Special 99¢ Deal: WWIV - Kid at War (Limited Time Only)

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Just in time for another cold Minnesota weekend (or perhaps one more blizzard if you live in the North-East). Book two of my WWIV series (Kids at War) is featured this weekend only as a Kindle Countdown Deal!

February 27th, 28th, and March 1st ONLY
(available only at Amazon)

WWIV - Kids at War

Only 99¢
(click on the picture below for details)

As always, Thank You!

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My Debut Novel:

       

Choose Your Words, and Commas, Wisely

Let's look at a few sentences so we can see what happens when grammar and punctuation are abused.

Let's eat Grandma.

I must admit, this is one of my all-time favorites. We assume that you are calling grandma for lunch or dinner here. Like she's in her room, or favorite chair, taking a nap. But that's not what this sentence really states.

In the sentence above, I can only decipher that grandma is dead, and we are going to have her for supper. What? You ask, reading the line again. Yes, I tell you emphatically, that is the true meaning of that sentence.

Perhaps you meant this instead:

Let's eat, Grandma.

Now that sentence gets across the first idea and leaves no room for doubt as to what you were trying to say. That was fun, let's do another.

Your donation just helped someone. Get a job.

Believe it or not, this comes from a sign at a charitable organization. I saw the sign myself. I'd really like to meet the person who wrote and designed this one. Or even the proofer who gave the go ahead to have these signs made up.

Here the sign offers two thoughts, one intended and the other - well, not so much. My donation helped someone. That's good to know. It makes me feel better when I drop off ten pairs of pants that are almost brand new and don't fit any longer (weight loss, not gain, in my case). I can already envision a man, down on his luck, gleefully pulling on a pair of work-causal khakis.

The second part of the statement (after the period), reminds me to go out and get a job. At the very least, it is reminding someone to get a job (I have two, thank you).

I bet they meant for the sign to read like this:

Your donation just helped someone get a job.

At least I hope that's what they meant. The original version is otherwise slightly rude I'm afraid.

One more before we close for the week.

Cam and Mitchell are competent, loving parents, both are lawyers.

Okay, first off if we are speaking of the two characters on Modern Family, they are not both lawyers. Only Mitchell works in law; Cam is a stay at home dad who does some "clowning" on the side. Glad to get that straightened out up front.

Next, I have no idea what the above sentence is trying to tell me. Are they competent men, loving parents, and lawyers? Perhaps they're competent, loving parents first; and lawyers second. Or maybe they are competent lawyers and loving parents. It's all messed up in my mind.

If I was going to rewrite this sentence, this is what I'd most likely do:

Cam and Mitchell are both competent, loving parents, and lawyers.

I might take the word "both" out of the sentence completely. I think it only adds confusion to the statement.

By the way, it's a good thing I didn't mess up the title of this post. It would have been embarrassing to see it in this form:

Choose Your Words and Comas, Wisely

That's just all kind of wrong and on so many different levels.


Have a great week. In the last month, I've reread The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair and Catch-22, by Joseph Heller. If you haven't read either, I highly recommend them for a great read.


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My Books:

                        

Love Your One-Star Reviews

Congrats, you finally got the manuscript published - you know, the one you've been working on for three years. You've toiled away at the keyboard, typed until your fingers were stubs, and finally, it is finished. Time to pop it up on the Big A and see how many copies you sell.

Here Comes The Good Stuff

You're smart; you've lined people up to do some reviews right away; good thinking. This way your novel won't look like to typical "thrown together, rushed indie booklet" you hear so much about. With some actual reviews, hey you stand a chance of getting more readers.

So, Uncle Fred gives you four stars, your mom - five stars (thanks mom), and your neighbor gives you another four star review. Then you stupid cousin from Idaho, the one you doubted you should even send a copy to in the first place, nails you with three stars. A fun delightful read that shows much promise for this author. Perhaps a run through an editor might have helped. That's the last time you ever use him, that's for sure.

