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Editor’s Notes: A Voice of Reason (part 2)
BY PENNY FREEMAN
In my last post, we talked about how choosing the words your characters say helps to develop not only their history, but that of the world around them. In reviewing it, one perfect example of this popped into my head: TV’s Firefly, and its spin-off movie, Serenity. In this series, the screenwriters created an interesting historical backstory simply with the characters’ vocabulary. They interspersed the English with Chinese explicatives and other easily decoded words to hint at a world where the Chinese culture had become dominant.
Today, we’ll discuss how to give your characters regional or cultural “accents” to help develop your writing voice. This can be a perilous proposition, and is done badly far more often than done well. The author must learn to strike a delicate balance between communicating with the reader, allowing the reader to forget the author exists, and giving their characters the desired patois.
The trick: moderation. In spelling, choose one or two particular characteristics of the dialect you want to reproduce, and use it consistently. DO NOT go all out and try and write phonetically. It just doesn’t work. For the reader, the focus then becomes about the letters on the page, rather than the character’s voice in their head.
Here’s an excellent example of how not to do it. (Fortunately for Ms. Talbot, Josie makes only one appearance in the story that goes on to redeem itself.)
From “Tropic of Cancer” by Neve Talbot, in Mechanized 
Masterpieces: a Steampunk Anthology (2013)
Returning to the house from the lagoon, as I strode around the veranda, the sound of voices coming through the open windows of Bertha’s bedchamber arrested my steps.
“I tell you, Josie, the man has the touch. He sets me ablaze.”
“Dat leedle toad, madame? Oh, no. How cood he?”
Bertha laughed. “Not all men can be breeding studs, Josie.”
“Eben so . . . I would nebbah—”
“You do not understand, my girl. The man is an engineer. He makes a science of pleasure. I have never before had such a lover.”
“And Meestah Rochestah?”
“Mr. Rochester is a silly little boy, afraid of his own shadow.”
“Den, why do ye let dat ape touch ye?”
“Because Rottstieger is not here, wantwit. And Rochester—his physique surpasses Julian’s—all of Julian. He is not without promise.”
“Den, ye muds let me hab Julian. You hab no fuddah use ub him.”
“There you are wrong. Should I find the perfect man, with Herr Professor’s technique, Julian’s good looks, and Rochester’s stamina . . . well. Then, you could have my black. But until then, I require all three, especially since Rottstieger has been away for so long.”
“But Rochestah—he will find ye out.”
“Josie, one simply disappears into the cane fields, and Julian has such an appetite by noonday.”
“Rochestah—he promise us a house een down—a proper English house. Ye must mek heem do eet.”
“Patience, my girl. He cannot keep us here forever. After I have trained him up, then you shall have him for a plaything. And then, he shall be so wracked with his silly English guilt, I shall have him wrapped around my finger. He shall have you every night and do whatever I say all day long.”
The maid tittered. “Oh, madam. I could nebbah like heem. He be far too oogly.”
“Close your eyes, you simple thing. The face is not the business end of a man . . . or an ape for that matter.” A chuckle, deep and sensuous. “. . . and betimes one simply must have the beast.”
So, what’s the right way to convey cultural diversity in language—your character’s voice? Here are a few tips:
• Spelling: choose one or two common phonetic alterations in your spelling. For instance, Ms. Talbot could have chosen to substitute ‘a’ for ‘er’ at the end of sentences, so ‘never’ would have been ‘neva’. However, be consistent, and be sparing.
• Foreign words: slide in one or two foreign words in contexts the reader will understand, such as endearments or explicatives as in Firefly. Again, use moderation. Often authors will tell themselves that since they’re repeating the English translation in the very next sentence, they have addressed the difficulty while giving the story an “authentic” feel. Yes, it improves the reader’s comprehension/understanding, but it also jerks them out of the narrative as they look to the author to enlighten them. In good writing, the author vanishes; they become the unseen puppetmaster allowing the reader to suspend their disbelief. Don’t spoil that by making the strings obvious, or, worse still, demand the reader follow your directives, expecting them to make the puppets dance. They won’t. That’s not the show they came to see.
