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

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

Seth wrote: "Make that six times blocked now. And this time I was sending posts 10 minutes apart and only a few in the morning and a few in the evening..."

Ten minutes apart is actually quite a lot.

This is one of those things where it's really up to you. Play to your own strengths.

I would suspect a majority of writers would find that it's better to get the rough draft finished first, then fill in the details and do the research. It's a little unclear if you're completely revising a story already written or if that story is merely the skeleton of a new story. The more new stuff you're adding and the more changes you're making, the more I would suspect it would be best to get the rough draft down, then research. After all, at some point in the process you might realize you don't need the scenes for which you're researching.

Thanks everyone. I'm pretty happy with it and felt this one is going to get attention. Looks like everyone so far is drawn to it. Good.

B.A. wrote: "I love it with the old fashioned type font."

I've been using the font in my draft, now. I love it.

V.M. wrote: "I stop writing for weeks at a time because I think I suck."

I don't think you could suck as a writer if you tried. You're easily one of my favorite Indie authors and I'm picky, as you know.

M.L. wrote: "I like it, the colors, the font; the guy is totally focused in the midst of everything else."

Thank you, M.L. I looked over hundreds of photos of writers, typewriters, computers, and the like and wasn't getting a vibe from any of them. The instant I finally found this one, I knew if I bleached out the background it would make that writer pop.

L.K. wrote: "Just me then... !"

Nope. Looks like others go through it, too.

Can't say I ever have. I'm actually the opposite. I thrive on such challenges. This's the stuff that excites me, taking a pile of shit book and turning it into something with which I can be proud. 'Cause, let's face it, in their birth every book is a steaming pile of shit. Our real job is not to type out words, but to fix and fix and fix and fix those words, polishing that turd until it shines like gold.

in less offensive terminology, it's what I call "the magic".

I can assure you your books, even though I haven't read them, are not the worst in the world. If you're having meltdowns, it's a strong indication that you care enough to get it right. Embrace those meltdowns!

Haru wrote: "*claps at Micah's post*"

Right? I hope I get one of my books banned somewhere.

The new blurb is actually good, but could use some work. Many words could be trimmed out to streamline it.

Adriana Austin is a strong-willed and sharp-tongued woman but the past is keeping her as a hostage and anchors her at one place. After her sister’s death, her family falls apart[.] and [S]she loses any direction while breaking any promise[s] she had made to herself once and constantly repeating that she feels good.

The sloppy-built house of cards named h [H]er life collapses at the moment Neal Cassidy steps foot in their once shared hometown [town] as the new major shareholder of her father’s business. Seven years ago, Adriana publicly blamed Neal for her sister’s death and made him run away[.] and never come back. But h [H]e is here now, seeking revenge for his lost years and Adriana has no other option but to fight back.

The upcoming events crack the masks and reveal the real people hiding behind them.

The hardest battle turns out to be the one you have with yourself.
One war of characters. Two rivals. No winners.

You made a good point, Tomas. I agree. This does feel more like science fiction than paranormal.

A is too short and clumsy. It's very unfocused.

B is better, but still problematic.

Twenty-four year old Zoey doesn’t have the time to mope over her recent breakup and deal with the royal mess that is heartbreak. Stronger start than A. At least we know right away who the main character is. I'm guessing the breakup isn't going to be a main plotline. I'm not sure we need to know about it in the blurb.

Not when she finds out she’d been genetically altered with enhancements foreign to her world and she has no idea what she’s now capable of. Something I see in a lot of paranormal blurbs people present here and it always bothers me. Is there a reason we can't know what these enhancements are? Not even a hint?

(not when)The one who delivered the news was none other than Jasper, the new Interplanetary Allegiance ambassador, who 24 hours ago was only her very attractive yet weird downstairs neighbor. Wordy. Words like "attractive" and "weird" are subjective and they don't tell me much. Maybe drop the bit about him being the downstairs neighbor. I don't get the "(not when)". Lose it.