Now, The Interesting Happens

Several complete strangers purchase your book and leave a review. Another four-star, which basically says the reader liked it; and a three star where the writer goes on and on about what a great book it was. While this review confuses you, you decide you'll take three stars any day. This is your debut novel, after all.

Thus far, you have six reviews. Your average review score is 3.83; not bad, all things considered. You'll take this for now. Better are right around the corner. Each day you see that you sell a book or two. It won't be long before another couple four and five-star reviews hit the page.

Then, The Bottom Drops Out

A few days later you check your review summary, and you notice the total is 8. Hot Dog, two more reviews. But then your heart skips a beat or two as you stare at your average score. How that heck did it drop to 3.25, you ask yourself?

Here's how: The next reviewer gave it two stars. A quick read, without much substance. Maybe the author's next book will be better. You brush this aside by rolling your eyes; what does this person know about literature?

And then you spot your very first one-star review. Your lips tighten, your stomach knots, you feel your fists balling up. Perhaps the worst book I've ever read, if I could have finished it. Don't waste your money on this drivel. And don't quit your day job, Mr. Author.

If you could form a rational thought at this moment, you might count to ten and take the good with the bad. But you can't. This isn't just a one-star review, it's a personal attack on you!

Here's How You Need To Handle This

1. Do not (I repeat, DO NOT) send a response to this reviewer. So they didn't like your book; not everyone will. And that is the plain and painful truth.

2. Do not get another bunch of your friends to write you sterling five-star reviews to help raise your score. People will see through this tactic. Any book that is five-star heavy, with minimal one and two-star ratings, is suspect to many readers. They figure you got your entire neighborhood to tip the scales (and they're right, aren't they?).

3. Sit Back and Relax. You have officially become a real-life author. I truly believe that until you get blasted like this (it's a reality check for most), you're just putzing around in the minor leagues. You earn your stripes, your chance at the "bigs", and a lot of humility by having one-star reviews.

Let's take any old big title - how about 1984? I just checked on Amazon, here are the stats for Mr. Orwell's classic. The overall rating for this novel is 4.5 on Amazon. Hey, that's pretty darn good. But, and listen to this, there are 279 two and one-star reviews (that's 5% people). This should tell you with no room for doubt, not everyone is going to love your book (or any book for that matter).

I know one-star reviews aren't fun. I have a few in my camp. Six on book one alone (and that's 12%, ugh!). But they come with the territory, I know that now. So, as difficult as this sounds - enjoy them. You've made it my friend!


Until next week, here's hoping you don't live in Boston. Man, they have way too much snow out there; too much for even a Minnesnowta guy like me. I bet ebooks are selling good in New England this winter.


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My Books:

                        

Marketing for Writing Dummies

After more than a year of being a published author, I feel like I've learned some lessons along the way. Dare I say, I'm beginning to feel like an expert in some areas of the independent author game. Remember how Twain defined an Expert: Anyone more than 20 miles from their hometown, carrying a briefcase. In truth, I may not be an expert, but I have learned a little about this book marketing game.

Step One: It Takes Money to Succeed

This may seem obvious, but trust me when I tell you it's not. And any sliver of success in marketing is always based on trial and error.

We all know the story of Hugh Howey, right? Hugh wrote the Wool series and has sold approximately a gazillion books over the past six years or so. Everyone I know likes to point to Hugh's huge following like it can happen to all. When Hugh published the first version of Wool, more of a short story than a novella he admits, the title took off like it was on fire. The secret to his success? Well, it wasn't a big marketing budget because Hugh admits he didn't spend a dime on marketing his first book.

Here's a hard truth for the rest of us: We ain't Hugh Howey. It may happen to the occasional author, but it has about the same odds as winning the lottery this week.

Most of us are going to have to spend some of our otherwise hard-earned money if we expect to see any traction for our titles. But what's the right amount, people ask? Truth be told, no one seems to know. But, dare I say, it's more than zero.

I have several writing friends whom I share ideas with from time to time. One person asked me a while back, how book one in my WWIV series did so well. They were comparing our debut novels; I'd sold about 2,000 copies, they - about 20. When I asked how much they'd spent on marketing, the answer shocked me. Zero, nothing, zilch. That, my friends, is not the correct answer in this case.


