Mary Ellen Boyd's Blog, page 2
August 24, 2015
Audiobooks Point #2: First Steps
So how do you get started on your wonderful foray into this new adventure of audiobooks? The first thing I remember doing is creating an ACX account. You use the same login as you use for Amazon, so thank goodness not another user name or password! Somewhere along in the signup, they will ask for your financial information, just like they did for Kindle. Go through all those legal/technical steps.
So now you have an ACX account. You now know you will be paid when you start selling, and of course you'll sell! Next, you have to claim your book. Remember Point #1: One Book At A Time. That is my mantra. Decide which book you want to start with. If you have a series, I recommend you start with the first one. Your other books aren't going anywhere so you can let them sit until you get this book done.
One other reason to do your books one at a time is in case you want the same voice for your books. Since I have 2 linked books, my dream had originally been to have the same reader, but because I didn't know Point #1 and had the stipends' 60-day limits, that was not going to happen. You might not get a stipend, but then again, I didn't know anything about them. Even if I had would never have expected to get one, let alone three, yet I did. If you get a stipend, the 60-day clock starts ticking the minute your reader accepts your offer. Said reader would be justified in coming after you with a meat cleaver if you asked them to do 2 books in 60 days!
You are going to have a page with a chart that includes the following tabs:
Open for Auditions
Offers
In Production
Rights Not Posted
Completed Projects
As you move through the stages, your project will shift from one tab to the next, but after you are in contract with your reader, you will always have numbers in the "Offers" tab. You will need to get well acquainted with this page. It will be your guide through the whole process. As you move along, this is where the submitted auditions appear, and where the chapters your readers are done with show up.
Get familiar with the very top of the page as well. Your login/signout is at the furthest left corner, and next to it are some small words in blue: "Projects," "Auditions," "Messages," and "Account Settings." These little blue words become very important as you go along. This is where you will likely first see that you have auditions, and how you keep tract of your "Messages" file. If you want to get into your messages, this "Messages" is what takes you there.
Once you are well acquainted with this part of the process, it's on to Point 3 - Learning the Terms and Rules.
So now you have an ACX account. You now know you will be paid when you start selling, and of course you'll sell! Next, you have to claim your book. Remember Point #1: One Book At A Time. That is my mantra. Decide which book you want to start with. If you have a series, I recommend you start with the first one. Your other books aren't going anywhere so you can let them sit until you get this book done.
One other reason to do your books one at a time is in case you want the same voice for your books. Since I have 2 linked books, my dream had originally been to have the same reader, but because I didn't know Point #1 and had the stipends' 60-day limits, that was not going to happen. You might not get a stipend, but then again, I didn't know anything about them. Even if I had would never have expected to get one, let alone three, yet I did. If you get a stipend, the 60-day clock starts ticking the minute your reader accepts your offer. Said reader would be justified in coming after you with a meat cleaver if you asked them to do 2 books in 60 days!
You are going to have a page with a chart that includes the following tabs:
Open for Auditions
Offers
In Production
Rights Not Posted
Completed Projects
As you move through the stages, your project will shift from one tab to the next, but after you are in contract with your reader, you will always have numbers in the "Offers" tab. You will need to get well acquainted with this page. It will be your guide through the whole process. As you move along, this is where the submitted auditions appear, and where the chapters your readers are done with show up.
Get familiar with the very top of the page as well. Your login/signout is at the furthest left corner, and next to it are some small words in blue: "Projects," "Auditions," "Messages," and "Account Settings." These little blue words become very important as you go along. This is where you will likely first see that you have auditions, and how you keep tract of your "Messages" file. If you want to get into your messages, this "Messages" is what takes you there.
Once you are well acquainted with this part of the process, it's on to Point 3 - Learning the Terms and Rules.
August 20, 2015
Audiobooks Point #1: List One Book At A Time
I have a small break waiting for the last corrections to come in on two audiobooks, so I'm going to get started on my Audiobook Journey.
LESSON #1 - List One Book At A Time
Why is this the first lesson? Because this is the very first mistake I made.