• Idioms. Does your foreigner mangle common phrases? Is it raining dogs and cats? Agatha Christie’s Poirot, for all his brilliance, is great at this.
• Speech patterns. Different languages follow different rules, but often times the speaker doesn’t quite perfect the translation. For instance, some languages might not use ‘be’ verbs. Others might not use pronouns but always use proper nouns, even in when speaking of themselves. Some languages invert the subject and predicate of a sentence. Easily name an example of this you can. You hear Yoda’s voice in your head. Admit it. Allow these differences to seep into the English and you give the speaker a foreign flair.
• Vocabulary. Never mind foreign languages. Regional dialects can be just as distinctive. Does your character eat potatoes or spuds or taters? Cookies or biscuits? Do they drink soda or pop or Coke? Fizzy drink, anyone? Do deliveries come in a lorry or truck or van? Would they say, “I slept in this morning because I caught a cold,” or “I had a lie in as I took a chill?” For that matter, do they vomit, throw up, or get sick?
• Punctuation. Is your character terse? Do they talk in short, clipped sentences, or do they run on and on at lightning speed and never seem to pause to draw breath so you just want to wave your hands and scream STOP! Are they always quick with an answer . . . or, do they pause to think? D-d-d-do they st-st-stutter? Or . . . or . . . or do they stammer now . . . now and again? Do they flit about from one thought to another—this is one of my worse habits—too many dashes. Even silence can speak volumes about a character. All these examples are crammed into one paragraph, and, as you can see, use the tactic too much and it starts to look gimmicky. Moderation.
My last example is an excellent one. Author Anika Arrington achieves the near impossible by writing in the vernacular, in first person, in present tense, all while allowing the reader to forget she’s even there. Without stooping to write a crusty old salt’s dialect phonetically, she allows the reader to hear his voice in their head, in all its sea dog glory.
The following excerpt is from the short story, “Sense and Cyborgs,” also found in Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology (2013). As you read it, note how she follows the above rules. (I’m making this long as she’s such a pleasure to read).
From “SENSE AND CYBORGS” by Anika Arrington
No one makes cyborgs like they does in Singapore. That’s why we set sail there when the Cap’n lost his leg. We were sailin’ round the Horn, see, takin’ ships as they come for Her Majesty’s Navy. Privateerin’ ain’t exactly the most honest way for a sailor to make his wage, but least it’s legal.
Well, one great Portuguese tub proved too spirited. One minute we had them on the run, pullin’ the best of their cargo from the hold, the next, our first mate is screamin’ to heaven on high. In all fairness, the cap’n is her husband, but the shrill nature of the female voice ain’t exactly intimidatin’.
“Harris! Harris! Help me!” she’s wailin’ and there’s all manner of fear in her face and blood on her hands. We gets him to his cabin, and she turns to me like I got to know which way’s north now.
“He’ll be all right, Dashwood,” I tells her. “Just do what ye can for him, and I’ll get the crew goin’. Where’re we bound?”
“The Orient,” she says, without no waitin’.
“There’s only one man that can do what we need.”
The only question be’n would the Cap’n make it, and it’s dicey there for a bit. Caught a storm not twelve hours after he regained consciousness, at which point he passed right back out, if you please. The first mate’s still screamin’, but in the way that meant we ain’t moving fast enough for her tastes.
They say it’s bad luck havin’ a woman aboard, but when Mrs. Margaret Dashwood-Campbell gets in high dudgeon, it’s like sailin’ under the command of that Greek Athena, Goddess of War and Wisdom, a thing out o’ legend.
“Mr. Harris, get that sail into position, or your wrinkled brow will spend the journey to Singapore on the Maiden’s head!”
“Aye, Dashwood!” is all you can say, and hop to it.
We all knew she were worried for the cap’n, so we soldiered on, but two days of tossing on the high seas was nearly all we could take. Lucky for us, the storm blew itself out without leaving us becalmed.