Step Two: Spend Your Money Wisely

Let's just get right to the point on this step; I have no idea where you need to invest your cash. I know where I've spent cash in the past, and I can sure tell you (in a general tone) what has and hasn't worked.

One great idea - Sign up for a Book Blog Tour. I spent about $150 one a twelve stop tour about three weeks after the release of my first book. I experienced immediate results in my sales numbers as the tour progressed. In a very unscientific study, I figured I sold approximately $345 in books as a direct effect of the tour. If I could triple my money on every investment, this would be an easy game.

One not so great idea - Make a trailer and do literally nothing with it, except publish it to YouTube. Next, if you really want to watch you cash dissolve, promote it on said channel. Be, sure like me, to direct the watchers of your trailer absolutely nowhere when they finish. Don't send them to your web page, don't bother creating a landing page, and have absolutely no call to action when they are done viewing the video.

Book trailers can be a great marketing plan. Promoting them on YouTube is a sound idea. Just learn from my mistakes and have a slightly better plan going into the promotion. (In my defense, I had no idea what I was doing. But I still managed to spend several hundreds of dollars and received almost 6,000 views. I don't think any of this sold a single book, but I sure liked watching the counter go higher and higher each day).

Step Three: Be Patient and Don't Give Up

Try something, give marketing a shot. Tell yourself you're willing to spend $250 this quarter in marketing. Do some research and find out what's worked for others. Two things will happen: 1) it will force you to actually speak with (or email) other authors - people in the same boat as yourself, and, 2) you may find something that works for you. You never know until you actually try.

But a word for the wise, other people's results may not be the experience you achieve. For example, if I ask my friend the romance writer what she does for marketing, I may get a different result than her from my post-apocalyptic novel. You may have to try and find success more than once. That's usually the way this works.

Do your research, do it well. One common phrase you will hear when it comes to marketing and success is this: There is no one secret formula. Every writer's experience is different. Be ready for that going in. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

I'm sorry I couldn't divulge any great marketing secrets for you. There just aren't any. So get out there, spend a few bucks, and find something that works for you. If you're not in the mood to spend money, research free book marketing and see what you can come up with. Or, try to become the next Hugh Howey - good luck one that one!


Thanks for reading this post, and have a great week!


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My Books:

                        

How to improve your grammar, as you write

Today, I have a few writing tips for you. Mostly I'll focus on improving your grammar (perhaps I should call it prose). And here's a little secret before we begin, you can do these things right as you are creating your documents (in my case manuscripts).

Understanding Word

First off, many of us create using some type of Word program. Perhaps it's Microsoft Word itself (at least one of the various versions of this program available). Did you know there's also something called Microsoft Word Online? A Word program that you never have to download to your computer. I happen to use Word for Mac; it's not as robust and full of features as the standard Word version, but I like it nonetheless.

We all know, or at least we should know, that when you misspell a word in this program, a red line pops up under the word. Highlight that word and you can find correct spellings 99% of the time. As an aside, many times I get the dreaded No Suggestion comment, instead of two or three suggested spellings. All this means is that I've mistyped the intended word so badly even a highly enhanced computer program can't figure out what I'm trying to convey.

You should also know that Word tries to tell you when your sentences don't make sense. Some will say, "Really?" Yes, really folks.

As you're creating, you'll notice a green line pop up occasionally under a sentence. This means that your sentence is not structurally sound - your grammar has an error. Sometimes there will be Consider Revising. Oh, that's a lot of help. So my sentence is fragmented, and it needs revision. What the heck is a fragmented sentence anyway, and how can I fix it?

One method is to read the passage aloud, and see if you can talk your way to a better sentence. Early on in 2013 I did this a lot. Sometimes it works, and the foul green line disappears. More often than not, my fixes are just as bad as the original version.

Ever Heard of Grammarly?

Grammarly is a software package that "Checks your grammar right from your browser or Microsoft Office. Improve your writing in emails, documents, social media posts, messages, and more." It is, for me at least, the bee's knees!

