Fan Mail: Um, About Your Dragon.

As a writer of dragon books for children, I understand that a dragon character can become as real to the reader as he is to me.  When this happen, the dragon character seems to get a life of his own, and strange things can happen.

Snarl is a dragon. He is a secondary character in my children book series, The Pen Pieyu Adventures. I quite love Snarls and he is usually a well behaved and lovable dragon.

Apparently, Snarls gets into his own mischief outside of the books he is in.

The readers of this blog will already be familiar with Snarls and some of the antics he has been up to. The only way I know of these instances is by the fan mail (or maybe in this case it's called non-fan mail) I receives from someone called "Anonymous".

Snarls visits "Anonymous" on occasion, and "Anonymous" writes me to tell me about the newest, um . . . adventure.

Snarls on his way to visit Anonymous? Not sure.
Illustration by Samantha Kickingbird

Here is the latest letter from Anonymous:

Dear author person,

I do not remember much, but the smoke is finally beginning to clear out of the building and hopefully soon out of my apartment. No one in my building has been talking to me. 

Snarls bragged about his fire-making capabilities and that he was a friend of mine. Now they blame me for the smoke-filled apartments they currently reside in. Management is looking the other way. They do not want to explain on television, or even in the local paper no one reads, how a dragon got into one of their apartments or that dragons still exist.

Tell Snarls to stop picking his nose. It is quite disturbing when fires shoot out. He's trying to gross me out while burning me down.

Sending your dragon back home. He is too much trouble!

Signed,
Anonymous
********************

Well gosh, Anonymous, I am truly sorry for the troubles my dragon causes you. He does not do these kinds of nasty things at home. I think this may just be the rebellion of his youth--he is only three, you know.

I hope you will not want monetary compensation for the damages he has done. You see, I am a struggling writer and cannot pay you with money.

I can, although, order him to go back and clean up the mess. Should he bring his pajamas? Will it take more than a day? Can he stay at your place while he cleans up the mess? Do you have kitties? He likes to lick kitties!

As soon as he arrives home, I will send my dragon back over there A.S.A.P.

Signed,
The Author

This is Snarls when he is at home. Seems innocent enough, right?
Illustration by Samantha Kickingbird

For more information about Snarls and the other characters of book one, Sir Princess Petra - The Pen Pieyu Adventures, visit:  http://www.dragonsbook.com/for-kids.html

Book two, Sir Princess Petra's Talent - The Pen Pieyu Adventures, forthcoming soon.

Yes, You Can Create That!

Too often the voice within us says, "No, I couldn't possibly do that."

 All of us are capable of creating wonderful magic in the arts, whether it be in painting, literature, music or dance.

And to prove the point.

I was asked to give a watercolor art lesson to twenty, eight-year-old children in one of our local schools. When I showed the students what our project would be about, creating Yupo art and then making a giant bouquet of flowers for a display, most of the children replied; "We can't do that."

Yupo art demo by Diane M. Robinson

I assured them they can do it, and with some                    practice and learning the techniques, we will achieve
this goal today. The first part of the project was to learn about mixing colors to make new colors, then to make twenty 8 x 10 Yupo pictures in bright colors like this. These will be cut out to resemble flowers.

Yupo art demo by Diane M. Robinson

The second part of the project was to create twenty Yupo picutres (8 x 10) in browns and greens like this. These will be cut out to resemble stems and leaves.

Art project with artist, Diane M. Robinson,
with lots of help from grade 2 teacher, Mrs Larochelle,
and student teacher, Dezi Warholik.
St. Paul Elementary School
April 19, 2013


I think the project turned out fantastic. I am so proud of these kids for their willingness to learn, following directions, and realizing that, "Yes, we can do that!"
I'm proud of you, children!

My mission in life, with teaching art and with my writing, is to inspire children so that they see their potential to create and do wonderful things. I hope I've convinced them with this project.


Visit my author's website at: http://www.dragonsbook.com

As we worked on the project, the children realized they could create this wonderful art. This is their final project for the Earth Day display.

The Woes Of Being An Author.

Writing children's books can be a frustrating business. Not only because of all the competition in getting a contract in the first place, and the intense marketing efforts the author must be willing to work on with a new book, but also because of the delays that can come with publishing the book. Don't get me wrong, I love being an author, it's just all the frustrating stuff I don't care for.

