The proliferation of computers made it so easy for anyone who wanted to be published to just DIY it, then sit back and wait for the dollars to roll in. Mostly that didn’t happen. The dollars didn’t cooperate for several very good reasons, many of which have still not been attended to.

First and foremost, too much of this material was simply not readable by anyone other than the author’s family and best friends. There is a reason for the existence of editors and proof-readers, and it has never been more clearly demonstrated by the majority of self-published books. Not that commercially-published books are perfect. Not by a long shot! Some of them are a total disgrace to the concept of publishing.

It’s a well-known fact that it’s nearly impossible to proof your own stuff. If you’re fortunate enough to have an eagle-eyed friend who is fluent in the language used to write the book – good for you! You’re at least one step (if not more) ahead of the rest of the bunch. If you’re not, or if you have doubts, for goodness’ sake, hire one! Be sure to get one who knows the language however, (at least for proof-reading) and possibly ‘style’ (as in the Chicago Manual of Style or something similar) for readability purposes.

Punctuation is used for a reason. Without it, you have mush. Unreadable mush. Sentences were created with a specific purpose in mind, and while this philosophy can be thwarted occasionally, it can’t happen every other sentence, or again – you have mush.  For the most part, a sentence consists of a noun, a verb and an object. But not always. A good editor can sort out these situations, and make the mush into something intelligible. A good editor will NOT (or at least should not) try to re-write your story. It’s quite possible that suggestions for tightening or otherwise altering portions of the text will be made, and while nothing says you have to do this, you should certainly think strongly about it. (Especially if there’s a contract in the offering.)

There are no such rules in self-publishing. Oh, to be sure, some publishers may offer suggestions, but it still is pretty much a ‘what you see is what you get’ type of operation. Whatever you submit is what you end up with—warts and all! It can be painful to discover this.

There are certainly any number of success stories out there – the popularity of ‘social media’ with followers in the thousands can be responsible for great sales numbers. Some of these numbers are consistent with future efforts by the writer. Some aren’t.  Some few times, an editor has discovered a great writer/story-teller and offered a contract. This might not have happened had the writer not first believed enough in her/his own talents to take the risk and self-publish.

I, for one, say – Bravo to those hardy souls. I’ve not done this yet myself with any original material, but that day is fast approaching. Will the book sell? Who knows? Will I enjoy the process? Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing I do know – the sense of pride in seeing yet another book with my name on the cover as author doesn’t diminish, regardless of the identity of the publisher.

Two of the best books I’ve read in the last year or so are by the same author – who self-published both of them. They are well-written, exciting and compelling stories about a conspiracy set in the modern-day world of politics. They’re breath-taking in scope and audacity, and absolutely un-put-downable!  So why are both these books self-pubbed? Simple. They’re big books, but not unnecessarily so (I have no idea what the author could cut from either of them, but I wouldn’t say it couldn’t be done, either.) The major problem is they’re just simply uncategorizable. In other words, they’re too hybrid to conveniently fit into any of the convenient niches designed by the publishers—for their convenience.  It’s also quite possible that one of the things I most liked about both books would be considered a hindrance by some editors – NO four-letter words to be found. In other words, no ‘street language’.  How refreshing!  But the characters are intelligent, well-educated folks who are perfectly capable of expressing themselves without first stepping into the gutter.

If you want to know the name of this author and his two outstanding books, just send me an e-mail and I’ll be more than happy to share that info with you.

If you intend to self-publish, good for you! But be aware that in addition to your AUTHOR hat, you’ll also be juggling the ones that say PUBLISHER, EDITOR, PROOF-READER, ARTIST, STYLIST and (possibly most important of all) MARKETING/PUBLICITY. Think you can handle it all? Come back in the next few weeks, when I’ll try to explain the duties of the person under each of those hats, and throw in some other tips, as well.

Are you sitting there, trying to figure out if you have a book or not? There is always the possibility that I can help. You have but to ask. Write to me at: bookmechanic@gmail.com      Cheers!

At any rate, I wish all of you a very happy and prosperous new year! I also send apologies for being so behind with this blog – again.

The previous entry was about my latest writing effort – a novella for a Regency Christmas anthology. I’m pleased to announce that Wagered Kiss is now available, individually as an e-book, or in print with five other delightful stories under the title of Christmas Kisses. Both were available in mid-December, but my other big news sort of got in the way of my sharing those tidings in a more timely fashion. Thus the apology.