Even after I've eliminated every error that I can find in my manuscripts, I always run each chapter through Grammarly before I send it out for beta-reading. The program helps me eliminate passive phrases, mis-used words, missing commas, poorly constructed compound sentences, and much, much more. In short, Grammarly makes me look twice as good as my rough draft would show.

There are other programs out the that do the same function. To list just a few there is: White Smoke, Writer's Workbench, Right Writer, and so on. Just search "writing enhancement software" in your browser, and all sorts of choices will pop up.

A Quick thought on Scrivener

Recently I began using a more robust writing software named Scrivener. While the jury is still out on it's true value for me, I will say that I like it - at first blush.

Positives - Create chapters and even scenes, all in one place. No more having a separate Word folder for each chapter (and then group of chapters as you combine). The same misspelling warning, (the thin red line) as found in Word, is embedded in Scrivener. And a big plus, I can keep all of my research and character sketches right in my manuscript file. No more searching for this folder or that file. Everything I need is in the left-hand drop down menu for my immediate use.

Negatives - First off, there's lots of options I just can't use. It's like a Ford Focus driver jumping into a Ferrari; there are just so many bells and whistles that you're not used to. Also, some of the document formatting tools aren't very user-friendly. Which also reminds me - their user manual needs an update. I have yet to be able to use that piece of literature.

But, and I say this again, I like the tool all-in-all.

There are lots of tools available for every writer of every level. You just need to find them, and then consistently use them. At the end of the day these tools make your editor's job a whole lot easier. Oh yeah, don't forget to use an editor. Another set of professional eyes needs to review your manuscript before you hit the publish button. My editors are worth their weight in gold.


Until next week, keep enjoying winter. I'm using it to read a couple of classics over the next month: Joseph Heller's Catch-22, and, 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King.



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My Books:

                        

Enjoying Winter? Move Here!

Living in the upper Midwest, Minnesota more precisely, winter can be a brutal season. Already we've experienced double-digit negative temps; wind chills that can freeze exposed flesh in five to ten minutes; daytime highs below zero. Yeah, for all of you not from here, it's cold - really cold.

Another thing I need to tell you warm weather folks is that you never actually get used to being this cold. Oh sure, people up here brag about surviving in the icebox of the US. "Needed a scarf today, even a hat," locals joke. But on nights where it's 30 below and the windchill hovers around 50 below, no one goes outside unless they really, really have to.

But just how cold is it? I don't mean temperature, I mean in words.

It's really cold outside.

Okay, this tells me absolutely nothing. Cold is a relative term. A cold morning in LA could mean 45 degrees...above zero (wimps). Cold in Alaska could be 50 below. Let's try again.

It's cold enough to freeze the feet off a brass monkey.

Oh, now we're going with cliches; how wonderful. Again this tells me nothing. Use your words.

It's the type cold that takes your breath away.

This is better. Especially if you live in a climate where you know what cold really means. But what about for our warmer weather friends? People who've never had the cold take their breath away?

It's the type of cold where snow crunches under the weight of car tires, sounding like...

This is good, really good. When you use senses to help describe situations, people start to develop a picture in their mind. The better the words and phrases, the clearer the picture.

It's cold enough to freeze hot water within seconds; where exposed flesh will freeze (and ultimately burn) from three minutes of exposure. A cold so brutal, so bracing that even dogs refuse to go outside. Where steam rises from 33-degree lake water, freezing into tiny ice crystals in the frigid air.

There is a lesson here for all of us; not just writers, but everyone. We each possess enough language skills to accurately tell anyone from anywhere what we are thinking. Challenge yourself to find the best words possible for each sentence. Don't give into vagueness or cliches.

This year I'm trying to focus my descriptions into clear pictures. Not just sometimes, but every time - all descriptions. Of course, I need to watch out for the dreaded "purple prose"; where over-description ruins paragraph after paragraph. I know there's a fine line, a sharp edge to this game. Happily, I accept the challenge of finding that elusive line.