Book two, Sir Princess Petra's Talent - The Pen Pieyu Adventures, coming soon and three months behind schedule, and here's why.

Sir Princess Petra's Talent by Diane Mae Robinson.
Illustrations and cover art by Samantha Kickingbird.

The production of a children's chapter book takes many months, even up to a year or more. Signing the contract is by far the easiest part.

Once the book get to the editing phase (two to three months after signing the contract), the editor and writer work at fine tuning the text.  The editor cannot tell the writer what to write, only suggest what has to be clarified or re-vamped. With both of my books, this phase took over two months; a lot of re-writing, much more conversing with the editor, and more re-writing. I am a big fan of editing as it does make the final story so much better. But really, it is a hair-pulling-out event on the writer's part.

The next step is the illustration phase. This stage may take the illustrator a month or more to create the illustrations.The writer doesn't have much of an idea what the illustrations will be as the illustrator is the professional that works for the publishing company and knows what scenes to illustrate and where the art will  be placed in the book so that each illustration enhances the text.  So when the author finally gets the illustrations, it is an amazing moment.

Next is the layout stage. The book is made into a "book dummy" in the form of a pdf. The author's job is to go over everything in the pdf with a fine-tuned comb: illustration placement, page breaks, front and back matter, and one final chance to check for grammar or punctuation mistakes. This phase should take a month or so.

So, at the pdf layout stage is where all the snags of book two production get chaotic. First of all, there was a new layout guy working for the publisher. For some reason, he didn't get the notice that this was a series and the book size and font should be the same as book one. Back to a new layout.

One month later, at the second layout, the fonts and size of the book are corrected, but because of the font size change, some of the illustrations and text don't match, and a couple other small corrections with the text need correction. Back to a new layout.

One month later, at the third layout and proof, (when the book actual gets printed for the author's approval only) the text is corrected, but not the illustration placement. Back to new layout.

This last stage has been troublesome, and it will have put the book behind schedule by at least three months. 

I have talked with other authors who have suffered the woes of publishing mishaps. It doesn't happen often but it does happen, and there's not much the writer can do about it. I understand that publishers are busy people with hundreds if not thousands of books to deal with, but, like I said, it can be a frustrating business.

Visit my author's website at: http://www.dragonsbook.com

The Ridiculous World of 'Whom'?

Personally, I think the word whom should be demoted just like the planet Pluto. But since whom is a word we have to deal with, I will try to simply explain its correct use.

                                                      

The difference between whom and who:  Both whom and who are pronouns. 'Who is used as the subject of a sentence or phrase to indicate who is doing something. 'Whom' is used as the object of a verb to indicate who has something done to it.

                 Who = Subject = He/She

                 Whom = Object = Him/Her

Often a preposition (by, for, in, with, at, etc.) comes before 'whom', but not always. So in deciding which, 'who' or 'whom, is correct, ask the question: 

Who is doing what to whom?

The following examples should make this easier to follow.

1.  Who do you consider the best dragon-book character?

                     Should it be who or whom?

Figure it out by turning the sentence around and replacing the who or whom with he or him. If he is wrong, so is who. If him is wrong, so is whom.

      Do you consider him the best dragon-book character?

      Do you consider he the best dragon-book character? 

Since him is correct, whom is also correct.

      Whom do you consider the best dragon-book character? 

2.  It was Snarls, the dragon, who starred in that book.

                     Should it be who or whom?

Figure it out by turning the sentence around and replacing the who or whom with he or him. If he is wrong, so is who. If him is wrong, so is whom.

                          He starred in that book.

                          Him starred in that book.

Since he is correct, who is also correct.

        It was Snarls, the dragon, who starred in that book. 

Here are some sentences for you to test your new who/who knowledge. Answers at the bottom of the post.

1.   Nobody knows who/whom will get the staring role.

2.   Nobody knows who/whom we will choose for the staring role.

3.   Please point out the actor who/whom you met today.

4.   Snarls, who/whom, was the original dragon character in that  series, now lives at Longstride Castle.

5.  Send the invitational scrolls to whoever/whomever know Snarls.

ANSWERS:
1. who
2. whom
3. whom
4. who
5. whoever

Just remember the simple little rule of he/she vs. him/her, and the problematic who/whom should become easier to solve.

