Tag: books

Writer’s Quote Wednesday – George Orwell

For today’s segment of Writer’s Quote Wednesday, I take inspiration from George Orwell:

 

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“When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention (to)….” —George Orwell

I think this is a great way to sit down and write a book or article or poem. If you think more about your purpose for this particular piece, or you engage and have fun with the writing process in general, then I think you will unintentionally create something unique. Because you’ve put your all into it, you have the potential to create something really beautiful and powerful for readers. I do not believe the best songs were built under the notion that they will become hits, they were just written from the heart and that’s what makes them great. Anyone can write a book, poem, or sing a song, but when you can feel the passion, really feel it, and you know that it’s truly coming from the heart, that’s what makes it art.

About The Author:

I was first introduced to Orwell about seven or eight years ago when I read his book, 1984. I wouldn’t say he’s my favorite author but I did enjoy the book. At a time where I was just coming into a proper understanding of both myself and the world around me, it was an enlightening read.

Orwell was born June 25, 1903 in Bengal, India. His birth name was Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari, and he was a novelist, essayist and critic who went on to become best known for his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Speaking of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the title sounds like a throwback to us, like something old but for Orwell it was the future. He wrote 1984 back in 1949. In short, it is a look into the future of the world which is divided into three nations. In the story, Orwell gives us a look into what would happen if the Government controlled every aspect of a person’s life, all the way down to his private thoughts. It was the first time, before Minority Report (the movie), that I had ever heard of something called thought crime.

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And that’s it for my portion of Writer’s Quote Wednesday. As always, don’t forget to check out the links or the pic to see how you can join the fun. Don’t forget to also Like or Comment on the post of other participants. You get support by giving it :).

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Audio Books: Yay or Nay?

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I experiment with recording myself reading my own stories sometimes, (mostly for promotion of a new book) but I admit, I’ve never actually listened to a book. Seems kind of awkward for a book worm like me; I’d much rather read it. I have this image in my head that I may discover to be stereotypical in the future, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. You see in my mind, audio books (with the exception of poetry of course) are made up of mostly old people (no offense) who sit in rocking chairs narrating stories. But it’s not like the exciting person to person, face to face stories Grandma used to tell. Instead it’s long and drawn out. I don’t even know if there’s music involved, maybe. Makes me wonder: What components are necessary to make an audiobook something more desirable than reading the actual book? I do know that auditory learning, a learning style in which a person learns through listening, is one of the most effective teaching styles. Just look at music itself and how easily it is to learn something new just by adding a beat to it. From that end, I can see how audio books can help the auditory learner who depends on hearing and speaking as their main way of learning. I can also see how an audio book can come in handy for someone with an extremely busy schedule or for multitasking. I hear of some authors who offer an audio book version of their book in addition to the hard copies. With busy summers, I can see how this could be useful, even fun. But what if the story is super long and the reader’s voice is monotone! That’s scary. Listening to the book while reading it on the other hand, now that may prove an exciting experience I wouldn’t mind trying.

What are your thoughts? Would you offer an audio version of your book if given the chance?  Are you for plugging in or turning pages? Yay or Nay?

5 Horrible Mistakes Self Published Authors Make

Saw this on twitter, thought I’d share. These are some good points:

The Following is by Laurence O’Bryan:

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Self publishing is a golden opportunity. For the first time in history authors can reach readers without going through the traditional publishing system.

But many self published authors are making horrible, beginner-type-mistakes, which will cripple their book sales. Here’s my take on these mistakes:

1. Not getting outside help. Writers can’t generally be editors, cover designers and marketing experts, as well as being writers. Not if they want to do these jobs well. And asking a relative or close friend to do these jobs for you is probably worse than doing it yourself. Your judgement typically goes out the window when someone close to you does something for you. If you won’t spend money on getting experts your sales will be poor. I know there are occasional exceptions to this, but they only prove the rule.