To begin at the very VERY beginning, I was browsing my Facebook newsfeed and came across an ad from Amazon announcing that they had been in partnership with Audible and had worked out a way for authors to break into the audiobook market for FREE. No Money. I like those words! FREE will always get my attention.
I knew that audiobooks were an expensive proposition. I had learned how to set up both Kindle and Createspace books because I was in no position to pay someone to do them for me. And now Amazon was telling me I could get into audiobooks for free as well? Audiobooks?! I was in!
I followed the link and started reading. The plan entailed agreeing to share royalties with the reader for a term of 7 years. Share royalties? If it would prevent me from having to make an extravagant financial outlay, I'd gladly settle for a royalty of 1/4 of the list price. (ACX, the Amazon/Audible company) takes half off the top.)
I didn't jump in right away. No, I read everything they had, watched the "do-it-yourself" videos, listened to the producers' samples ('producers' is a fancy name for 'readers') and about 3 days later I jumped in. I'm not one to dither around.
So - and now we get to Point #1 - I claimed All Three of my books. In my reading and browsing, I had seen books that had been up for months, waiting for readers. How long might I have to wait, I wondered.
Then something amazing happened. I all of a sudden started getting readers. Incredible readers. Voices that nailed me to my chair in amazement. Where did these voices come from? I checked them out on the site, and they all had prices after their names of $200-400/per finished hour. How did they find my books?
That's when I learned about STIPENDS, and how I learned Point #1. I knew stipends had something to do with money and my first reaction was panic. I couldn't afford to pay a Stipend! I thought this was free! Turns out, I don't pay the stipend, Audible does. According to their Legal Documents section:
In other words, you can put your books out, your whole library if you want, but if you get picked by the algorithm for a stipend, you then have only 60 days to get the book recorded and finished in order for the reader to claim their stipend money. They get it, you don't. But trust me, they deserve it!
First one book, then the other two, got picked by the algorithm. 3 BOOKS AT THE SAME TIME. All three had money at stake for the readers that depended on my getting them done on time. The hours you spend on one book are time another reader is waiting for you to get back to them so they can start making any corrections. For the past 2 months I have been listening to my books be read until my eyes went buggy following along word by word in the document. I have a rare disease (see an earlier post) that causes episodes of paralysis, and I even triggered several of those from the strain.
So unless you seriously think you can handle listening to and monitoring several books at one time - and trust me, it's not as fun as it sounds - put up One Book At A Time.
LESSON #1 - List One Book At A Time
Why is this the first lesson? Because this is the very first mistake I made.
To begin at the very VERY beginning, I was browsing my Facebook newsfeed and came across an ad from Amazon announcing that they had been in partnership with Audible and had worked out a way for authors to break into the audiobook market for FREE. No Money. I like those words! FREE will always get my attention.
I knew that audiobooks were an expensive proposition. I had learned how to set up both Kindle and Createspace books because I was in no position to pay someone to do them for me. And now Amazon was telling me I could get into audiobooks for free as well? Audiobooks?! I was in!
I followed the link and started reading. The plan entailed agreeing to share royalties with the reader for a term of 7 years. Share royalties? If it would prevent me from having to make an extravagant financial outlay, I'd gladly settle for a royalty of 1/4 of the list price. (ACX, the Amazon/Audible company) takes half off the top.)
I didn't jump in right away. No, I read everything they had, watched the "do-it-yourself" videos, listened to the producers' samples ('producers' is a fancy name for 'readers') and about 3 days later I jumped in. I'm not one to dither around.
So - and now we get to Point #1 - I claimed All Three of my books. In my reading and browsing, I had seen books that had been up for months, waiting for readers. How long might I have to wait, I wondered.
Then something amazing happened. I all of a sudden started getting readers. Incredible readers. Voices that nailed me to my chair in amazement. Where did these voices come from? I checked them out on the site, and they all had prices after their names of $200-400/per finished hour. How did they find my books?
