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

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

A reminder: This topic is about fun with typos. There's no right or wrong way in replacing words. Everyone has their own style.

M. Ray Holloway Jr. wrote: "Yes, I always have to remember to add a blank in front of and after the word whenever I do a "Search and Replace". You get some really funny results when you don't. "

But, if I you put a space after the word, you miss all the places it appears with a comma or at the end of a sentence.

The breaking it into a lot of little paragraphs with spaces between bothers me. I have seen it done on books, yes, but it's always bothered me.

If I were to pick this up, I would probably stop here: "In spite of her so-called normal life, Shakira doesn't fit in." It's cliched and turns me off. Moving on, we're not really told why she doesn't "fit in" or how moving to Wales is allegedly going to fix it.

"She gets more than she ever dreamed possible when a handsome young man unwittingly transforms her. " Into what? We're not told, so why mention it?

It's the start of a good blurb, but personally I would need something more substantial. As it is, it sounds like yet another book about some "normal" person finding themselves in a magical world. What is it about your book that is different and exciting?

In my current work in progress, I had a character named Ken, but have changed his name to Patrick. I had a character named Roger, but have changed his name to Bjorn.

I did a "Replace All" function.

As I was editing a couple days later, I came across this: "The first time I ever kissed a girl, not all that long before the events of this novel, we were listening to a Patrickny Bjorns album. The Gambler was the song playing."

Justin wrote: "Has anyone ever taken a picture of something and then made it their cover for their book?..."

Yes. I have at least one cover with my wife on it and one with me on it. Fun stuff.

You use some simple HTML.

Type out < img src= " and " > , putting the url of your cover in between the quotes. Omit the spaces, except the one between the g and the s.

Should "moon" be capitalized or not? You have it both ways and it should be consistent.

"A chance meeting in a bar, turns his short trip turns into an epic quest for the freedom of the oppressed moon folk."

Clumsy, but slightly interesting. There could be more. Who is oppressing the "moon folk"? What are "moon folk"? Why is Jonah concerned about them?

"Yesha wants to get away from her controlling uncle. An unplanned dinner with Jonah gives her a chance to do that and so much more."

Isn't Jonah going to the moon? Is Yesha going with him? Isn't the moon and oppressive place? How is that better than a controlling uncle?

It's not terrible at all, but I feel I need more detail, something to really make this story stand out. As it is, it feels vague and flat.

I'd lose the review. Tell me more about the story, not what some anonymous person said about it.

I agree with Anna. "Debut author" should be removed. Otherwise, you're asking a lot of questions with no real background of what the story is about. All I get is that there are two friends in some kind of danger. I need more.

Petros wrote: "I assume I am not allowed to ask for some help with promoting my book on Kickstarter?"

Not here. This group is for discussion of writing, the process, marketing strategy, etc. and not for self promotion.

Fabulous moderator Dan directed you to our Showcase group in another thread. I'll give you the link again.

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

This is where you go for self promotion. Please be sure to follow the directions. Thanks!

I've been devouring lots of Steinbeck lately.

Frederick wrote: "Suckers & Rogues did not allude to agriculture."

It's a reference to corn. Rogues are corn plants that are of the wrong variety for the field and must be removed. Suckers are small shoots that grow around some corn stalks.

Jane wrote: "I don't think resemblance, or not, to the characters is an issue. The pic is so apt...."

Thanks, Jane. I'll try to stop stressing about it. *grin*

That's the one my wife likes best, too, Ray.

Sayanta wrote: "Hi,
I'm a new member. I would like to post the blurb and cover of my book to get feedback..."

The link I provided in the above post will take you to the full list of folders, too.

T.L. wrote: "Um, I think I'm putting this in the right place."

The rules for each folder are pinned to the top of the folder. You can use that to determine if you're posting in the right place or not. Thanks.

Not offended Fred, just really confused. Since the book is sentimental and has a lot to do with agriculture, I'm not sure why I would need to use a different picture. I'm not sure what you mean by "glued on". Thanks anyway.

T.L. wrote: "A bookwhack"

Comment deleted. We are not here to sell our books to one another. Please familiarize yourself with the rules.

Closing the topic. This has nothing to do with marketing strategy and we discourage discussions on reviews. There's not one good reason to ever go ask people to give you any rating on your books. Period.

Negative comment deleted. This is not the place to discuss drive-by ratings and not the place to speculate on other authors "making mischief".

J.L. wrote: "Should I ask a few people I know to give me a couple four stars?"

No.