Visit my author website:  http://www.dragonsbook.com

copyright, Diane Mae Robinson, 2013

So, You Wrote A Story, Now What?

What does a writer have to do to become a published author with a traditional publisher?

Illustration by Samantha Kickingbird

This advice comes from my experiences of learning to write well first and then, becoming a published children's book author.

When I first started writing seriously, some twenty years ago, I thought every story I wrote was worthy of being considered for publication. That was so not the case.

I think a lot of writers have that same syndrome when they are beginners. It's called the Ego Syndrome.

So my first rule of advice is to get over yourself, burst your ego bubble, and get to work. I know that sounds cruel, but it is the absolute first rule of becoming a published writer.

So once you have a story completed, then what?

Edit, edit, edit, and then edit.

A good piece of advice here is to leave that story alone for a few weeks, then go back and edit it for possible better words to use, ditching more adverbs than keeping, and  most important, the killing of useless words and sentences (useless words and sentences are those that do nothing to move the plot, character, or scene forward).

I know, the killing of our own words is the hardest killing of all. This is also the process of killing your ego, which for a writer is a very important lesson.

 So you're ready to start submitting your story? Not yet. More work.

 Leave that story alone again for a few weeks. The next time you edit, go over every sentence individually, looking for ways to enhance that sentence by re-writing or re-wording so that the writing flows. Re-write the sentence a dozen ways if you have to. You will know when that sentence is the best it can possibly be, when the words flow off the tongue like something similar to music.

Submit now?  No.

Another edit for punctuation and grammar. You will not believe how many times the Spell Check on your writing program has the wrong word usage, or how many times your punctuation can be simplified.

Okay, three major edits and you might be ready to start the submitting process.

The submitting process is loads of work. One of the best things you can do before you start submitting is to research the publishers; find out what they are accepting, follow the guidelines listed by each publisher, learn how to write a great cover letter and/or query letter.

The book, Book Market for Children's Writers, will become invaluable to writer who can follow the rules in the submitting process.

And now that your ego bubble is burst, you've done your best work, the rejections that follow should not deter you from getting your book published.  And quite possibly, many rejection letters will follow.

My first book, Sir Princess Petra - The Pen Pieyu Adventures, had 27 rejections before finding a home with a traditional publisher.

Chin up. Persistence will get you published if your story is well edited and written well, and you follow the guidelines set out by publishers before submitting your manuscript to them.

Illustration by Samantha Kickingbird

Visit my author's website at: http://www.dragonsbook.com   

The author has a journalism diploma from the Schools of Montreal and an advanced diploma from the Institute of Children's Literature.

 Visit my author's website at: http://www.dragonsbook.com              

Writers On Writing.

Writer's quotes are like mini writing lessons--they make you think deeply about the writing process. 

   My favorite quote from the list below is #6, James Michener, because I believe the art of writing well is all in the editing. In the editing, that is where the best of the story comes out and the writing  can soar.

1.  "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." - Jorge Luis Borges

2.  “The idea is to write so that people hear it, and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.” —Maya Angelou

3.  Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

4.  And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath

5.  If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison

6.  I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter. ~James Michener

  

7.  Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth

8.  Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

9.  To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the inner music the   words make. ~Truman Capote, McCall's, November 1967

10. Be obscure clearly. ~E.B. White 

11. A good style should show no signs of effort. What is written should seem a happy accident. ~W. Somerset Maugham, Summing Up, 1938

12. The road to hell is paved with adverbs. ~Stephen King

13. Caress your phrase tenderly: it will end by smiling at you. ~Anatole France

14. Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself. ~Franz Kafka

15. The best style is the style you don't notice. ~Somerset Maugham

16. Kids: Fiction is the truth inside the lie, and the truth of this fiction is simple enough: the magic exists. Stephen King

17. When you are describing something:
      A shape, or sound, or tint;
      Don't state the matter plainly,
      But put it in a hint;
      And learn to look at all things,
      With a sort of mental squint.
~Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)

These writers have important truths in their quotes. Take their advice, then re-write until your words sing.

When  dragons and faeries are real to me, the writer, they will be real to my readers.
 Diane Mae Robinson

Visit my author's website: http://www.dragonsbook.com

Those Darn Dangling Participles.

Dangling Participles. Sounds scary but they really aren't. It's more a matter of common sense and a couple of rules that will correct this pesky problem.

