Yes, COMING SOON...
This is my blog and I try very hard NOT to brag or post stuff about me BUT today I'm breaking those rules and letting everyone know -- I have a non-fiction author's tip book coming out in just a couple of days!
[insert trumpet fanfare] Coming May 1, 2014. [insert crowd cheers!]
Yes! Non-fiction. It isn't fantasy, science fiction, historical, thriller, adventure, horror, Christian or any other type of genre. It is a book about writing. It is a book about editing. It is a great book and a book well worth the very low price I've set.
52 Weeks of Writing Tips
That's the title and it is chock-full of great writing tips for the novice and experienced writer, both. It covers several areas of the craft including, but limited to: dialogue, characterization, editing, POV, marketing, sales, sex scenes, aliens, and much, much more.
Here's a little sneak peek - a listing of the Table of Contents...
Introduction
Week 1: Thinking Inside The Box
Week 2: That As●Ing●Ly ~ Editing Tricks
Week 3: Character Descriptions
Week 4: Building A Believable Character
Week 5: Secondary Characters aka Walk-On Characters
Week 6: Sabotaging Character Believability
Week 7: Alien Sex or What To Do When Your Partner Isn’t Human
Week 8: Afterglow: The Real Power Behind A Literary Sexual Encounter
Week 9: Writing and Politics: Parallel Words of Perception
Week 10: Sparky: A New Angle On An Old Story
Week 11: Building A Successful Press Kit
Week 12: A Timely Thought
Week 13: Poetry Fun
Week 14: Youthful Poetry
Week 15: The Top 10 Things You Must Know About Radio Interviews
Week 16: Oh Horrors! Children’s Writing
Week 17: Use Climax In Writing
Week 18: Ten Points On Plotting
Week 19: A Couple Of Horror Secrets
Week 20: Author Websites
Week 21: Freelance: How To Sell Almost Everything You Write
Week 22: Dialogue And Detail
Week 23: Instant Einstein
Week 24: Whose Who’s Whose
Week 25: Point Of View aka POV
Week 26: Dumb Writer Edits
Week 27: By Zombies
Week 28: He Said, She Said
Week 29: POV Revisited – Part 1
Week 30: POV Revisited – Part 2
Week 31: A Good Writer
Week 32: What’s In A Job Title
Week 33: The Editing Process
Week 34: The Writer’s Stream
Week 35: August! The Christmas Rush Is Over
Week 36: How To Write Better and Faster
Week 37: How Much To Pay For Edits
Week 38: Mr. Thesaurus, If You Please
Week 39: Where’s The Caboose?
Week 40: Story Continuity
Week 41: What To Write
Week 42: What’s In A Name
Week 43: Time Warping
Week 44: Fragments
Week 45: Writer’s Conference – A Marketing Tool
Week 46: An Idea Generating Exercise
Week 47: Flashbacks
Week 48: Evil Villains
Week 49: The World According To…
Week 50: Writing A Series
Week 51: Character Details
Week 52: Reading and Writing La-La Land
Bonus Week: War and Sex
Appendix
About The Author
Other Books By The Author
Sample Read — Pangaea: Eden Lost
There is something for everyone in this handy book. So, don't forget - May 1, 2014, is the release date and the ebook will only be $0.99. That's even cheaper than the $1 Menu at several fast food restaurants and trust me, you'll eat these tips up and wonder at the remarkable improvement in your writing.
If you didn't notice, there is actually a bonus or two included - another week's tip and a sample read.
Be ready...
Until next I ramble on...
Monday, April 28, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
New Year's Resolutions
Have you kept yours? Better question - Have I kept mine?
No. Well, sort of no, sort of yes.
I wanted to get four books published this year and even established a timeline to give me a goal to reach and know that I could do it.
Let's just say the goal "sort of" got changed. My original goals were:
Jan 31, 2014 - release Pangaea, Eden Lost
April 30, 2014 - release Jewyl - working title
August 30, 2014 - release of Fire Life, book 1 - working title
November 30, 2014 - release Circles - working title
So, I was a little off on the dates... just a tad.
April 4, 2014 - release of "Pangaea, Eden Lost." A little behind but I got it out. So, in my estimation, I had accomplished 25% of my resolution.
Now is when things get a little stickier. I re-juggled the books a little bit. On May 1, 2014, I will be releasing "52 Weeks of Writing Tips" which was not in the original lineup.
Please note that although my first book was late by a little over two months, my second book is only off by ONE day. For all practical purposes, I am back on schedule.
In truth, I've been working on "Jewyl" when I decided to do the writing tip book. So, if I were to push myself, I could maybe release the "Jewyl" book by the end of May or June.