Tweren’t easy makin’ fast sail at half rations for so long. Even havin’ the monsoons wid us, there’s more than a few unkind things said ‘bout the cap’n and his first mate.
“Ain’t right sailin’ under a woman,” says Beakman one day at mess. “It’s her bein’ on board got the cap’n hurt. Now only God knows where we’re sailin’ to. I don’t like it. I won’t stand it much longer.”
“Beakman, you are as daft as Harris is old,” says Martin—who ain’t more than three summer’s my junior. “It was Dashwood saved the captain’s life, and we’re sailin’ to Singapore. Everyone knows that.”
“So she says, how do we know she ain’t sailin’ us all to our doom?” Beakman pipes back.
“’Cuz more than one man on this boat can navigate, you great lump,” I puts in. “Just cause you gots kelp and not much else ‘tween yer ears don’t mean the rest of us can’t read a star or two. Now quit yer yammerin’ ‘fore Dashwood finds outs, and decides to clean her knives on yer face.”
In the end, we touched the docks in west Singapore, sweet as you please, ‘bout an hour before sundown, and not sixteen days after the cap’n was injured.
Singapore is a swarm of bodies bumpin’ and jostlin’—a great mix o’ peoples wid all different faces. First Mate Dashwood sets us a haulin’ them heavy crates of goods down, and in the midst of the bustle she calls Martin, Beakman, Boarhead, and meself aside. I enters the cabin, and there’s the captain all laid out in a wooden box. His face beat up and the color of the sail. His leg is missin’, just a great wad of bandages. Next to him is a long package wrapped up so’s we can’t tell what’s in it, but mark me if it ain’t just the size to be the leg that ain’t there.
“He’s dead?!” I asks.
“Of course I’m not dead, you water-logged moron!” he sits up, and shouts at me before he winces and drops back down.
“You think we can just move him through the streets, and no one will say a word?” Dashwood says looking me in the eye. “You think Captain “Dagger” Campbell would be allowed to hobble about looking for someone to bolt him up?”
I feel the shame of my stupidity burnin’ me neck.
“’Course not, ma’am.”
“Do I look like a ma’am to you, Harris?!” she hollers. She grabs the nearest object, being a sexton with all the fine etching, and heaves it right for my face. She’s a dapper hand with the thrownin’ knives she is, but the sexton’s a mite big, see?
I catch the sexton, and cut me hand in the process. Ain’t nothin’ worse than a cut in a man’s hand. Makes all work harder, goes to infection faster than anything I know. Well, I suppose the cap’n’s leg is awful bad, but my cut hand feels like a stiff price for callin’ the first mate “ma’am”.
“Sorry Dashwood, just trying to be ‘spectful.”
“Well, you can ‘spect me by putting the lid on and shouldering my husband off this tub.” She gestures at all of us, and we goes to work.
When a man is bein’ lifted in the glory after a skirmish or durin’ some good drinkin’, he’ll stay perched up on the shoulders of two men and hardly weigh two stone. But when he’s near death like the cap’n, laid out in the wooden box, it took all four of us to bear him aloft. And no light thing it were, neither. The dock swayed ‘neath our feet as we left the gangway. Beakman’s knees buckled, and the captain nearly hit the drink.
“Move it along, you louts!” Dashwood hollers, and we know there’s a man out of a job or worse if the cap’n goes tumblin’.
We follows Dashwood away from the crush of the pier, the hawkers of the markets, and the patrols. More than once we had to hold up while some group or other went past, the stillness addin’ to the cap’n’s weight. And I notices that we go straight past the surgeon’s street. I see a few walkin’ past us there with a bit of work done on an arm or a leg. You see a man with a bandage or a rag holdin’ some bit of hisself together, and you knows he’s goin’ straight for the street of the butcher surgeons. That’s where they can patch any hurt.
