The Pit and the Pendulum

of Self Publishing

Vincent contemplates doing something drastic after reading an unedited novel.

A while back I announced I would be reviewing books for my blog. I’ve met many wonderful writers via Twitter and my blog and received a nice little pile of books to review. A delight to someone like me, who loves to read a good book.

Most of these little tomes are self-published. I was a bit leery about that, but also excited, because I love helping others. And a good book review can do a lot for an author’s sales. However, in the course of reading these self-published books two realizations dawned on me:

Most of them are first drafts.

And none of them are professionally edited.

This came as a shock to me. Because each of these books have their own websites. And the authors attached to them are, without exception, nice people who are writers. They have blogs and are active on Twitter and Facebook as writers. So as I flipped through these books I wondered, do these folks read? And if so, do they not see that their ‘novel’ is not:

1. formatted like those they read

2. as long as those they read (in most cases)

3. as polished as those they read

Because one’s experience as a reader would inform one of these things. Wouldn’t it? Or are we blind when it comes to our own work? And if we are blind, then wouldn’t this be all the more reason to have our work edited by someone else? Preferably a professional?

I’m a little saddened to find this is the state of affairs. In the course of belonging to the writers groups I do I have had opportunity to read a few novels that were either destined to be self-published (their authors said) or were in fact, already self-published. And I always found them disappointingly amateurish and terrible. The results of the high and unrestrained excitement of a month of NaNoWriMo, or some such. But, these were all from authors with no internet presence; people who were isolated in their writing, or who had perhaps never written anything prior and had no training in it.

So I didn’t expect to encounter quite the same from these internet savvy folks who have so much more ‘going on’ for them as writers.

I won’t be doing reviews of these books, and I now have gotten myself into the unfortunate position of having to tell these writers why. Sure to be a morning of uncomfortable email writing, especially since I like the writers as people. But I won’t say a book is good if it is not for whatever reason. I cannot recommend a book that was a trial for me to plow through. And it is upsetting to me to have to dash anyone’s feelings.

Here are the main issues I found with these self-published novels. This first category concerns formatting:

1. No indents. (Really? You didn’t know you were supposed to indent at paragraphs?)
2. Not properly setting dialogue apart, where it should be, and/or indenting it.
3. Double spacing at the end of every sentence. (I have seen this on manuscripts over the years. The writers always insist it’s proper. It’s not. It’s an old fashioned typing habit. And it looks really odd in a printed book.)
4. Sometimes using quotations for dialogue, sometimes not. Sometimes using single quotations (within the same body of work) instead of double quotations—for no apparent reason.
5. Whole pages without a single break or indent, sometimes with dialogue buried in it.
6. Sometimes italicizing thoughts and sometimes not.

Ignoring these basic rules of English grammar makes the reading very difficult for the reader. Is that what you want the reader to experience when reading your book? Difficulty and distraction?

These next issues concern points in the actual writing that a good edit would have pointed out to the writer:

1. Using the same word many times within a paragraph.
2. Using too many adverbs or adjectives. (Which weakens our writing)
3. Using the same adverb or adjective repeatedly on the same page.
4. Excessive wordiness
5. Unedited dialogue which would read so much better if tightened up.
6. Rife with clichés.
7. Punctuation missing or improperly used.
8. Words misspelled.
9. Words missing.
10. Typos.
11. Undeveloped plot points which could/would have been developed in subsequent rewrites and would have made the plot more interesting and complex and surprising.
12. Under-developed or flat characters. (Again, this could be remedied by rewrites.)
13. No sensory description whatsoever. Sight? Sounds? Smells?
14. An imbalance between exposition, summary, action and dialogue.
15. Word count too low to be considered a novel. (Is 45,000 words  now a novel? When did that happen?)

People, don’t let the rush to say you’ve published a novel make you publish something less polished, professional and complete than the novels published by traditional publishers. Right now the pendulum is swinging toward self-publishing. But experience has taught that trends always swing back and reach some point of equilibrium. Where that will be nobody knows. One thing I know for certain: I do not want to see the high standard of literature turned into something shoddy. Please keep our body of literature up to a standard we can all be proud of and enjoy. If you have the time and money to hire someone knowledgeable to build a website for your self-published novel, why not spend the same time and money on getting it properly written, edited and formatted?

If you don’t, I will venture to say, you will never be taken seriously. And your novel will not become a classic that outlives you and is read and loved by many.

And isn’t that the goal?

