featuring the Night to Dawn books and Barbara's fiction, and other goodies

Posts tagged ‘Writing’

Lulu versus CreateSpace III

After much kvetching and discussion about CreateSpace, I’ve started to publish the NTD paperbacks through them. The latest release, Tales of Masks & Mayhem V4, saw publication through CS. Why? The short answer: money. The Global Distribution package on Lulu costs $75.00 plus whatever you pay for ISBN’s. The Pro plan of CS costs $39.00 [...]

When to Hire an Editor

Some time ago I posted the advantages of Autocrit software, and the wisdom found in Writing the Breakout Novel. Autocrit enabled me to catch repetitive words, and I ferreted out problems in my novel when I applied techniques from Writing the Breakout Novel. However, the devil is in the details, and a small press editor [...]

Publishing – a Reporter’s Capital Mistake

A couple of weeks ago, I gave my take of the AMP nightmare in The Seamier Side of Publishing. So have other authors with their respective blogs. Since then, rights reversal letters started to trickle through. I was one of the lucky recipients. A lot of people are still waiting, and the trickle seems to [...]

Revisions…and then More Revisions

Over the months, I’ve alluded to a sequel to Dark Side of the Moon: Steel Rose. Steel Rose wound up with its own cast of characters, so I can’t call it a sequel any more. Maybe this is good. At workshops, speakers have advised everyone to put their manuscripts aside for a few weeks, and [...]

Createspace versus Lulu Revisited

Some time ago, I laid out the advantages of using Lulu versus Createspace. And my biggest beef with Createspace was not being able to use my credit card. Well, at last I found my way through the labyrinth of ordering functions, enough to order a “proof.” Createspace has made peace with my credit card, and [...]

To Lie or not to Lie – that is the question.

I’m referring to one of the verbs that give me and other writers a lot of grief – the difference between lie, lay, and laid. That and certain words that mean one thing when used as a compound, and something else when used separately, can mess up an otherwise well-written tale. And so therein “lies” [...]

Branding and Facebook

When a workshop leader coaxed everyone to promote their books through branding, I left the workshop confused. To my literal mind, “branding” refers to a cowboy who brands his cattle, marking it as his own, or the trademark a company uses to identify its products.  Then Facebook gave me an appreciation for branding. I’ve enjoyed [...]

When Your Tales Contain Too Much Clutter…

Yesterday, I learned about the evils of clutter when I purchased an outdoor trashcan and attempted to load it into my Honda Fit. It looked so easy. Folding down the back seats would give plenty of room for my purchase…except so much stuff had congregated in the back seats and floor. Bending the trashcan wasn’t [...]

The Making of a Website

Somewhere down the pike, after the publication of Twilight Healer, I hired company ABC to build a website. Someone suggested I do my own website, but most hosted websites require HTML coding. Up until a few years ago, I thought HTML was an abbreviation for Hotmail. Enough said on the HTML skills department. ABC built [...]

Word Wars 2007

I am madder than a surgeon with busted forceps over the changes Word has wrought in 2007. Windows 7 is a delight, different than XP but comes with its own treats, and having a portable computer is great. But Word 2007 came up on the screen like a serpent in the Garden of Eden. They [...]

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