A man crosses our path, so’s we come up short, and you can hear the heavy fall of one foot that’s made of something weightier than flesh and bone. Each physic puts his mark on his work. Some you can see, like the lad with the tree of cogs etched in platin’ on his arm, but others don’t like folk knowin’ where their work been done.
That’s Dashwood. No one knows why or when or what for, but when her gloves and her sleeves part a bit you can see there’s something shinin’ where the flesh ought to be. But she don’t turn for the street of the medics.
We wanders back alleys and weaves ‘tween houses barely standin’. It’s darker here, no lamps, and we stumbles more than walks as we carries the cap’n onwards. The smell of opium slithers about here and there. We huffs and gasps as we does our best to keep the cap’n from banging about in his injured state. Finally, Dashwood stops at a door. It’s all bamboo and thatch, and there’s an elephant with a dirty great cog rising off its back painted in gold. She knocks twice, and the door opens ever so slightly.
“Please tell the admiral that Dashwood begs a favor, and expects a return on her investment.” The words is crisp and sharp with the tension only a long history of deeds and words with a person brings.
Name an example of the best writing of dialects you have come across? What is the worst? I’ll get you started. Worst: Sir Walter Scott doing Scottish accents. Best: Charles Dickens. Or, worst, Charles Dickens doing Cockney accents;, best Sir Walter Scott. Both gentlemen came on too strong early on, then refined their craft as their careers progressed.
Next week: dodging the grammar police.
Editor-in-chief Penny Freeman lives, writes, edits, and markets from her home in southeast Texas. She currently supervises several editorial projects, including our most recent invitation-only anthology contest, Mechanized Masterpieces 2: An American Anthology. Her latest release, Legends and Lore: An Anthology of Mythic Proportions, was released October 2014.
Xchyler Publishing Takes Teslacon by Storm!
BY JESSICA SHEN
We are back from an amazing weekend at Teslacon, and boy did we leave with some great memories! This is a little belated, but I wanted to take the time to collect all my impressions before writing up this blog. First, here is a quick recap of our weekend:
Thursday: Diane Jortner of our Marketing team and I met up with the inimitable Penny Freeman, Editor-in-Chief Extraordinaire, at our vendor room late Thursday afternoon. We spent the evening setting up our booth for the opening of Teslacon 5 the next day.
Alyson Grauer, author of On the Isle of Sound and Wonder (OISW) , stopped by for a quick minute to say hello, and we also introduced ourselves to our booth neighbors and met some of the lovely Teslacon staff. We were all pooped by the end of the night with all the travelling and set-up, so we went back to our hotel rooms for some much-needed rest.
Friday: We opened up our booth at 10AM. I finally got to meet Scott Tarbet, author of A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk (AMNS), as well as “Tombstone” in Shades and Shadows, “Ganesh” in Terra Mechanica, and, in upcoming anthologies, “Year of No Foals” in The Toll of Another Bell, and “Nautilux Redux” in Mechanized Masterpieces 2: An American Anthology (MMAA); as well as Megan Wiseman, author of the short story “The Clockwork Ballet” from Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology (MMSA) and “Downward Mobility” in Legends and Lore. One of Megan’s short story will also appear MMAA.
Many of the con-goers were still at work at the beginning of the day, but traffic picked up considerably as it wore on. We had a game planned out to get patrons more involved in our booth as well as those of our neighbors, and also had drawings each hour for a free e-book (the entry fee was to sign up for our forthcoming newsletter).
Friday was the first day anywhere that we were selling On the Isle of Sound and Wonder* (as an exclusive pre-release to Teslacon), and man, did it fly off the shelves! By the end of the day, we were down to a measly one cpoy of the thing (our display volume). We had particular luck selling it as a twofer with Scott’s A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk, another Shakespeare-inspired novel (as you might have guessed by the title).
Our three authors were there at varying times of the day to sign books, which also helped with our sales. I modeled leggings printed with Egle Zioma’s gorgeous cover art for On the Isle of Sound and Wonder, and was able to sell a couple pairs, too (If you want to buy ‘em, let me know! We also have art posters available). After we closed up shop, Penny treated us to a lovely team dinner.
