that they wanted to talk to “Properly Published“authors, and by that she meant not self-published and not ebook. And I have a more than slight issue with not considering self-publishing or ebooks ‘properly published’.
I know that a good chunk of self-publishers do need better (or any) editors. I’ve run across more than a few that the ideas were solid, but damned if they could just have had someone run through it with the editor’s comb it would have been a hell of a lot better. And I’ve run across more than a few that you sit there wondering where the good reviews on amazon came from because it’s really, really not good. But that isn’t to say that a self-publisher is bad or not properly done.
I guess my issue stems from the use of ‘properly’. I wouldn’t have bristled at the term as much if she had used say… ‘traditionally published’. Because I feel like saying that self-publishing and ebooks aren’t proper is discounting a lot of good work and a lot of good people. Especially since there are a fair few of traditionally published authors that are making their way into ebooks, making shorts available to their fans for a cheaper than paperback/hardback price that might fill in the gaps between some of their books. And I think that’s a wonderfully awesome use of the media, by the way, but does that make the short they’re selling for a couple bucks any less proper than the edition that you can pick up in the store?
My two cents anyway.
