Just Ginger

Many years ago I critiqued a 400-page manuscript by an author who loved the word, “smirk.” Smirk. Smirked. Smirking. All the characters smirked at everything. By the end of the manuscript, I detested the word in all it’s various forms. In fact, I think this is the first time I’ve written that word in years. To this day, when I see that word in a story, I cringe. Repetition of favorite words or phrases is something I notice when I’m reading. No matter how well written the story is, overuse reduces my enjoyment. How many times can the characters “snort in disbelief” or respond “saucily” before a reader tosses the book aside for something better edited? Don’t misunderstand. We all have favorite words and phrases. They’re great when you’re drafting a new story. At this stage in the writing, it’s more important to keep the momentum going, not stop and debate word choice. While favorites are handy in a rough draft, they have no place in the final manuscript. How do you get rid ...

Dear Major Publishing House, On page 54 of best selling author’s book, Doodlebugs are Cute , there is a typographical error. Instead of the word “processed,” someone used the word “preceded,” ruining the meaning of the sentence. I’m letting you know because you don’t want the book to look like an indie published book. I wonder how many emails like this, big time New York publishing companies receive. Probably none. Probably because readers don’t feel as comfortable writing the big nonentity corporation as they do writing the indie publisher. This is just my opinion, of course, and maybe those people who email me about errors they spot in my books, or write it up in a review also write the big guys and complain about errors in the books they publish. And mention it in their review of the traditionally published opus. Then again, maybe they just feel indie publisher/writers are more approachable. I’m going to make a major confession here. I love hearing from my readers. And I ...

I’ve been watching the new USA cable television show “Complications” because it stars Jason O’Mara, who I like. According to the PR about “Complications,” he plays a disillusioned suburban ER doctor who finds his existence transformed when he intervenes in a drive-by shooting, saving a young boy's life and killing one of his attackers. When he learns the boy is still marked for death, he finds himself compelled to save him at any cost and discovers that his life and his outlook on medicine may never be the same. The show is aptly named as the complications pile up for the doctor as well as other characters. Goals and motivations are pretty well defined as the show hurtles from one episode to the next. So why am I discussing it? Because I think it suffers from a major flaw. The story is set in Atlanta, Georgia, but the none of the characters talk as if they are from Atlanta. In fact, the dialogue is so non-regional, I keep thinking they’re in Los Angeles. I’m sure the director i...

Yep, according to Google not only is my new website mobile-friendly, it’s also Awesome! That’s the message I got when I ran my website through a Google program that rated my website for mobile friendliness. In other words, my website will respond to whatever device the reader is using. I now have what is called a responsive website which in turn means it is phone friendly in landscape or portrait. But it is also desktop friendly and tablet friendly, too. What does this mean? If you look at my website using a desktop, you get the full screen version which means the menu is across the top rather than a hidden drop down. The content also stretches across the screen. If you look at my website on a  tablet, the pages are a little narrower and the menu is still across the top, but in tablet portrait, the menu shifts into a drop down mode. The phone mode is the most obvious change. Here, the images and content shift into more of a list mode although the text remains the sa...

I recently watched a TV show that featured a scene with the main character and a dog. It was a very cute scene, but even though the story remained in that setting, the dog never appeared again. Basically, they brought the dog on stage, had him do his part, and then forgot about him. Well, they had him go into a kennel with no door. As if that was going to keep him there while people traipsed around his home.  As a dog owner, I was quite bothered by the fact the dog basically disappeared. Although people came and went in this house, the dog was never seen or heard again. References were made that the home owner had a dog, had even worked with a companion dog program, but the dog itself made no other appearance. The script writers forgot about the ripple effect. What’s that, you ask? Well, once something is introduced into the story, it has consequences that ripple out. Imagine a pebble tossed into a pond, it hits the water and then ever widening ripples reach out to t...

In one of my earlier blogs about taking the road to indie publishing, I said,   But as you’ll see later, I wasn’t finished with trying the small publisher route. I know, I know, you thought I was a committed indie publisher. And I am, but I still need to entice readers to buy my stories. To gain exposure for my contemporary romances, I decided to try and sell one of my short stories to an established digital publisher. Sure, I wouldn’t make much money, but my goal wasn’t to make money. My goal was to connect with readers.  The Search I used the same criteria I used when I first decided to submit to digital publishers. I already had a list of publishers from my earlier search, but it needed updating. Membership in Romance Writers of America (RWA) offers too many benefits to mention here, but one is their  publishers and agents overview that lists publishers who want romance stories.  I checked out the websites of publishers I thought would be ...

Guess what I found! Before I go any farther, I want to back up and share something I recently discovered while checking out e-books at the various distributors’ sites. Last month I said: Since I’ve read through all my contracts, I know that not every distributor will allow links in my e-book to be active. I make a Storyist copy that contains hot links (for iBooks) and one that doesn’t (for Nook, Kobo, and Kindle). I add this to the file name so I can tell them apart. Well, imagine my surprise as I was noodling around at Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble to discover that there are e-books for sale with hot links in them! Some of the e-books published by big publishing houses have only their web address in the e-book, while others provide links to the author, too. Some indie authors have their web info in there while some don’t. I’m sure there’s been some change to the contracts since I signed on last year, just check out the most current contracts which you’ll be reading a...

This is almost it! I have my publishing company set up, my Employer Identification Number (EIN), software that will export into EPUB and MOBI, accounts set up and approved at the various distributors, a bank account for all that money I’m going to make, a lovely cover image that can be embedded into Storyist, ISBNs purchased, a completed metadata sheet, and a squeaky clean manuscript formatted for export into   an EPUB or MOBI. Since I’ve read through all my contracts, I know that not every distributor will allow links in my e-book to be active. I make a Storyist copy that contains hot links (for iBooks)  and one that doesn’t (for Nook, Kobo, and Kindle). I add this info to the file name so I can tell them apart. (I'm using my published e-short story, Love to the Rescue file. My file name is Love2Res and then I just add the format to keep them straight. I also have a file for each distributor that contains the EPUB, MOBI, or pdf I've submitted to that distri...

You may or may not have noticed I didn’t post in December. For some reason, I enter the Twilight Zone around the holidays and before I know it, two months have slipped away. When I do get online, I shop or check delivery dates of what I’ve ordered. Apparently, blogging isn’t even on my radar.   The advent of the new year reminded me I needed to get back to writing this saga for those of you who are ready to take the leap into indie publishing. The last blog closed with the statement that before I actually export my project into an e-book, I take two more steps to ensure I have all my ducks in a line.  What could be left, you ask?  How about metadata and ISBN. Gathering the metadata.   Yep, you’ll need to plug in lots of information during the actual export process. Believe me, it’s easier to gather this information before the process begins than to stop every other click to locate and write the requested information. With a completed metadata form,...