When the Interplanetary Allegiance sent former Ambassador Etienne to shield and record the progress of primitive Earth, no one expected him to derail from his duty and side with Professor Trenton Beck to alter humans for a purpose still unknown. At this point, I'm losing interest. I don't really know anything about Zoey or Jasper, yet, and now I have two more characters to think about and I don't really know what any of this means. An ambassador sides with a professor for some unknown reason is about all I get out of it.

Jasper’s mission on Earth was clear: capture fugitive Beck and retrieve the remaining altered survivors. Is this the main plot, then? At first we're being told about a woman named Zoey and it felt as if she were the main character. Now she's kinda forgotten and the focus is back on Jasper.

But then, there was her. Who? Zoey? What about her?

I'm guessing Zoey and Jasper are the two major characters. It would be good to focus on one or the other for the blurb and tell us whose story this really is. At first it seemed to be about Zoey, then about the former ambassador, then about Jasper. I would drop some of the superfluous details, such as Jasper being the weird downstairs neighbor and Zoey dealing with heartbreak, and focus on the main story. I think you could give us a little more about that.

Esther wrote: "I'm in awe! 20 minutes?"

That's a rough average. I have over fifty titles out, mostly short stories. Blurbs for short stories are easier than for novels. Now, if we look at my second novel, that blurb probably took a week or two and I had a lot of help.

Yeah, sure, you can quote me.

The one key element every blurb needs is to be intriguing enough to get the reader to open the book.

1. On average, about twenty minutes.
2. Do not oversell the book. Create intrigue without overwhelming the reader.
3. About thirty percent of the time.

Henry wrote: "Hey!
I'm currently writing a next part to my book series.

....

If you can point me out what's good in the book, it would greatly help in writing the next one."

Deleted for blatant self-promotion and links.

Also, it would be good if you learned how to write before publishing, rather than expecting readers to teach you.

E... wrote: "It is essentially a recipricol review swap. I'm sure some have a problem with this approach, but I don't see why."

I have a lot of problems with it.

1. It's against Amazon's terms and conditions.
2. It's against Goodread's terms and conditions.
3. It will only garner inorganic, often dishonest reviews.
4. Reviews are really meant to be from readers for other readers, not authors doing favors for other authors.
5. It's disrespectful to your potential readers to pad your reviews with phony ones. (Especially since I read over your "rules" and you don't allow any rating below three stars? DISHONEST!)
6. It's against our code of conduct to even discuss review swapping. (Funny how you have a huge list of rules you expect others to follow, but can't follow ours).

Do yourself a huge favor and focus on your writing and leave the reviews for the readers. Your comment is being deleted.

Stellaria wrote: "But what can you do if nobody is willing to review your book for free and you don't have the money to pay the official reviewers? "

Be patient. Readers will review your book in time.

Stellaria wrote: "Dwayne, I had the same experience with my book as you did. In my book the worst word was “f*cking pathetic” and a friend of mine said the language was harsh :) So, people are different, don’t feel bad about it."

Oh, I don't feel bad about what I wrote. And, trust me, we're talking about far, far worse than one f-bomb. The novel probably would challenge most people's sensibilities. I meant it to be that way. I just felt bad for my friend for continuing to slog through all of that for my sake, when if I had the slightest inkling she was going to read it, I would have warned her how nasty it is.

To give an idea: The book is about teenagers in the '80s who are working a summer job. Political correctness was not really a thing back then and these kids are largely unsupervised. So, yeah...

I had an uncomfortable situation the other day that I think you'll appreciate, Leah. I was chatting on Facebook with a long time friend. Next to my wife, she's probably the best friend I've ever had. Anyway, she told me she had read my most recent novel and finished reading it on my birthday. I had no idea she had had any interest in it. She apologized for not having said anything sooner (my birthday is in September). As she went on she said some nice things, then she admitted she thought the book was pretty vulgar. She said if it had been written by anyone else, she would have given up on it. I actually feel pretty terrible that she put herself through that just for me.