Saturday: The big day! We started out the day with much fanfare, all of us bedecked in our Steampunk finest. As we had sold out of all our copies of OISW, we pushed our other Steampunk offerings hard—MMSA, Terra Mechanica, another Steampunk anthology, AMNS, and Pete Ford’s Mr. Gunn & Dr. Bohemia. We had another game to play, which involved several of the Teslacon cast members, but it required a significant amount of effort from the patrons, and so it was not as successful as our vendor game from the previous day. We were able to sign up more people for our newsletter, though, which was great.
We left our booth in the capable hands of Diane’s husband (thank you for your help, Larry!) and headed off to hold our panel, Voyage of Discovery: From Inception to Published Work**. Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties and were not able to load our PowerPoint presentation, but luckily we were able to work around that with the help of Google Drive. We talked a lot about how to get published and what to expect during the editing process. We had a good number of attendees, and had the chance to interact with many of them during the Q&A session as well as afterwards.
Aly’s presentation, Sound and Wonder: Steampunking Shakespeare in Fiction***, came directly afterwards. As a high-profile cast member and all-around cult personality, Aly had a large audience at her panel. She discussed the process of writing and editing her story, as well as how she handled the source material, Shakespeare’s The Tempest. After answering some questions from the audience, she read an excerpt of her novel. All in all, both presentations went smashingly well. We wrapped up the night with presales of the hardcover edition of her book, and said goodbye to Diane, as she had to make the long drive back home.
There was a ball to cap off day two, but Penny and Scott and I were too tired from the eventful day, so we had dinner together and then called it a night. Aly and Megan had far better things to do.
Sunday: Our last day 🙁 We were able to push our Steampunk offerings some more, as well as getting some more presales of OISW. The highlight of the day: we met a family of a mother and father and two young boys who were the most excited I had ever seen anyone of their age be about books and reading and writing. They chatted with me for probably five to ten minutes, words tumbling over each other like they couldn’t talk fast enough about what they were reading, and what stories they wanted to write. They gave me hope for the younger generation!
The Vendor Room was open until about 3PM, but we ended up taking down our booth around noon, as both Penny and I had afternoon flights to catch. We ended up with significantly fewer books than we arrived with (just a few small boxes—unbelievable!), which meant that not only did we get our books out to the people, but Penny didn’t have to lug home an extra piece of luggage! After we got all cleaned up, we said goodbye to Teslacon, and Penny took me to the airport.
Whew. Well, that didn’t end up being very quick, did it? If you can stand it, stick around for a little bit longer to hear my impressions!
Xchyler Publishing’s first foray at Teslacon was an amazing experience. The Teslacon staff was incredibly helpful throughout the entire process, from submitting our presentation months before, to helping us get customers to our booth (shout-out to the Bob the Barker, the best in the business , we couldn’t have done it without you!).
Teslacon may not be the biggest Steampunk convention out there, but it certainly has the most heart. The event was very family-friendly, and there was a wide range of attendees, from babies to grandmothers—and everyone was dressed to the nines and acting in character, from Steampunk Iron Man to period-accurate Suffragettes. The variety of panels and activities was unparalleled, and the vendors had obviously been chosen by the quality of their wares rather than their quantity or low price. All in all, Teslacon was very well-organized, and the draw was such that even some of the hotel staff was dressed up!
We at Xchyler learned a lot during those few days. One of the biggest takeaways was the power of a new book release—hyping the release of On the Isle of Sound and Wonder, and Aly’s star power, drew a lot of people to our booth. Among the other lessons we learned, having authors at the booth available to sign books also worked very well in our favor. While we were very happy to have sold out of all our copies of OISW, we wish that we had brought more so that we could have sold out on the third day, instead of the first.