My bigger news is that I moved. Again. And hopefully for the very last time. I bought an elderly (not quite as old as I am, but just a year or two younger than my son!) mobile home that lives in a space about 500 feet from Lake Erie. I’ve dreamed of such an event for years, if not my lifetime, but never thought it could happen. I love it here. I love weather, actually, and where else could I experience it in the same way? Nowhere. When coming home from anywhere,  the roadway in the park that leads to my particular space closely follows the lake for perhaps 150 feet or so. I thrill to see the whitecaps on the lake or watch the huge waves crash against the break wall. I listen to the wind at night, and think surely I’ve died and gone to heaven. But in actuality, not quite yet, thank you.

I’m learning about home maintenance, heating, plumbing, electrical systems and all kinds of fascinating topics. Oh, not to mention gardening. A month ago, I planted 40 tulip bulbs along the side of my mobile home. I’ve been busily putting up shelves, and rearranging the first batches of stuff I moved in here, because after two months, I now have a better idea of where all this stuff belongs.

Of course, I am still reading and reviewing, plus proof-reading and editing. I’ve gathered information for another three or four blog posts along the way. And I’ve started another novella to submit for consideration in next year’s Christmas anthology.

If you would like to know more about my Regency persona, I invite you to inspect this:

http://www.marciajames.net/James_gang.html  

If you’d like to sample this delicious Christmas treat,  here’s a brief preview:

http://www.allegoryezine.com/wageredkiss.htm       You can access the entire site at: http://www.allegoryezine.com     then scroll to the bottom of the opening page, where you’ll see four names under Staff Previews. If you click on Hetty St. James, you’ll eventually end up at the first link here.

Or, should you wish to purchase your very own copy, here are some of the ways in which you may do so,  if you’re so inclined: (with my deepest gratitude!)

Wagered Kiss in Kindle

http://www.amazon.com/Wagered-Kiss-ebook/dp/B006N5OBF6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325548781&sr=1-1

Christmas Kisses Print Collection:

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Kisses-Elloras-Kate-Dolan/dp/1419965387/ref=sr_1_54?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325548991&sr=1-54

Wagered Kiss in Nook

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wagered-kiss-hetty-st-james/1108039514?ean=9781419936142&itm=2&usri=wagered+kiss

Christmas Kisses Print Collection:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-kisses-kate-dolan/1107731607?ean=9781419965388&itm=2&usri=christmas+kisses

Wagered Kiss in other e-book formats:

http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9568-wagered-kiss.aspx

Christmas Kisses Print Collection  (with summaries of all six stories)

http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9798-christmas-kisses.aspx

By the way, the rights to Windsong have reverted to me, and I’m preparing it for release as both a Kindle and a Nook book. Perhaps by the next blog entry (I’ll aim for every two weeks from now on) I’ll be able to give you details on that adventure!

In the meantime, thank you for your past readership, and I hope you’ll continue in this bright, shiny New Year! If you have questions, please do ask. I’m also looking to expand my editing/proof-reading services as well. So if you or anyone you know is writing a book and might be in need of such help – please ask about that as well. I can provide references.

Till next time — Happy Writing!

Anyway, here we are again. Lovely to see you all. Little did I think (or even suspect)  all that I’d have to report to you when I sent out that last note on June 7. I did say:

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I was pleased to have experienced two unusual events, slightly related to each other, but not really. I was both interviewer, and interviewee, for two different pieces about writers and writing.

Many of you know I write for CoolCleveland.com and one of my very favorite things to do for them is interviews. I have interviewed a wide variety of Cleveland folks, usually in the arts in some form or other, but not restricted to that. Frequently, it’s an author of a book somehow related to Cleveland, and usually, the book is published by Gray and Company, a publisher devoted to Cleveland. One of their recent books was by (and about) the long-time Cleveland radio personality Larry Morrow. To my great surprise, I discovered that Larry and I grew up about 20 miles from each other in Michigan, listening to a lot of the same radio gigs and so forth. Then we came (separately) to Cleveland and have been here since. We met for a delightful lunch, and here’s the interview:  http://www.coolcleveland.com/blog/2011/05/larry-morrow-a-legend-in-local-radio/

A day after my lunch with Larry (gee, there’s a title if I ever heard one!) a writer friend called to ask if I’d be willing to be interviewed for an article she was doing for a different Cleveland venue. Of course I said yes, and even though some of what I said ended up on the cutting room floor, it’s still a good article that says what it was intended to say. Here’s the link for this one:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20110509/FREE/305099956

I hope you enjoy them both!  Also, please remember:  Are you a writer nearing the end of the writing portion of a book, and wondering how to find an editor/proof-reader? If so, please send me an e-mail, and I’ll be happy to tell you about my editing services.  Also, I need to remind you that the SPAM filter for WordPress is VERY aggressive, and deletes almost every comment without even giving me a chance to see it first. It’s not adjustable, in any way. If you’ve written a comment that doesn’t appear anywhere, please write directly to my e-mail:  bookmechanic@gmail.com which is also the place for other questions. Thanks!

