Things in my world are slowly progressing. My Kindle Scout campaign is chugging along for a while longer. If you haven't nominated it, here's another chance to nominate "Sara X". The free giveaway for "The Campaign" ended with two hundred additional copies going out for free. I sold fifty copies at full price also. So far out of the 250 copies I've gotten ten Amazon reviews, eight five star and two four star, two Good Reads reviews, and multiple positive comments on forums I frequent. On Sunday 2/21/2016 a Kindle Countdown deal will start for "To Rise or Fall" where the price of the Kindle version will be reduced to $.99 for a week. We'll have to see what kind of an impact that has on sales.
The seedlings (purple wave petunia, calibrachoa, dahlberg daisy) I started a few weeks ago are doing very well and it's almost time to start the second batch of seeds. The impatiens and salvias will be the next to get started. The last of the seeds to get started will be the marigolds, thunbergias, and zinnias. They tend to grow so well they don't need much advance planting.
We're starting to get the first hints of Spring now. Daffodils are breaking the ground and starting to emerge. The grass is greening up a bit. March is just around the corner and March is the month where I often start out the month shoveling snow and end the month mowing the grass. It is the ultimate transitional month around here. By the end of March all risk of serious snowfall is gone and Spring is in sight. It may not always feel especially Spring-like, but on good days, you can just feel it.
And that's about it for now.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Friday, February 12, 2016
How descriptive is too descriptive?
It's very easy as a writer to go overboard in describing a scene. I've read novels where you get the impression the writer is giving a report to a police sketch artist, they're so thorough in their description. It's not hard to find character descriptions where you know the age, height, weight, skin color, hair color, eye color, hair style, makeup details, nail polish color, length of nails, every detail of every layer of clothing and more. I tend to lean more towards vagueness when describing characters/scenes. I try to tell what's important and leave the rest up to the reader's imagination.
I think this makes it easier for the reader to plug themselves into a character and assume that role while keeping the story moving. If your lead character is a four foot, two inch, heavily tattooed South Korean woman with a British accent, and you repeat that description endlessly, it's hard for anyone who isn't that person to slide themselves into that role. If you keep the description more vague, then it's easier for someone to plug themselves into that role.
In the first novel I wrote (currently unpublished) I knew Frederick Madden's kitchen so well, I could have easily used five hundred pages to describe it in detail. Would that have helped the reader understand the character more? Not really, so I kept the description short. I told the reader what they needed to know and nothing more.
J.K. Rowling recently found herself dealing with this issue when Noma Dumezweni (a black actress) was cast to play Hermione in the new Harry Potter play being staged in London. As J.K. Rowling pointed out, at no time in describing Hermione had she described her skin color, so there was no reason Hermione couldn't be black. There was the slight issue of having cast a white actress to play her in the movies which helped to set the image of a white Hermione in the eyes of the fans, but in the books, Hermione was described vaguely enough that she could have been of any nationality.
It's very easy to go overboard in a description. I remember reading a first paragraph of another writer's book that used thirteen colors describing surf crashing into a shoreline. It read like a Technicolor mess. None of the colors were different from what one would expect. Nearly everyone reading the book should know what waves crashing into a shoreline would look like and already have a mental image of that scene, so going overboard in describing the scene merely served to take the reader out of the story.
Over my writing lifetime I've had a lot of feedback and the feedback I get most often involves descriptions and oddly enough I tend to get split feedback on this issue. About half of those commenting say, "Thank God you didn't bury the story in descriptions." And then the opposite, "Where are the descriptions? How did the lead feel when he lost his job? What does Sara look like in detail?"
I tend to find lengthy descriptions take me, as a reader, out of the story. I'm more of a storyteller than an eyewitness, so I try to keep descriptions vague enough to keep the reader in the story, but still give the reader a good feel who the character is and the scene. Finding that middle ground is a challenge and you're going to alienate some readers who want more description, or less description.
As a writer you live the story you're writing. You inhabit the world you've created. You know how everything looks, how everyone looks, you know the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations. You're living in this world and there's a natural temptation to try and convey everything you see and feel to the reader. The problem is that it's easy to lose the story when you go into detail on the descriptions.
Look around the room you're in as you read this and imagine how many words it would take to fully describe that room in detail. The wall color, the ceiling color, the floor, the furniture, the trim, the fixtures, how the light hits the room at various times of the day, etc. Would anyone reading a story taking place in that room need to know every detail? Which details are important to the story? If you try to tell too much, you can take the reader out of the story and the story is why the reader is there.
One of the big challenges of writing is learning how much to tell and how to do so in a manner that keeps the reader in the story. It's a lesson that I'm not sure is ever fully learned as different readers want/expect different levels of description.