Have a great week,


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My Books:

                        

The Year in Review - 2014

As many of you know, 2014 was my first year in the writing/author/novel game. Looking back twelve months, I can't honestly tell you what I thought 2014 would bring. But, I can say now that this past year has been fruitful beyond any of my wildest dreams.

Book Sales

In 2014, I managed to sell almost 4,000 copies of two books: WWIV - In The Beginning, and, WWIV - Kids at War. Not bad for a rookie. In dollars, I grossed slightly more than $6,000 from these sales. Again, I'm happy with this result.

What did I expect going into this business? I actually have no idea. I'm a planner, a financial guy, so I should have had some sort of budget figured out beforehand. But the cold truth is, I didn't. I just wanted to sell some books in 2014. Honestly, I can't tell you if that meant 30 copies, 300 copies, or almost 4,000 copies.

I do know this, though: my plan would have been much closer to 300 (one book per day) than 3,000.

For 2015, I'd like to raise my gross sales number to $15,000. To do this, I plan on releasing three more novels (actually two novels and a novella). Total book sales, in units, will reach approximately 9,000, perhaps as high as 10,000. At least these are my goals.


P&L for the Year

Somehow, against the usual odds a first-time writer faces, I made money in this venture last year. While I'm still compiling the final numbers, I believe my expenses, all told, were somewhere around $3,600. That means I made about $2,400 at this business.

The two categories where I spent the most money were editing ($1150) and advertising ($750). The editing expense is necessary in my mind. The first book had one edit, book two had three edits. Most books going forward will have three edits. The way I see it, it's better to have a good product than a cheap product. There are still some errors I find that need fixing. But overall, I want to present a decent product first and foremost.

Advertising money in 2014 was mostly thrown to the wind. I didn't really have a plan, so I had no roadmap to follow. I did a little of this and that, but mostly very little as far as well-planned advertising. I need to do a much better job of this in 2015.


Blogging

In 2014, I posted 65 posts that were visited some 3,600 times. That's an average of 360 visits per month (I began blogging in late February).

I'd like to have better reach in 2015. Perhaps increase my visits to 500 per month. That will give my 52 posts in 2015 some 115 views each week. I realize in 2014 a number of views were bot driven; so if I can, I'd like my 2015 numbers to be real people visiting.

I would also like the content of my blog to be more consistent, more about this writing life I have chosen. While, for the most part, I stuck to that in 2014, 2015 needs better focus on my part.


Website

I have a website. Occasionally, like two or three times daily, that site receives visits. But that's where it ends for me.

My website is a disaster; and absolute colossal failure on my part. I'd invite you to visit the abyss, but it wouldn't be worth your time.

The only improvements I made last year to my site was occasionally updating my 2014 reading list. I need to, I must, do a better job of making this site usable and relevant.


Writing Projects

I created three manuscripts this past year. Books three and four of my WWIV series, and a prequel that will be released soon (and given away for free).

Proofing, editing, rewriting and such took up more time than I had planned in 2014. I can't tell you how many times I read and reread my first two novels last year. I know it was at least a dozen times each. Also, I format my own manuscripts; both for e-books and paperback. You want a time-sucker? Formatting! But I did it and I'm proud of my accomplishments.

Between the small amount of research and marketing, I seem to waste time on, I manage to rob myself of what could otherwise be productive, creative hours. I have so many ideas for new novels. And most of them are just swirling around in my brain, laid down on paper nowhere. I need to do better and create more content. What I really need is a time machine so my days have 50 hours each.

In 2015, I will finish my WWIV series. The last book most likely will not be published until 2016, but I may get it out yet this year. 2016 will also bring the release of book one in my epic series, The Smith Chronicles. I need to spend some time this year being sure that book one, Golden 5, is ready for beta reading later in the year.


There it is, my 2014 raw data and 2015 projections. A person without a plan can never fail, nor succeed. So I challenge all of you, writings and readers, to make some plans for 2015. And maybe even make them public; hold yourself accountable. Develop a plan and work it to fruition.


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My Books: