D.G. Kaye's Blog, page 179

The Writing Process Blog Tour

 

I was thrilled to be invited to this blog tour about sharing an author’s writing process and showcasing other authors and their works. My friend Carol Balawyder has kindly invited me to this tour. Carol is the author of Mourning Has Broken, her memoir about life, loss and grief of a sister and parents. You can check out Carol’s wonderful Blog at CarolBalawyder.com and read about her upcoming books and her wonderful reviews of famous women writers and Nobel prize laureates. While you are there, take a look at Carol’s post on the blog tour last week and learn all about her writing process.

And now I am happy to share the answers to the four questions posed to the authors on this blog hop:

WHAT AM I CURRENTLY WORKING ON?

I have just recently finished first draft of my next book. This book is a look at women’s self-esteem issues and the obsessions and hang ups we endure in younger life which have a propensity to devalue our self-worth. It is written from my own experiences and analysis. This book will be published this fall.

I am also writing chapters intermittently for three other books, one is a sequel to my first book Conflicted Hearts, another is essays on rants and reminiscence , comparing life today to yesteryear, and the other is a secret for now.

HOW DOES MY WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS OF ITS GENRE?

Writing in memoir can be raw. Some write in first person. Others may write in third person and choose to use another character to represent the story. And some memoirs are written in diary form. Many memoirs are written in one particular chunk of time. But all memoirs are based on a theme. my writing style was influenced by reading books written by William Zinsser, author of the widely acclaimed, On Writing Well. Only I wrote my first book, Conflicted Hearts with some slight deviation. My book spans through my life in different vignettes through time, holding with the same theme about how powerful guilt can continue to prevail throughout life, regardless of what we learn and how much we grow. For me, guilt didn’t exist in one chunk of time, I lived with it most of my life, even through my triumphs. I write raw and true and my voice speaks to my readers as though I am sharing my story with them personally.

WHY DO I WRITE WHAT I WRITE?

I began my writing as a teen. I kept journals to release pent up emotions and to self-analyze events and people in my life. I was driven to try to find answers for people’s actions. In those earlier times writing was self-medicating, and as the years passed I wanted to share my thoughts on subjects that people could relate to and possibly leave some suggestion from my writing about my experiences. I don’t believe we just decide to be kind or nasty. The events of our pasts have much to do with the character traits we acquire.

HOW DOES YOUR WRITING PROCESS WORK?

I try to write five days a week. I don’t impose time-frames on my writing, I go with the flow. Some days I can crank out 2000 to 3000 words, others may only be 500. My outlining process is usually: the concept of the book and then creating temporary chapter titles for the subjects I’d like to include in the book. I begin writing a chapter and when the pen gets flowing full of ideas, I keep another blank page for that chapter for when too many thoughts come at once and I don’t want to lose them. I jot what I want to talk about on the separate page so when I’m finished writing my current thought, I know what I want to write next. When I’m not writing for my books, I will be writing blog drafts or doing creative writing exercises from Natalie Goldberg’s book Old Friend From Far Away.

I write in long-hand. Okay, call me old-fashioned but I just don’t feel creative in front of a computer. For my first book, I had been journaling for years. I had torn out the chapters and began adding to them. I used a post-it-note system where I’d title the chapters so I could add to them or move them around. I know this may sound archaic but it worked for me. I actually tried using Scrivener but I was so overwhelmed by it, I went back to my tried and true system. I did promise myself to try Scrivener again when I wrote my second book, but old habits die hard, so I found myself once again back to my pre-historic method.

My system can become quite messy. If anyone saw my kitchen table (where I love to write) while I’m working, they were overwhelmed by what appears to be a mess of papers, yet I know exactly where to find any page.

Only after finishing first draft do I venture over to the computer. I begin entering my work into Word with my chapters already in order—sprawled out on the floor. Being a tactile person, I just work better when I can pick up a page.

My revisions are all done in Word and through the process it’s not uncommon for me to print off about eight copies of my manuscript between revisions and edits. The human eye catches typos much easier on paper than the computer screen.

Final readings and proofs are always done from paper.

 

For next week’s blog tour I am introducing two fellow authors here who will be passed the torch. Deborah Jay and Annie Edmonds are author friends of mine. Deborah is a fantasy author and Annie writes in erotic romance. Be sure to visit their blogs next Monday August 4th when they will be joining the blog tour.