Rather than a synopsis, as for fiction books, one writes an outline for a non-fiction book. These are the most common items in such an outline.

• Overview of book
• Marketing Plan
• Promotion of the Book
• Competing Books
• About the Author
• Table of Contents
• Book Synopsis or Detailed Outline
• Estimated Word Count (generally not more than 50,000 words, plus photos, etc.)
• Chapter-by-Chapter Synopses (Chapters Four – Eleven)
• Sample: Thirty Pages (Chapters One – Three)

Overview: A general description of the book. The book should be in the words of the author (or first-person, if it’s told to a writer.)  If photos and/or charts of any kind would add to the book, will they be available? Are they of good quality?

Marketing Plan: Who or what is the anticipated market for this book? Where will it be sold, other than bookstores. This is an important question; you shouldn’t just fluff it off.

Promotion: This section would include any seminars the author might do, speaking to special interest groups, appearances at schools or studios. Would you be willing and ready to do interviews – print or other media? Would you start a blog, do FaceBook, Twitter, and LinkedIn? These are just some of the sources for doing promo.  Press/news releases should  be sent to all local area papers, TV and radio stations, plus any specialized media, regardless of where they might be located.  Finding review sources: print and on-line.

Competing Books: Generally, publishers want to know that you’ve at least investigated this possibility.

About the Author: Your biography, credentials, etc. Why are you the right  (best) person to write this book? Have you written any articles, taught classes or given seminars on the topic?

Table of Contents: Here’s a usual list of items for a non-fiction book. These items are NOT required, but can vary according to the author’s wishes.

• Acknowledgements
• Dedication
• Foreword  (could double as ‘the purpose of the book’.)
• Chapter One  (list titles only if you have them–they’re not required.)
• Chapter Two
• Chapter Three
• Chapter Four
• Chapter Five
• Chapter Six
• Chapter Seven
• Chapter Eight
• Chapter Nine
• Chapter Ten
• Chapter Eleven  (and/or however many chapters you anticipate)

Outline/Synopsis: A detailed description of the book.

Chapter-by-Chapter Outline/Synopses for Chapters Four – Eleven: A one-page synopsis for chapters four through eleven. These provide a quick overview of what will be covered in-depth in the chapters.

Sample: Thirty Pages – (Chapters One – Three): First thirty pages – short chapters.

Okay. Got all that? Good. Now it’s time to put your rump in the chair and get busy — writing!

Are you a writer nearing the end of the writing portion of a book, and wondering how to find an editor/proof-reader? If so, please send me an e-mail, and I’ll be happy to tell you about my editing services.  Also, I need to remind you that the SPAM filter for WordPress is VERY aggressive, and deletes almost every comment without even giving me a chance to see it first. It’s not adjustable, in any way. If you’ve written a comment that doesn’t appear anywhere, please write directly to my e-mail:  bookmechanic@gmail.com which is also the place for other questions. Thanks!

There are numerous ways to go from here. If you think it is commercially publishable, then you can proceed on your own to find such a publisher, or you can begin the search for an agent. Whichever method you choose, be sure to read their submission requirements carefully, and do exactly as they say. Do not deviate from the way they want submissions to be made. You’ll only hurt yourself in the long run.  Good luck and I hope you succeed! If you do, please come back and tell us all about it!

Perhaps your book is not one that falls readily into a particular niche, or you think it might not appeal to the broad readership required by the commercial publishers. After a good deal of thought, you’ve decided to publish it yourself. Nothing at all wrong with that decision, and don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise! Sometimes, it just makes a lot more sense to approach it from that angle, and will save you a lot of heartache in the process.

There are two ways to accomplish this. If you’re clever with the computer and its many guises, you might choose to do it all yourself, such as through CreateSpace. I’ve done this several times (for myself and clients) and have been very satisfied with the outcome. Come back next week for more about this method. The biggest feature here is that it’s Print on Demand. Simply put, the book is not printed until it’s paid for. Once money is turned in, the presses roll for one copy or many, depending on the order.

