C.B.’s Comments (group member since May 01, 2015)

C.B.’s comments from the Support for Indie Authors group.

I had a character who was clumsy so every time he talked (typed) he made errors.

One person said it was off-putting.
Everyone else has said it was good fun.

So it will bother some people, but that's okay.

I think it fits the style.

A good way to show this is happening would be at the very first spelling error to strike out the letters and re-write the word a few times, and then just saw 'whatever' and go forward after that. Then it is super clear that is happening in the rest of the book on purpose.

Dear everyone,

You are posting your private emails on a public internet forum that absolutely anyone can access, person or bot. You don't even need to be a Goodreads member to access this page. Anyone can see it.

Are you sure this is something you wish to do?

Sincerely,
Everyone else

M.L. wrote: "Here's an idea. :) Put up a YouTube of NASCAR, or maybe a Formula 1 race, just a short--or another sport or career (astronaut?), then commit to giving away half of what you make on Patreon to a goo..."

Maybe don't do that.
Yes, I know it is a joke, but 100% don't do that.

I have experience with this in a unique way and can offer some insight from the 'other side'.

I have a book series, there are 13 books.
The books are only loosely connected. Except for the last book every single one of them can be read by themselves and enjoyed without needing to read the others. They are all self conclusive.

While it is technically a series, it also isn't.

Do I give them away 1 a day in chronological order in hopes that someone notices and downloads them all for free, or misses the first couple and buys them later?
Absolutely! I do that once a month.

Do I give away book 4 or 9 randomly in the hopes that someone likes it and buys the rest or waits until they are free later or reads them on Kindle Unlimited?
Absolutely! In June I only have 4 days where I am not randomly giving one away for free, and if I had more books I would have zero days without a promo (working on it).

Does this work?
Absolutely! Not that I am the most popular author out there, but this does work sometimes, either with increased giveaways as the series goes through chronologically, or random pick ups and kindle reads after a more popular random free day.

Do I feel guilty about it?
Absolutely not! These books were specially meant to be fast, fun, and often free. When they are not free, they are not expensive. These books were made to stand alone but also be a series. I do not, for a single second, believe that marketing this series like this is unscrupulous.

I also have a book series that is not stand alone. All 3 must be read in order.
Do I give away book 2 randomly to entice others to buy book one?
No. I've never done that.
Do I give away book 1 randomly to entice others to buy book 2 + 3?
Yes, yes I do do that. Yes.

Every single chapter of every single book I have ever written has a Joke or Reference (sometimes both) for the name and it makes me happy.

Cold unfeeling and unsexy robot voice is my favourite way to edit!

Christina wrote: "Holding Wood"

*Giggle.*
That is a good title! I like it!

I present this as a title for someone else to grab:
A Great Book Title

I can't think of anything that Aaron didn't already say! :D

Print off a page of each size and see what looks better to you? :)

I really like this idea Dwayne.

My very last read through of an edit I read the chapters in reverse.

I already know that the story flows by that point, so I am only trying to catch errors. Also, you get tired while editing and the later the chapter, the more it can suffer.

Edwin wrote: "@cb archer - Do you write LitRPG? I’ve just read my first proper LitRPG this week and REALLY enjoyed it. Yep, definitely a good start and I’m thinking of writing some myself. :-)"

I had to look up what that was, but yes, yes I do write that! Thanks for the definition! :D

I write books set inside video games, so that's a pretty good start I think.
:)
I also like to write and design ideas for pen and paper rpgs, and board games. Nothing of that side is published, but I'm trying to change that.

Cowbells and tentacles? Is that combo the legendary silver bullet?

Two words: More tentacles.

Joey wrote: " I read you shouldn't write these in first person"

Writing advice is made to be broken. Do what feels right.

From what I have experienced, and also heard about quite often, and have seen as well, you need to be super upfront with what is in the book.

If there are f/m and f/f scenes, you better tell people that somewhere. I always list content as the last line in my book blurbs, but even then it doesn't always work.

Personally, I don't mind what happens in a story, because that is the story, but goodness, some people can get absolutely furious if it isn't spelled out for them.

Not the normal level of reader furious either, Like, unreasonable furious. Starting a smear campaign because there was a m/f scene in a f/f book that had a bi main character? Yes, I have seen that multiple times. I've seen one happen because a bi female character mentioned they had a boyfriend in the past. He wasn't even in the darn book besides that one mention and a huge group of people blew up over it and bashed that poor author for months. It was even listed in bisexual. Goodness, people can be tools.

Normally I don't harp on things like this, but I have legitimately seen many of those campaigns come up. I know of a few people that actively seek this kind of thing out so that they can smear authors and try to antagonize them with their group of smear buddies.

So protect yourself. Please. Tell people what they are getting into. And as a side note: I really hope I didn't discourage you with this post. Please don't get scared, I just don't want to see that happen again to someone if I can stop it!

And when there is a blurb, I'll come look at it! :D

I find fairy tales can be good jumping off points for all kinds of ideas!

However, Peter Pan isn't a fairy tale.

Sorry. It isn't actually even in the proper Public Domain, so you probably can't use it. Research it thoroughly before going ahead with anything related to it to keep yourself from getting in hot water. Even 'loosely based off of' things from that franchise can be problematic because of special copyright rules that only it holds.

At the very least you will need to make a donation to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity to use anything Peter Panesk.

Okay. Let's see what we have on the ol' character list under jobs.
*Cracks knuckles*
Admit it, you were waiting for me to get here!

- Sexual Deviant
- 3D Graphics & Animation Assistant to Sexual Deviant
- Professional Video Game Speedrunner / YouTube Celebrity / Famous just for being themselves
- Rockstar - Drummer / Idiot
- Rockstar - Singer / Tantric Sexpert
- Rockstar - Guitarist / Host of Reality TV Show about House Flipping with the help of orphans.
- Professional Cosplayer / Blacksmith that makes movie props
- Jewellery Designer that has an Etsy Site
- Librarian who sneaks away from real job to be a virtual librarian
- Student - Popping Math Major
- Student - Beekeeping Major
- Student - Cooking Major & Dance Minor
- Student - Plot Development of story they are in Major
- Owner of Sex Store / Fan-Fiction Writer / Tournament Level Pinball Player
- Event Organizer for Entertainment Expo
- Professional B*tch (I really do have that listed)
- Barista

Those are just their real jobs. I could go into virtual jobs like Exhibitionist Tractor Racing Lesbian or arcade owning unicorn, if I wanted to get really weird.

5 points for anyone who can tell me who was the Barista! :D

I always think questions help. They are a hook to draw people in.
:D

I liked #1 the best of the three.
But it has a dangler!

"might spell the enslavement." - of what?

:)