Here is a little sampling of what these two talented authors are about:

 

Annie is a Jersey Girl born and bred. She has been happily married to the one man that stole her heart thirty years ago. She hopes one day to move her Jersey girl butt to the sunshine state.  She says winters are just too hard on someone who lives with chronic pain.

Annie loves to write and has been doing so her entire life. In 2013 she reached a milestone birthday and decided it was now or never. She needed to write and she published her first novel. She had no idea what to write about so she started asking her friends and their friends what they were reading. When the consensus was erotic romance, she did some research and what she found fascinated her. Annie took her love of romance, and added lots of kink and started writing Second Chances Sammy’s story. It’s the first novel in the Second Chances series. Annie is currently working on book two, Master Mike’s story.

Being an independent author isn’t always easy, but it can be fun when you start to write a sexy blog that you love. She started Sex w/Annie on WordPress and it seems to have hit a sweet spot where followers are concerned. She posts a Sexy Sunday blog for couples and singles every Sunday by 4 pm. aedmonds315.wordpress.com.

When Annie isn’t writing/blogging and promoting, she loves to spend time with her husband and family. At the beach is where she gets her inspiration. The beach has always been the one place to calm Annie’s soul.  Her interests also include, photography, gardening, and, being a foodie, Annie loves to cook.

Follow Annie at her Amazon author page, on twitter @aedmondsauthor and facebook.

 

Deborah Jay writes fast-paced fantasy adventures featuring quirky characters and multi-layered plots – just what she likes to read.

Living mostly on the UK South coast, she has already invested in her ultimate retirement plan – a farmhouse in the majestic, mystery-filled Scottish Highlands where she retreats to write when she can find time. Her taste for the good things in life is kept in check by the expense of keeping too many dressage horses, and her complete inability to cook.

Her debut novel, epic fantasy THE PRINCE’S MAN, first in a trilogy and winner of a UK Arts Board award, has featured frequently in the Amazon Top 100 Epic Fantasy books since publication in July 2013.

Find out more about Deborah at http://www.deborahjay.wordpress.com or follow Deborah on Twitter, Facebook, GoodReads and Pinterest

KDP Select – Only for the Select Few

Today I’m going to share some information about Amazon’s KDP Kindlecountdown program. It wasn’t too long ago I wrote an article about how Createspace is holding my paperback royalties ransom until I satisfy their $100 threshold earned in royalties. As it stands, I’m still about two books short before reaching that threshold. But that’s another kettle of fish, today’s gripe is about the Select program.

I became aware today about how the countdown promo is fashioned. I’m not sure how many of you are aware that when authors put their books in the countdown program, the promotion is only available for U.S. and U.K. citizens. I remember when I ran my book Conflicted Hearts on that promo that I had no evidence of it being on sale, not showing up for me even when I went to Amazon.com. I questioned Amazon and all that I was told that it was on sale, and they sent me a screenshot to prove it, yet it didn’t look like it was, looking at it from my computer. I wasn’t fully aware of all the details of that promo because I foolishly didn’t read all it entailed.

Today I noticed a book on that promo by an author whose writing I admire, and a book of hers which I was watching to come on sale to purchase. I saw her post on Twitter that it was currently on promo at .99 cents and I went to purchase it, only to find that on my Amazon page it was still at regular price. I messaged the author and asked if the sale price was ‘live’ yet because it wasn’t showing and she assured me that it was. The price was not on sale for me. When we both realized that the promo was only valid in the U.S and U.K., she was kind enough to ‘gift’ me a copy for my interest through an Amazon gift certificate for her book. When I went to download it, it wouldn’t download. A message came up saying ‘We’re sorry, there’s a problem, please call . . . .”

I called Amazon and wasted almost forty minutes getting put on hold and passed around, only to finally be put on to a technician. He informed me that he was sorry for all the delay and confusion but I was not allowed to have that book at that price even if the author gifted it to me. I was livid. I ranted on about the injustice of unfair pricing and added that I would be writing about it.

I messaged the author and told her what transpired and thanked her for her attempt to gift me the book and we both agreed that this situation is not correct, particularly that we all live in the same internet world.

What ticks me off most about this is that I, as a Canadian author publishing in the U.S., can put my books on promo for U.S. and U.K. readers, and all other countries including my own readers get the shaft. I copied a paragraph out of Amazon’s rules for this promo and I find it not particularly just:

Can I use Kindle Countdown Deals if I live outside of the U.S. or UK, like Italy or Japan?