The other way to self-publish is through a full-service publisher.  Several years ago, many of these publishers were referred to as ‘Vanity Press’ and most of them didn’t have a very inviting reputation. No doubt there are still some of them out there, but if you look around, (do your homework first!) you will be able to find a reputable publisher who will do as you wish (and are willing to pay for). This would be instead of trying to talk you into a high-priced, low-quality deal, with which you’d end up with boxes and boxes and boxes of books in your garage or basement. Not a happy situation, at all.

Try to find a publisher who will let you order à la carte – or only those services you actually want or need from them, not just everything they offer.  As a for instance, they might offer design services – this would perhaps be selecting a font for your title, the layout on the page itself,  how  the first page of a chapter is laid out, and on which page does it start, plus numerous other graphic notions. Header/footers, front matter, maybe rear matter, too.  Not to mention – the COVER!!! Will your book be softcover or hardcover with a dust jacket? All or most of these things can be done in a very serviceable fashion by a clever non-artist, although perhaps not quite as well. (I don’t mean to insult my artistic friends, truly!)

Spend a day or two at a large bookstore or library. Find books of the same general type as yours. Look at all of these elements very carefully, and make a note of those that most appeal to you. If you go to a library, you can probably make a photo-copy or several of those things to be considered. Use these for reference when you investigate publishers. By the way, several of these publishers offer a ‘free’ guide to self-publishing. You’ll most likely end up on their mailing list, but if it’s FREE, why not try one or two or six, just to compare?  See what they have to say about the various elements—you can’t really know too much about all this.

If you’re unsure of your abilities, you might ask for an itemization of the suggested/proposed charges: that way you can pick and choose those that are the most important to you.  Then, look for an independent artist and get a quote for the same items. This will be of immense help to you and your decision-making.

Watch the size of the font chosen, plus line spacing and margins. In times past, unscrupulous publishers would use a larger than usual font (but not Large Print!) with almost double spacing and very wide margins all around. This is a nasty trick to require more pages, which will only cost you more money! Printing is priced by the number of pages, so the more pages that can be included in your book, the more it will cost you.  Stick to size 12 or smaller, depending (not all fonts are the same size!) and single spacing. Margins are moveable, but generally speaking, ½ inch on the outer side edge, with ¾ inch inside, and an inch on top and bottom are very serviceable.

Do use an indent at the beginning of each paragraph, and don’t have double spacing between them.  This is the default style for computers, not books, and you want your book to look as much like a ‘real’ book as possible.  As for covers – well! It doesn’t really have to be fancy, but you must be careful if you use an image. It may not be copyrighted, unless you own the copyright, or have been given permission to use it. If this is the case, be sure to mention that on the copyright page.  Unless you are producing it yourself, your publisher may insist on seeing such permissions, and they are within their rights to do so.

A word about choosing fonts: just because you can, don’t! When computers first achieved prominence, it was almost a contest to see who could acquire the most fonts! It became a great temptation (especially among newsletter editors) to show off their collections, with bunches of different fonts all over the page, many of them on the same page. This is really obnoxious to the reader, and you don’t want to turn off your reader. Trust me on that one.

Please do limit yourself to three fonts for the process. Certainly you can use a fancy or cursive font for the title, but not in the text, please! That’s one of your choices. It’s your decision whether to use a non-fancy serif font (such as this one which is Times New Roman) or sans-serif (no little legs – try Arial or Calibri, for instance) font.  Sometimes your title font is used for the Chapter designations throughout, and that’s okay.  Maybe you’ll want to use a symbol to mark a transition between scenes. That’s okay, too, as long as you don’t get too carried away with it.

Traditionally, the book info is in the headers, and sometimes page numbers as well. Or the page numbers might go in the footer. I have seen books with all that info in the footer, and it can be quite striking. It also takes a while to get used to it, but nothing says you can’t be different, if you want to!  After all, it IS your book! No reason you shouldn’t be involved with all of the process.

Please note: NONE of the above applies if you sell your book to a commercial publisher! They will do all this for you, and you will generally have very little to say about any of it.

Please come back next week for part two: publishing your book through CreateSpace and Kindle!

Are you a writer nearing the end of the writing portion of a book, and wondering how to find an editor/proof-reader? If so, please send me an e-mail, and I’ll be happy to tell you about my editing services.  Also, I need to remind you that the SPAM filter for WordPress is VERY aggressive, and deletes almost every comment without even giving me a chance to see it first. It’s not adjustable, in any way. If you’ve written a comment that doesn’t appear anywhere, please write directly to my e-mail:  bookmechanic@gmail.com which is also the place for other questions. Thanks!