With the technical difficulties that we experienced, we now know to bring backups upon backups, so that we don’t have to be at the mercy of the fickle tech gods. We had also concocted personas for ourselves and for our team (X-ISLE: Xchyler International Society of Librarian Explorers!), but did not push that as much as we could have.
We met so many wonderful people, and most importantly, we were able to get our name out there! I hope that we have created some lasting fans, and I’m sure we met some future authors. It was the first time that many of the Xchyler team had met, and what a way to do it. I am so thankful that I get to be part of such a fantastic team, both in staff and our authors. Until next time, Wisconsin!
(l-r) Penny Freeman, Megan Wiseman, Diane Jortner, Scott Tarbet, Alyson Grauer & Jessica Shen. (Yes, you can buy those nifty t-shirts on the wall! Email us for more information).
*Don’t miss out on the worldwide release of Alyson Grauer’s On the Isle of Sound and Wonder on November 21st! Check out the trailer and attend our release party here!
**The video of our full presentation will be available soon! Don’t forget to check back!
***Watch Aly Grauer read an excerpt from her novel at her panel!
Editor’s Notes: Stop Taking Things So Seriously!
BY SHAUNTEL SIMPER
DISCLAIMER: If the following advice seems frivolous, awesome. I’m genuinely happy for you! Go out and write and enjoy every moment of it.
To the rest of us, consider this: when is the last time you wrote something for you? It’s far too common to get psyched out and think too much on what everybody else will think. So, instead, begin with the intention of never showing anybody. You are the sole audience member—what do you want to read?
You see, once upon a time, a younger Shauntel collaborated with a friend on a story writing prompt that was never meant to see the light of day. It became somewhat of a boredom buster, and the story building process continued steadily, with no real drive or deadline other than the occasional poke from her friend to get her to finish the next section and send it back for said friend to continue, and so forth.
Our intention was never to hit 500,000 words on that silly thing. It took two years. But it happened, quite accidentally. And it’s one of those little sources of secret pride I hold about myself.
There is a time and place for angst and dramatics in the writing process. Getting emotionally invested in your story often results in raw, compelling material, the likes of which often best serve to inspire and captivate an audience.
But . . . that’s some serious work. And it’s exhausting. If that’s all you do, writing stops being fun.
That’s my keyword for today: fun. Writing is supposed to be fun! And sometimes we get too bogged down in our own melodramatic minds to see that.
Remember that sci-fi epic you dreamt up when you were twelve? Flesh it out, give it a name, and enjoy yourself. Is it clichéd? Dull? No one else has to even see it. Just have fun with it.
Remember that fluffy romance you started writing when you were fifteen? Give it an ending! Work through the kinks or keep it campy. That’s up to you.
Remember when the ending to that one TV show failed you? Go write a new one. That subplot that was too terrible for words? Fix it. Those two characters that were meant to be but never seemed to have a chance? Write them a happily ever after.
Now, hide it away for no one to see. Keep it as your hobby, your de-stressor. Having something that’s just for you can be a precious thing. Or, don’t. It’s your choice. If it seems like the right thing, send it into the world. Maybe your future best-seller is masquerading as that Twilight alternate ending you thought of (see: Fifty Shades of Grey).
Pet projects can be fun, and they can break up the monotony when your novel feels dull. When it comes to writing, any practice is good practice. And, if you’re feeling just a bit brave, a little collaborative writing never hurt anybody. Then it’s two people who have a secret hobby, and that’s always more fun.
Shauntel Simper just returned from the literal Last Frontier, Alaska, and is excited to put her editor boots back on. She graduated from Eastern Arizona College but plans on continuing her education before life gets crazy, and currently lives in a little apartment in Arizona with too many roommates and works more jobs than you do. She really did write a 500,000 word story, and, no, you can’t read it.
Shauntel’s diving headlong into work on Mechanized Masterpieces 2: An American Anthology, slated for release in February 2015.
Inside Marketing: The Book Review—Why Do Authors Do It?
BY DIANE JORTNER
One easy and fun way to boost your social networking presence, build readers, and make valuable connections is to write book reviews. Book reviews are read by readers, appreciated by authors and publishers, and help create a sense of belonging in the literary community. But mostly, they are fun!
