Five final proofreading checks to help your writing shine by Wendy Janes – 85K90

A great post by Wendy Janes to help us put the final proofreading touches to our work @WendyProof

Selection of proofreading checks. Focus of this post is on words rather than punctuation or formatting issues when proofreading a novel. Wendy Janes #85K90

Source: Five final proofreading checks to help your writing shine by Wendy Janes – 85K90

AM I WASTING MY TIME? | lucinda E Clarke

Amen! I couldn’t have said it better!

I have come to the following conclusion. Not all books that hit the charts are good. A lot of excellent books never sell. You can become a NYT bestseller by targeting carefully and working the syst…

Source: AM I WASTING MY TIME? | lucinda E Clarke

EDITING 101: 27 – Semicolons… | Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog

One of the clearest explanations of the use of semicolons I’ve read. Thanks to Chris and Susan

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others. Courtesy of Adirondack Editing Semicolons Just…

Source: EDITING 101: 27 – Semicolons… | Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog

The Complete Guide to Choosing Your Book Cover Font –

Typography isn’t my forte, but this post is packed with information.

We already wrote about how important is to get your book cover right: first impressions count, as you might not get a second chance. In case you missed it, you can read it here. There is a tiny detail that many people overlook when designing their book cover (or when deciding whether to accept a…

Source: The Complete Guide to Choosing Your Book Cover Font –

Amazon Notifications Regarding Copyright | Nicholas C. Rossis

Nicholas Rossis shares very useful information with all authors. Thanks!

Image this: You have the perfect campaign lined up, and are counting the days before you finally start paying off the cost of those ads. Then, you receive an email from Amazon accusing you of copyr…

Source: Amazon Notifications Regarding Copyright | Nicholas C. Rossis

31 Words and Phrases You No Longer Need | Grammarly

There are many lists of these words, but it’s always good to get a reminder.

Close your eyes. Imagine words as people in an office setting. The verbs scurry about, active and animated, getting things done. The adjectives and adverbs…

Source: 31 Words and Phrases You No Longer Need | Grammarly

NetGalley for a Self-Published Debut Author – The Devil’s Prayer Blog

Luke Gracias shares his experience as an author using NetGalley. I review for NetGalley and have had the pleasure (OK, it’s scary too) of reading his novel, and I can recommend it. I’ll share a more detailed review soon, although you can find my review in NetGalley already.
Thanks so much for his words about the quality of the reviews (not to blow my own trumpet, but I definitely check the reviews there before deciding on the books).

Background This is a summary of my NetGalley experience as a self-published debut author, which I believe may be of assistance to other self-publishing authors and may also be of interest to NetGal…

Source: NetGalley for a Self-Published Debut Author – The Devil’s Prayer Blog

#TuesdayBookBlog #Audiobook ‘I Love Your Cupcakes’ now available in audio. Would you like a complimentary copy? Just ask! And, if you blog about books on Tuesdays, you might be interested in this.

Hi all:

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will remember that I have featured audiobooks before and also talked about the possibility of using ACX to create an audiobook version of your book (if you’re a writer. Or if you are a narrator you can also advertise your services there. See here my previous post).

Since I wrote that post, I’ve been lucky enough to have been picked up by Marie and Tim O’Dell at Red Rose audiobooks, and the fantastic Gwyn Olson has narrated my book. And now, is live!

I Love Your Cupcakes, audio with Gwyn Olson as narrator

A reminder of what the book is about:

Dulce, Adelfa and Storm, the protagonists of I Love Your Cupcakes are business partners, friends and share some “interesting” family connections. All the men Dulce meets only want to talk about her cakes and she’s tired of it. Her friend Adelfa, although she’s a Chemistry Professor, can’t manage to find the recipe for the perfect relationship. And Storm, the third of the partners of their bakery/coffee shop/bookshop/art gallery and ex-fire station, is an artist who is not a master in the art of love. How could they imagine that at the studio of the contest “Do You Have What it Takes to Be the Next Baking Star?” they’d find sexual harassment, cheats, fights and also love? Recipes included (only for cakes, not love!)

Tag line: I Love Your Cupcakes is a “sweet” romance, a virtual fantasy high in calories and a fun adventure. Dare to give it a bite!

Here the links:

In AUDIBLE (UK) AMAZON.COM    AMAZON.CO.UK     i-TUNES

You can get a sample at all the links mentioned but also here in Sound Cloud.

ACX always provides complimentary codes for Audible (although if you’ve never bought an audiobook through them, you have the first one FREE). At the time of writing this I have received codes for the Audible.co.uk site and have requested some for Audible.com (that I hope they send me. They have done in the past). If you’d liked to get one, please leave me a comment and I’ll need your e-mail address (normally WordPress provides that for people leaving comments, although it doesn’t always work). And I’d be very grateful if you found it in your heart to leave a review once you’ve heard it. And feel free to share this post with anybody who might be interested.

