Writing
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2023 Update
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What I’m Doing Now
It’s been a while, peeps!
Now that we’re going into December, I, like many people, have my plate full.
Here’s what’s happy happening with me:
I’m thinking of writing another Babyland. I’ve barely started work on it, but I am in the brainstorming stage now.
Can’t think too well now.
I’m conjuring up a short story and that is still in the brainstorming stage as well. That’s probably not the right term to use . . .
I don’t have an idea of when these will be completed. However, there will certainly be more content from me in the future! I’d love to have two works published in the same year!
That is all I have for you as of now.
Peace out!
-Eileen
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My First Real Rating for Babyland was 2 Stars–Here’s How I Felt About it
Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels.com I’ve been craving reviews for Babyland long before its publishing date. I’ve done my research: have beta readers review it,
seek out book bloggers, take your book to a reputable website that accepts books for reads and reviews.
While some choices I made worked, and others didn’t, I was left with the same feeling altogether: disappointment. A combination of lack of funds, missed deadlines or the need for heavy blog usage on my website were just a few reasons I missed out on sending my book out for a review.
What did work, though? Reaching out to book bloggers was my best choice! I didn’t get much feedback from professional review services, suffice to say.
I reached out to maybe fifty book bloggers, asking if they’d like to review my book. I’d say maybe 98% DID NOT RESPOND. The 2% responded with a polite no thank you or thanks but left an excuse. Others greatly accepted.
However, keep in mind when one accepts your book to read it in exchange for a review, you may not hear from them again. Take this as they’re busy, they did not like your book after all, or they’re plain rude.
I suggest you email them to make sure they received the copy of your book (whether digital or print is up to them). If no response, try again a week or two later. Still no response? It’s possible they’re too busy or lost interest. If you know they’ve read your book then, and haven’t left a review yet, remind them with one email.
Onto with the rating I’ve been meaning to write about. I reached out to a book blogger, she gladly accepted, she read my book, then it took her about two months to post the rating.
She emailed me her rating for it, at last. I wasn’t too surprised when she didn’t care for it. She did however, give it 2 stars over 1. The first rating I received was a star.
In so many words, she was excited to read it. Once she started to read it, though, she got bored with it and didn’t understand what the pictures were describing.
On a positive note, she first stated how it’s definitely not for kids. She loved how it was dark humor because she likes that, and she couldn’t spent hours looking at the drawings.
I could have gone out of my way to read the 1 star review, but that reviewer did not come off as nice as this reviewer did. If I can, I look for reviewers who are honest, not blunt, when reviewing books.
Best of all, the reviewer who earned my book 2 stars said she did not want to sound rude. She did just that.
I suppose I’m up for accepting (mentally?) reviews as low as 2 stars as long as the reader/reviewer found something likeable in my work. Especially so if I don’t find a nasty reivew. Authors get that their work won’t be loved by everyone on the planet. I don’t think it does much good (least for the author) to shout from the roof tops how awful a book was. If Twitter existed in the time of Jackson Pollock, something tells me his paintings would see the worst reviews ever. Maybe I branched off a bit.Enjoy the rest of the year! Feel free to ask any questions! I highlighted where you can read the review if you’d like!
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Unnecessary Words To Take Out of Your Writing
Let me delve into this blog post by saying this: I’m not writing this to claim I am the perfect writer. There is none. No writer can pull off the most spotless, no-rules-broken piece of literature. It would help if you had your spelling errors corrected, sure, and grammar corrected as well. I, for one, have my writing rules that I follow and believe are an amount that must be followed no matter what.