The definition of a dangling participle:  Adjectives ending in -ing and sometimes -ed are called participles. When a participle modifies the wrong thing, then it is said to be a dangling participle or a hanging participle.

In the sentence below, the modifying clause (Rushing to catch the dragon) contains a participle (rushing). The participle is said to be dangling because the subject of the main clause (Sue's sword) is not the thing modified by the initial modifying clause. It was not Sue's sword that was rushing.

[wrong] Rushing to catch the dragon, Sue's sword fell out of its sheath.

[right] Rushing to catch the dragon, Sue realized her sword fell out of its sheath.


And in this example, the modifying clause (Running after the dragon) is dangling because it is modifying the arrows. The arrows are not running, Sue is:

[wrong] Running after the dragon, the arrows fell and broke.

 [right] Running after the dragon, Sue felt the arrows fall and watched as they broke.

Each sentence in the examples above beginning with an "ing" word is called the participle. A participle is created when we turn a verb like rush or run into a word phrase that acts like an adjective. The
participle is created by adding "ing".

          Rush becomes rushing

          Run becomes running.

An adjective must modify some noun.

The modifying clause doesn't always 


Another example:

[wrong]  Sue ran from the dragon, still holding the dragon food.

So who exactly is holding the dragon food, Sue or the dragon? As the sentence reads, the modifier clause (still holding the dragon food) modifies the dragon. If you meant to say Sue was holding the dragon food, the sentence would read like this:

[right] While still holding the dragon food, Sue ran from the dragon.

Now the sentences sound like Sue is the culprit, running away with all the dragon food. Why? We don't know. I think, sometimes, Sue just likes to tease the dragons.

visit my author's website at: http://www.dragonsbook.com
copyright, Diane Mae Robinson, 2013

Integrity of Book Reviews.

Children's book reviewer, Sue Morris, at Kid Lit Reviews responsed to my previous post, The Problem with Amazon Reviews, where writer, Michael Drakrich, talks about the importance of getting and giving honest book reviews.

             Integrity + Honesty = Pride

             

By Sue Morris.
I find myself agreeing with everything Michael Drakich wrote. The reviews part is most distressing, considering I am a children's book reviewer. Just recently, I was asked to review a book and at the bottom of the email were links to three reviews. The author invited me to read the reviews to help me decide to accept the book. It was good advice but caused me to reject the review request.

Two of the reviews were written by the same person who was paid to write a positive, 5 star, review. The third was, according to the website, written by the author. The author denied, but the terms of service clearly stated that each book must be reviewed by the author to get on the top page. Needless to say I refused the request. I have plenty of books from legitimate authors that I have no desire to waste time on those that cut corners to cut out competition.

I have known for a long time that authors are writing their own reviews, or simply 5 star rating their books after uploading them to places like Library Thing, Goodreads, Jacketflap and the like. Doing so is not against any official policy on any of those sites. Still, what about ethically? Is it fair to give yourself a false leg up by giving yourself a 5?

Sure the author believes this is true, or they should if they believe in their writing. But to take 5 stars from systems that are relying on reviews from outside sources is, to me, unconscionable.

Honesty is important, especially in children's books. Kids view some authors like movie stars or super heroes. They need those authors to be good people, honest people, people the kid can look up to and emulate.

Cheating is wrong. "Only trying to make a living," is no excuse. 

I agree totally, Sue Morris and Michael Drakich!

Visit my author's website at: http://www.dragonsbook.com

Plotting The Plot In Children's Books.

Plotting--the fuel of great storytelling. In a story, just about anything can happen, as long as it comes about logically, makes sense, and follows a few rules. Plotting is also the most fun part of writing a story.

Illustration by Samantha Kickingbird

Here are some of my suggestion for great plotting:

**  A plot proceeds logically from beginning to end. Anything can happen in the story, but it must make sense and not just be introduced into the story haphazardly. There must be a reason for everything that happens, regardless of how bizarre that reason may be.

** The main character needs a strong motive for what they want to achieve. Their motive may be honor, vengeance, or love. Whatever the motive, it must spur the main character to act.

** Adding conflict is vital to making the story interesting. Conflict  can be whatever or whoever is giving the main character a hard time. In writing children's books, the conflict can be a villain, a situation, or even a storm that forces the main character to fight to attain their goal.