That's when I learned about STIPENDS, and how I learned Point #1. I knew stipends had something to do with money and my first reaction was panic. I couldn't afford to pay a Stipend! I thought this was free! Turns out, I don't pay the stipend, Audible does. According to their Legal Documents section:
The Stipend is paid by Audible to producers . . .ACX employs an algorithm to determine which titles are eligible for a production Stipend. The algorithm looks at factors including past print and eBook sales of a title, recent sales velocity, user reviews, date of first publication, genre, and estimated running time (on ACX, longer is better) to determine eligibility. Only titles that are posted and accepting auditions are considered for inclusion in the Stipend program.
In other words, you can put your books out, your whole library if you want, but if you get picked by the algorithm for a stipend, you then have only 60 days to get the book recorded and finished in order for the reader to claim their stipend money. They get it, you don't. But trust me, they deserve it!
First one book, then the other two, got picked by the algorithm. 3 BOOKS AT THE SAME TIME. All three had money at stake for the readers that depended on my getting them done on time. The hours you spend on one book are time another reader is waiting for you to get back to them so they can start making any corrections. For the past 2 months I have been listening to my books be read until my eyes went buggy following along word by word in the document. I have a rare disease (see an earlier post) that causes episodes of paralysis, and I even triggered several of those from the strain.
So unless you seriously think you can handle listening to and monitoring several books at one time - and trust me, it's not as fun as it sounds - put up One Book At A Time.
I'm going into Audiobooks!
Yes, I'm going into Audiobooks. I'm going to try to keep track of every step along the way, maybe someone else will have the same questions I have. My brain tends to see options where other people find things straightforward. I hope to cover things that seem obvious in hopes that someone else has the same kind of mind.
I found out about ACX/Audible through an ad Amazon ran in my Facebook newsfeed. I was stunned to read that I could get into audiobooks with no cash outlay. I knew they had to be expensive, which is why I had never ever considered doing it. Audiobooks were only for the Big Authors, with Big Publishing Houses behind them that had a whole staff of readers or connections to professionals who would fall all over themselves to make This Famous Author even more famous.
So watch this space for One Woman's Experience on dabbling her toes into the great world of audiobooks!
I found out about ACX/Audible through an ad Amazon ran in my Facebook newsfeed. I was stunned to read that I could get into audiobooks with no cash outlay. I knew they had to be expensive, which is why I had never ever considered doing it. Audiobooks were only for the Big Authors, with Big Publishing Houses behind them that had a whole staff of readers or connections to professionals who would fall all over themselves to make This Famous Author even more famous.
So watch this space for One Woman's Experience on dabbling her toes into the great world of audiobooks!
June 20, 2015
Research, Writing and Reviewers
Reading reviews can be tough. Particularly when you've done all the research, spent months, years even, checking facts before writing, and then checking again as you write.
I just got a review I feel I must respond to. Someone just raised a number of biblical questions on Temper The Wind. I don't expect everyone to understand or even enjoy the writing style I chose. That is their privilege. I noticed that contractions are few in the scriptures in most translations, the language formal, and so I tried to keep that practice in my book. But before this particular review puts doubts into the minds of others, I want to handle certain points.
How did Taleh talk to Javan when he was Hebrew and she was Ammonite? That answer is simple. The Ammonites came from one of Lot's daughters (Abraham's nephew), as did Moab, another nearby land. The languages - and the nations - were related. The nation of Edom came from Esau, Jacob's twin. In fact, through Abraham's second wife, Keturah, he produced the foundations of other nations, including Midian.
Repeatedly Israelites come in contact with nearby countries and rarely is mention made of interpreters. Abraham bargaining for the cave to bury Sarah might be explainable by living in the land so many years, but Rahab hiding the two spies from Israel? David's taking refuge in Gath and overhearing that he had been recognized? Naomi and her husband chose to go to Moab during the famine. Why Moab? Could it be they went there because they would be able to communicate?
As far as Javan falling in love (or rather, lust) at first sight, that was based on the scripture I used as the foundation for the entire story. The verses, quoted at the book's beginning, gave two possible endings, one good, the other bad. I didn't make it up, the Bible gave me that setting. I just ran with it.
I just got a review I feel I must respond to. Someone just raised a number of biblical questions on Temper The Wind. I don't expect everyone to understand or even enjoy the writing style I chose. That is their privilege. I noticed that contractions are few in the scriptures in most translations, the language formal, and so I tried to keep that practice in my book. But before this particular review puts doubts into the minds of others, I want to handle certain points.
How did Taleh talk to Javan when he was Hebrew and she was Ammonite? That answer is simple. The Ammonites came from one of Lot's daughters (Abraham's nephew), as did Moab, another nearby land. The languages - and the nations - were related. The nation of Edom came from Esau, Jacob's twin. In fact, through Abraham's second wife, Keturah, he produced the foundations of other nations, including Midian.
Repeatedly Israelites come in contact with nearby countries and rarely is mention made of interpreters. Abraham bargaining for the cave to bury Sarah might be explainable by living in the land so many years, but Rahab hiding the two spies from Israel? David's taking refuge in Gath and overhearing that he had been recognized? Naomi and her husband chose to go to Moab during the famine. Why Moab? Could it be they went there because they would be able to communicate?
As far as Javan falling in love (or rather, lust) at first sight, that was based on the scripture I used as the foundation for the entire story. The verses, quoted at the book's beginning, gave two possible endings, one good, the other bad. I didn't make it up, the Bible gave me that setting. I just ran with it.
March 16, 2015
Romance Gets Respect - At Last!
A wonderful piece came across my Facebook feed today, forwarded by none other than Julia Quinn and Teresa Mederios. Even better, it is an article from Smithsonian.com! And the title is "Why Can't Romance Novels Get Any Love?" Now, that might not sound so hopeful, especially for those of us who are sick and tired of being looked down on because we love a love story.
But the article is filled with wonderful things like: a new breed of literary scholars are now deciding that romance novels need more respect. And they are saying it loudly by their actions, too. Romance novels are finally finding a place in college courses.
To pick part of a sentence out of the article, "These romance scholars are writing a post-feminist narrative in which the anti-romance second-wave feminism of the ’70s and ’80s is over, along with all the dissing and belittling that came with it."
This is something I have long wanted to vent about. While I am a huge fan of Betty Neels and her nurse/doctor novels, and own a nearly complete set of all her books, many in their original covers, I have also read romance novels that dealt with breast cancer, infertility, adoption, foster children, child abduction (a subject as a mother I avoid like the plague but it needs saying), spouse abuse, Downs Syndrome, I could go on and on and on.
I have read about heroines who rescue and rehabilitate wild birds, who are bodyguards, art historians, owners of fitness centers, of bed and breakfasts, jewelers, even assassins. If I went through my library I could expand this list of strong women a thousandfold.
Mysteries have long been lauded as works of art, well worth the study. But stories about love? Happy marriages? Happy families? Fidelity?
As an author whose books all have strong lines of love and romance in them, I think it is time for all of us to give our own works the respect we would like to get from others. My first book was put out poorly edited, and for that I take all the blame. While that book is now corrected and tight, and while I see to it that my subsequent books are all well-edited and as good as I can make them, I have read far too many that don't help our cause at all.
So to my fellow romance authors, let's all make a vow to do a better job for these books!
If you want to read the entire Smithsonian article, here it is:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cu...
But the article is filled with wonderful things like: a new breed of literary scholars are now deciding that romance novels need more respect. And they are saying it loudly by their actions, too. Romance novels are finally finding a place in college courses.
To pick part of a sentence out of the article, "These romance scholars are writing a post-feminist narrative in which the anti-romance second-wave feminism of the ’70s and ’80s is over, along with all the dissing and belittling that came with it."
This is something I have long wanted to vent about. While I am a huge fan of Betty Neels and her nurse/doctor novels, and own a nearly complete set of all her books, many in their original covers, I have also read romance novels that dealt with breast cancer, infertility, adoption, foster children, child abduction (a subject as a mother I avoid like the plague but it needs saying), spouse abuse, Downs Syndrome, I could go on and on and on.
I have read about heroines who rescue and rehabilitate wild birds, who are bodyguards, art historians, owners of fitness centers, of bed and breakfasts, jewelers, even assassins. If I went through my library I could expand this list of strong women a thousandfold.
Mysteries have long been lauded as works of art, well worth the study. But stories about love? Happy marriages? Happy families? Fidelity?
As an author whose books all have strong lines of love and romance in them, I think it is time for all of us to give our own works the respect we would like to get from others. My first book was put out poorly edited, and for that I take all the blame. While that book is now corrected and tight, and while I see to it that my subsequent books are all well-edited and as good as I can make them, I have read far too many that don't help our cause at all.
So to my fellow romance authors, let's all make a vow to do a better job for these books!
If you want to read the entire Smithsonian article, here it is:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cu...
December 10, 2014
Finding Kindle Corrected Books
When I first contacted Amazon, informed them that I had reworked Temper The Wind, and asked how to notify all the poor people who had bought it, Amazon told me that they would put a notice in the "Manage Your Kindle" section of the purchaser's account. Since I didn't purchase my own book (it seemed a bit odd to do that, as if I was playing with my sales, and it's not as if I didn't know what happened in the story), I had no way of checking to make certain the notice was there.
My sister bought the book, and told me in all her changes and upgrades of her Kindle ereaders, she still had the original version, mistakes and all, even the original cover. She never got the new version. Which is a bit odd because I bought a book once just for the cover (the inside was pretty bad but I loved the cover) and that cover changed. Apparently cover updates are different, they will upgrade every time the author puts up a new picture?
My sister never checked the "Manage Your Content and Devices" section. (I usually don't look there either!) It's been well over a year since the corrected version was put up. I am still getting reviews from the poor people who got that first version.
Today I decided to test out that "Manage Your Content..." link and see what was there. It is so simple to find, just click on your identity ("Hello, XYZ, Your Account") and find "Manage Your Content..." in the drop-down list. Click on it, log in, and all your books will be there. On the right-hand side, the big empty column without a label, as you scroll down, if any books have been updated, a small oval link will show. I found several books with update notices. I don't know how long those update notices have been there, but I'm hoping they keep them until the person reloads the book. If so, and if Amazon did put that notice on Temper The Wind, any who bought that first version should be able to get the new one, corrections and new cover and all.
After I put up the new corrected version, I did make a small note in my listing, letting people who might read those reviews know the book is fixed. I could put a more noticeable comment up, but that seems too little, too late.
For any who have books that clearly were not edited well, it might be worth it to go check your own "Manage Your Content and Devices" section and see if there might be a corrected version. Give it a look and see!
My sister bought the book, and told me in all her changes and upgrades of her Kindle ereaders, she still had the original version, mistakes and all, even the original cover. She never got the new version. Which is a bit odd because I bought a book once just for the cover (the inside was pretty bad but I loved the cover) and that cover changed. Apparently cover updates are different, they will upgrade every time the author puts up a new picture?
My sister never checked the "Manage Your Content and Devices" section. (I usually don't look there either!) It's been well over a year since the corrected version was put up. I am still getting reviews from the poor people who got that first version.
Today I decided to test out that "Manage Your Content..." link and see what was there. It is so simple to find, just click on your identity ("Hello, XYZ, Your Account") and find "Manage Your Content..." in the drop-down list. Click on it, log in, and all your books will be there. On the right-hand side, the big empty column without a label, as you scroll down, if any books have been updated, a small oval link will show. I found several books with update notices. I don't know how long those update notices have been there, but I'm hoping they keep them until the person reloads the book. If so, and if Amazon did put that notice on Temper The Wind, any who bought that first version should be able to get the new one, corrections and new cover and all.
After I put up the new corrected version, I did make a small note in my listing, letting people who might read those reviews know the book is fixed. I could put a more noticeable comment up, but that seems too little, too late.
For any who have books that clearly were not edited well, it might be worth it to go check your own "Manage Your Content and Devices" section and see if there might be a corrected version. Give it a look and see!