Okay, so what words should you avoid at all costs in your writing?1) Suddenly
Please, doesn’t everything on Earth happen suddenly? The toast popped up from the toaster, the baby popped out, the pigeon crapped on my head, I slipped on ice and cracked my ribs? Maybe it’s your lucky day if that’s all you broke open. If all!2) Try and
Try and make my day by writing grammatically correct. You’re better off with, “Try to.” Read this sentence: “Try and stop me.” Now this one: “Try to stop me.”3) The reason is because
Both “reason” and “because” are transition words connecting to consequences. To have two of them in the same sentence is redundant. You’d either write, “Because” or “the reason is that.” See? They’re twins, but they don’t need to share a sentence.:)4) Same exact
Haven’t we been here before? Again, we’ve run into twins? Fraternal twins, rather. “Same exact” is redundant. Choose either “same” or “exact” for a sentence. You can do it!5) Each and every
Similar to “same exact” and “try and.” Pick either of these, not both. I know, it must be like when you order at Starbucks for a frappuccino refresher. Yeah, I don’t order crazy drink combos often.6) A single individual
I believe an individual is single. You don’t go around saying, “I’m a single individual,” or do you? If you are single, is what I’m getting at here.7) Just
This word is often overused. “Just” should be used when defining something that happened a moment ago or an exact amount. It’s a word you use sparingly. Did you just get off the train, as in a minute ago, or was that an hour ago? How about just a dash of salt–not a tablespoon but a sprinkling?8) Same difference
Now here’s an oxymoron. You can’t have something that’s the same and different. Scratch out these two words altogether.9) End result
Results often are the end. In transitional phrases, you have an example of “in the end.” “End result” is redundant, as I mentioned a few specific words in this post. You could substitute “end result” with “in result.”I won’t hunt you down and kill you if I ever see cringe-worthy mistakes in your writing. Learn from them, as you learned from dumping that trashbag of a boyfriend. Feel free to break the rules, too. These might best come in handy for character dialogues, but hey, not for your dissertation.
Laters, peeps!
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What I Have Learned From Publishing (1 Month in)
So . . . I’ve been an author for a month now. Feelings range from shock to alleviation to disappointment. First-time authors deal with a range of emotions.
Before I get into the details, this is my own experience with publishing. I am self-published. A self-published author does not experience everything as a traditionally published author would.
Enough with the variations now! I’ve got a plethora of info to share with you! Publishing has been my education! I will cut to the (Chevy) chase and offer you my newfound knowledge!1) Copyright everything
Any new addition of work needs to be copyrighted. Any change, be it a new paragraph to something as simple as adding punctuation, means you copyright it again. In this case, before you send off your creation to the Copyright office, be oh so sure it is the final copy!
Besides the hassle of sending it off to the Office, there will be payment involved. The amount of charge varies on how many copies you send to the Copyright Office, plus what kind of application you send them. I mention this since you might not copyright your work ONCE. More copies may follow.
Now, you aren’t chained to a chair to copyright your work. There’s the public domain, meaning that that specific work is not under copyright law. Put this way; there is no law to copyright your work.2) ISBN
What does that stand for? INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER! Say it with me!
It’s a book’s identification. Needless to say, products besides books have them as well: audiobooks, coloring books, maps. However, not too many products besides books themselves receive an ISBN. It’s okay board games; we still love you.
Like copyright, you aren’t held against your will to buy an ISBN. ISBNs are for the benefit of searching for a book quickly enough in a database. Not to worry TOO much if you can’t locate your book without the ISBN. You will, though, look as if you are in the know of the publishing field.
I mentioned buying one. You’ll need to register to obtain an ISBN. As a warning, they’re expensive. Luck’s on your side when you can purchase two or ten at once.
Upon purchasing an ISBN, each is used once for one title. No sharing for titles. That’s a no-no.
Once the purchase goes through, give yourself time to fill out the form online. I was shocked at all the steps involved. :03) Prices vary
Not every store keeps the same price as your publisher does. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, now. Think of Amazon, where it has its costs rise and fall every day. Personal in the publishing business? No. It’s retail. You’ll see stores sell your book for less, and depending on what country, it sells at a higher price. At least that’s what it appears. Here’s to someone who has never used currency!4) It’s not you who edits
I did not want to believe this for a while. Authors write their work. Why can’t they edit their work, too? It makes sense to have someone else read it. A fresh pair of eyes that is. You don’t see it the same way a professional editor does. Authors who have been in the business for DECADES don’t edit their work. Spend money on one. Decide if it’s a line editor, copyeditor, or letterer that will suit your needs.