By nature, I’m a cup-half-full kind of person, generally positive about things, but there are times I’m a real curmudgeon. Or maybe I’m a Luddite! Remember them? (No, I don’t suppose you do, really.) Well, they were the folks who, in 1812 (what was in the water that year, anyway?) who protested the mechanization of textile weaving.  To protest, they destroyed a lot of looms. Some few even went so far as to burn down the buildings that contained the looms.

Government called out the Army, but eventually, mechanization won out. That wasn’t the first time for such an event, nor was it the last. But the name stuck. These days, folks who oppose industrialization, automation, computers, or other new technologies such as e-books or smart phones are frequently referred to as Luddites. I guess I sometimes am one, and other times not.

I can’t say I’m very thrilled by e-books, but yet, I am intrigued by them. I still prefer the old-fashioned book-type book, the kind with paper pages. ‘Smart’ anythings leave me entirely cold. In fact, I wish HP or someone would create a ‘stupid’ printer. One that would do what the owner wants it to do, rather than to persist in doing what IT (the printer, that is) wants.  I get SO frustrated with these things!

Last September, I bought a new desk-top computer. It’s a dandy thing, mostly. It was NOT love at first sight. Not by a long shot. First off, the operating system was two or three generations newer than the one I’d been using for the past several years. This, of course, meant that probably half of my trusty software would no longer work. Grrrr.  But yet, for some strange reason, my ten-year-old rollerball (mouse) still works like a charm! (Shhh, whisper that, so it doesn’t hear and immediately go on the fritz.)

The biggest casualty was my beloved HUGE color laser copier/scanner/printer. How I loved that machine! I saved for two years to get it – it was that expensive! Oh, happy day, in October 2006, when I could finally order it and get it installed. Of course, I needed help – it weighed more than 70 pounds! It worked immediately, which is only appropriate, after all, when you count up all those dollars spent on it – more than $600. of them! I’ll have you know, I produced some truly gorgeous things on that machine. I really, really loved it. It never caused a moment’s difficulties, except when it ran out one of its four colors of toner.  What I loved most about it was being able to set the ‘default’ to B&W, even though it was a full-color machine. Also, there was a setting for ‘draft’ to be the default. Imagine that! The manufacturer actually had a built-in setting  to help save the consumer some dollars on replacement toner. They don’t seem to do that anymore. Shame on them!

But – the new OS didn’t want to hear about any of that. So, after several days of back-and-forthing between computer sales person and HP, the decision was rendered. I’d have to get a new printer, or else go back to the old computer. Unfortunately, the old computer didn’t want to do what I wanted (and needed) it to do, so, I gave up and started looking around for the new machine. In the meantime, I could still use the beloved printer by connecting it to the lap-top which was one year older than the new desk-top, and used the same old OS.  I became quite proficient at e-mailing things from one computer to the other, so as to print. As much as I loved that printer, this was truly not an ideal solution, and finally, unhappily, I gave up. A good friend now has custody of it, and promised it would have a long-term happy home with him.  (Happily, I have visitation privileges!)

Next I had to acquire a new printer. Two of them, actually. Now, my BIG multi-purpose printer is a wide-format inkjet copier/scanner/printer. It’s a SMART machine, and I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve wanted to whack it a good one upside it’s head in the 2½ months since it was hooked up. It took two weeks just to convince it that wireless (which it is) was not only a word in its vocabulary, but also a viable option.  Trying to input the info into the machine (not via the computer, which would have been ever so much easier) took the genius and quick fingers of a classical pianist friend, who’s 50 years younger than I am.

Then, I discovered it thinks it’s smarter than I am. Not so. Let me tell you, I’ll be here long after that printer has given up the ghost or gone to that great refuge for unruly printers, whereever it’s currently located. Example: I need to make a photocopy of my driver’s license. That should be easy enough, right? Wrong! The thing keeps spitting out sheets of paper, because none of them are the same size as what I want to copy. Excuse me?  It just so happens that I don’t care about any of that nonsense. I just want a copy of the license in one corner of the page, so I can put other stuff on the page with it.

I think I have discovered that it can be fooled, however! I put the license face down on the glass, cover it with a sheet of white paper, push the button and – voilà! Copy!  Bingo. Stupid machine is not smarter than I am. No way. At least for now. Of course, next week, it’ll come up with yet another new trick that will take me a week or so to be able to out-trick it! And after all, I do have the ultimate solution. It’s called the off switch.

Smart phone?  Umm, not this week, thank you very much!