1. Find a book: finding books to review is not difficult.
a. Contact publishers or indie authors for advance reader or galley copies (ARCs) to write reviews in anticipation of new releases.
b. Review books you find interesting online.
c. Volunteer your services as a reviewer through readers’ or writers’ groups on Facebook and Twitter.
d. Join a team of reviewers for a publisher.
e. Join a blog hop. Authors and publishers are always looking for reviewers to post to their blogs about new releases. Search your social networks to locate someone that might want your help.
2. Prepare: preparing before you read makes the process easy. Learn about the genre and create a criteria list before even reading the preface. Create a list of those things you find important in whatever genre you intend to review. For example, below are a few possible things to look for as you read a young adult fantasy novel:
a. Inviting world building
b. Complex, conflicted, compelling young adult characters
c. A character arc of growth for the protagonist
d. A universal theme to which young adults can relate
e. Magic with interesting powers and limits
f. Tension which draws you in and keeps you turning the pages.
g. That illusive escape from reality quality. Did you feel you transported to another imaginary place and time?
h. Believable dialog
i. Creative scenes
j. Anything new to say
k. Similarities to other writers
3. Read the book: I know this seems obvious, but many authors can swear that some of the reviews posted on GoodReads or Amazon were written by people who have never cracked the book’s cover.
a. Take notes as you read
b. Bookmark particularly thought-provoking or fascinating passages
c. Enjoy the experience of reading something new
4. Write: compose as if you are writing for the New Yorker. Pull out your best wordsmith toolbox and make your review as fun to read as the book itself.
a. Be honest. Not every book is a five-star book, but some definitely are. Don’t be that person who gushes about everything she reads just to make people happy. But, neither should you be the writer who never has anything nice to say, who just looks for faults and picky little problems.
b. Be kind and constructive. If you hate the book, you won’t make friends or readers by bashing the person or the writing. Ask yourself: if it was that bad, why did I keep reading? If it was compelling enough to keep you interested to the finish, the book may have some merit. Most successful reviewers adopt the attitude that if they can’t stand a book in the first several chapters, they are not going to waste their time reading the rest. If they don’t read the whole book, they will either refrain from writing a review, or will include that information and critique only what they have actually read. There are many reasons people can’t finish a book, and not always because the writing itself is unprofessional. Whether you find the subject matter uninteresting, were misled by the back blurb, found the plot moved too slowly, or the voice failed to connect with you, be sure to include those reasons, and mention what you did find that was positive, especially if you feel it would probably connect with readers with different tastes.
c. Compare the book to others in its genre. Showing that you know the literary world will capture the interest of professionals and readers alike.
d. Include a short summary, but do not be “that guy” who ruins the reader’s experience of discovery and suspense with spoilers. Encourage readers, tell them what you think, but don’t tell the story.
5. Publish: consider your options before publishing a review.
a. Send it to a newspaper or magazine. Local, national and genre newspapers and magazines look for book reviews, and some even pay. Consider a query in advance and see if they are interested in what you have to offer. If you know a local writer, you might consider offering a review of her book to the local paper or radio station. If you are part of an organization, consider a review in a trade magazine.
b. Post your review on your blog or offer to post on the blog of another book reviewer.
c. Post to Goodreads and Amazon.
6. Publicize: let everyone know you wrote this review. It doesn’t help you or the novelist if no one reads the words you spend so much time putting to the page.
a. Tweet it. Connect to the author and publisher with their handles and attract the attention of the right audience with common hashtags: #amreading, #bookreview #blog #genre
b. Post to your Facebook page or profile
c. Post to the Facebook page of the writer
d. Post to any Facebook groups
e. Post to Pinterest, making sure you have a nice picture to go with your review.
7. Watch the responses! You may get other offers to review, or queries about reviewing your next book. A publisher might notice your style and contact you, or you might even get a job offer. No matter what though, you have added an arrow to your quiver of skills and can put “book reviewer” on a resume or “about” page alongside your name.