**Dialogue that is exciting. Every single word of dialogue should move the story forward in some way. If it doesn't, then it's babbling. Moving the story forward with dialogue can: 

           --make the character's intentions or motives become clear.

           --explain the emotions of the character.

           --describe something or someone of importance, and at the same time tell the reader how the  character feels about it or what they intend to do about it.

**Characters that are credible and real (no matter who or what they are) will move the story forward naturally. Know your characters inside out and  those characters will always say and do things that are credible. Characters that are credible makes the reader really care about and connect with those characters.

**Logical surprise is the groundwork for humorous situations. But the surprise must come from some credible mannerism of that character or unfold naturally from the scene. Humor makes a character endearing. Even in   a bad situation, a character can do or say something funny, and that can make the scene that much more memorable.

**Write simply and well. Simple writing does not mean dull--it means writing with clarity and writing artfully, with grace. Simple writing is hard work, but the more times you edit your manuscript, the more simplicity and clarity will come forward.

**Edit, edit, edit.  Re-word sentences to read more gracefully. Take out all those words/sentences that don't do anything to move the plot/characterization forward. Make everything your characters do and say have meaning. This is the art of good plotting. And all the writer's hard work will be worth it in the final story.

copyright, Diane Mae Robinson, 2013

visit my author's website at:  http://www.dragonsbook.com

A Common Comma Commotion.

Here is a strange comma dilemma that has been handled in many different ways by different writers. But what is the correct punctuation when there is a question or implied question in a sentence? This is what the Chicago Manual of Style says: Questions are sometimes included within another sentence either directly or indirectly—not as a quotation but as part of the sentence as a whole. A direct question (unless it comes at the beginning of a sentence) is usually introduced by a comma. A direct question may take an initial capital letter if it is relatively long or has internal punctuation. The dragon asked himself, what am I going to do now? Everybody at the palace wanted to know, how will the king handle the dilemma? The royal council had to be asking themselves, Can the king find a solution to the problem, or will the dragon dictate his answer?   Rephrasing  a direct question into an indirect question can make the sentence less awkward. An indirect question does not require a question mark, nor does it need to be set off with a comma. Indirect questions are never capitalized (except at the beginning of a sentence). Some ways to rephrase: The dragon asked himself  what he was going to do now. Everybody at the palace wanted to know how the king would handle the dilemma. Where to find a reliable dragon was the question. Indirect questions do not need a question mark at the end of the sentences just because the word question is in the sentence or a question is implied. I hope this helps you solve a common comma commotion. copyright, Diane Mae Robinson, 2013 Please visit my author's website at: http://www.dragonsbook.com Illustrations by Samantha Kickingbird

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

It's an honor to receive the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.

This award was presented to me from, Jennie at, A Writers Journey http://welshjensblog.blogspot.ca/ Please visit her blog as she always has interested things to talk about.

Here are the rules of the award:

1.) Display the award logo on your blog.
2.) Link back to the person who nominated you.
3.) State 7 things about yourself.
4.) Nominate 15 bloggers for this award.
5.) Notify those bloggers of the nomination by linking to one of their specific posts so that they get notified by ping back

(Some of you have already received this award. I am nominating you because I believe you deserve it again).

Seven things about myself:

     1. I write children's fantasy/adventure chapter books.
     2. I live in a magical forest in central Alberta where gnome, faeries, dragons and such run wild.
     3. I love animals--real and imaginary.
     4.  I am a part-time art teacher.
     5.  My first book, Sir Princess Petra, was rejected 27 times before finding a publisher.
     6.  I  respect and  protect Mother Earth.
     7. I bought a motorcycle last year, scared myself learning to ride, selling motorcycle, sticking to    horseback riding.

