Eldon’s Comments (group member since May 30, 2016)

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

Tomas wrote: "It's possible to go with *** (or any fancy scene-break you use) followed by a "[X days/months/years ago]", then make sure to end the scene with a scene-break again. If you want to be totally sure, ..."

That is an option...

As some readers have trouble with long stretches of italics, is there another way to denote a flashback at the beginning of a scene?

Debra wrote: I write mysteries, romance, comedies, coming of age stories, stories about depression, Native Americans, and I just finished one with seniors citizens going on a wild adventure...."

Just curious Debra, do you find marketing more challenging when writing across so many genres? Does your fanbase follow you, or do you need to deal with different subsets of readers?

Tomas wrote: "I'm not an expert but can you share what method you used for the formatting? Have you done it yourself? If yes, what software have you used? Or have you hired someone to do it for you? If anyone is..."

I agree with Tomas, in order to help we first need to diagnose the problem. I've formatted many books and would love to help you out, but need to know more first :)

Jay wrote: "But trial and error? Does it work for surgery? Learning to fly? Carpentry? "

Let this be the end of it Jay. I don't engage in "knife fights" on the internet. You're purposely taking a valid point to extremes that aren't relevant to the discussion. There are no absolutes in this world. Whether you believe so or not, you can't say reading doesn't teach how to write. It may not teach you how to write, but it could very well teach someone else. We each have our own road to walk, and there's more than one way to reach success.

Good day.

Jay wrote: " Universities offer four year majors in Commercial Fiction-Writing. There is no way in hell that you can "trial and error" yourself into that knowledge, because your own work will always make sense to you."

Jay, universities may offer four year courses in fiction but to suggest anyone need take them in order to write is ridiculous. Trial and error may not be your preferred term, but how do we learn? By doing. You learn to write by writing. And yes, you'll make mistakes. You'll try something and find it doesn't work. No big deal. Try again. You're right, fiction's goal is to entertain. And in no way should preconceived notions about techniques or rules get in the way of that goal.

As for reading, we'll need to agree to disagree on that one. I strongly believe, as another famous author does, that if you don't read, you don't have the skill to write.

Dwayne wrote: "Fair enough, but how do you entertain if you don't learn how to write, first? I've had a number of beginning authors send stories to read. Nearly all of them spent little to no amount of time study..."

I hear you Dwayne. Young writers for sure need to learn how to write, but that's done primarily through trial and error and reading as opposed to a strict adherence to some set of rules. Although a million monkeys could be quite entertaining lol

Phillip wrote: "Dwayne wrote: "I have seen it said in this forum, and I think this might be the best rule of writing, "Learn the rules, only so you know how to break them."

I've seen that "rule" a lot and hate it..."

The only rule of writing that matters, is one must entertain. That's it. And the reader will pass the final judgement on whether or not you did :)

Dwayne wrote: "(Brenda folded her arms and glared. "Don't lie to me, Maynard. I saw you with my sister at the bar last night.")"

What was Maynard doing at the bar last night, Dwayne? ;)

Phillip wrote: ""

Awesome Phillip :D

Dwayne wrote: "S. wrote: "Why do you think that is?"

Having seen well over a hundred blurbs come through here and commenting / helping with over half of them, I can condense the biggest problem into one sentence..."

Great points Dwayne!!

S. wrote: "I am an indie book editor, and multiple times I have been asked to write blurbs for authors. I always do it for whatever amount of money they think is fair; as a long-time reviewer, I don't find bl..."

I think it's the struggle of having to condense all these ideas that fit into a 200 page novel into 200 words. Most find it a difficult task.

Bryan wrote: "Eldon wrote: "While I can understand the upset about people not living up to their word, I feel it's important to point out that as author's we should be seeking unbiased feedback anyway. It's nice..."

True enough Bryan :)

While I can understand the upset about people not living up to their word, I feel it's important to point out that as author's we should be seeking unbiased feedback anyway. It's nice to have friends and family read out stuff, but their comments will be inherently biased. They don't want to hurt our feelings and will tell us what they think we want to hear. But for growth as a writer to occur, we need to hear the unvarnished truth. This is something a stranger is far better placed to provide.

Caroline wrote: "Hell, maybe she tried to read it and couldn't get past the big words...."

LOL

- wrote: "I am planning to use KDP ebooks and paperback, plus Ingramspark, for paper and hardback.

I would love to know if authors save four copies, and format each one independently, then upload.

It would..."

My recommendation would definitely be to keep at least two copies (print and ebook) as they vary in requirements and trying to use one for the other won't work out well.

Rosalinda wrote: "JAKe wrote: "But you're receiving royalties on books you've shelled your own money for to send to your readers. There is no profit in that for you. It all seems to me to be a major net loss, especi..."

As a CPA myself, I completely understand where you're coming from Rosalinda :)

Rosalinda wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Eldon wrote: "Tomas wrote: "Gail wrote: "You don't need reviews, but you do need followers to be considered for their feature ads"

That seems even harder to achieve, tbh."

Not sure..."

I know they're expensive but, $1,588?! Wow! What genre charges that much?

S.U. wrote: "I've published both original and translated works of fiction---under the same name. This was clearly a mistake. So, I've been thinking about unpublishing my original works and republishing them und..."

Can't help you with that S.U. Sounds like a real hassle though :( Hopefully someone on here has the experience to provide you with a few pointers.

Tomas wrote: "I know, but it seems a bit naïve to expect that. Trad-pub books, done by companies who can spend thousands on editors, can't do that if they tried. It's almost impossible for self-pub authors.

The..."

Totally agree. But, I also doubt they enforce it that strictly.