Finally, just a quick reminded that my novel "Sara X" is still up for nomination in the Kindle Scout program. You can head over, give the excerpt a quick read, and if you like what you read, give me a nomination. I appreciate it! Here's a link to my Scout page. "Sara X"
I think this makes it easier for the reader to plug themselves into a character and assume that role while keeping the story moving. If your lead character is a four foot, two inch, heavily tattooed South Korean woman with a British accent, and you repeat that description endlessly, it's hard for anyone who isn't that person to slide themselves into that role. If you keep the description more vague, then it's easier for someone to plug themselves into that role.
In the first novel I wrote (currently unpublished) I knew Frederick Madden's kitchen so well, I could have easily used five hundred pages to describe it in detail. Would that have helped the reader understand the character more? Not really, so I kept the description short. I told the reader what they needed to know and nothing more.
J.K. Rowling recently found herself dealing with this issue when Noma Dumezweni (a black actress) was cast to play Hermione in the new Harry Potter play being staged in London. As J.K. Rowling pointed out, at no time in describing Hermione had she described her skin color, so there was no reason Hermione couldn't be black. There was the slight issue of having cast a white actress to play her in the movies which helped to set the image of a white Hermione in the eyes of the fans, but in the books, Hermione was described vaguely enough that she could have been of any nationality.
It's very easy to go overboard in a description. I remember reading a first paragraph of another writer's book that used thirteen colors describing surf crashing into a shoreline. It read like a Technicolor mess. None of the colors were different from what one would expect. Nearly everyone reading the book should know what waves crashing into a shoreline would look like and already have a mental image of that scene, so going overboard in describing the scene merely served to take the reader out of the story.
Over my writing lifetime I've had a lot of feedback and the feedback I get most often involves descriptions and oddly enough I tend to get split feedback on this issue. About half of those commenting say, "Thank God you didn't bury the story in descriptions." And then the opposite, "Where are the descriptions? How did the lead feel when he lost his job? What does Sara look like in detail?"
I tend to find lengthy descriptions take me, as a reader, out of the story. I'm more of a storyteller than an eyewitness, so I try to keep descriptions vague enough to keep the reader in the story, but still give the reader a good feel who the character is and the scene. Finding that middle ground is a challenge and you're going to alienate some readers who want more description, or less description.
As a writer you live the story you're writing. You inhabit the world you've created. You know how everything looks, how everyone looks, you know the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations. You're living in this world and there's a natural temptation to try and convey everything you see and feel to the reader. The problem is that it's easy to lose the story when you go into detail on the descriptions.
Look around the room you're in as you read this and imagine how many words it would take to fully describe that room in detail. The wall color, the ceiling color, the floor, the furniture, the trim, the fixtures, how the light hits the room at various times of the day, etc. Would anyone reading a story taking place in that room need to know every detail? Which details are important to the story? If you try to tell too much, you can take the reader out of the story and the story is why the reader is there.
One of the big challenges of writing is learning how much to tell and how to do so in a manner that keeps the reader in the story. It's a lesson that I'm not sure is ever fully learned as different readers want/expect different levels of description.
Finally, just a quick reminded that my novel "Sara X" is still up for nomination in the Kindle Scout program. You can head over, give the excerpt a quick read, and if you like what you read, give me a nomination. I appreciate it! Here's a link to my Scout page. "Sara X"
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Kindle Scout, here I come!
When last I blogged, "The Campaign" was available for free. That free giveaway ended on 2/5/2016 was quite successful and I've now decided to hold off on self-publishing my third novel, "Sara X" and toss it into the Kindle Scout program instead.
For those who don't know, Kindle Scout is a program where Amazon lets authors with an unpublished novel throw the first 5,000 words and the cover up on their Kindle Scout site to be viewed by interested readers. Readers can then choose to nominate the book for publication if they like what they see. If a book nominated by a reader gets picked up, every reader who nominated the book gets a free copy of it. It's a win-win for everyone.
I'd been a bit reluctant to jump into Kindle Scout as the terms aren't ideal for an author, but then having read posts from many authors who were picked up, and were thrilled by what they got, I decided to give it a shot on this novel. Here's a link to my Kindle Scout page if you're interested in taking a look at my political thriller "Sara X." https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/376CW6LHKEVGU
In other news, my seeds are sprouting! I started my Purple Wave Petunia, Calibrachoa, and Dahlberg Daisy seeds this week and I've got seedlings! Yea! It's always impressive how small a Wave petunia is at this point and how massive it'll be by the end of summer. The growth rate on those little guys is pretty incredible. This is my first year growing calibrachoa from seed. The seed packet lists the germination rate for the seeds at 80%, so I likely won't get the full 25 seeds I planted as plants, but if I get even two plants, it'll cover the cost of the seeds compared to buying the plants in the spring. The Purple Wave seeds have a germination rate of over 95% so I'll get a good supply of them. In a few more weeks I'll start the impatiens, salvias, and marigolds. There's nothing like having seedlings growing under your lights to make you forget the cold and snow outside.
The new plant lights I installed last winter surprised me with their growth rate, so I've pushed back the starting time for my seeds this year. Last year it became a jungle under the lights as the plants really, really loved the new lighting setup. Assuming I'll get the same rate of growth this year, I can hold off on starting the plants for a bit longer than in the past.
