Back to Basics

It's so simple to get lost in writing a book.


You forget the character's names, location, who's point of view you are writing it from, if you have a break from it, and that's exactly what happened to me.

It's sounds like common sense but on some books I have read from new authors in my field, it seems like they hadn't made a plan of their chapters as one minute there in England and the next they are using American slang.


I always make an outline for each chapter of any new book I start to remind me what I need to do, what characters need to be introduced and to keep me from going off on a tangent.


I then make a character plan by giving each character a name, a personality and purpose in the book.


This really helped me as if I didn't do this from the beginning my story would be all over the place which is really distracting to the reader and takes away some of the enjoyment.


I'm not saying I stick to these plans rigidly, as if I want to change some parts I will but it really helps me as a guide as I can half a million ideas and try to cram them into one page and forget about the ideas I had a day ago.

Monthly Deals from Self Publishing Websites

I love to ask questions!


Especially if I am parting with money!


I want to know it all before I agree to anything and many times when a deal seems too good to be true it usually is!


I am in the final stages of publishing my first book and although I have done my own marketing, I am at the final stages of proof reading it (even though someone else has done this but I'm a perfectionist! It's my flaw! lol) and have created my own website, I still need a little help with the front cover, so I contacted a self publishing website to see what they do for the price they quote on there website as it is quite expensive (I think).


So, I emailed them and the answers were quite vague, so after approx three to four emails, I found that the same woman who was providing me with the information had changed her tone in the emails.

In the beginning, when I told her I was very interested, her emails were upbeat, friendly and quite informative, whilst also giving my the sale speech.


However, the last two emails were quite diluted, they went back to being vague and in the beginning she used to send a reply straight away, however the second to last reply was a few days late and I am still waiting for my last reply.


I am slightly nervous to spend over £100 for someone to tweak my front and back cover as I have done most of the work myself and I am still unsure on how they justify there fees.


I am going to go onto their forums to speak to some other users of this site, however I have learnt that when they want your money and think your interested they are very quick to keep in contact and give you all the information about these fantastic deals they have, however, when you want to delve deeper it's slightly disturbing that they go quiet like there is something to hide.


Just a thought!

What Type of a Self Publisher Are You?

Having friends who are also writers is really interesting.


Some have published books already and some are new writers like myself and are still doing there research, however, I have found that there are three different self publishing writers.

The three different types of self publishing authors are:

• Firstly there are the ones who have completed their work and are ready to publish it. They have done some research, have a marketing plan and have made firm decisions on who there target audience is, built up a marketing strategy on how they will reach them and will put their books in more than one outlet.

• The second are the ones who rush to write their books, haven't necessarily done their research, put their book on one website and hope it will become a hit. They don't have a firm target audience and have no marketing plan. 

• Lastly, there is the writer, who after five years they are still editing their manuscripts and although they have Facebook and are doing some marketing, without a complete book, it is wasted effort.

I am not preaching as I have been person two and three but I am firmly on my way to being person one as through my highs and lows of writing, I have realised the following:

• Proof reading the work myself is essential,

• The book's front cover is a major part of the marketing and I should put some money aside if I need to pay to make it fantastic,

• I need to spend at least an hour a day catching up with emails (about the book), post messages and add friend's in the social networking sites I am registered with, to stay present and relevant, and;

• Don't be scared to publish it! This was the biggest hurdle I have to get over! With any writer, they work is their baby so to have some negative criticism would be heartbreaking but not everyone has the same taste! So I've got to learn to read them, take the advice and dust myself off and continue.

Lighten Up Authors

Ok, firstly can I say I'm not too sure about this new Blogger upgrade.


I don't mind change but it looks more sterile and a lot harder to find even the basic features (put it back please!!! lol)


Secondly, whether it's reviews of new books, comments on pics and statuses in social networking groups or posts on blogs, I have found many authors to be very uptight about the smallest of things.