By the way, do you prefer this modified cover, or the original one?

I Love Your Cupcakes by Olga Núñez Miret. Cover by Lourdes Vidal

And, this is especially for all of you BLOGGERS and REVIEWERS who blog about books and writing. I’ve mentioned before that now I’m a proud member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. Rosie and her collaborators have been exploring the use of HASHTAGS especially in Twitter, and now have a new tag for those of us who blog about books. It is: #TuesdayBookBlog.

A bit more on the subject of tags, from Rosie’s mouth (or pen):

Most Twittering bloggers know about the benefits of ‘blog share’ days; it all started with Rachel Thompson and her fabulously successful #MondayBlogs.  Now, there is also #wwwblogs on Wednesday (Wednesday women writers), #SundayBlogShare, #ArchiveDay on Saturday, and probably others, too.

Since Rachel started #MondayBlogs, she’s been battling against people using it for book promotion; her view is that you have six other days of the week to promote your books, but #MondayBlogs is about the writing itself ~ in other words, blog posts about anything other than your book!  She now states that there should be no book promotion of any sort on #MondayBlogs, not even third party reviews, which is understandable as there are so many ways in which her guidelines can be abused.

Because there are so many avid readers, writers and book bloggers who understand the benefit of blog share days, Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team is introducing a new hashtag on Tuesdays, for book posts only: #TuesdayBookBlog.  The first day this will be used is Tuesday, November 3rd.

As anyone who starts a hashtag knows, the main difficulty involved is dealing with ‘hashtag abuse’ ~ tweeters who spot a popular hashtag and add it to any tweet, whether relevant or not.  We will do our best to limit this; please feel free to point someone in the right direction if you see this happening.

So what are the guidelines for #TuesdayBookBlog?

DO post:

Blog posts only!

Book reviews ~ either for your own books, or other people’s, or book reviews you’ve written on your blog.

Author Interviews ~ yours or others’.

Cover reveals ~ yours or others’.

Upcoming/new releases ~ yours or others.

Articles or guest posts about books/writers ~ you/yours or others’.

DO NOT post:

Anything that isn’t a blog post

Blog posts that aren’t about books/writers.

Porn.

Blatant promotion of an existing publication that isn’t a proper article – in other words, we don’t want to see a blog post that consists of nothing but the cover of your book, Amazon blurb and buy links.  This was one of the ways in which #MondayBlogs was abused, after people were told they couldn’t use the hashtag for tweets with Amazon links.

To get the most out of #TuesdayBookBlog:

Retweet others on the hashtag and spread the word.  Hashtags work best when you do your bit, too.

The power of Twitter is in the retweet, more than the tweet.  Hashtag retweets are never guaranteed, but do remember that the more you do, the more you are likely to get back.

We hope you will achieve good results from #TuesdayBookBlog, and look forward to seeing you there!

Thanks to Rosie for her hard work to promote books, thanks to the team behind the audio, and thanks to you all for reading. Remember to like, share, comment and if you want, CLICK. Ah, let me know if you’re interested in a code to download the audio, and don’t forget to use the tag #TuesdayBookBlog if appropriate. 

 

 

 

#WritingTips from Jerry Jenkins(@JerryBJenkins) with thanks to Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman) and a question of websites. Ah, and me, on the #radio. This time interviewed!

Hi all.

If you’re regular reader of Lit. World Interviews you’ll recognise this post, but although originally I was only going to ask you a question, I thought I my as well share this with you too (especially because Canva proved very temperamental and it took me a great deal of time). But don’t miss the question at the end! Or to check the surprise!  (sorry, things kept piling up!)

Here it goes:
I don’t know you, but I have recently been attending many webinars, on different topics. Recently (22nd October) I attended a free webinar organised by Jane Friedman that had Jerry Jenkins (21 times New York Times best selling author) as guest, on the Secrets of Storytelling.

I’ve read, listened to, and attended courses, lectures and seminars, on writing. And like all advice, some will resonate more with some people than others. Although the seminar seemed geared towards people who were trying to find their confidence writing (if one ever gets there) rather than seasoned scribblers, I enjoyed the personal wisdom and Jerry’s style of delivery, and I thought I’d try and bring you some nuggets from it, especially as I know that quite a few people are going for NaNoWriMo. I decided to try and make it less boring with images, but we shall see if it works…

Although most are self-explanatory, I thought I’d give a few pointers on some.

