Dale’s
Comments
(group member since Sep 15, 2017)
Dale’s
comments
from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.
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Alex wrote: "Hi everyone, as many of you know, I have 4 books out in a series, book 1 of which is free as a loss-leader. Book 5 will be coming out towards the end of the year, and I've noticed during one of my..."
In our publishing venture, we've noted that most authors do best in their home countries. I wouldn't fault the language or the setting for that, though, especially not where mysteries are concerned. Americans love British mysteries. But unfortunately, I can't really offer any good marketing advice. I'm still trying to figure out how to sell my own works, and I'm a native of these parts. :-P
For the blurb, try this on for size:
A parent's worst nightmare: your child has been kidnapped.
The Keatings are living that nightmare. Their daughter Alice has been taken, and only Inspector Stone can find her. But between an armed robbery investigation, family problems, and the machinations of an ambitious underling, he's got a few problems of his own. Worse, the more he searches for Alice, the more it seems the kidnappers are after more than just a ransom. But what do they really want?
When the trail leads to the Russian Mafia, even Stone might be out of his depth. Can he find Alice before the kidnappers execute their deadly plans? If not, Alice won't be the only victim.
Interesting, yes. I'd heard that a lot of agents and editors were biased against first-person stories, but I never knew why. As for the three examples (formal third person, first person, close third person), I honestly don't feel any difference between the formal and close thirds, and very little difference between either of them and the first person version. I tend to write what I guess would be a hybrid third person, using names as necessary to make sure there is no confusion as to who is talking, but using pronouns as much as possible. I also leave off attributions as much as I can.
I achieve "closeness" by picking a clear POV character for each scene and getting into their head as quickly and as strongly as possible. Indeed, that's one of the strengths of the third person narrative. You can switch POVs from time to time to get inside different characters' heads. With most first-person narratives, you're stuck in the protagonist's head for the whole story.
My next flash fiction piece, Mighty Hunter.I've also updated my series, The Realm of Tiny Giants, to include nearly everything to this point. I'm wondering if it's worth adding anything further to it. It's not getting any attention.
Judy wrote: "that's nice:good news! "Indeed. Thank you!
Sela wrote: "... when you read "herpetologist" instead...So glad you got good news! "
Thank you. I've sometimes joked with Kathy about that. "Time to see the herpetologist, dear." She usually laughs and then scolds me. ;-)
Lit Up has published the final version of Zoe, the short story I previously wrote "while you watch." If you read the first draft, or even if you didn't, you may enjoy this one. Please read and share. thanks!
Ted and I both have one this week. His is the first entry, mine the last. I think this is probably the shortest flash fiction story I've written (just 169 words).Read the stories here.
Voting will be open on Wednesday and Thursday. Thanks!
Thank you, everyone.
In a non-writing related "something good," my wife saw her hepatologist on Friday, and it looks like for the time being there is no need for a liver transplant. Some lab work is still pending, but things are looking good enough that unless something unexpected shows up, we won't have to go down that road yet. That's taken a big load off her mind.
Carmel wrote: "Congratulations, Dale and DJ. Sweet to hear all those efforts are paying off. You two are certainly prolific!"Thank you! I just found out this morning that I've also achieved "Top Writer" status for the "Short Story" tag.
Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger) wrote: "Thank you for taking the time to share this information, Dale. Hugs"You're quite welcome!
A flash fiction supernatural western . . . is that mixing too many forms? ;-) Sanity Check.The checkbox to post it to Facebook was missing when I published it, even though my account says I'm connected. Anybody else noticing that?
Thank you everyone, and congratulations DJ! I'v found I generally make less on fiction than nonfiction because it doesn't usually get as many readers, but a good story can reach a lot of people sometimes. I just noticed that "Zoe" (the first draft piece I wrote with comments about my writing process inserted) has garnered almost 500 claps, which is far more than anything else I've written. I'd have to check on reads and views to know how well it did in those categories. Medium recently opened up the ability to submit Partner Program stories to all publications. (That wasn't the case before.) Some publications let you keep all the earnings. Some, like Writing Cooperative, take a cut to support their operations, which is why I don't know how much I made from them yet. I'll get that payment in around the middle of the month, as I recall.
Forgot to mention, I have a rather clever little story (so says meself) in the IU flash fiction competition this week.To read the stories, go here.
To vote (for me, I hope!) go here.
Thank you!
You're quite welcome, Alex. I've had some experience at it, and there are others here, I've noticed, who are very good at it too. Maybe some of them will chime in when they can.
I think I'm starting to build up a "critical mass" on Medium. Starting. Not only did I achieve Top Writer status in fiction last week, but my numbers have been running about twice as high as before, and in some cases higher, and I've earned over $70 for July, not including my Writing Cooperative articles, which are reported and paid separately. That's still not enough to retire on, but it's nearly three times what I had averaged for my first few months.
