Dwayne’s Comments (group member since Apr 01, 2017)

Dwayne’s comments from the Support for Indie Authors group.

It's not uncommon to have the best stuff in the second half of the book or even the last quarter. In fact, that's how it usually is, if the book is any good. When the best stuff is at the start, readers are going to give up. So, what can you focus on in the blurb that happens early in the book? There must be something.

G.R. wrote: "It depends on how serious an author you want to be."

I don't see the connection. If you want to be a serious author, learn the craft and keep learning the craft. Keep improving. Do better today than yesterday. Having a web site may be a nicety toward your fans and readers, but it doesn't make you a serious author.

Jay wrote: "I don't know who told you about that "rule," but forget it. It's not real.

It could have come from me. I know I'm not the only one that does it. I have mentioned it a few times here and there in this forum. No, it's not a rule that all authors must follow. There's not many of those. I do, however, tend to lose interest in a blurb if I feel it's telling me a good portion of the story. I don't think that's necessary. If there's not enough in the first quarter or so of the book to write an interesting blurb, the book probably isn't that interesting, either.

It doesn't matter if "a lot of people" are doing it. Amazon could still close your account if they catch you. Telling them that other people are doing it isn't going to work in your defense. Why waste money on a review, anyway?

My latest work in progress is about a team of paranormal investigators. While that may not seem super strange in and of itself, I think the coupling of this and their "day jobs" makes them a bit strange. You might expect them to be scientists or law enforcement or something.

No.

Among them is an English teacher, a somewhat rebellious high school student, a nearly homeless guy who drifts from one low-paying job to another, the owner of a bar who is also a stage magician (and a terrible one at that), a professional violinist, a retired loan officer, and an ex-Marine who now owns a fleet of used car lots (and since leaving the military has become nearly a pacifist).

Roderick wrote: ""

The cover workshop is here for people to get feedback on their covers. There is nowhere in the group rules or the folder for the covers that permits you or anyone else to provide links to your books and to your web site. Deleting your post.

At the bottom of the posts you should see the word "delete". It's next to the word "reply". Click "delete" and your message will be deleted.

John wrote: "Hi my 2016 novel... has... reviews on Goodreads... it might be of interest to you to review it in a new light."

John, please review our rules. We're not a review group. We are not looking for books to review, no matter how many reviews you have or how "topical" your book is.

In fact, topics about reviews are generally frowned on in this community and this is one of the reasons. Often such topics end up with people begging for reviews.

I also had to delete another comment that was making fun of a book for allegedly ripping off someone else's book.

Please, stay on topic folks or I'll close the thread down. Thanks.

It's short and gets right to the point. That much is good. Even though it is short, it could be tighter. There are a few superfluous words that could be tossed out. Example: "Sarah Vinson seems like an average teenage high school student..." and "Except she really isn't." "Frighteningly" could go, too.

A little more detail would be nice. Who are these "dark" corporate powers and what would they do with the power? I'm wondering what is at stake here for Sarah. Are they set to kill her? Enslave her? Drain the power from her in some painful process?

It feels like it's alluding to a story, but not bold enough to let us know what it is. It's all vague.

Katy wrote: "B.A. wrote: "While I've been researching and ruminating on reviews, though, I came across a comment by Chuck Wendig on his blog that basically said that constructive criticism stops being constructive if someone hasn't asked for it. (This was part of his argument for why you should never @ mention authors about their reviews.)

So that made me wonder: People review books/movies/etc. all the time without being asked. Does that mean we shouldn't be reviewing if someone hasn't specifically asked us to? That doesn't seem quite right to me...."

Two things in response to this:

First, if we write and publish a work, we're putting it out there for the public, hence we shouldn't be upset or whatever if someone reviews it. By putting it out there, we're inviting criticism.

Second, reviews are not meant for the author, anyway, so even if an author doesn't want reviews, the readers do. Do it for them, not the authors.

Katy wrote: "For example, do you review your friends'/colleagues' books? Do you feel obligated to give them glowing reviews because you know the author? Or do you prefer to avoid reviewing their work entirely?"

I used to. I rarely review anything anymore. And certainly not anyone I know.

NO! Why would anyone feel obligated to give anyone else a glowing review for any reason other than the book deserves a glowing review? You're really doing a disservice to a friend or colleague if their book is less than wonderful, yet you're saying it is wonderful. If your friend wrote a crappy book, tell them so. Writing a dishonest review is only going to mislead readers. Why would you do that?

It's really better to avoid leaving public reviews for authors you know personally. It's not doing them any favors, it's not helping you at all, Amazon is against it, and it's misleading to the customers.

Shhhh... shhh... Not so loud. They'll hear us.

M.L. wrote: "Time's up! (not the blurb, the novel). When is it going to be published? :)"

Hopefully by fall.

D. wrote: "I'd start with who this story is about and what are they dealing with."

I'll give that a try tonight or tomorrow and see what I come up with.

M.L. wrote: "Place as protagonist. I love place as protagonist!"

*chuckle* Yeah, the place... has a personality. We'll leave it at that for now. I do tend to think of locations in my stories / novels as characters in and of themselves.

I've thought this over and perhaps the reason the blurb isn't appalling to a couple of you is because I'm focusing on Hannah. She is probably the most prominent character in the tale, but it isn't just her story. And the problem with focusing on Hannah is her part of the story unfolds slowly through the book and there's too much I can't really give away in a blurb as to why she's important in the story.

So, I'll try this direction:

FairyTale Village was once thought to be the happiest place in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. However, its history has been tainted by a suicide, disappearing children, and a murder. Closed since 1984, the place is considered haunted and only the brave or the foolish dare enter.

Paranormal investigator Solomon Gallo and his band of misfit investigators have been investigating a string of seemingly unrelated cases, but they all seem to be pointing to one place - FairyTale Village, where the ghosts and creatures that stalk the place are becoming restless. Can Gallo piece together the dark riddles of FairyTale Village and bring peace?

Or will he find himself in the clutches of the evil there, including Fyrnir, a supernatural being known to our world as The Big Bad Wolf?

E.A. wrote: "Dwayne wrote: "I'm running into the same issue with my current novel, which I started in January before COVID-19 was on the radar. The first scene of the book takes place in March 2020 where the perpetrator and the victim cross paths..."

Early in my novel, a teenage girl decides to skip school. It's mid-April. If things stay on course here, it is possible her school (it's a real school) will be in session again by the date the novel starts. It's possible it will all work out, but if places stay closed longer than planned, I'll have to rework it or set it in an earlier year, as some of the early chapters take place in a bar, a flower shop, a coffee shop, the library, a church... most of these things are closed around here right now.

Binana wrote: "Hello... here is [sic] the links..."

No!

NO!

No links!

No self-promotion!

Please read over the terms and conditions of the group. Thanks.

Interesting. Well, I don't think in terms of young books vs. adult books. I think this would be fine for young and older readers alike.

This a reworking of an unpublished novel I wrote thirteen years ago. Back then the group was called Creeps. Maybe I'll go back to that. Incidentally, it stands for Cedar River Paranormal (Investigation) Society. Solomon tosses the e's in there so it can be a word, rather than an acronym. He hates acronyms.