Yes, but your Kindle Countdown Deals promotion will only be available for Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Customers in countries that you have indicated rights for will see the countdown clock and the promotional list price with any standard fees included.  However, customers in countries that are supported by specific marketplaces (for example, Germany, India, and Australia) will not see the promotions at this time

When I look at this, it feels like a secret to me. The book will show on sale for two countries and nobody else will know? This doesn’t help us when we are putting our books on promotion and paying for advertising to help boost sales and ALL THE OTHER COUNTRY’S readers are told it’s on sale, but they can’t have that price. I think this is unfair marketing. I may as well tell the world my book is on sale, but sorry guys and gals, if you aren’t American or British you have to pay full price. It kind of leaves me feeling like a hypocrite to advertise.

I wasn’t aware of all this when I entered the new countdown program and ran it for Conflicted Hearts and I am locked in until September for another promo on Meno-What? A Memoir. The sale price won’t show on other countries but surely my readers will know when I advertise it’s on sale, yet some won’t be able to take part in the sale. Quite frankly, I am surprised I wasn’t questioned by readers when I ran the other promo.

I just don’t think this whole situation seems just. To me, it feels like prices should be fair across the board, like any other merchandise. If for example I was selling cars and I offered a particular car for $10,000 and a buyer came along and I found out he wasn’t a Canadian resident, could I tell him, sure you can buy it, but for you it’s $15,000? I don’t think that would go over so well.

For the record, after my last promo in August, I won’t be going exclusive on KDP again. I’ve been on Select since I began publishing because Amazon does have a big platform and once upon a time their promos were more lucrative. I will keep my books on Amazon, but it’s time to expand my distribution and share my books with others who don’t have them available to them on other channels. I’m all about fairness and equality. On other sites I will be able to run different promos and choose if I’d like to gift a copy with no holdbacks. I don’t know when it became politically correct to charge different prices for the same book for different nationalities.

Feel free to leave a comment here or voice your opinion to Amazon for all authors and readers who are not American or British.

Kobo Meet and Greet

I am so excited that finally there is an author event in Toronto that I have been invited to attend by the great author and entrepreneur in self-publishing, Joanna Penn of The CreativePenn.com. I subscribe to her newsletter and was elated to receive a letter she sent to her followers, informing us that she will be doing a meet and greet in Toronto, this Monday July 28th. This is exciting because she will be hosting this get together with Mark Lefebvre, the director of Kobo Writing Life, right here in downtown Toronto at Kobo’s headquarters.

This will be a great opportunity for me to meet fellow authors from around my own home town and get some great information about Kobo at a time where I am just considering expanding my distribution channels for my books. Serendipity I say!

If any of you readers are writers living here or near Toronto and would like to attend, just shoot me an email and I will ask Joanna to send you an RSVP. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the self publishing world and distribution as well as making great connections with others in the writing world. You can be sure I will tell you all about it afterward.

Five Mistakes KILLING Self-Published Authors | Kristen Lambs Blog

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I’m sharing another great article from the talented Kristen Lamb’s blog. In this article Kristen writes about some of the pitfalls self-published authors can tend to fall into. She expresses the caveats of publishing too soon, understanding the business and over-shopping your books.

Five Mistakes KILLING Self-Published Authors | Kristen Lambs Blog.

Live Your Dreams

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I’ll tell you, it’s getting frightening already, hearing about so many people dying, left, right and young! I don’t know what this damn phenomena is about, so many people dying at precarious young ages from horrible illness. Just the other day I told my husband that it is almost like a lottery for those of us who are spared from fatal diseases and whose name is chosen for these fates. This is just not even normal or fair.

As a person who has lived through her own share of near fatal illnesses, I never take my life for granted. And I say it all the time . . . LIFE IS SHORT so why not live it to its fullest potential? So many of us put our dreams and hopes off for tomorrows—tomorrows that sometimes never come. I used to be a lot like some of those people. No matter how much I seemed to spread my positivity around, I too got caught in that realm of “maybe someday I will do . . . ” But I’ve since decided I am not going to wait around for the chips to fall, I am making my own path to my desires and I’m going after them!