November 2, 2014
Amazon Surprise
I wrote earlier about how Amazon works to help their authors succeed, and yesterday I had another graphic illustration of what they do. I was going through my emails and suddenly, from Amazon, I saw in the subject line "Fortune's Flower." At first I was puzzled, had something gone wrong with my book's listing? So I clicked on it, and what did I see? It was a Literature and Fiction mailing list. I subscribe to a few categories, but somehow I never thought to see my book on the subject line.
Between their Free Promotions and Countdown Deals, Amazon has given their authors ways to catch the eye of savvy shoppers. Now that I know they do this, and any one of us might be lucky enough to have our book featured FREE on one of their targeted emails, I encourage anyone who has become frustrated with the state of publishing to take a look at self-publishing through Amazon.
Self-publishing used to be called 'vanity press,' but more and more we have seen talented authors burst from the middle of the pack and get long-overdue recognition.
And if anyone knows how to work Goodreads' image insertion, please let me know! Thank you.
Between their Free Promotions and Countdown Deals, Amazon has given their authors ways to catch the eye of savvy shoppers. Now that I know they do this, and any one of us might be lucky enough to have our book featured FREE on one of their targeted emails, I encourage anyone who has become frustrated with the state of publishing to take a look at self-publishing through Amazon.
Self-publishing used to be called 'vanity press,' but more and more we have seen talented authors burst from the middle of the pack and get long-overdue recognition.
And if anyone knows how to work Goodreads' image insertion, please let me know! Thank you.
October 28, 2014
Frustrating Reviewers
When I posted my newest book, FORTUNE'S FLOWER, I was surprised and thrilled to have a 5-star review within 48 hours. The reviewer was delightful and generous, and I am sorely tempted to print it out and put it above my computer as inspiration.
That review, however, was followed by another, not nearly so nice. 2 stars and some cutting criticism. Amazon tells us writers not to get into arguments with our reviewers, it's highly unprofessional, so I won't but I need to defend myself somewhere, and so here it will be.
I will tackle my issues with her review individually.
"How does the title Fortune's Flower relate to this book?"
Actually a valid question, for someone who has not read the book. When I first titled it in its earliest incarnation, it was "The Tie That Binds." Anyone done a count on Amazon on the number of books titled that or variations thereof? I did. Twelve pages! Most by authors better known than myself. Why did I pick FORTUNE'S FLOWER instead, then? My hero is very wealthy, hence the Fortune. My heroine's name is Verbena, and verbena is hardly an obscure plant. It has been used for healing for centuries, across several continents, and as far back as the ancient Egyptians and Hippocrates. It is also known as vervain, but MS Word will flag vervain as an unknown word, yet it likes and recognizes verbena. Whatever name you know it by, it is an herb of long standing. All parts can be used, leaves, FLOWERS, and roots. I used her name and the corresponding plant several times in the novel, just to make certain the connection was made.
My other, more painful, gripe: "this book needs numerous typos removed."
This book was edited by three different people working separately. In addition, I ran it through Spellcheck repeatedly, plus both versions, Createspace and Kindle (same manuscript in two different documents), passed Amazon's respective spell checkers. As my husband has reminded me, that program won't catch everything, but I put considerable effort into turning out a clean manuscript.
I do, however, have cockney speech in there, phonetic speech as well as dropped h's and g's. I read Stephen King's ON WRITING, and he has a small bit (one of his own works? He doesn't specifically say) where the character drops his 'g' at the end of words. No apostrophe follows to mark the missed letter. (I seem to remember a longer bit on this writing style, who else uses it and why, but in my copy of this book that expanded part, if it in fact existed, is absent.) Later in the book, I found this. "Let each character speak freely." Putting an accent down on paper is challenging at best. How does one capture, quoting Stephen King's book again, "the accents, rhythms, dialect and slang of various groups?"
He did say the decision to leave the missing letters unmarked by punctuation could be controversial.
Apparently so. My editor and I both thrashed this criticism around and decided the reviewer most likely was upset by the missing letters and no apostrophe. All I can do now is hope her review won't turn off other buyers who think they are getting an unedited book (hardly the case), and that some other kind reader will step up and clarify these supposed 'typos' for other readers to come.