2. Having unrealistic expectations. Most books, up to ten years ago, sold hundreds of copies. Only 1 in 300 traditionally published books, which got good editing, covers and marketing support, became bestsellers in the past. Publishing became a giant game of throw-it-up and see-what-sticks. With printed books it became ever growing and almost criminally wasteful, when you consider the dirty secret that most of the books you see in book stores are destined to be pulped. Now that game is in decline. If you do get editing, covers and marketing right, you might expect reasonable sales, but publishing is always a gamble, so never risk more than you can afford to lose. Great books don’t always sell well. And Print on Demand is way better than ordering books to store in a front room and then a back room – forever.

3. Not building an email list of people who might be willing to read and review your book on Amazon. This is one of the main reasons traditional publishers take so long to publish a book. They often send review copies out to a large group of their reviewers three months in advance of publication. This policy ensures that positive reviews will be posted day one after the book goes up on Amazon. Self-published authors should consider the day a book goes live on Amazon as a soft launch. The day you have five reviews is the day your book gets launched. The day you have ten is when it can hold its head up. The day it has fifty is the day you can expect Amazon’s algorithms to start presenting it to readers near the top of a list of books someone searched for. Congratulations!

4. Not focusing on what makes your book different. Whatever you write, you need to find something unique about your book. That you’ve written a good me-too book, like many others in its genre, is simply not good enough, unless you are happy with poor sales. Sensational writing, words that jump from a page, a heart-stopping plot, and real recipes from your grandmother in a village in Sardinia, where many people live to be 100, are all potentially unique aspects of a book, which will help you find readers.

5. Not believing in yourself. Self-belief is critical to long-term success as a writer, as in many walks of life.  Writing is a profession where those who believe they can and who don’t give up, succeed. Perseverance and a willingness to learn, to edit the whole book again, for the twenty-seventh time, are necessary characteristics for a writer who is determined to become a success. Adopt these characteristics and your path will open up. In the past, it took most writers about ten years to find a publisher, from starting to write. Each year was spent improving, honing, learning. Be prepared for a long journey. If you love being creative with words, don’t give up because the road is hard. Use the journey to prepare for what lies ahead.

Finally, when you have done all of the above, you will know that you can move on. To the next book. And then the one after. Most books lead to another. One of the joys of writing is discovering what else lies inside us, waiting to be born.

Story Time…

… with EC 🙂

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So, Stella has gone through her first stage of editing and I am now in the rewriting stage, so I thought I’d have some fun and engage in a little reading. Speaking of which, I’ve thought about an audio book. Well, more like a passing thought in which I’ve lingered slightly, but what if? As a reader, do you find audio books helpful or harmful? Would you’d rather listen or read? Hmmm, perhaps I’ll do another post about just that. Until then, I hope you enjoy my acting skills….

Beyond The Colored Line Ch. #1

This Summer…

Go “Beyond The Colored Line” (a short story)

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A Short Story, coming August, 2015: Available in Print, Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and the Apple iBookstore. Visit my author website to see the Book Trailer or to learn more and to Sign-Up for the Newsletter. More information about the pending launch campaign, to include contests and free promotional products, will be available soon.And thanks so much for your support.

The House Behind The Cedars

Good evening beautiful people,

I wanted to share with you a book I read a while ago as I began organizing and researching for Beyond The Colored Line.

As many of you know, I am preparing to release a short story soon that deals with the concept of passing: when a member of one ethnic group passes as a member of another ethnic group. Most notably, when an African American who appears European passes, or pretends, to belong to that race.

This has been a phenomenal experience exploring history, and I’ve had the opportunity to come across some decent reading material. One of the books I read is The House Behind The Cedars by Charles W. Chesnutt, who was, interestingly enough, light enough himself to pass and did on occasion. Chesnutt’s paternal Grandfather, Waddell Cade, was a white slaveholder, and his Grandmother, Ann Chesnutt, Cade’s mistress, was a free Black woman.