1. Jerry Jenkins said that formulas don’t really work, as they make the story seem… well, formulaic, I guess. He referred to Dean Koontz How to Write Best Selling Fiction when talking about the classic structure. His brief summary was: Plunge your character into a terrible situation; everything he tries to do makes the situation worse; things look hopeless, and hero saves the day (by doing what he’s learned on the way).
2. In reference to his previous point, he said that although you have to put your characters in extreme situations, it’s best not to start the novel at that point, because it’s better to build up the character so that the reader gets to care for him, or her (or them).
3. I think it’s self-explanatory. Don’t hit the readers in the head with a hammer, although for him, there’s always a message, otherwise there’s no novel.
4. There isn’t always romance in all novels (or movies, it might depend on genre) but it’s very common. He gave many examples of not very original ways of introducing the love interest (although referring to movies, characters bumping into each other, blind date…), but it all depends on how it’s done.
5. His advice, that I’ve seen in many places, is that it’s best to get the story down once you get writing, and not try to edit at the same time. He said that he’d edit first thing the next day what he’d written the previous day. In the case of NaNoWriMo, unless your brain goes completely blank and can’t remember what you’ve written, it’s probably best to keep going…
6. Nothing to add (unless it’s a peculiarity of a character).
7. I couldn’t find a colour that would show well, so I’m transcribing: Writers are readers. Read in your genre, but also read about the craft of writing. He mentioned quite a few of his favourite books, but the world (or the library) is your oyster.
8. In discussing point of view of the character he reminded the audience that it’s like the camera we see the action through. He mentioned the most common (first person narrated in past tense, or third person limited), and noted that perhaps for somebody starting to write, first person might be easier. He talked about his own experience of struggling with one of his stories and how he heard a particular character talking in the first person in his head, and that was it.
9. This is a very personal take on the matter, but he observed that sometimes other characters in the story might take over and run with it.
10. He didn’t seem to be a big lover of flashbacks explaining the background story, as he felt they slowed down the action. In real life we get to know people gradually.
11. This one sounds a bit zen, but he referred to himself as a pantser, and said that sometimes you might get to a certain ending through writing the story, and that’s a perfect way to make sure that it’s surprising to the reader, because it’s a surprise to you too.
12. If you’re worried, you’re in the right track. He referred to this as the ‘Exponential multiplication of emotions’ equation. If you feel sad at some point in your story, the reader will feel the same but magnified. And if you feel bored… well, you get the gist.
13. You’re not alone. His message was that if you get stuck, there are many places where you can get help, be it virtual or real writers’ groups (his comments were invaluable but…), coaches, books, other writers…

You can check Jerry Jenkins’s page here

http://www.jerryjenkins.com/

He offers courses, including one was promoting seminars later in October, but you can check his page and that of Jane for more information if you’re an interested (I have no connection with them other than attending the webinar, that was free).

 

And here, the question. I’ve been debating what to do with my website. I have a separate website (apart from this blog), here. I got the domain before I started publishing books, after reading how important it is to have your own website. As I knew nothing about how to create a website, I contracted a programme, also with GoDaddy, that facilitated the creation of one’s own website, without requiring any programming knowledge. Even with that, it’s a bit cumbersome to make many alterations to it, and it’s fairly static. I’ve never had much traffic going through it, and have more people reading my blog (that I also share there, but a lot of the readers come directly from WordPress). I’ve been thinking for a while that I’d be better off getting rid of my separate website and just having my blog/website, here, in WordPress. I investigated, and it’s possible to use your own domain (also to buy your personal one through WordPress, but I already have my own) to host the blog (here some information I found about it). Because of other things that I want to explore in the future, I’m considering moving to one of their premium plans (some info here). Now, the programme I mentioned for creating websites is live for me (I’ve paid for it already) until the end of July 2016. And no, it’s non-refundable. Of course, if I move the blog to my domain at www.OlgaNM.com, that site will disappear (I also have the instructions on the Go Daddy side of things, here). Part of my thoughts have to do with changing a few things here (I’ve been adding stuff, but I want to get rid of some too), so I’m not that concerned about what it looks like. I plan on that changing at some point.

What I wanted to ask is if any of you have done this (or part of it) and how have you found it. I’m not the most technical of people, and although I know there’s support available, I want to try and keep it complication free. Any thoughts or personal experience would be greatly appreciated.

And the surprise. Here I’m being interviewed by Freddy Piedrahita. We’ll be running a programme interviewing writers and artists in the future. Have a listen and see if you’d like to join in!

http://www.spreaker.com/user/emotionalhealth1/olga-nunez-interview

Thanks to Jane Friedman and Jerry Jenkins for the the webinar and thanks to you all for reading, and for your help. Do take care, and good writing. And of course, don’t forget to like, share, comment, and CLICK!

 

#RomancingSeptember Day 29 I Love Your Cupcakes by Olga Miret @OlgaNM7 #books

I’m honoured to be featured in #RomancingSeptember with my novel ‘I Love Your Cupcakes’. Thanks, Rosie and all romance lovers! And don’t miss her reviews and the reviews of her team!