That review, however, was followed by another, not nearly so nice. 2 stars and some cutting criticism. Amazon tells us writers not to get into arguments with our reviewers, it's highly unprofessional, so I won't but I need to defend myself somewhere, and so here it will be.
I will tackle my issues with her review individually.
"How does the title Fortune's Flower relate to this book?"
Actually a valid question, for someone who has not read the book. When I first titled it in its earliest incarnation, it was "The Tie That Binds." Anyone done a count on Amazon on the number of books titled that or variations thereof? I did. Twelve pages! Most by authors better known than myself. Why did I pick FORTUNE'S FLOWER instead, then? My hero is very wealthy, hence the Fortune. My heroine's name is Verbena, and verbena is hardly an obscure plant. It has been used for healing for centuries, across several continents, and as far back as the ancient Egyptians and Hippocrates. It is also known as vervain, but MS Word will flag vervain as an unknown word, yet it likes and recognizes verbena. Whatever name you know it by, it is an herb of long standing. All parts can be used, leaves, FLOWERS, and roots. I used her name and the corresponding plant several times in the novel, just to make certain the connection was made.
My other, more painful, gripe: "this book needs numerous typos removed."
This book was edited by three different people working separately. In addition, I ran it through Spellcheck repeatedly, plus both versions, Createspace and Kindle (same manuscript in two different documents), passed Amazon's respective spell checkers. As my husband has reminded me, that program won't catch everything, but I put considerable effort into turning out a clean manuscript.
I do, however, have cockney speech in there, phonetic speech as well as dropped h's and g's. I read Stephen King's ON WRITING, and he has a small bit (one of his own works? He doesn't specifically say) where the character drops his 'g' at the end of words. No apostrophe follows to mark the missed letter. (I seem to remember a longer bit on this writing style, who else uses it and why, but in my copy of this book that expanded part, if it in fact existed, is absent.) Later in the book, I found this. "Let each character speak freely." Putting an accent down on paper is challenging at best. How does one capture, quoting Stephen King's book again, "the accents, rhythms, dialect and slang of various groups?"
He did say the decision to leave the missing letters unmarked by punctuation could be controversial.
Apparently so. My editor and I both thrashed this criticism around and decided the reviewer most likely was upset by the missing letters and no apostrophe. All I can do now is hope her review won't turn off other buyers who think they are getting an unedited book (hardly the case), and that some other kind reader will step up and clarify these supposed 'typos' for other readers to come.
October 21, 2014
My Third Book is Out!
Years ago when I first started writing, I picked Biblical accounts because that was my interest and passion. However, back then publishers weren't buying and my agent requested I try something else. She mentioned the Regency era, which at the time I knew very little about. I dug in, started researching, and ideas began popping like popcorn.
I worried a bit about putting my non-Biblical themed books out under my same name, but I'm not big enough to risk starting a new pen name and trying to find new readers. Besides, Kindle has given me the freedom to write my books the way I wanted to, clean, with nothing offensive to drive away readers who are more conservative. I wanted to be known for books Mom could leave on the coffee table and not have to worry about the kids picking them up and asking, "Whatcha reading?"
As a result, all my books, from the original Biblical themes to Regency to time travel to a modern murder mystery, will come out under my own name. They all fall under the category of Romance, but I hardly call them 'sweet' because I try to tackle subjects with some depth to them. To me sweet romance novels imply a somewhat lighter fare. While I love sweet romances, somehow that doesn't seem to be what I do.
When I first began writing this book, I had a lovely title all picked out. As time grew closer to seriously thinking of a creating a cover, I did a search on Kindle just to see whether my nifty title would have competition. Twelve pages worth! No lie! Twelve pages of variations on the title I had chosen. Most done by authors much more well-known than myself. So I scrapped that one and started over, trying title after title until I finally hit on one I loved. And there wasn't a single book on Kindle with that name!