Social Media Specialist Diane Lee Jortner fell in love with the media as a high school newspaper editor. With BA in Journalism/Public Relations from Bowling Green State University and a MALS in English from Valparaiso University, she brings her fifteen years’ experience teaching English Composition and her extensive personal social networking experience to The X Team.
In the past year, Diane launched Kids #5 and #6 who graduated from college, #6, the youngest from high school, written a YA mystery novel, and started to blog. In her free time, besides reading almost all types of fiction, she likes to travel with her husband and children.
Editor’s Notes: Blurring the Lines
BY TERRI WAGNER
Usually in most publications, the Mdepartment and the Editorial Departments exist as separate entities, each tasked with a different job. At the trade publication where I worked, Marketing more or less ignored Editorial; and we generally more or less ignored them. The standing joke was their job was to make money, and our job was to spend it. They brought in the advertisers, and we spent the money traveling to shows that advertisers attended.
Sometimes, though, we crossed lines or blurred the lines a bit. We had a few ‘departments’ that enabled an advertiser (or anyone in the business) to announce a new or improved product. Sometimes we published a technical paper on a new product. Sometimes we showcased a new product as a feature story. In all those instances we carefully proofed our layout to make sure their ads were nowhere near their stories. It was dicey, because we were an international publication. Those same rules are almost never used overseas. So explaining why we were so anal about it was at times difficult. Often the Marketing Department would forward a call or email from a new advertiser wanting editorial coverage for a product. Again, we followed our simple rules.
You might think this only applies to say magazines, journals, newspapers or other published works of the same variety, but not so. Marketing is part and parcel of a novel as well as an anthology, both of which Xchyler publishes. And I am not talking about the obvious marketing that comes after the Editorial Department has given the green light on publishing. It starts in the novel/story itself. What? Horrors! This can not be. We must always keep the art separate from the commercial. Blah blah blah!
You want your novel/story to sell, and make money? Then start with that beginning in mind. Are zombies now over? Will people really want to read one more story about teenage vampires or wizards? Is the world going to race to the mousetrap of yet another spy who has been betrayed by his own government and now must be a rogue agent saving the world again? These are important and serious issues to consider as you write.
Another marketing issue up front: will your product be polished or raw? Will your international character speak perfect English since that’s your target audience, or will you have him/her speak a broken English? Would that be important? Actually, yes.
In the game of Dungeons and Dragons (a personal favorite from years gone by), you chose your character’s background (and looks) and then you decided if they were good, bad, neutral, neutral good or neutral bad. What has that to do with marketing? Well, again, consider your genre and what people will be expecting. A neutral bad rogue agent is probably not going to be accepted as a hero in an action novel.
Most writers unconsciously keep this in mind as they write. But many believe that, for the sake of their art, they should remain true to their vision. It’s okay to fight for that, but don’t reject things out of hand. Give serious consideration to their concerns. Otherwise, you hamper your publishing company’s ability to market your final product.
The Marketing Department looks at a novel from an external perspective, so they often times think of issues that will trip up the story that writers overlook while in the throe of their creativity. For instance: will parents want their teenagers reading about a sixteen-year-old in a romantic relationship with a thirty-year-old? Or, it is really a good idea to have a shoot-out with semi-automatic rifles set in a high school cafeteria?
Don’t be fooled. Marketing starts the minute you type “It was a dark and stormy night.” Authors often look at the Marketing Department as the enemy, but they want the same thing you do: success for your work. They might even help you achieve it.
Terri Wagner lives, writes, and edits from her home in Alabama. Her most recent project, Terra Mechanica: A Steampunk Anthology, was released in May 2014. Other works to Ms. Wagner’s credit include Shades and Shadows: A Paranormal Anthology, Mr. Gunn and Dr. Bohemia by Pete Ford, and Conjectrix (Vivatera Book 2) by Candace J. Thomas.