The book is about a brother and sister, John and Rena Walden, two African Americans, who decide to cross the colored line by pretending to be white to claim and maintain their portion of the American dream.

The book was first published in 1900 and revealed how deep self-hatred could be for a people lost to true identity. It shows the extent to which some are willing to go to keep secrets hidden and what they are willing t

o endure to be part of the American fabric to which they believe they are entitled.

It also showcases how the depth of childhood exposure and teachings play a part in one’s perception, not just of the world, but of one’s own self.

Without revealing too much, Chesnutt surpassed race in general and also included status. No one would choose to be poor or hungry, Black or white, and I find this is the basis on which many of my ancestors who did pass built their logic.

Still, what price is one willing to pay to live the American dream?

And is it the American Dream, real? Is it a real thing, or is it a perception?

The Hobbyist Writer & Understanding Goals

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“Do you consider writing to be a Hobby alone? Or do you intend to build a business around it”

This is a question I often ask people who approach me with the idea of writing and self-publishing a book. Mostly young people who are new to the industry and do not have a lot of information about how to go about the Self-Publishing process. So I thought I’d write about it here since I was recently approached by a young woman who’s writing her first novel (yayy her!). The core of the question is this: What goals do you have for this book? Is it the first of many or something you just want to try and see where it takes you? Do you plan to become an author with websites and blogs and networks or is this just something you want to put out to see your name in print? Do you plan to publish Traditionally or Self-Publish?

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It benefits to weigh the pros and cons of self-publishing and traditional publishing. Even though I’m a Self-Publisher, by looking into TP (the unofficial abbreviation for Traditional Publishing), I’ve learned a lot in my career. I’ve learned how to be better organized for example. I have always said myself: “if you don’t think you can put in the work necessary for self-publishing, it may be a good idea not to.” But I have learned too that everyone does not have this option, though they have this option. For most people, the option to publish traditionally flies out the window at the thought that it will never happen because it’s based on the approval of someone outside of themselves and it is therefore no guarantee. But as a result, they blindly plunge into this ever growing sea of books and fall into the category of a Hobbyist Writer.

What is a Hobbyist Writer? Something I made up. But, more specifically, a Hobbyist Writer is someone who’s infatuated with the idea of publishing. There is no specific goal or reasoning behind publishing the book except to see what it’s like to hold its preciousness between your fingers and bask in the awe of what you’ve done. The internet has made it easy to publish almost anything. Thus, there are waves of new authors out there who write specifically to publish their work and to see it in print. I think this is great. On the other hand, if you plan to get more serious and organized, to simply write books and publish them without vision, or direction does nothing for your writing career. So know what you want and the requirements to obtain it. Writing a book doesn’t have to mean you want to publish it and publishing a book doesn’t mean you want to sell it. Thanks to today’s technology, we have these options. You can sell a book or you can just give it away for free. So I would definitely say to clearly define your goals before stepping out. A goal is a desired result that a person or a system envisions, plans and commits to achieve and in my opinion does tend to change over time.

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Personally, I publish often, at least once a year (with the exception of this year, where I plan to publish three books as part of a short story series) because I like writing and I think the best way to polish any skill is to do it often. And I do hope that the more I engage in the process, the better at it I’ll become and the more people I’ll reach. What I enjoy most is that with each book I learn something new, and I am able to add that to my stored chamber of experience. Though I write a lot, I do not consider myself a Hobbyist Writer because the desired result, the end game if you will, is to build something greater than a sea of published books. There’s a lot I want to do eventually that go beyond writing my own books. At the same time, I like to keep everything organized and this is when the business me kicks in. I believe that everything you do, whether you get paid or not, should be done with some level of professionalism. So if you’re going to write a book, it should have some level of significance even if it’s just a hobby. If nothing else, I have learned that if you don’t place value on your work, no one will. And that’s why established and clearly set goals are important; it adds value to the work. Whether that work comprises something you just want to try or something you want to build on.