Terry Odell's Blog, page 80

Free Books, Bargain Books, and Working on Edits

Free Books, Bargain Books, and Working on Edits

 

 

 

 

I received feedback from my editor for my new Pine Hills Police book this weekend, and I’m busy working on edits. Overall, she was pleased with the book (Whew!), but that doesn’t mean it can’t be better. Instead of a writing craft blog today, I thought I’d share some free books and bargains.

Still don’t have a final title, but we’re leaning toward Remaking Morgan. My first choice was “Retuning Morgan” but when I tried a search on “Retu...

Can’t Have a Cover Without a Title

Can’t Have a Cover Without a Title

Kim Killion sent me the new cover for Saving Scott. I think she did a great job of keeping the feel of the original cover, which I requested in order to avoid people thinking it was a brand new book. But, as I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to indicate there was a romantic element in the book, and so I’ve been adding people to my Pine Hills books. (You’ll want to read to the end of this post. There are FREE books.!)

 

 

 

 

 

Saving Scott: Before S...

Yes, You Need an Editor

Editing has been on my mind as my manuscript is with my editor and I’m waiting for her feedback. Although I’m aware that there are some writers who do not want an editor to touch their precious words, I don’t understand why. It’s an editor’s job to make the book better, not change it. Yes, it costs money, but if you put a poorly edited book out there, you might not sell any more. With more and more indie authors taking shortcuts to get more work published, readers are noticing those that aren...

Tips for a Better Looking E-Book

Tips for a Better Looking E-Book

When I updated covers for three of my Pine Hills Police books, I figured I ought to update the formatting of the interior as well, which would give me a better looking e-book. Those three books were published when indie publishing was new, and the conversion software wasn’t as sophisticated as it is now. With the improvements in software, it was time to refine my files to match.

One major change was how the software looks at paragraph returns. Used to be, you...

Cover Design and Genre Expectations

Cover Design and Genre Expectations

The first glimpse of a book is usually the cover. Cover design should give readers a hint as to what kind of a book they’re getting. For example, cozy mysteries have their own look. Putting that kind of a cover on a thriller would mislead readers. When I started writing, I wasn’t a romance reader (still don’t read much beyond romantic suspense), and the romance covers I’d seen all had “clinch” covers—couples embracing. I didn’t want that for my books, so I...

Writing into the Dark

Writing into the Dark

Now that my Pine Hills Police manuscript is in the hands of my editor, and I took a few days off to “relax,” it’s time to think about the next book. Were I smarter, I’d stick with one series at a time, but way back when, I was still holding out hope for a better “traditional” publisher, and none of them want to pick up mid-series.

My last release was Personal Assignment, and my next will be another Pine Hills Police novel. Unlike my Mapleton Mysteries, those two series a...

In Which Winnie the Pooh Helped My Writing

When I was a child, my dad would read Winnie the Pooh (the REAL one, not the Disney version) to me and my brother. I loved his voices (Years later, when an old movie was playing on the television, I heard Eeyore’s voice. I ran out to look and it was a W.C. Fields movie. I didn’t know my dad had been doing “real” voices when he read—but I digress.)

Another thing I remember from my dad’s reading was the way he began each chapter in a Very Important Voice. And how each chapter was titled, “In W...

Writing: It’s About Being Flexible

Writing: It’s About Being Flexible

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Being a writer means being flexible. It’s not always being flexible when it comes to changes to plots or characters.

Sometimes, that flexibility feels like impossible yoga pose flexible.

My editor and I had an exchange at the beginning of the week, to finalize her schedule for editing the current, as yet untitled, manuscript. We both have vacations scheduled, and it looked like I was going to have to delay the release of Pine Hil...

RWIM: The Value of Critique Partners – Part 2

RWIM: The Value of Critique Partners – Part 2

Last time I talked about how my long-time critique group works as far as sharing work, but today’s post is about what I think they’re best at.

Like most critique partners, we point out typos, points of confusion, characterization and plot inconsistencies, clunkers in the text, purple prose, or getting facts wrong. But for me, their value goes deeper.

Back in high school, where our writing was predominantly expository essays, Mr. Holtby, our teache...

The Value of Critique Partners – Part 1

The Value of Critique Partners – Part 1

When it comes to writing, I never had any formal training beyond high school English classes and the requisite one or two semesters in college. I was a Psych major, a Biology minor. I taught junior high school science. I never aspired to be a writer.

Once I started toying with writing, I took advantage of a local critique group, the Pregnant Pigs (long story—has to do with stupid Florida legislation), and the other members were enrolled in a local colle...