With a little re-scheduling, I might be able to squeeze out five books. BUT, I don't want to push myself to such an extent that I get burned out. IF Ms Muse is on my side and The Fates decide that I'm entitled to such a blessing, then so be it, five books. STILL, I can reach my goal of four books without too much difficulty, I think, by the end of the year and fulfill my resolutions.
As May 1 approaches, I hope to find some blog sites that would be interested in hosting me for interviews about my writing tip book or about me as an author. If you have a blog and need to supplement your weekly issue, contact me: bob AT bobnailor.com.
What is my new book about? It has 52 writing tips (actually 53, I give a bonus week) about different aspects of the writing craft including ideas, characters, editing, marketing, aliens, sex, dialog and many other things. It is broken down into "weeks" so the reader can absorb a segment and if so desired, take a week to expound on the "lesson" to increase the writing skill and the craft.
The book will be available very soon. Mark your calendars and remember: May Day (May 1) will be a great day - the release date of "52 Weeks of Writing Tips" by Bob Nailor.
So, back to the very first question - Have YOU kept your New Years' Resolutions?
Until next I ramble on...
No. Well, sort of no, sort of yes.
I wanted to get four books published this year and even established a timeline to give me a goal to reach and know that I could do it.
Let's just say the goal "sort of" got changed. My original goals were:
Jan 31, 2014 - release Pangaea, Eden Lost
April 30, 2014 - release Jewyl - working title
August 30, 2014 - release of Fire Life, book 1 - working title
November 30, 2014 - release Circles - working title
So, I was a little off on the dates... just a tad.
April 4, 2014 - release of "Pangaea, Eden Lost." A little behind but I got it out. So, in my estimation, I had accomplished 25% of my resolution.
Now is when things get a little stickier. I re-juggled the books a little bit. On May 1, 2014, I will be releasing "52 Weeks of Writing Tips" which was not in the original lineup.
Please note that although my first book was late by a little over two months, my second book is only off by ONE day. For all practical purposes, I am back on schedule.
In truth, I've been working on "Jewyl" when I decided to do the writing tip book. So, if I were to push myself, I could maybe release the "Jewyl" book by the end of May or June.
With a little re-scheduling, I might be able to squeeze out five books. BUT, I don't want to push myself to such an extent that I get burned out. IF Ms Muse is on my side and The Fates decide that I'm entitled to such a blessing, then so be it, five books. STILL, I can reach my goal of four books without too much difficulty, I think, by the end of the year and fulfill my resolutions.
As May 1 approaches, I hope to find some blog sites that would be interested in hosting me for interviews about my writing tip book or about me as an author. If you have a blog and need to supplement your weekly issue, contact me: bob AT bobnailor.com.
What is my new book about? It has 52 writing tips (actually 53, I give a bonus week) about different aspects of the writing craft including ideas, characters, editing, marketing, aliens, sex, dialog and many other things. It is broken down into "weeks" so the reader can absorb a segment and if so desired, take a week to expound on the "lesson" to increase the writing skill and the craft.
The book will be available very soon. Mark your calendars and remember: May Day (May 1) will be a great day - the release date of "52 Weeks of Writing Tips" by Bob Nailor.
So, back to the very first question - Have YOU kept your New Years' Resolutions?
Until next I ramble on...
Monday, April 14, 2014
HELP! How To Self Promote
Are you a horn blower? Can you toot your own horn?
For me, tooting my own horn to total strangers puts me in a very leery situation where I get nervous and then in some stupid way, embarrass myself.
I can use the standard "media" outlets - Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc etc ...
BUT, there has to be more and better ways to get the word out there that you've just released a new book and want the world to race to your front door to get a copy. Right?
My latest book - Pangaea: Eden Lost - is now available in ebook format at Amazon. I hope to have a paperback version ready in another week.
It's a really great book - an adventure in the style -- oh, I really hate to do this -- similar to an Indiana Jones type tale. Well, sort of.
My hero, the lead, is Barclay Havens, a for-hire relic hunter. He is asked to not find a relic but instead, find the true location of its creation. A little different. The problem? The stone the item was encased in is very old and of compounds found in two separated locations. The enigma? The item is a highly polished metal tube, seemingly hollow with something inside. Oh, I guess I should mention, the tube is OLDER than the stone it was encased in.
Now to make things even more difficult, he has an attractive woman joining the search, toss in her boyfriend - or should that be fiance? Oh, needless to say, there is also a stuffed-shirt college nemesis who wants to tag along on the expedition.
Take them all to Brazil - into the jungles of the Amazon where suddenly our hero discovers even more secrets - one of them being - it seems many people will kill to possess the cylinder.
Not everything and everyone is what or who they appear to be. There are more agendas at hand than the simple task of finding out where the cylinder came from.
The story is a good romp with a lot of divergent incidents and enough secrets to keep the reader on their toes trying to figure out what is going to happen next.