I've still got to find a local source for thunbergia seeds. My plan this year is to do away with the hanging baskets and instead have pots on the porch railing with red salvia growing up, Purple Wave petunias and calibrachoa growing down and thunbergia climbing twine up the porch posts. Thunbergia are perfect for that in that they only grow four to six feet and stay covered in flowers much of the summer. If it works the way I hope it'll work, it should be a good look. The planter boxes lining the porch will be filled with impatiens, marigolds, salvias, and dahlberg daisies. I'm off to a good start with everything and we'll see how it goes.
The Super Bowl is coming up tomorrow!!!! Tomorrow will be a fun day for me. My traditional Super Bowl feast consists of a Belly Buster hamburger (11 ounces of ground sirloin grilled to perfection) inside a homemade 9 inch diameter bun (made using Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix.) followed up by assorted odds and ends. It's not something I eat a lot, but every now and then it's a good treat. I'm thinking Carolina will win the game but I'm hoping for a good game.
For the next few weeks I'll be working on my two nearly ready YA (young adult) novels to get them ready for whatever fate awaits them. (Kindle Scout? Self-publishing?) And I'll also be refining my nonfiction book on secrets builders and architects know that drive up your costs but do little to benefit the homeowner. I'm not sure which of those three will be ready first, but expect one of them to hit the market in the next month or so.
Thanks for reading this and if you get a chance I'd appreciate your nominating "Sara X" in the Kindle Scout program.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Time for my first free giveaway!!!
Given that Super Bowl Sunday is coming up, I'm now making the Kindle version of my first novel "The Campaign" free through February the fifth, 2016. There will be lots of chatter about Super Bowl ads this week, so this is a good time to give away a book featuring what happened when a fictional ad agency was nearly destroyed trying to create a Super Bowl ad.
Why give away a book for free? That's a very good question. Sales of "The Campaign" started out pretty strong and it got good early reviews, but then pretty much everyone in my circles who wanted to read it had, so the sales slumped a bit. Oddly, the Kindle Lending Library Views then took off and went strong for a while before they too tapered off. It's time to get some energy moving in the old book again, so a free giveaway, timed with the media hoopla over the Super Bowl and Super Bowl ads is a good way to get a few copies moving again. The hope is that people who like "The Campaign" will then decide to buy one of my other books to help compensate for the money I lose by giving this book away.
The goal of every writer is to have a book take off and sell like mad. To do that it has to spread out in ever widening circles and get good word of mouth along the way. As of now, "The Campaign" has largely stayed in the circles of people who know me. When you give a book away people outside your circle will grab it and give it a look. If you can get enough people taking a look at it and liking it, and if they mention it to others who also like it, things can take off and before you know it, you're selling a lot of books.
My other book that's already out, "To Rise or Fall" may get a few sales if people like "The Campaign." My third novel, a political thriller titled "Sara X" should be out within hours/days (depending on the absolute final proofing) and with any luck it'll get off to a good start.
This is my first experience with giving away a novel, so I'm looking forward to seeing the results. From what I've heard from other authors, there should be pretty good movement of the free book and that sales will likely tick upwards even after the free giveaway ends. Sales of my other books should also tick upwards. I'll be monitoring the results and we'll see what happens.
Now I've got to get back to that final, final proofing of "Sara X." Thanks for reading and see, I am posting blogs more frequently.
Why give away a book for free? That's a very good question. Sales of "The Campaign" started out pretty strong and it got good early reviews, but then pretty much everyone in my circles who wanted to read it had, so the sales slumped a bit. Oddly, the Kindle Lending Library Views then took off and went strong for a while before they too tapered off. It's time to get some energy moving in the old book again, so a free giveaway, timed with the media hoopla over the Super Bowl and Super Bowl ads is a good way to get a few copies moving again. The hope is that people who like "The Campaign" will then decide to buy one of my other books to help compensate for the money I lose by giving this book away.
The goal of every writer is to have a book take off and sell like mad. To do that it has to spread out in ever widening circles and get good word of mouth along the way. As of now, "The Campaign" has largely stayed in the circles of people who know me. When you give a book away people outside your circle will grab it and give it a look. If you can get enough people taking a look at it and liking it, and if they mention it to others who also like it, things can take off and before you know it, you're selling a lot of books.
My other book that's already out, "To Rise or Fall" may get a few sales if people like "The Campaign." My third novel, a political thriller titled "Sara X" should be out within hours/days (depending on the absolute final proofing) and with any luck it'll get off to a good start.
This is my first experience with giving away a novel, so I'm looking forward to seeing the results. From what I've heard from other authors, there should be pretty good movement of the free book and that sales will likely tick upwards even after the free giveaway ends. Sales of my other books should also tick upwards. I'll be monitoring the results and we'll see what happens.
Now I've got to get back to that final, final proofing of "Sara X." Thanks for reading and see, I am posting blogs more frequently.
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