It’s so easy for us to become complacent and lost in keeping up with the every day tasks in life and brushing our desires to the wayside until we find we have the time or money to squeeze those pleasures into our life. Things don’t usually fall into our laps, we have to go after them and make them happen. And so that is just what I am doing, working on my dreams. [URL=http://media.photobucket.com/user/sec...

 

We must set goals to attain what we want and where we want to be in order for them to come to fruition. It’s no different than being a writer at home writing books. If we don’t apply ourselves and give ourselves deadlines, the time passes much too quickly. Sure it would be easy to say I’ll write when I have the time and one day I’ll finish another book but that isn’t motivating enough for me so I give myself deadlines to adhere to and then I have a goal that I have to meet which keeps the spark of interest. I said I will have three books out within a year and by golly I fully intend to have my third book finished (I’m halfway through rough draft) and published before this year ends. The same applies to the things I want out of life. I decided I have to reach a little higher to obtain what I want and if that means extending a ladder as high as it can reach, I’m climbing it!

It becomes a matter of rearranging priorities. And I’ve finally decided it’s time to move the furniture around. Yes, I’m comfortable in my cozy home and lucky to be able to write as much as I can without interruption. But what I really want is to live somewhere else for the winter, Arizona in particular. I have always had an inner feeling that is where I belong, I’m a desert girl at heart. I truly believe I lived there in another life as when my foot steps on Arizona/Nevada soil, only then do I feel in my heart that I am home, a feeling I never have any time I return to Toronto after being away. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking to give up my citizenship but I certainly wouldn’t miss the brutal winters. As my husband grows older he has been longing to make this change as well. It’s something that we’ve both been figuring out to find a way to make it happen and we figure in about another year we can. So as a start to our commitment to plan for our dream to happen, we having booked a lovely vacation this fall in Arizona for a little R and R and we have plans to visit some properties with an agent. We are considering selling our home and investing the equity and renting a condo to free us up to be able to travel somewhere else for an extended period of time. We may buy or may rent a place in the desert for the winter months. So that’s my plan. Talk is cheap. We kept saying, one day, one day, well we are going to make one day happen soon!

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It’s nice to dream but nicer to live it!

Healing the Loss – Pink Flowers

 

Time is a healer; they say. When we grieve the loss of a loved one, nobody can pretend to know that pain. Although almost everyone has loved and lost someone dear to them throughout their own lifetime, each person that grieves goes through their own process and feels as though nobody has known pain like they are experiencing. There doesn’t ever seem to be the right words at those moments when we offer our condolences other than, “I’m sorry for your loss.” For what else can we say? We can’t compare our losses to someone else’s and we can’t pretend to know what they are feeling.

I know I have been to more funerals than I care to count, and for me the hardest part is paying condolences to the ones left behind because I feel that my words cannot do anything to alleviate what they must be experiencing. Yet we follow the protocol of giving condolences, sending flowers and cards because even in those moments when we feel our words can’t help, down the road when time passes and the griever can find a special part of their heart to lay their loved one to rest, they can look back and remember who was there for them, if only in silence.

Today is my step-daughter Sue’s birthday. Sue passed away in March of this year and as a single mom, she left her two boys behind. I wrote a few posts here in March about that time my family lived through and today, four months later, I am acknowledging her birthday.

My husband and I are taking the boys to visit their mom today. I told them I would pick up flowers to bring for all of us and the eldest replied, “I don’t want to take flowers that die.”

I stood in thought for a moment and then I retorted with, “How about we buy a flowering plant and take a little gardening tool with us and plant something that keeps blooming and coming back every year?”

The boys were elated and then the younger one added, “We would love that, let’s make sure they are pink, you know how Mom loved pink.”

Photo: desktopnexus.com

 

A tiny gesture can fill a big hole.

 

Alas! Meno-What? A Memoir available in Paperback!

BIG NEWS!  Meno-What? A Memoir is finally available in paperback!

For those of you who have been following my struggles with Createspace, I wanted to let you all know that I have received my proof copies and have hit publish!

Thanks again for all your support and interest in the publication of my paperback version. As I mentioned that I would do in my earlier post, I have now added the link HERE and on my Meno-What? page where you can purchase the paperback copy.

Also, Createspace will be solely selling the paperback until it links it to Amazon in a few days and during these very few days, I appreciate if anyone is interested in purchasing a copy to please do so at Createspace so I can reach my threshold there and get my ‘ransom’ money out that they are withholding. Once I reach that threshold I will be removing the link to Createspace. ONLY 7 BOOKS to go and I’m out of royalty jail!

