Tomas’s Comments (group member since May 15, 2018)

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

Phillip wrote: "Why can't you use modern terms? Fantasy doesn't equal Ye Olde English. Nothing says your orcs (or whatever form of fantasy you have) can't speak like good ol' boys or valley girls."

For an orc, okay. But 'dick' or 'pussy' would sound VERY out of place for a high elf.

I've eventually removed it whole because there wouldn't be much left without it. Try again without a link.

Hello everyone,

I'm facing a problem with the very final drafts of my WIP. It concerns a sensual sex scene - and while the scene itself is okay (so my betas said), I struggle to get the right words.
Since my story is fantasy, I can't go with many commonly used present-time terms - but I don't want to sound like a thesaurus or a biology textbook either. I've tried various approaches but neither seems to be just right.

So, I wanted to ask how you approach these scenes when it comes to choosing the right words to fit both the scene and the setting. Are there any tips you can share (mind the no-link rule, please)?

Any help is appreciated.
-Tomas

Dashing Bling Read wrote: "..."

Please, mind the 'no links' and 'no self-promotion' rules. Removed your post.

Leon, I'd advise you to read the rule again. No links allowed. No self-promotion either. Deleting your post.

Good points, P.D., though a small black-and-white JPG picture shouldn't take too much space (and, as you said, adding it once and referencing instead of adding several times).

And thanks for the search tips, I'll definitely have a look at them myself.

To be honest, I don't expect much from e-books on that point, but if a chapter header is something nice and fitting, it's nice (I do realize how poorly I've worded this).

What I've found a good example is from some of the World of Warcraft books that tend to have a chapter told from a specific part of the story and thus they have the crest of the respective faction above the chapter number.
I've considered something similar with my book (though with just the crest of the main faction) - and the reason I probably won't do it is because I can't draw.

I guess the genre and target age group will affect this as well...

I don't know how many of you played the Witcher 3 computer game, but for those who didn't: Geralt sometimes randomly says 'damn, you're ugly' when attacked by a monster.
I've decided to make a small easter egg on it. The quote is Shal'rien recounting his experience with Kraasian Darkwood, a straightforward warrior who tends to solve all problems with the blade of his axe.

"...when we found that ogre, he said 'damn, you're an ugly bastard'." Shal'rien laughed. "And when the other came, he just shouted 'watch your left flank'. That was it until the fight was over."

But Kraasian has a softer side, in his own way. A line from when things get tough:

Kraasian walked over to Ellisia [his wife] and pulled her into an embrace as tight as their armor allowed. "I've never wished for anything else… to marry a woman like you, to stand and fight with her side by side against the worst the universe has to offer."

Both from a late draft of Eternal Defenders #1 (ETA: Q4/2020)

Haru wrote: "In my case, I have waited until I had three novels out to offer the first one for free. Still no success with that scheme myself, but other people have."

The series spillover scheme usually requires already having some amount of ratings and reviews on the first book so people aren't picking it up blindly (even if it's free). The competition is fierce (even more so in some genres) and there's probably at least a few authors running a discount in every genre, every day.
And marketing free books is even worse because it's always a money sink - which further exacerbates the need to have the series already set up well to get better chances for getting the subsequent books bought.

It might definitely feel like chicken-egg situation: you need reviews to get anywhere, but without them, people are less likely to buy your books, which means no reviews... and I know I'll need to spend some good time looking into approaching the first few weeks right when the time comes for me to send my debut into the world.

Page break only ends the current page, as far as I know. If you need another blank page, then you'll probably have to add it manually (which also means manually checking each chapter end).

I haven't read a physical book in a while, what's wrong with a chapter starting on the left page? I, personally, see nothing wrong with that, as long as it starts on a new page.

Chikodinaka wrote: "How do I go about reducing the cost of my books. They're children's books. They're pricey- kinda. I'm a self published author... "

Please, when your question doesn't have anything in common with the original question, start a new topic. When you do so, I'll try my best to help. For that matter, give us as much info as you can on your issue - what platform, what format (print or e-book), etc.

Maybe I'm way too pragmatic but I'd prefer a $1 run over free - weeds out the kleptomaniacs who grab tons of free books but read very few of them and the risk of those people screwing 'also bought' stats.
On that matter, I'd not consider a free run before the also boughts were already firmly set up so the free run doesn't botch up the algorithms. When will that happen? That's quite the question...

If the game was made by CD Projekt Red (the guys behind Witcher games), I'd take a videogame. Maybe because I can imagine the story I'm working on being made in a similar way to Witcher 3 narrative.

I've never tried to pirate books, so I don't know any site specializing in that and how exactly they work. And thus the name doesn't tell me much.

Anyway...

Unless you've paid to register for copyright, there likely isn't much you can do. If you had, then you may be able to go through the legal process needed to have it taken down, which would probably eat a lot of your time - it's likely the site is based in some third-world country (or 'tax paradise') and registered on a clueless 'volunteer' instead of the real owner so getting any compensation would be unlikely.

As far as I know, most pirate sites live off ads (often very shady) and bear a major risk of viruses, hence why Anna recommends staying clear of it. There's a chance (no idea how big) that the 'book' is actually a camouflaged virus.

Unless you're a well-known author in your genre, I'd probably not worry about it too much. The only way you'd have more readers among pirates than among paying readers would be if your book was massively overpriced while also being famous.

Let's hope someone else will be able to tell you more or give specific advice.

Italicized thoughts are preferred because it's clear. There were cases in books where I wondered if it was meant to be an internal thought or said aloud due to the lack of both "" and italicizing.

I treat it as it was normal dialogue - it can be a part of a paragraph when short but alone when longer. Of course, internal monologue is italicized, instead of in "".

You'll need to upload the image somewhere else - there are many image hosting platforms such as imgur, tinypic, and whatever else. Google drive might work as well, though I had some issues with generating the right link. Anyway, when the picture is uploaded, you right-click on it and select 'copy image link'

Then, here on GR, you enter this into your post:
< img src="(the link)"> without the space after the first <, and if the link is copied properly (the link needs to end with the file suffix such as .jpg), the image will show.

Mark wrote: "Overly used Words"

My case - anything that's way too overused at a moment. Once it's forgotten again, I won't mind.

Deborah wrote: "You need to see what works best for you."

This. And one thing to keep in mind is that it might be very genre- (or sub-genre) specific. Some genres don't have many people reading via KU, in others it may be well over 50%.

Pretty much what Dwayne and Anna said. Shirtless guy pretty much means book aimed at 20-ish women.