I hereby introduce my next book, my third on Kindle, FORTUNE'S FLOWER. Set in 1809-1810 England, the story involves two families, one rich and land-owning (hence the Fortune), the other caught up in the changes in land ownership that came in the late-1700's to early 1800's and at risk of losing what little land they still have. It is the tale of a second son and a second daughter named Verbena (hence the Flower).
Class barriers, poverty, death, sickness, the Enclosure Acts, a hint of Napoleon's War, and secrets all combine in Fortune's Flower.
I worried a bit about putting my non-Biblical themed books out under my same name, but I'm not big enough to risk starting a new pen name and trying to find new readers. Besides, Kindle has given me the freedom to write my books the way I wanted to, clean, with nothing offensive to drive away readers who are more conservative. I wanted to be known for books Mom could leave on the coffee table and not have to worry about the kids picking them up and asking, "Whatcha reading?"
As a result, all my books, from the original Biblical themes to Regency to time travel to a modern murder mystery, will come out under my own name. They all fall under the category of Romance, but I hardly call them 'sweet' because I try to tackle subjects with some depth to them. To me sweet romance novels imply a somewhat lighter fare. While I love sweet romances, somehow that doesn't seem to be what I do.
When I first began writing this book, I had a lovely title all picked out. As time grew closer to seriously thinking of a creating a cover, I did a search on Kindle just to see whether my nifty title would have competition. Twelve pages worth! No lie! Twelve pages of variations on the title I had chosen. Most done by authors much more well-known than myself. So I scrapped that one and started over, trying title after title until I finally hit on one I loved. And there wasn't a single book on Kindle with that name!
I hereby introduce my next book, my third on Kindle, FORTUNE'S FLOWER. Set in 1809-1810 England, the story involves two families, one rich and land-owning (hence the Fortune), the other caught up in the changes in land ownership that came in the late-1700's to early 1800's and at risk of losing what little land they still have. It is the tale of a second son and a second daughter named Verbena (hence the Flower).
Class barriers, poverty, death, sickness, the Enclosure Acts, a hint of Napoleon's War, and secrets all combine in Fortune's Flower.
May 29, 2014
Amazon Rankings
Every day, no, every hour, possibly every minute or two, another author posts another book on Amazon. I haven't been able to get a bead on how many books I have to sell each day to keep my ranking up, but it must be a LOT. When I have promotions going on, my ranking makes me all happy inside, but when my books are just selling on their own the ranking and my dream self are not always friends.
Don't get me wrong. My ranking is quite healthy and my books sell very nicely on their own, thank you all very much, you lovely buyers. It's just that new books come out all the time and the competition is fierce. I have a number in my head that I like to see next to the bolded "Amazon Best Sellers Rank" header. (That is really sweet, when you think of it. "Best Sellers Rank." And everyone gets a number as a 'best seller," even if their book is sitting there static at the very bottom of the list and no one has found it.) Every now and then I hit that internal number and I smile all day.
No, I smile all hour, because that rank is as fluid as water and recedes and surges with every sale - by everyone. Because the ranking is so changeable, a bit of reality is in order. Take a look at how many books are on Amazon. It can make your head spin! So don't get depressed when you see the hot link for the Top 100 right after your own less impressive number.
Maybe some day one of my books will be on that wonderful Top 100 list.
I can always dream, can't I?
Don't get me wrong. My ranking is quite healthy and my books sell very nicely on their own, thank you all very much, you lovely buyers. It's just that new books come out all the time and the competition is fierce. I have a number in my head that I like to see next to the bolded "Amazon Best Sellers Rank" header. (That is really sweet, when you think of it. "Best Sellers Rank." And everyone gets a number as a 'best seller," even if their book is sitting there static at the very bottom of the list and no one has found it.) Every now and then I hit that internal number and I smile all day.
No, I smile all hour, because that rank is as fluid as water and recedes and surges with every sale - by everyone. Because the ranking is so changeable, a bit of reality is in order. Take a look at how many books are on Amazon. It can make your head spin! So don't get depressed when you see the hot link for the Top 100 right after your own less impressive number.
Maybe some day one of my books will be on that wonderful Top 100 list.
I can always dream, can't I?