NOW... My question, how do I go about marketing this book? How do I get people to read it? Where should I be advertising? How do I get reviews?
HELP ME! HELP ME! HELP ME!
I don't want to see my story die in the depths of Amazon.com.
Until next I ramble on...
For me, tooting my own horn to total strangers puts me in a very leery situation where I get nervous and then in some stupid way, embarrass myself.
I can use the standard "media" outlets - Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc etc ...
BUT, there has to be more and better ways to get the word out there that you've just released a new book and want the world to race to your front door to get a copy. Right?
My latest book - Pangaea: Eden Lost - is now available in ebook format at Amazon. I hope to have a paperback version ready in another week.
It's a really great book - an adventure in the style -- oh, I really hate to do this -- similar to an Indiana Jones type tale. Well, sort of.
My hero, the lead, is Barclay Havens, a for-hire relic hunter. He is asked to not find a relic but instead, find the true location of its creation. A little different. The problem? The stone the item was encased in is very old and of compounds found in two separated locations. The enigma? The item is a highly polished metal tube, seemingly hollow with something inside. Oh, I guess I should mention, the tube is OLDER than the stone it was encased in.
Now to make things even more difficult, he has an attractive woman joining the search, toss in her boyfriend - or should that be fiance? Oh, needless to say, there is also a stuffed-shirt college nemesis who wants to tag along on the expedition.
Take them all to Brazil - into the jungles of the Amazon where suddenly our hero discovers even more secrets - one of them being - it seems many people will kill to possess the cylinder.
Not everything and everyone is what or who they appear to be. There are more agendas at hand than the simple task of finding out where the cylinder came from.
The story is a good romp with a lot of divergent incidents and enough secrets to keep the reader on their toes trying to figure out what is going to happen next.
NOW... My question, how do I go about marketing this book? How do I get people to read it? Where should I be advertising? How do I get reviews?
HELP ME! HELP ME! HELP ME!
I don't want to see my story die in the depths of Amazon.com.
Until next I ramble on...
Monday, April 7, 2014
Are You Writer Material?
Many a glittering, yet innocent eye has gazed upon the lofty title of "author" or perhaps a newbie tongue has uttered those immortal words: I'm a writer.
BUT...
Are they truly a writer or author? Or are they hacks, wannabes, hobbyist or worse - frauds?
I was at a holiday party and met a gentleman who was quite loud, spouting his claim to the literary world as an author. Me, the lowly wannabe writer approached him cautiously and in total awe. He is an author! So over the next hour I listened to every word this god of words uttered, all the while hoping to learn the secrets of being an author.
Imagine my chagrin?! He wasn't published. In fact, he was still working on his wonderful manuscript, the Great American Novel, if you must. During the hour I hung on each word, at one point he passed out a generic card and I grabbed one. It had his name hand scribbled on it with a nicely printed address of a writing group. He invited anyone to call to get more information and attend a meeting.
I called the next day. Once more I was awe-struck when I was invited to attend the next meeting which was only three days away. Again, another major disillusionment. None of the group were published. But I attended about 4 or 5 meetings, listening and learning before being ripped apart for a 6 page submission they took the time to edit. The one hour plus drive home that night was very lonely. I was not a writer. I had no skills. It was time to put away the rainbow dreams of being an author. I'd like to say it was raining that night but it wasn't so my tears were very visible.
So, how can you decide if you are writer material?
1. Do you see yourself signing books, parties, tours and luncheons with publishers?
2. Can you sit in a room, all alone, with nothing to entertain yourself except your mind?
3. You have a great idea, what do you do?
4. Do you have one, two, four, several different book plots?
5. Where is the strangest place you've written?
If you answer yes to #1 - you may want to reconsider being an author.
If you answer yes to #2 - you have potential.
If, for #3, you didn't write down the idea immediately on anything available, move along.
The best answer for #4 is several or even more!
To answer #5 with my desk, table, or something similar - you may want to reconsider writing as a job.
I've written in an empty, dilapidated house, in the middle of a cemetery, on a bus, train, traffic jam, and even in the middle of a lake while fishing. Those are the locations I am willing to admit to, there are stranger.
As I outlined a novel, I realized I could expand the story with a simple addition. The next thing I realized, I had a 4-book series outlined. All of that from a simple idea about a possibly short story. In fact, my co-author of the vampire series we're working on started with a silly conversation about big-breasted Amazon women in Brazil. We went from B-class movie ideas to a five star class act novel and a 5-book series.
If writing means fame and fortune. Go find yourself a parade and enjoy your time there. Authors in the 6-digit salary range are far and few between. We hear about them the most but they are the biggest minority in the world. For each author who sells one thousand copies of their book, there are ten thousand authors struggling to sell one hundred copies. The days of being wined and dined by the big publishing companies are almost a myth anymore. Days of large advance payments have also fallen to the side UNLESS you are a very big-named personality and you have a really good agent.