Where are my books? — Createspace delays

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I just wanted to place an update here on the availability of my new book Meno-What? A Memoir. As you may have read in one of my earlier posts about The Sticky Royalty issues I’m having with Createspace http://wp.me/p3UZVY-Ku, I had requested that if any of you here wished to purchase a paperback copy, to please do so from the link I’d attach on my Meno-What? page. When I first published the ebook version in early June, I downloaded the paperback version with Createspace and ordered proof copies for myself to proofread before I hit publish for paperback. Normally the proofs should arrive within a week. Well today is July7th and as some of you have been questioning me about purchasing the paperback, I felt as though I should keep you abreast of why it is not yet available. I have sent numerous emails to Createspace inquiring as to the status of my book delivery. The first few emails I received were very generic, stating my order has been shipped—not very informative. Then I finally got a response that my order would be received by June 27th. Although I wasn’t thrilled about waiting seventeen days, I had no choice. Then it was the weekend and then it came Canada Day, July 1st and still no books. I emailed them again on July 2nd. That time I stated that surely when you send a package you receive a tracking number, and I kindly requested somebody should get on top of that tracking number and see where my books are. The next day I received another email, included in that email was a tracking number from the U.S. I spent over an hour trying to track that number and as I am Canadian, that U.S. tracking number was useless to me. I WAS FURIOUS by that point. After finding that tracking number was useless to me, I wrote this back again:

Well, another day has passed and the mailman has come and gone. This Monday will mark almost ONE MONTH since I have ordered my proof copies of my new book Meno-What? A Memoir, in order to approve and publish. You guys have sent me responses saying it’s been sent, several times. Then you emailed me a tracking number, which has no use to me because I can’t track it anywhere. You are the sender; you should have a means to track what you send with the number.

After numerous requests asking me where the paper back is, others have now downloaded the ebook and once again I will have nobody to purchase these books because they will be buying it on Amazon, just as what happened with my first book — if this one ever gets published. This leaves my money sitting in YOUR account now for almost 7 months that will never surpass $100 now because the book has been out now for almost a month with no paper edition and the thrill has worn off for the eager waiters.

I am asking you to find out where those books are, or have them resent because they sure aren’t here. I am also asking you to please release my royalties in all fairness due to this huge delay. Your attention in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Their reply:

Hello Deborah,

Thank you for taking the time to contact CreateSpace support today. I am very sorry to hear that you have still not received your order. Given the length of time that has elapsed, it appears that the package was lost in transit. Because of this issue, I created order #XXXX to replace your defective book copy. This package is expected to be delivered by Wednesday, July 9 to the following address: .. . . . . Please keep this e-mail for your records as your replacement order number, listed above, will not be included in the Purchase History within your account. If the original package arrives before the replacement, please keep both shipments with our compliments. Once again, I apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate the time you took to contact us. As always, if you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us again. Best regards,

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Really? Funny how my books should now be here in three business days! I particularly liked the kicker, if I receive the first order, I can keep it too. How quaint.

It is so frustrating as an author to not have direct communication when dealing with publishing issues. Waiting hours or days for an email response is just so frustrating, but our hands are tied. And, notice how there was still NO mention of releasing my royalties.

So that’s my update. Once again, I appreciate the interest and the questions from my readers about the option to purchase the paperback edition of Meno-What? As soon as I receive it (crossing fingers it appears by July 9th), I will post the link here to inform you of its availability and I will add the ‘buy’ link on my Meno-What? page. From what I remember of the procedure when I published my first book, Conflicted Hearts, the book is available solely on Createspace for about two to three days and then it gets linked to the ebook version on Amazon.com and that is where people tend to purchase from because it is already conveniently available right there without having to go to Createspace, even though it is always still available there. One thing I did notice though, is that the shipping charges seem to be cheaper from Createspace than they are on Amazon. Why? I’m not sure.

Have any of you had any crazy issues in your publishing processes?

 

Book Reviews and Ratings

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Becoming a self-published author involves a myriad of tasks besides only writing. First and foremost is to continue writing and in between that time, we have to establish our presence on social media in order to build a following. We want to attract people who share an interest in what we write about, as we introduce ourselves to the world with our published works to attract readers.