For example, I found this picture and liked it immediately so I posted it in a few groups on Facebook but I don't necessarily agree with all the points but I thought it was a fun read for my fellow authors.

Bad idea!


Straight away I got a comment back from a stuffy author who took offence from the picture and urged the readers not to listen to every step!


I was gob-smacked!


Obviously, with too much time on her hands, she clearly didn't see the funny side of it and proud to say I didn't reply to her silly comment, it got me thinking.


All the successful authors seem to be the ones who are:

• Serious about their work but know how to laugh,

• Take all criticism and work on it without being offended,

• They are flexible and don't jump on everything they see to make their opinions known.

I've also found that, like any other industry, authors are competitive and some will do anything to see you fail if they are not gaining success.

Very much an eye opening experience!

Facebook Groups

Having experience some very cynical authors, I have decided to rant on here.


To give you the background to my rant, I set up some Facebook groups to discuss topics I found interesting and to let fellow authors promote there work.

When I started to get new friends, I would automatically add them to the group in case they were interested.


Now, bare in mind I took no offence to people wanting to leave the group, I received three messages from individuals who found it rude and against Facebook etiquette to automatically add them without their permission.


I must admit I did find this insulting as my reasons for adding them was purely positive and to have it thrown back in my face by writing such silly comments on the pages, was immature when it only takes a few seconds to remove yourself from a group and it takes longer to write such a negative response.


Needless to say I did write a 'lovely' response and removed them for the group but is it so difficult to believe that a fellow writer is trying to do you a favour? Or have you had so many bad experiences in the literary world that you are cynical of everyone in it?


Well, if someone wanted to add me to a group, the only reason I would leave would be if:

• The group had no relevance to myself,

• The admin were just bombarding me with their work and;

• If I was getting negative comments

Otherwise I would be grateful to meet fellow authors and see their work as it could help me with my own projects.

Pen Names

Not wanting to pigeon hole myself in one genre, having more than one pen name appealed to me, as I didn't want to use one name all the way through my books.

Having written women's fiction, paranormal books and real life stories, I didn't want to confuse the reader (when I publish them) if they get used to just reading my women's fiction books.


The difficulties I found that would arise from having numerous pen names were the face to face advertising, for example, book signing events.


Although, many people would understand my point of view, many would believe it was dishonest and maybe they would have less confidence in the authors work.


Pen names, to me, are not to deceive the reader, as it has been happening for years, but I feel it is to show that a writer doesn't have to be one dimensional and can delve into other genres but using a pen name maybe easier to get the author into other genres without the reader prejudging them on their name.

Readers Expectation of Self Publishers Work?

Having read the reviews on some self publishers work, it's not hard to believe that many of the negative reviews are to do with poor grammar and spelling.

Writers decide to self publish there work for many reasons, such as:

• They have more control over their work,

• They get to keep more of the profits, and;

• They do not have the start up costs needed to keep looking for an agent

The last reason was the deciding factor for me realising self publishing was my way forward.

Researching books in my genre, to gage what price I should sell my books at, gave me the opportunity to read some of the reader's reviews and I decided to concentrate on Amanda Hocking's range of books.

Most of the positive reviews complimented her storyline, however many of the negative reviews mentioned the same thing, which was she needed a proof reader to look at her work before she published it, as there were too many spelling mistakes, words missing and the grammar was poor.

However, for a book of approx 65,000 words, priced at $0.99, what is the reader expecting?

Do self publishers get a little bit of a break for little mistakes like grammar, incorrect spelling and missing words due to the reader knowing that one of the reasons the writer maybe in self publishing is due to the lack of upfront funds and therefore does not have the money to pay a proof reader? Or does it ruin the read when the reader sees these mistakes?

For myself, if I found numerous spelling mistakes and bad grammar, it would put me off continuing to the read the story as I would want to get my red pen out and start making the corrections but if it was for $0.99 what more could you ask for?