I've noted a lot of the obvious aspects of being a writer. There is one secret so many writers... or rather wannabe writers can't handle. Rejection. Yes, we struggle over our baby, nurturing it to completion and then, in absolute fear, we don't allow anyone to see it for fear of rejection. There are many different types of rejection.
Edits. This form of rejection is seeing all the red marks and suggestions to your work which you can't believe is not perfect as submitted.
Submissions. A writer must learn to handle this aspect since it will happen repeatedly. To have a piece returned as 'not what we are currently seeking' is a standard blurb and not a commentary about your work.
Critiques are a total stranger's idea of what s/he thinks about the story. Again, this is not a personal attack on you, the author, or your work.
So, if you're new to the writing world - take a few moments to evaluate the truth of what you think writing is about. In fact, if you're an old hack to the writing world, maybe you need to face facts and decide if you really want to write or just play with a hobby called writing.
Until next I ramble on...
BUT...
Are they truly a writer or author? Or are they hacks, wannabes, hobbyist or worse - frauds?
I was at a holiday party and met a gentleman who was quite loud, spouting his claim to the literary world as an author. Me, the lowly wannabe writer approached him cautiously and in total awe. He is an author! So over the next hour I listened to every word this god of words uttered, all the while hoping to learn the secrets of being an author.
Imagine my chagrin?! He wasn't published. In fact, he was still working on his wonderful manuscript, the Great American Novel, if you must. During the hour I hung on each word, at one point he passed out a generic card and I grabbed one. It had his name hand scribbled on it with a nicely printed address of a writing group. He invited anyone to call to get more information and attend a meeting.
I called the next day. Once more I was awe-struck when I was invited to attend the next meeting which was only three days away. Again, another major disillusionment. None of the group were published. But I attended about 4 or 5 meetings, listening and learning before being ripped apart for a 6 page submission they took the time to edit. The one hour plus drive home that night was very lonely. I was not a writer. I had no skills. It was time to put away the rainbow dreams of being an author. I'd like to say it was raining that night but it wasn't so my tears were very visible.
So, how can you decide if you are writer material?
1. Do you see yourself signing books, parties, tours and luncheons with publishers?
2. Can you sit in a room, all alone, with nothing to entertain yourself except your mind?
3. You have a great idea, what do you do?
4. Do you have one, two, four, several different book plots?
5. Where is the strangest place you've written?
If you answer yes to #1 - you may want to reconsider being an author.
If you answer yes to #2 - you have potential.
If, for #3, you didn't write down the idea immediately on anything available, move along.
The best answer for #4 is several or even more!
To answer #5 with my desk, table, or something similar - you may want to reconsider writing as a job.
I've written in an empty, dilapidated house, in the middle of a cemetery, on a bus, train, traffic jam, and even in the middle of a lake while fishing. Those are the locations I am willing to admit to, there are stranger.
As I outlined a novel, I realized I could expand the story with a simple addition. The next thing I realized, I had a 4-book series outlined. All of that from a simple idea about a possibly short story. In fact, my co-author of the vampire series we're working on started with a silly conversation about big-breasted Amazon women in Brazil. We went from B-class movie ideas to a five star class act novel and a 5-book series.
If writing means fame and fortune. Go find yourself a parade and enjoy your time there. Authors in the 6-digit salary range are far and few between. We hear about them the most but they are the biggest minority in the world. For each author who sells one thousand copies of their book, there are ten thousand authors struggling to sell one hundred copies. The days of being wined and dined by the big publishing companies are almost a myth anymore. Days of large advance payments have also fallen to the side UNLESS you are a very big-named personality and you have a really good agent.
I've noted a lot of the obvious aspects of being a writer. There is one secret so many writers... or rather wannabe writers can't handle. Rejection. Yes, we struggle over our baby, nurturing it to completion and then, in absolute fear, we don't allow anyone to see it for fear of rejection. There are many different types of rejection.
Edits. This form of rejection is seeing all the red marks and suggestions to your work which you can't believe is not perfect as submitted.
Submissions. A writer must learn to handle this aspect since it will happen repeatedly. To have a piece returned as 'not what we are currently seeking' is a standard blurb and not a commentary about your work.
Critiques are a total stranger's idea of what s/he thinks about the story. Again, this is not a personal attack on you, the author, or your work.
So, if you're new to the writing world - take a few moments to evaluate the truth of what you think writing is about. In fact, if you're an old hack to the writing world, maybe you need to face facts and decide if you really want to write or just play with a hobby called writing.
Until next I ramble on...
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