These are the great blogs I am nominating for this award:

Sue http://kid-lit-reviews.com

Erik http://thiskidreviewsbooks.com/

Renee http://motherdaughterbookreviews.com/

Cheryl Carpinello  http://carpinelloswritingpages.blogspot.com

D. J. Stutley http://stutleytales.com/

Katie http://mundiekids.blogspot.ca/

Heidi Grange http://geolibrarian.blogspot.ca/

Catnipoflife http://catnipoflife.wordpress.com

Jen Owenby http://jenowenby.wordpress.com

Patricia Kemp Blackmon http://itsabouttimemamaw.blogspot.ca/

Jo Linsdell http://www.jolinsdell.com

Peggy Strack http://pstrack.blogspot.ca/

Darlene Craviotto http://darlenecraviotto.com

Rhythm the Library Dog http://readingwithrhythm.wordpress.com/ 

Ellis Nelson http://ellisnelson.com

Thank you to all of you who write and entertain.

visit my writer's website at: http://www.dragonsbook.com 

                                          

The Problem With Amazon Reviews

There is no magic involved in getting honest and legitimate reviews. It's called: the hard work of good writing on the author's part, and integrity on the reviewer's part.

Unfortunately some authors and reviewers don't play by the rules of integrity, especially on Amazon.

Author Michael Drakich has the same view as I do in regards to gathering honest and legit reviews. Micheal is talking about his
self-published books, but the information he provides has to do
with any and all published books.

The following is a re-post from Live Write Thrive

Today’s guest post is from Michael Drakich, and although he shares only 3 things, they’re detailed and insightful:

I’ve been asked to describe some things I’ve learned in the past year as a self-published author. The truth of them is they all involve the school of hard knocks. There is no easy path to success. Here are three major things with a number of other tidbits of advice mingled in.

1. Amazon is the 900-pound gorilla. Everyone knows the joke: Where does a 900-pound gorilla sit? Anywhere he wants to.

The Gorilla in the Room

When it comes to the indie publishing world, Amazon is the 900-pound gorilla. Self published authors have no choice but to accede to the whims of this monster. Because most self-pubs rely on ebook sales only and Amazon has the giant share of that market, they are forced to compete within that marketplace.

What does this mean? On Kindle Select the number of free novels every single day of the week (over 5,000 the day of this post) makes trying to sell your product a challenge. I mean, why should a book buyer look at your reasonably priced product, most ranging from $.99 to $4.99, when they can get a competitor for $0.00!

But it doesn’t end there. Let’s say a buyer decides to actually shop because he wants to search for quality. So they search a category and the default search is by popularity. Well, unless you can generate a lot of sales quickly, your book will be so many pages in, the buyer will never look that far.

Let’s say they change the search to average customer review. Again, unless you have had any luck garnering reviews in a massive amount, your book will be buried deep. What is purportedly happening is authors are buying five-star reviews by the hundreds to give them a high rating. Amazon’s algorithm’s kick in and, voila, a top-rated book. No effective system is in place to stop such abuse.

So how do self-published authors get their books found on Amazon? The simple answer is—they don’t. As long as Amazon is happy with the current system, they will have no motivation to change it. After all, buyers want to find the most popular or the highest rated. Why would they introduce anything that would be counterproductive to that?

The 900-pound gorilla is sitting and you can’t move him.

buyers want to find the most popular or the highest rated. Why would they introduce anything that would be counterproductive to that? The 900-pound gorilla is sitting and you can’t move him. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions . . . 2. What price do I set for my ebook? One of the more difficult decisions I needed to make was what price to set my ebook at. Looking at the market, prices were all over the place. From a vast quantity at $.99 up to paperback prices of $11.00 or $12.00. The major player, Amazon, with its pricing policy, urges the writer to consider $2.99. But their rating policy pushes you higher because higher priced books, when sold, move you up the rating list faster. So what is a writer to do? I considered making a dartboard with prices on it but realized that was a bad idea. It came down to asking what am I worth? I opted for $4.99. Not the highest price, but definitely far above the average. It was probably pretty close to the median. So am I saying my writing is only median? Not exactly. When examining those prices above $4.99, they belonged to writers with a greater established record than mine. Allotting a variance for just such a reason seemed only fair. So when comparing against other first-time self-pubs, I’m right near the top price. After all, I think I’m worth it. Honestly . . . 3. Is honesty really the best policy? My marketing plan is one of seeking out bloggers to give me honest reviews for my latest novel. Hopes, of course, are to get all five-star reviews. Reality is a bit of a mix. To date I’ve received a combination of five-, four-, and three-star reviews. I think there was one in there that featured an extra half star, but I digress. Now, three stars is still not a bad review, and those reviews did include positives about my book. So, all in all, I’m not too disappointed. My only disappointment arrives when I stop to examine the reviews and ratings of my fellow authors. Many feature scads of five stars and little else. When one takes the time to examine where those reviews came from, almost exclusively the review is the only one ever posted by that particular individual. Now I may have been born at night, but I can assure you, it wasn’t last night. Either all these authors are exceedingly lucky that people reading their work post a raving review for their work and no one else’s or it’s fixed. I’m going out on a limb here and will side with the latter. If I’m to guess at what is going on, these authors are convincing friends and family to write glowing reviews. What you usually see is this trend continues for the first ten to twenty and then dies off. It’s the later reviews that tell the true story, whether a five star was deserved. In the meantime, what has happened? The author, possibly by false pretext, manages to mislead the shopper that the work is quality based on reviews. They garner sales, which improves their ranking, which garners more sales, and so on. So why am I taking the high road? In hindsight, damned if I know.  Well, I do, but I’m wondering whether I did the right thing. Does the average consumer out there question the reviews they read? Do they bother to follow a modicum of investigation? Probably not. Still, I intend to soldier through. There is so much more to bloggers than the review. It’s the word-of-mouth campaign they run for you. I read once somewhere (I can’t recall) that new authors need to be heard of six to ten times before a buyer thinks, hey, I’ve heard of that guy before, so maybe I’ll buy his book. I hope these stories give an idea of the challenges facing a new writer. To all who try, I wish them the best of success. Now that is an author with integrity.

