Alexis’s Comments (group member since Jan 04, 2017)

Alexis’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

I know that when it comes to the release of albums, most record companies shoot for a 4th quarter release in order to have the most successful launch possible. I was wondering, does the same thing go for books? Should we all be paying more attention to the timing of out launch dates? Or is it of no importance?

Let me know your thoughts.

Alex wrote: "I generally have coffee, if I'm honest, but I do love a nice cup of tea as well."

I can't drink anything hot except chocolate milk lol.

R.L. wrote: "See what did I tell ya Alexis?"

You were right, lol!

R.L. wrote: "Carole wrote: "I love those headers she puts on- For RL she did hearts and a book- all in black and white images- so chic!!"

I didn't even realize that until you pointed it out. I'm tellin ya Alex..."


Lol :p

I was kind of scared of doing an interview because I was afraid I had NOTHING interestinf to say but I had fun answering Groovy Lee's question. Great idea R.L.

You English and your cup of tea @Alex. :p

Carole wrote: "Alexis- I love the tea cup- it's like you're chatting over a cup of tea."

Thanks Carole, that's exactly what I was going for! :D

I did my interviews and published them on my blog.
R.L. Jackson: http://alexiswills.com/?p=490
Groovy Lee: http://alexiswills.com/?p=503

Thanks ladies!

I'm not a native English speaker either Elina so I feel your pain. Goodluck with the search!!

R.L. wrote: "I agree to an extent. I took similar advise and was told in a review that it made some things long winded. Unless his reaction is going to be central to the story and propel it along, I would keep ..."

Maybe it's about finding a balance. And well, maybe that particular reviewer found your sentences long winded but what if she's an outlier?

Thank you, Roughseasinthemed. I will keep what you said in mind as I start editing my book.

Alex wrote: "Alexis wrote: "This week I've read/am reading:

A Body Resurrected - Groovy Lee
Crashing into me - R.L. Jackson
The Lover's Potrait - Jennifer Alderson
Judge by the Cover - Melissa Abigail"

That's..."

Yeah, I went a but overboard with Amazon's 1-click buy feature this month lol.

Roughseasinthemed wrote: "As the person tangentially behind this post, I thought I had better comment!

Basically I agree with the extract and link. I am ambivalent about the 'action' tags that invariably are used as dialo..."

Asking for a "friend" here (lol): what would you recommend replacing "He growled." with?

This week I've read/am reading:

A Body Resurrected - Groovy Lee
Crashing into me - R.L. Jackson
The Lover's Potrait - Jennifer Alderson
Judge by the Cover - Melissa Abigail

Carole wrote: "Great Article Alexis. I just had my first chapter book edited. The editor advised me against bookism- which apparently I do all the time and it is annoying to editors.

A bookism is something like ..."

Oh wow, yes. Her suggestion really turned that sentence into something special, lol. You gave me a new task for the day. :D

I was reading the "Finding an editor" thread earlier and poster Roughseasinthemed recommended handing a manuscript over as "clean" as possible. Her suggestion reminded me of an article I read a few days ago that I really felt was useful. So I thought I'd share it with you all. :)

Here are some snippets.

--

What can I do in advance of edits to make the edits go faster?

Search for the following terms
That
Read the sentence aloud. If the sentence makes sense without the word “that”, please delete this word.

It
If at all possible, replace the word “it” with a more concrete noun or phrase. Example: It didn’t matter. = The crappy weather didn’t matter.

Was
In instances where you’re using it in a sentence such as: He was tall. He was sad. She was pretty. She was tired. – please attempt to re-write to show the reader rather than tell.

He was tall. = When Jake walked into a room, his head nearly brushed the top of the doorframe.

She was tired. = She struggled to keep her eyes open and bit back a yawn.

** Telling is usually a sign of lazy writing. Put some effort into these sentences and try to draw the reader a picture with your words. :)

Action Tags
If you use an action tag (He laughed. She chuckled. Bobby rolled his eyes.), make sure you separate the dialogue with a period (or question mark or exclamation point, if applicable), not a comma, and capitalize the first word in the action tag.

Use action tags a lot. These create a more vivid picture for the reader. They help show the character’s personality, and also, bring a setting to life.

If you use something other than an action tag, please try to stick with the word said. Anything else draws the reader’s attention and reminds them they are reading a story ... rather than living the fictional dream. Examples of exceptions would be if something was whispered or yelled.

Redundancy

Read through your manuscript and look for redundancy – He shrugged his shoulders. He nodded his head. He squinted his eyes.

** A person ONLY shrugs their shoulders, nods their head, or squints their eyes, so “his shoulders”, “his head”, and "his eyes" are not needed.

He shrugged. He nodded.

Read more here: http://firebornpublishing.com/Editing...

I'd like to try!

That is cool as hell. She probably like the dog picture. :p No, just kidding. I hope it's swag bag related!!

Carole wrote: "Interesting article. I wonder how many of us actually think of an audience when we write. The question is, are we writing for ourselves, to create a brand, or for an audience of people with similar..."

I think the way to be succesful is to find a way to combine all three. Make sure there's a market for what you want to write, write what you want to read, and write it well.

Only thing I can think about is putting them into Carol's swag bags.

"between investigating an unrelated armed robbery,"

I'd leave out "unrelated" since you already specified that he was dealing with a kidnapping. I don't think the word is needed.

Sorry for doing this bits by bits, I'm operating in four hours of sleep, LOL.

I think some people might think; "What's a DI?"

Wrong thread