When we write, on a good day, our pens or fingers move effortlessly across the pages with our thoughts and ideas as our creativity flows. We can all attest to the plenty of times our brains cease up and we sometimes find ourselves stuck in a blank abyss of the dreaded writer’s block. As dedicated writers, we keep plugging away to drive through those empty moments. Eventually the words come, whether we keep scribbling until something makes sense or we walk away for a time-out.

After we manage to finish that first raw draft, the publishing aspect kicks in. Revisions, more revisions, editing and more revisions. We search for the perfect book covers in hopes of choosing the right one to convey what our books portend. Finally we get to the formatting stage, ready to publish. Just a few steps with an abundant amount of time consumed—months for some, years for others.

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As we happily put out our work and bear our souls in our books, we hope to give something to learn from or evoke hopes and dreams for others by the stories we tell. When our works our reviewed by readers, they aren’t concerned with the blood, sweat and tears that were put into the making of our books, they only read our words.

As we anxiously anticipate a good review to validate our writing, along with the good ones will inevitably come some bad ones. That is the reality of putting our work out into the world to be publicly scrutinized. Reviews are shared by readers to express what they took from a book. Not all reviews are always rated fair which can mislead other readers and definitely bruise the ego of the author. When I say unfair review, I’m referring to someone’s personal opinion which sometimes has nothing to do with the content of the book and may have no pertinence to the story. For example, I have a very successful author friend who has learned to grow a thick skin to the occasional bad or sometimes ridiculous review he gets. This is something I am still learning to develop. My friend writes in the romance genre and received a nasty review from a reader who left a comment which went something like this: “This book sucked. I only like vampire stories and this is a sappy romance.”

Why did that person have to drag down an author’s rating with a stupid comment which had no relevance to his work? That comment didn’t help readers and why did he/she even bother reading the book if it wasn’t their genre? These are questions we will never know answers to and it does happen quite often that books are unjustly reviewed.

I like to live by the old adage, “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all.” A comment without any valid constructive criticism, does nothing for anyone. Get my point?

I know when I got my first of only two bad reviews on my first book Conflicted Hearts, even with the many five and four star reviews, it was a huge blow to me. I began questioning my writing and even lost my desire to write for a few days. But a very successful author friend of mine chuckled when I brought my bad review to his attention. He told me to get used to it and grow a thicker skin, and said even the best of authors get slammed. He continued by emphasizing the stupidity of the comment and urged me to ignore it and move on. It took a few days for me to shake myself out of my deflated ego. The review had gone something like this, “Wa, wa, this book is all about the author…..”. Well, no shit Sherlocke—IT’S A MEMOIR! Once I learned to swallow it with a grain of nonsense, I persevered. Now I’m not saying the next bad comment that rolled in  didn’t sting, but it’s going to happen. We have to learn to roll with the punches and realize we are going to get those zingers and also realize that we are just not going to please everybody all of the time. Especially when we write in certain genres, they may not appeal to everyone.

Reviews are very important to us as authors; not only do they validate our work, they are read by others and help them decide if they would like to purchase that book. Everyone likes feedback. I know when I go to purchase a book, I always read the reviews to try and get a broader scope of the book’s content. I will often notice that a book is mainly highly ranked at four and five stars with the odd lousy review.  l look at how well-received the book was by readers and then my curiosity always drives me to look at the bad reviews. Often times that is just what they are—bad reviews. No detail as to why it’s bad, other than a reader’s preference or an opportunity to slam or demoralize the author. In some more rare instances I’ve seen some constructive criticism. I like to take the overall picture and the bad reviews with a grain of salt. Truthfully, the questionable reviews tend to peak my interest because I want to know why those reviews are polar opposites to so many good ones. So perhaps all publicity is good publicity?

All in all, I’m just saying that we can all respect the works of others. If you choose to review a book in a negative aspect, try and find the positives and point them out with the criticism. Review on the actual content of the book, not because you like or dislike the author. Try to be helpful with your reviews. Be fair.

Why are book editors so expensive?? | @Belinda_Pollard

This article is reblogged from an acquaintance of mine, Belinda Pollard. This is an in-depth account on why we need editors for our works to be published. The question often arises from many writers, why they need to pay an editor when they can read it themselves or have a writing friend have a look at their work for editing. There is much more involved in the process and our eyes are trained to ‘read what we know’, especially when we are too familiar with our own work. Why are book editors so expensive?? | @Belinda_Pollard. www.smallbluedog.com