Commas, Ahhhhh!

There are so many rules on how to use a comma and how not use a comma that it can be mind boggling, even for experienced writers.

I have a lot of fights with commas. And how I usually win comes down to common sense--how does that particular sentence read, sound, portray what I am trying to say.

I uses as few commas as necessary because I find that the liberal use of commas can distract the reader from the story.

Comma usage is often a question of personal writing style. Some writer use them liberally, while others use them sparingly. Modern North American style guides now recommend using fewer commas rather than more.

For instance, the use of a comma before the "and" in a series is usually optional, but most writer choose to eliminate it as long as there is no chance of misreading the sentence:

        Before going home, we went around the mountain, played with the dragon, swam in the lake, and ate our cookies. (comma  needed for clarity before "and" if you ate your cookies after you swam in the lake).

        Before going home, we went around the mountain, played with the dragon, swam in the lake and ate our cookies. (no comma needed before the"and" if you ate your cookies while you were in the lake).

Do not use a comma to set off words and phrases (especially introductory ones) that are only slightly parenthetical:

       Wrong:  After dinner, we all played dragon tag.
 
       Right:     After dinner we all played  dragon tag.

Do not use commas to set off  restrictive elements. A restrictive elements is part of the sentence that is needed to make its meaning clear.

       Wrong:  The dragon's ear, on the left side of his head, was curly.

       Right:     The dragon's ear on the left side of his head was curly.

Do use commas to set off  non-restrictive elements.  A non-restrictive element is part of the sentence that is interrupting material that adds extra information---the sentence does not need this element to make sense.

     Example:  The faeries of Dalorme, who for centuries had lived in caves with dirt floors and rock walls, were unfamiliar with the protocol of living in a palace.

     You can also use two other punctuation marks to set off non-restrictive elements: parentheses and em-dashes.

     Enclosing a non-restrictive element in parentheses reduces the importance of that information.

            Example:  The dragons' fire breathing skills (with one exception) were not good.

     Enclosing a non-restrictive element within em-dashes has the opposite effect: it emphasizes the material.
 
           Example:  The dragons' fire breathing skills---with one exception---were not good.

An  what about those very troublesome words:  however, therefore, and indeed.

Commas—sometimes paired with semicolons—are traditionally used to set off adverbs such as however, therefore, and indeed. When the adverb is essential to the meaning of the clause, or if no pause is intended or desired, commas are not needed.       Example:  A truly efficient fire-breathing dragon remains, however, a lost dream.       Example:  Indeed, not one dragon accurately produced the technical elements required in the fire-breathing contest. but      Example:  If you cheat and are therefore disqualified, you may also risk losing your dragon scholarship.      Example:  That was indeed the outcome of the dragon fire-breathing contest.       If you, also, use the word also or too, you, too, should offset those words in the middle of a sentence. The  Chicago Manual of Style prefers not using a comma with too at the end of a sentence.

A great place to freshen up your grammar at Grammar Girl:
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

And sincerely, good luck with your comma woes.

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