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

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

It's cute. I really like it. I would have picked this up when I was a child - not a young adult, though. More like when I was eight. As an adult, I'm intrigued as I'm getting an Abbot and Costello Meet Dracula vibe from it.

A.P. wrote: "By chopping the first bit, won't readers be confused when I bring up Leathen? Or will they just assume it's a general location and that's okay?
"

You could do this: Although even with all she has, she still longs to travel beyond Leathen, her community."

I like the first a lot better. The second is - problematic.

Lush forest, beaches and a shipwreck - sounds like a lot of islands to me. I'm not sure I get the "no other island like it" line.

So, then we find out Fox wants to know about her parents, but only hears stories (what is she hoping for?) Suddenly, she's forced from her village for no given reason and her life is at stake. (Why?) This is all due to her parents work, but we don't know what their work was. So, yeah, the second frustrates me.

I really like the first. I might chop off the first lines and start with "Fox is a restless..."

Mala wrote: "Hi,
[I wrote a book]..."

Comment deleted. Most of us here have books to sell, but that's not what this community is about. Please review the rules and code of conduct.

Alex wrote: "I really want a burger now, and I've only just woken up here in the UK, lol. "

Happens to me once in a while, too.

Leah wrote: "Happy Clown Burger?"

I know... I know... I shouldn't have gone there, but it was too tempting.

Houses in the same neighborhood are generally pretty similar. Usually built around the same time, roughly the same size, style, etc. Hamburgers, whether from Wendy's, Burger King, Happy Clown Burger, etc. are going to be pretty much the same - beef patty, bun, ketchup or other sauce, tomato, lettuce, onion, cheese... yes, there may be some variation from one burger stand to the next, but they're going to be much the same.

Stephen King doesn't write like Danielle Steele doesn't write like John Grisham doesn't write like Margaret Atwood... books can be fiction, non-fiction, filled with pictures, have no pictures, be six pages long or maybe over a thousand, be a best-seller or a debut novel by an Indie author. If there are two books of the same genre or on the same topic, side by side, with the same number of pages, the style being relatively similar, the plot and characters being similar and so on, yes, I could see how the guy who gives his book away might be devaluing the book of the guy who charges $9.99. My offering a free short story now and again won't have any affect on the guy selling a book on medieval weaponry.

Truth: I had to read them three times before seeing what is different. Both were clear enough for me.

The first is more stylish and would work better if the work in progress is fiction, especially if told in first person and this matches the speech pattern of the narrator. It also "feels" more British to me.

The second may be better if the work in progress is non-fiction.

I think you're grossly over-simplifying things, Dennis, by trying to put writers in one of two categories. I am serious about it, and I'm confident in my abilities. I set my prices where I feel the books are worth. However, I do occasionally drop prices and often give things away for free. The audience I'm trying to reach is small and fickle, meaning I am constantly reworking my strategies to get my work in front of them.

I don't see how someone giving all their work away for cheap or free would devalue what I'm doing, nor do I see how my offering a free book here and there would devalue anyone else's work. I've heard this stated here and there, though there seems to be no evidence for it.

Wendy wrote: "An Indie author is doing all the marketing work themselves vs a traditional publisher so why should there be a price difference? You either pay someone to market or pay yourself to market."

I see it as going even beyond all that. A lot of Indies seek out interviews. They have book signings. They have parties when their books are released. In most every way, we act like trad authors - except when it comes to pricing. Then we get shy about it and think, "Well, people don't really know who I am, so I better not charge much for my book."

L.K. wrote: "A cup of coffee can only be sold once, whereas a book that has taken a year to write can be sold over and over..."

True, but I'm looking at it as a consumer. I buy a cup of coffee and once it's gone it's gone. If I want more, I have to buy more. If I buy your book and enjoy it, I can read it over and over without having to continue to pay you.

Christina wrote: "I'll never get the coffee analogy."

Okay. The other day I spent 10.99 on an ebook that was roughly the same length as Margaret's. Granted, it's by John Steinbeck and he is considered by many to be a great writer and all that, but still - a book is a book. I might get just as much enjoyment out of Margaret's as I will Steinbeck's.

Coffee is often consumed rather quickly. Now, I would doubt many enjoy a good cup of coffee as much as I, however, I do enjoy a good book more. Yesterday I was reading a John Updike novel and everything around me vanished I was so engrossed in the scene.

Maybe I need to move to Texas. Coffee around here usually goes for about $2.00 to 4.00 a cup, depending on where you go.

Genevieve wrote: "If it is a translation you need more than just spell checking - which can leave many errors. You need someone with good English skills who can recognize when the syntax is more Spanish than English..."

Agreed. The last time I tried going over a manuscript for someone for free, it was obvious they were not an English speaker. Not only were many words misspelled, but the grammar made the work almost unreadable. I had to give up.

Phillip wrote: "I’ve thought that many times. Books take years to write, but people look at the price and scoff if it’s more than a few bucks (even if it’s a know author), but they’ll gladly buy a round of coffee or drinks for a casual acquaintance/co-worker. "

What seems to be working for me these days is playing both sides of the coin at the same time. I price everything what I believe is fair (.99 for short stories, 2.99 for novellas, collections, and certain humorous works, 5.99 for my novel). Every so often, usually around the weekend, I change the price of two or three items to free. I don't really market much anymore as that only seems to get my books in front of people who aren't interested in my genres. So, I see some spikes every few days of people grabbing the free stuff. That's usually followed with a few sales. Not many, granted, but it's something.

Tomas wrote: "$5.99 is really a lot for a ~200-page book"

That's about what I spend on coffee during an average writing session in a coffee shop or the library. It's a shame we're conditioning ourselves to think our books are worth less than a couple of cups of coffee.

You might get more interest if you gave us more to go on. How long is the novel? What is the genre? Are you willing to pay someone to do this?

No book should be "mandatory reading" for any author. If you get something out of it, Jay, peachy. If you want to recommend it, fine (which you have at least a dozen times on these boards). But, we're all different animals. Elephants can't be trained by lion tamers and so on. What works for you won't work for everyone. I haven't read the book you like to peddle so I have no personal opinion on it, but I have seen many try to push Stephen King's On Writing as some kind of Gospel, the alpha and omega, of all books on writing. I thought it was okay, but nothing to get excited about. To each his own.

Lydia wrote: "Thanks for the suggestion to browse through members here. Don't know why I didn't think of that!"

It's how I shop when I want some Indie books.

Talia wrote: "

No links, folks.

Since nearly all of us are self-published authors, you could browse a bit through our profiles and see what looks interesting to you.

Aside from that, I don't know of any place that lists off Indie authors or their books.