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

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

Christina wrote: "For a lot of us, it isn't a preference, but a physical restriction. A limit to our ability to focus and concentrate. I have no ability to tune out conversations around me, which is why I can't writ..."

That actually may be true of many of us or even all of us. I can't tune out conversations, either. I have a hard time writing from home due to distractions with the dogs and such. Music, however, doesn't distract. I don't really tune it out, but when I get deep into my work, it kind of melts away. I'm aware of it, yet not fully listening - if that makes sense. Often times I'll look over the list of songs my computer chose to play that session and am surprised at the number of titles I don't remember hearing or vaguely remember. So, yeah, something about music helps me tune out everything that distracts me - and if has to be something I really love, it has to be loudish and generally helps if it has a fast, strong rhythm.

B.A.,

I love your post. I, too, need to have music to write. I have trouble focusing in silence. When trying to write in silence, my mind drifts too far and into things that have little to do with my book, especially during the editing process.

My published novel and my current work in progress both have protagonists who, while being different in many ways, love music and try to listen to it as much as possible. I don't necessarily need to listen to their music while writing about them, but it would feel weird to write about people who want music surrounding them while surrounding myself in silence.

Yes, by all means, everyone must find their comfort zone.

"_______ of my dreams" is a fairly common phrase, meaning "ideal mate". I believe that is the context Diane is intending.

Personally, I think the blurb is a wee bit short.

"When she is sixteen, Charlotte falls instantly in love with a man in a photo, certain he is the man of her dreams." Maybe a short explanation as to why a photo would make Charlotte believe this.

"Alexander is the one she knows she wants to marry." Kinda repeats what we learned in the first sentence. Not necessary.

"She is oblivious to the fact that another is falling in love with her even as she plans her happily ever after." So, this is a complete stranger? Sounds stalkerish and creepy. If this is someone she knows, give us a hint as to who it is.

"It takes twelve years for Charlotte to meet the man of her dreams, and twelve years for the man who loves her to realize he is in for the fight of his life." In this twelve years, she remained oblivious to the stalker / other guy? He made no attempt to woo her all this time? The love must not be that strong.

I know blurbs are often written in present tense, but it's a little jarring to think Charlotte is sixteen today, then to find out the real story takes place twelve years later. Or twelve years in the future.

LeeDonna wrote: "Thank you! I wasn't sure if I was supposed to start a new one for the updated version or use the original. Sorry about that! "

Not a problem. I just saw that some people were still commenting on the old one without knowing you'd done a revision. This'll save you and those wanting to help you some confusion.

LeeDonna,

You had two threads going for the same blurb. I closed the other and archived it.

If I get 1 bad review I read and dismiss, but if 3 unrelated people all same the same thing I revisit it thinking they noticed something I need to check out.

I suppose, if it's a mechanical error, typo, something like that. Also, is this three people out of three? Three out of ten? Out of one hundred?

Michael wrote: "I see that many have stated that reviews do not sell books, and I am interested to know the rationale for this statement."

You have to get sales to get readers and readers to get reviews. It doesn't happen the other way around. It is possible that reviews might influence a potential buyer, but how did they happen upon your book in the first place? If you have a thousand reviews on your book, a potential buyer won't know about them until they discover your book somewhere. You say you depend on reviews when you shop online. I assume you were already looking for the product before you found the reviews, right?

Looking at my own work, I do not have tons of reviews on anything. The items that have the most reviews sold really well when they first came out, got some reviews and the sales stopped after a bit. The stuff that sells consistently have few to no reviews.

Leah wrote: "Dwayne, did you mean “people didn’t”?"

People seldom did come back to edit. Thank you Carro. We're not here to try to correct one another. I'm about to close this thread if people can't keep on topic.

Prakash wrote: "Sorry Dwayne! If it was treated that way.
I would appreciate if the comment was allowed and I was asked to edit that.
Anyway, thank you."

And we would appreciate it if people would follow the rules. We used to try leaving the comments and asking people to come back and edit. People seldom did. I don't waste time with that anymore.

Prakash wrote: "My [book]... is set to release..."

No self-promoting. Thanks.

Ian wrote: "It is a good thing to want to improve, but I feel that practice is what is needed. You can study "how to" until the cows come home, and listen to all sorts of critiques, but sooner or later..."

Yep. Goes without saying, Ian.

Okay, let's all get back on topic.

Carro wrote: "If you are someone who starts writing because you've always wanted to..."

I would hope that someone would take the time to read some books on writing, take some classes, etc. I've read several books on writing and have taken a few classes. They always emphasize the importance of having others view your work. Most of the classroom time in three courses I took in college were reading and critiquing the works of classmates.

Carro wrote: "Yes, but - that is only if you can find beta readers. Depending on your circle of friends, physical location, genre, where you happen to go on the internet, you may not be able to find anyone who reads in your genre, who can give helpful feedback. Yes, a good beta reader should be able to give you a lot more feedback than a review, but......"

You can seek beta readers here in SIA. There are plenty of other ways to find them on the Internet. I glanced at your profile and didn't see any books you'd written, but based on what you read I'm guessing you write fantasy? I don't write in any particular genre and have been able to find beta readers. I would guess someone who writes in a very popular genre could find betas.

Leah wrote: "I believe some reviews do help an author’s writing."

I suppose, but when there are many better ways to improve one's writing, it seems strange to rely on reviews for instruction. If you're seeking opinions from other humans on your work, beta readers are a much better option than reviews. For one, they can give you feedback quickly, rather than waiting for a review. Better, they will give you feedback before you publish. And you can handpick who you would like to beta read your work. I go with authors who have read my previous works as they're familiar with my style and my odd sense of humor.

Hey, Mason,

Every reader's taste will vary, even in some small degree. It's going to be impossible to please every one of them. By holding off on your books while waiting for reviews, you may find that some readers will want your books to be steamier while others feel they aren't steamy enough. If you're lucky enough to get enough reviews on one book to get a good cross section of readers, that is. Meanwhile, if I'm reading all this correctly, you have a stack of work waiting to be completed.

Personally, I admire and want to read authors who want to share their vision and ideas with me, not an author who is going to try to tailor make a story for me.

Trying to appease the average reader might lead you to writing nothing but average books. Is that what you want? Wouldn't you rather shine and show off what you can do?

We live in a world where everyone is offended by something. I think that is closer to the truth than I'm happy to admit. I don't offend easily myself, but it does seem that people are becoming offended easier all the time. Now, for me, I love this. I love putting stuff in my books knowing it might shock someone. You write erotica. You know there are people who won't even touch that genre, right? Are you worried about them? Probably not.

Sorry if I'm coming across as bossy or whatever. I don't mean to be. I would love to see everyone in this group excel and find success. I just wonder if that is possible when you rely too heavily on readers to review your books and tell you what to do. Perhaps you'll prove me wrong.

Mason,

Your post is raising some questions with me. Beta readers are lovely and very helpful, but why are you letting your reviews (or lack of) slow your productivity? Why let your readers dictate your books? A lot of the fun for me, as a writer, is that I'm in control of the story. What happens if some readers want you to do one thing and others want the complete opposite? Don't you trust yourself enough to write your own story?

It's nice that you're putting more effort into reviewing, but I wouldn't expect "karma" to kick in and drop more reviews on you.

Geoffrey wrote: "However, like Leah, if I can't give it 4 or 5 stars, I don't review it. I don't have the heart to stomp on a kindred fledgling writer.
No review is better than a bad review. Just saying. "

It's interesting how many authors are craving reviews, yet it seems that the same number of authors won't review if they can't give a book a glowing review or some other reasoning. We (collectively) see reviews as important if they're going to be attached to our work, but when it comes to the work of others, we can't be bothered.

This is not meant to pick on you, Geoffrey, just an observation of comments like this I've seen over the last few years.

As an author, I don't mind ratings of two to five stars. It's all opinion. One star might sting for a moment, but it goes away. As a reader, if I'm looking for a book to buy and am reading the reviews, I gravitate toward the two and three star reviews as they're often times more balanced in their opinions. I've encountered readers who will not buy a book, especially an Indie, if they see nothing but four and five star reviews.

Food for thought.

Jeanette wrote: "Or to put it another way, my characters are age 12. Their voice should be age appropriate..."

I'll need to bow out, then. I have no idea how to write to a specific age level, let alone help someone with a blurb that is aimed at said age. When I was twelve, most of the boys I knew and I would tell stupid, dirty stories, make fart jokes and the like. That's probably not what you're looking for.

Good luck!

Jeanette wrote: "Keep in mind my audience is age 9 - 12 (or 5th to 7th grade). I know the audience is really parents, teachers and librarians, but I've been reading covers on other books in this genre and they do stick to lower reading levels, so I should do the same."

Hmmm... not sure what you mean by this. Is there a special way to construct a sentence that is more appealing to 7th graders? Seventh grade I was reading Twain, Douglas Adams, Mario Puzo...

It's better. Much better. You're right, it's a little bland, but at least I can see the story now. You could use this as a framework for the blurb, tweaking the weak spots until you have something dynamic.

ie: "They have ten days until the replacement sequence runs. Meanwhile, they decide to find the three colonials and help them get home. That means traveling from Chicago to Philadelphia to San Diego – with no money and no means of transportation – and without being caught by Archibald Pheloni, who’s after their time travel secret." could be "With only ten days until the replacement sequence runs, they must travel across the U.S. in search of the missing colonials, while alluding an enemy who covets their secrets. Lack of funds and transportation makes the already difficult task seem impossible."