P. S.  Some months ago, I wrote about book reviewing, which I really (mostly) love to do. Some books are much more fun than others, but still – I truly enjoy it. Last week, the publisher sent out an op-ed piece she’d written and asked us to please forward it to anyone who might be interested. In the hope that might be YOU – here’s the link. http://www.sanfranciscobookreview.com/viewpoints-weekly-columns/if-we-do-not-hang-together-we-shall-surely-hang-separately-thomas-paine/

There are some excellent points in here, and we all need to be reminded occasionally to BUY LOCAL. It filters down and does everyone good, in the long run!

Cheers until next week!

Are you a writer nearing the end of the writing portion of a book, and wondering how to find an editor/proof-reader? If so, please send me an e-mail, and I’ll be happy to tell you about my editing services.  Also, I need to remind you that the SPAM filter for WordPress is VERY aggressive, and deletes almost every comment without even giving me a chance to see it first. It’s not adjustable, in any way. If you’ve written a comment that doesn’t appear anywhere, please write directly to my e-mail:  bookmechanic@gmail.com which is also the place for other questions. Thanks!

But it took me a good many years, and numerous attempts to attain that exalted status, believe me.  And certainly I’m not the first person to have a  collection of rejections!

On occasion I stumble over a tid-bit of encouragement, and have made a habit of collecting them and trying to keep them handy. For many years, I had a page of them hanging over the kitchen sink, so that every time I did the dishes, I could read – and suffer, then get motivated by the ultimate success of those who’d gone before me.  Hmmm. I wonder if that’s why I’m not overly fond of doing the dishes!?

Well, anyway, these are a few of the items that were mentioned on that page. Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies all faced initial rejection. Jack London received at least 600 rejections before selling his first story.

J. K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter books have now been read by more than 350 million people, was turned down by a dozen publishers before she was picked up by Bloomsbury.

The record is held by the crime novelist John Creasey who suffered the indignity of receiving an unbroken succession of 743 rejection slips. He went on to enjoy some divine justice, selling tens of millions of books.

Proving the point of publishing absurdity, a writer named David Lassman established a few years ago, that even Jane Austen would have had difficulty in being published in today’s world. Changing only the titles and the names of the characters, he retyped the opening chapters of three of her classics — Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion — and submitted them under a false name. The result? Only ONE of 18 publishers and literary agents discovered the ruse! Eeegads! (I do not recommend that you try this, by the way. Plagiarism is serious business.)

Talking about rejections, it took the great basketball player Michael Jordan six years to win his first professional championship in basketball.

Lest you think you’re alone in this, read this paean to the rejection letter– No thanks, Mr. Nabokov . (Google found it for me-here-on another blog.)   http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/books/review/Oshinsky-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ei=5087&em&en=4176e79078fd3145&ex=1189396800

Oh, well.

Here’s more — Getting Published: The Writer in the Combat Zone by Leonard S. Bernstein  (not the composer/conductor/pianist)  tells of a manuscript accepted by a distinguished literary journal – on its 43^rd  submission. It had already been turned down by the same publisher on its 15^th and 27^th times out! James Joyce’s Dubliners was rejected by 22 publishers; Irving Stone’s Lust for Life by 24, and e. e. Cummings by 12. Emily Dickinson saw only 7 of her poems published in her lifetime.

I must admit, however, that a great many of today’s rejection letters could be avoided by one simple act on the part of would-be authors. CAREFULLY READ THE SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS!!!  I mean that, sincerely, and cannot stress it too emphatically. DO NOT send mystery novels to publishers of romance novels, unless they say they have a romantic suspense line. And vice versa – no romance novels to publishers of only mysteries! Especially hard-boiled mysteries! Or science fiction! If you’re a writer, you must be able to read, at least enough to discern which publisher is most likely to publish the kind of book you’ve just written. Or want to write.

If you’re writing a book that combines two or three or even four genres, pick the most prominent one and emphasize that element in your synopsis.

Then, hurry up and wait. If the publisher or agent says you’ll hear something in three months, wait three months and a week before inquiring politely if they’ve had the opportunity to inspect your submission. One thing about the new electronic submission process, you do lose out on being able to send a SAS (self-addressed, stamped) card for the recipient to fill out and drop in the mail to inform you that your manuscript had at least arrived where it was supposed to!  But the important thing here is to not make a pest of yourself bothering the overworked editor. And believe me, they are all overworked!

But still, if the submission requirements indicate that they are accepting manuscripts, that does mean they’re looking. They want more manuscripts. Write the best book you can, and send it to the most likely/logical publisher. Eventually, you may well turn those rejection letters into acceptances!