(I will still be reviewing novels for self published writers and traditionally published writers alike. The only change in my review policy is that I will request a first chapter from any self published writer prior to agreeing to read the entire novel.)

A great link to basics of manuscript formatting: here.

Broken Ones: A Review & Interview with Author Sophia Martin

The author at her home in Mount Shasta

 

It was a rainy Saturday morning. I’d planned on spending it writing. But that was before I made the decision to jump onto Smashwords and quickly download the copy of Broken Ones Sophia Martin gave me for review. I thought I’d just open it and take a peek—you know, just see what kind of writer she is and what I was in for.

By page 4 I’d forgotten all about my plans to write (thanks a lot, Sophia). The first person narrator’s voice is natural and tough. Louise tells us she’s thought of killing her brother-in-law, Everett, an ex-cop who likes to pound on her little sister, Marie—who Louise once again comes home to find sleeping on her couch, surrounded by Marie’s three little ones.

Everett comes looking for Marie and his kids the next morning, doesn’t find them, and beats Louise. Louise wakes the next day to Marie sitting beside her hospital bed, learns Everett is up to something illegal and has threatened to kill Marie if she leaves, for fear of her telling what she knows. Louise makes the decision she must get them all away from Everett.

Followed by an Amber Alert, they make their escape: Louise, Marie, Marie’s three children, and  a neighbor’s neglected pit bull Louise has been dying to rescue, all stuffed into Marie’s mini-van. Louise pulls strings and obtains fake ID’s, and a beat-up old station wagon that can’t be traced by Everett and his cop buddies.

What follows is a fear-drenched run for the mountain town of Mount Shasta, Louise struggling to deal with her spiritually broken sister, while leaving a false trail of breadcrumbs in a gambit to throw Everett off their track.

I don’t want to give away the plot. A haunted (or is it?) cabin, and a town full of interesting people—some willing to help, others not—make this a satisfying read. If I have one disappointment with Broken Ones, it’s only that the reader never really finds out just what Everett’s hinted at nefarious dealings are. But all in all, it was a lively read, and well worth the price of downloading it. 

What follows is my interview with Sophia.

What led you to write about domestic violence?

I was a counselor on a rape and domestic violence hotline for a year, and the people I spoke to stayed with me after that. I went into the job with some of the typical ideas—that if a man hit me, I’d just be out of there, that there must be something wrong with women who wind up in that kind of relationship. Working the hotline opened my eyes and gave me empathy for survivors of domestic violence. I wanted to write about it because of that.

Why do you think ghosts turn up so often in your writing?

Good question! It’s a combination of things. I was always afraid of the dark as a child; I believed that ghosts would get me once the lights were off. That lasted well into my early teens. And then at some point I lost all faith in ghosts (and everything else) and the idea of there being nothing after death was much more terrifying. Now I am back to believing in them, after years of spiritual searching, but I’m not frightened of them anymore. I think that journey has been such a big part of me; it just seeps into the writing in many ways.

You are a teacher – how does that effect your writing schedule?

Oh, it’s a bear. Teaching can be good and bad, and when it is good, it is a huge sap on my creative energy. When it is bad it just saps all of my energy. So it can really be an obstacle. But it also gives me a window into many lives, which can inspire me.

Why did you choose to self publish your work as e-books?

I got really excited at the possibilities epublishing presents. I like the freedom to write whatever I want, without having to consider whether it will please agents and publishers. I have no beef with agents and publishers, but they have their rules and I don’t want to be constrained by them. It’s a lot of work to self-publish, but I find that many people are willing to help, and with their help I’ve been getting it done!

What has the e-book experience been like for you?

Mostly positive. It’s exciting to know that I already have readers enjoying my books. I’ve gotten encouraging feedback. It’s work, though. I’ve had to reformat two of my eBooks and figuring out the right way to do that took a while. And marketing is not easy; I’m trying to find the best way to do it. But people like you make that hill a bit easier to climb!

What are you working on now?

I have a series about a psychic—the first book is out, entitled The River and the Roses. I finished the first draft of the second book last month and have been letting it sit for a while before I get into my first cycle of revisions. I’ve been batting around some ideas for other stories as well as the third book in the series. But at the moment, I’m not doing a lot of writing. I plan to treat May like NaNoWriMo, though, and aim to write 50,000 words of the third novel then.

Who are your favorite authors?