Happy writing – and good luck!

Are you a writer nearing the end of the writing portion of a book, and wondering how to find an editor/proof-reader? If so, please send me an e-mail, and I’ll be happy to tell you about my editing services.  Or, if you need a bit of assistance in just getting started, I can probably help with that as well. Again, I need to remind you that the SPAM filter for WordPress is VERY aggressive, and deletes almost every comment without even giving me a chance to see it first. It’s not adjustable, in any way. If you’ve written a comment that doesn’t appear anywhere, please write directly to my e-mail:  bookmechanic@gmail.com which is also the place for other questions. Thanks!

So, while waiting for books from the review sites, and also for requested books to arrive at my library, I found myself in that despicable place. First I stumbled over a 30 or so year old historical novel by a dear friend that I had somehow never read. That was great. But then—two days later, still no books.

Further rummaging disclosed the 1975 paperback publication titled “The Mysterious World of Agatha Christie” by Jeffrey Feinman. I’m pretty sure I’d read this some time ago, but it was there, and my hands were empty, so I picked it up again. The inside front page immediately captured my attention! It was a list of numbers headed: She holds ALL the records! Number 3 on the list (remember this was 1975!) was:

Her sales are near the 400 million mark, and she makes about $10,000.  a week in royalties!

And this was when a U.S. Dollar was perhaps half the British pound? (My quick research on the web states the pound was worth 2½-3½ times as much as the dollar in 1975, which was just before the devaluation of the pound from the election in 1976.) Still, certainly not what it is now! WOW!!!

Dame Agatha died in January, 1976. But whether you care for her books or not, she holds an unassailable place in the world of books. One reason why is on page 49. (I’m paraphrasing here, just a bit.) While working on her most famous story, Murder on the Orient Express in 1934, she and her husband, the noted archeologist and professor, Archie Mallowan took that train to Baghdad. “On the way back,” she says, “I was able to check on things I had thought about on the way out. I had to see where all the switches were. After he had read my book, one man actually made the journey to check up on this.”

Such attention to details put her in that number one spot. How can we do less?

Of course, depending on where your book is set, you may or may not be able to visit there. The future is a bit tricky, so here is where your imagination can be set loose. Who’s to prove you wrong?

The past is a bit trickier. To get some sort of idea of Colonial America, you can go to Williamsburg, Virginia. It’s perhaps 90% authentic. (I’ve never been there, so I’m going by heresay.) There are other such historically reconstituted places, as well, depending on the specific location you need. Chances are, there are history books with drawings or photos that can be a huge help.

But the one thing we should all take from any book by Dame Agatha – know yourself. She did one thing, and one thing only. She knew her limits, and seldom went beyond them. All her books (except the Egyptian ones) were set in the England of 1900-1940 or thereabouts, when large homes with servants were the norm. It was a more genteel way of life. Many of those houses didn’t even boast of a telephone! But it was a time and place she knew very well, and that country or rural atmosphere is redolent on every page of her books. And plays. They are, quite simply, period pieces, but the very best of their kind.

On the other hand, written during the same time frame (or very close) are the early books by Ellery Queen. In reality, Ellery was a pair of cousins, Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee.)   Set in the US, amidst a moneyed background, they embodied the new upstart jazzy America as lived in New York City. These are fast-paced, smart, and up-to-the-minute, considering when they were written – the first in 1929 and  continuing through the 70s or so.  They quickly expanded into radio, movies, TV and a mystery magazine.

I found my trip to the past to be most enjoyable. Should you ever find yourself in this predicament (and don’t want to re-read your own work) I can highly recommend a visit to your own bookshelf. Who knows what lurks there? You might be pleasantly surprised!

* —  *  –  *  –  *  –  *  –  *

Are you a writer–contemplating the beginning, or nearing the end of the writing portion–of a book, and wondering how to find an editor/proof-reader? If so, please send me an e-mail, and I’ll be happy to tell you about my editing services.

Also, I need to remind you that the SPAM filter for WordPress is VERY aggressive, and deletes almost every comment without even giving me a chance to see it first. It’s not adjustable, in any way. If you’ve written a comment that doesn’t appear anywhere, please write directly to my e-mail:  bookmechanic@gmail.com which is also the place for other questions. Thanks!

One of the first things I tell aspiring writers (you can look it up!) is this: Your manuscript is your ambassador to editor, agent, or anyone else in a position to further your career. It MUST be clean, professional caliber, no typos or mis-spellings, incomplete sentences, goofy word choices or anything else that can send out an ‘I’m a careless writer’ signal to the reader. If you are of a mind to self-publish, it’s the same command. And believe, me, this is not just a suggestion.

If you are not able to accept criticism of your work, do not submit it for publication. You must also be able to accept criticism in reviews, even if you publish it yourself.  Read on to find out why.

I happen to be an excellent editor and proof-reader, just not necessarily of my own stuff. I have a crazy memory system (eidetic, not photographic, meaning it’s not total recall, but seems to work best with numbers and letters. Anything written, in other words.) I was born with this trait, so I’m not trying to take credit for something that just is, but I also know that it’s rare. It can be taught to a certain extent, but not completely. It’s visual, to a great extent – I can recall where on a certain page that I’ve seen a similar phrase, or question or mis-spelled word, or whatever. At times, it drives me nuts, because I remember things I don’t want or need to, and cannot expel them from my sub-conscious.

However,  as I’ve stated previously, many times, although most people want to be a writer, not everyone is capable of producing a professional-quality manuscript. Some people are excellent story-tellers, but their writing skills are not at the same level. For many others, the reverse holds true. They write fluently and beautifully, and say nothing! I’m not sure which is worse, to be honest. As a judge in a goodly number of writing contests, I have, on many occasions, felt that the author was not a native-English speaker, and I’ve been proven correct every single time. There’s just something that’s not quite right. Personally, I feel that the contest coordinator should have caught these entries and not accepted them. It’s hardly fair to accept their money, even if the entrant is a whiz-bang story teller, when the basis of the contest is the writing ability.

Currently, there’s a real wing-ding going on regarding reviews. No matter how many books one publishes, an unkind review still hurts. But even worse is an unkind, incorrect, illiterate contribution. Free speech is great, no question, but sometimes there needs to be a way to balance these attacks against reality.

As I’ve mentioned here several times, I have a number of ‘free reads’ available at Amazon.com and elsewhere. (If I ever figure out where they all are, I’ll certainly post a notice here, somewhere.) I am, in no way, the only author in this category, believe me—some authors have posted older books in their entirety in the free reads category. Anyway, free means NO COST. None. Well, other than the cost of the e-reader, but I truly doubt that anyone bought one of the things merely to read my free short stories. So why then, would someone post a ‘review’ to say ‘this is not worth your money’ or ‘this is a waste of money’? Darned if I know how you can get something for nothing, and have it be a waste of your money. Strange economic system, I think.

Another major complaint about these short stories is that they’re only the first and last chapters of a ‘real’ book as an enticement to get readers to buy the whole thing. Really! Or, these are just the middle section, so buy the whole book to get it all. But what if there is NO more to the story? A short story is just that. Short. A story of 5000 words can hardly have all the attributes of a 50,000 word novel. But of course, snark is the big thing these days, and a good many of these so-called reviewers want to show off their own capabilities by exhibiting just how snarky they can be.

I have posted some 400 reviews at Amazon—as a top 1000 reviewer. I’ve been posting there since 1998, as I recall. You can check me out, if you wish at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1G17R47N27OXE/ref=cr_cm_rdp_pdp Every single one of these reviews is more than 100 words in length. I think maybe two are close to that, because I just couldn’t get into the book for whatever reason, in spite of all the other glowing reviews, and felt I should explain why I couldn’t. I didn’t demonstrate snark, however, just simple English to say why I couldn’t like the book.

If you find a review at Amazon that you like—or don’t like—you may (and probably should) at least check other reviews from that particular reviewer. Some authors review themselves. Interesting, if not very objective.  But as an old saying advises “consider the source”. Would you place more trust in someone who’s been reviewing a variety of books and CDs, for a number of years, –or the person who has posted –oh, maybe– 20 very brief (one or two sentences worth) reviews in the past three months – all (or most) of them for ‘free reads’? It’s all very interesting, isn’t it?

What started this particular blog entry was a now-viral, very famous public meltdown by a self-published author who demanded that an independent reviewer remove his review of her book, because it wasn’t a 5-star glittering paean to her general excellence. Actually, the review was not a bad review at all; it was honest in the reviewer’s opinion. (Based on this blog entry, I’d say he was generous, but that’s just me.)  If you want to know how NOT to respond to a reviewer – here it is:

http://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2011/03/greek-seaman-jacqueline-howett.html

Are you sitting there, trying to figure out if you have a book or not? There is always the possibility that I can help. You have but to ask. Write to me at: bookmechanic@gmail.com

Cheers!