I love Jacqueline Carey, who wrote the Kushiel books (very, very different from mine). Another favorite is Qiu Xiaolong—he’s a Chinese author of detective novels set in Shanghai. I also love YA fantasy, and one great author is Libba Bray. Oh, and have you heard of the Kiki Strike novels? Great girl adventures! Those are by Kirsten Miller. I could go on.

Tell us something about yourself that nobody knows.

I worked at a sandwich shop a few years ago. The mayo and the horseradish squirt bottles looked very much the same. So for a while, when people asked for mayo, I’d give them horseradish instead. It was an honest mistake—but when I figured out what I’d been doing, I never told! It was too late to fix the sandwiches. Why tell? Right? Oh boy. Still feel bad about that.

And so she should. But shady sandwich making activities aside: Sophia is a sweet writer. Check her out here.

Tucson Festival of Books

The schedule of events came out this past week for the Tucson Festival of Books. I am busy perusing it and planning my  two days there with the writers of the Arizona Novel Writers Workshop .

The very first order of the day for me, of course, was to locate those events featuring Arizona-based writer  Diana Gabaldon, since hearing her speak (squeee!!!) is one of the main reasons I’ll be attending.

Read  up on advice on attending conferences this morning. Will take into serious consideration points concerning not breathing on an agent’s (or a certain favorite author’s) neck from behind (with or without breath mints), or following said agent or favorite author to the ladies room and then lurking outside. (Also promise not to shove my manuscript under the stall door).

Here’s what the Arizona Star has to say about the Book Festival.

The festival is scheduled to take place over the weekend of the 12th and 13th of March.

Hope to see you there!

A Pox on E-Readers!

Yea, that’s right, you heard me;  a pox on ‘em!

(Or maybe just a nasty little e-book virus. Dead power source, maybe?)

Okay, that may seem a little harsh…let me explain.

I am sick to here (picture me with my hand to my brow) of hearing statements like, “E-books are the wave of the future” and “paper books will soon be obsolete.”

Really? I don’t think so.

Oh, and let’s not forget my favorite comment – uttered by a guy a mere 10 years younger than me and possessed of a head like a bristly blond cement block, “you need to get with the new technology and stop being techno-resistant.” My reply to him? Dude, I love technology; I am on my laptop hours a day. I do the research for my writing on the internet. I carry a cell phone. I have a website, and a blog, for crise sake!

See, this last comment is the very crux of why I am irritated. Some people (and the list includes pretty much anyone who doesn’t really know me) assume that since I don’t want to run out and purchase an e-reader it’s because I am afraid of technology – and I find this misconception both patronizing and annoying.

So let’s put that one to bed first..                                                        

I love useful technology and embrace it. The kind of technology where life would be harder or less convenient without it. The conception of the World Wide Web was the most important invention since the wheel in my opinion. And cell phones are right up there with penicillin.

It’s the gratuitous stuff that I have a problem with; the ‘new technology’ that seems designed merely to make us think we have to have it, but which really doesn’t add any significant value to our lives. And yes, I am talking about e-readers, here.

So, let’s have no more of that kind of techno-resistance talk.

Here’s the thing: I love books. REAL books. The kind that beckon to me from the bookstore or library shelf like a siren’s call to a randy sailor. I love the feel and smell of them. The heft and girth of them. (And yea, I prefer the big ones – when it comes to books, size does matter – pass me one of Diana Gabaldon’s 1000 page pleasers). I love the colorful jacket art and turning them over in my hands to read the back copy; opening the cover to read the long teaser coyly hidden inside the front jacket. Bookstores? Wonderland. Used bookstores? Dusty-smelling, dimly-lit Heaven. Used bookstore with a latte machine? Ahhh, Paradise.

Are you starting to breath heavy yet? Cause I am.

I love holding the book  in my left hand and slowly turning the pages with my right. It’s something tactile. And don’t give me that bunk about how you can do that with an e-reader, cause I’ve tried it, and honey, it ain’t the same. It’s a simulation of the experience, not the experience itself.

I’m not buying that argument that e-books will save trees, either. Human beings consume trees in the form of paper in a thousand ways every day. Are those who claim e-readers should replace real books for this reason installing bidets and giving up toilet paper? I doubt it. (I see those jumbo packs of extra plush and soft in your baskets at Wal-Mart.) When you give up your TP, then maybe I’ll start to take your tree hugging sentiments serious.

Alright, so let’s look at some pros and cons of real books VS the virtual.

If I drop my real book in the pool or tub – two of my favorite places to read – I simply fish it out. A day on the cool decking or on top of the dryer and it’s good to go.

An e-reader? Hmmm….Last I heard they aren’t water-proof, or even resistant. (The e-reader industry’s solution to this is a $40 zip-lock bag thingy. Double yuk.)

Advocates say an e-reader is great to take on vacation.

So’s a real book.

“But you can take all the books you want – loaded inside an e-reader,”  my friend Bethany will say.

Well, what kind of vacation are we talking about? Am I going to read more than one book?

“E-reader downloads have become really, really cheap.”

Uh huh. The last REAL book I purchased, a onetime best-seller, cost me 25 cents. Boo yah!

“The classics are now free downloads.”

Okay, now that’s a nice feature. I like to read a classic a few times a year. (Reading Ivanhoe at present). Granted they are, and have always been, available for free at the public library. Enough said.

“E-books help avoid the problem of having to get a publisher to accept your novel for publication. Someday everyone will just create their own e-files and sell them on Amazon.” This from a few writers I know and articles/blogs I’ve read.

Have the people that like this idea actually read any self published books lately? Because I have – and let me tell you, not many are up to the standards of what’s published by the industry. Does the publishing industry ever publish dreck? Absolutely. But most of what makes it to our bookstore shelves is well-written and well-edited. A lot of the self published stuff is barely even proofread, let alone edited. Imagine wading through a dung heap of self indulgent, low-brow gibberish to find the gems.

(This is not to say every self published book is terrible – there are some very good ones. But they are the exceptions. I know, I know: you think yours is one of them. Well it’s NOT! Can you say re-write? Go back to your desk and rethink that plot, deepen the conflict and develop your characters. Then have someone else read it for you. And I don’t mean your wife and 12 year old daughter. They love you, so they’re gonna lie. Have someone with an English degree read it – preferably someone who has read thousands of books.)

But that’s another blog.

Okay, now that I’ve had my little rant – and you have been very kind to stick with me and read it – let me just say, I actually like e-readers. I feel they are a nice addition to real books. And anything that encourages folks, especially younger ones, to read, is a good thing.

Just don’t try and tell me they are going to ever replace REAL books.

Click the link below for another viewpoint:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/books/05ebooks.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=books

What would you pay for an e-book?

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10450009-82.html

 

Want to weigh in? I’d love to hear what you think! Feel free to reply in the comments section below.

 

Workin’ for a Livin’

So, I went on a job interview yesterday. I already have a day job. But this market is tough and I’ve been doing the job I’m at for eight years. The longest I’ve EVER stayed with one employer. Technically I’ve done two enlistments – if I were in the military.  And I am getting restless. Also, the hours are crazy; people calling me all hours of the day and night; never really feeling like I am home and truly off work. My ideal job would be one where I get paid a lot to work noon to five, Monday through Friday, at something that wouldn’t intrude on my thoughts after I clocked out. Thereby leaving my mornings (when I write) and weekends (when I write in the morning and spend time with my family during the day) free.

Okay, that’s not true. My IDEAL job would be to find an agent who could get my novel published and get me paid to write. And if some producer picked up Sword of Mordrey and shouted “Wow, this would make an incredible, action-packed movie!” (which it most certainly would, by the way) and my novel got turned into a fabulous, epic adventure film, starring Brad Pitt as Lord Jocelyn and . . .

Okay, that would be my ideal job.

But I have to eat until then, right?

I heard about this other job while taking my license renewal classes. The woman sitting beside me mentioned she was interviewing for another position. I asked her what she did now and when she described her job it sounded like a dream come true. She works noon to five pm, Monday through Friday. And the pay, while not stellar, was decent. I honestly thought I had manifested my dream job. I gave her my number and she said she would give me a call if she got the other job. Well, two days ago she did. So, I went on a job interview.

Ugh! Not only was it not my dream job. It was a job I could never tolerate. I’m not going to bore you, dear reader, with the gory details. But I will say this: I dropped my $300 prescription sunglasses while leaving the building and now they have a big scratch on the left lens. Uh huh. That interview cost me.

So what is the moral or point of this story?

Sheesh . . . there’s no moral. I’m just workin’ for a livin’.  That’s what we writers do, while writing our short stories and novels.

But I am putting it out there to the Universe . . . I’ve got a great novel here. One that would make an incredible action, adventure movie. But you’ve gotta notice it before Brad Pitt gets too long in the tooth to play Jocelyn.

by Cynthia Robertson