Editors have a way of reading carefully. They aren’t there to criticize, only to improve your work. Here’s a tip before sending your manuscript off to an editor: PLEASE edit it yourself in some form.5) Be patient with timing
Depending on the company that publishes your book, you must plan on your book’s release date and give yourself time to promote beforehand. Should there be any backlogs with your book, you’ll want to have a date set months in advance. For the publishing house I chose, the pub date I placed had no turnaround.
The following goes for what publisher you go with: you won’t receive payment that first week your book goes on sale. Ebook companies vary, also. You might receive payment weeks, a month, or MONTHS later. It’s frustrating, sure. In the meantime, make yourself a shopping list to burn all that hard-earned cash. 🙂Publishing is a long haul. A long haul that is worth every effort of work you put into.
Any questions about today’s post? Feel free to write a little something in the comments.
Love, Eileen -
Why I Haven’t Crossed Cursive Writing Out of My Life
For children of this decade, of last decade, you might seldom ever write a thank-you card to your relative. Yes, as in, you worked your muscles and physically wrote on paper to take the time to write an appreciation to them.
I feel a swell of pride that I still carry out this formality. There within a handwritten letter, I tell that person, “I thought of you. I took time to write to you.”
Call me an old soul. I don’t care! If you think you can’t handle this reading, please stand by, as this is not a blog about etiquette. Thank you. 🙂
Allow me to carry on. Those a generation younger than me (perhaps two) who won’t know what it is like to write a formal letter. There have been kids my age, where they RSVPed for my party, and it was a text message! This unceremonious outcome hurt my feelings! I’m telling you, a handwritten note is much more meaningful!
What am I getting at here? Cursive, of curse! Of course!
Cursive means “joined together,” from the Latin verb currere, which translates to run. The sole benefit of the development of cursive was for the writer to write quickly. Men had the training to write in what claimed as “a fair hand,” where the correspondence appeared in the same script. As for women, their cursive had loops to them.
Which is the prime reason for my style of handwriting: how swift words get written down. Moreover, if practiced correctly, cursive sure can look legible and beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, I have received compliments in the past on my old-fashioned handwriting. One that stood out to me from my Freshman year came from a teacher. “Eileen. You have very, very nice handwriting. It’s pretty impressive.”
Overall, I suppose my grandma treasured my cursive writing the most. She adored my cursive since I wrote her thank you’s and other cards. Now and then, she brought up how she saved them.
That’s how I am with her! The woman’s cursive writing had that dainty, nineteen-twenties appearance to it. Without a doubt, it looked like it belonged in a newspaper ad from then or a movie during the war era. She had used the finest tipped fountain pen for her penmanship. She kept at it, even after a series of strokes muddled her penmanship, and she made fun of herself for it.
Now I’m the one who’s saved her consummate calligraphy. When I gaze at it, there’s a sensation in me as though I’ve stepped back in time. Even more so, at the sight of the numerous letters she wrote decades ago, it has inspired me to pursue this inveterate art for years to come.
Earlier I mentioned the compliments I’ve received throughout the years on my cursive handwriting. Lucky for me, I learned the art of cursive back in third grade. As we progressed throughout school, teachers had us believe us students would only write in cursive for school papers. The horror–for everyone else!
Later in high school, in one of my condensed classes (I have a learning disability), we were to refresh our minds by writing out our names in cursive. Everyone struggled but me. This baffled and fascinated me at the same time. When I expressed this to my parents, both expressed how proud they were of me.
According to the NY Times, as of 2019, cursive writing is gradually returning its way to the Common Core. While that’s all well and good, my mind goes to those children who missed out on the art of cursive writing. It’s a practice that must never die and will be advantageous throughout life.
We owe it to those before us, the subtle but widely recognized form of handwriting. There’s plenty of room for practice if you haven’t already.Sources: “The History of Writing, and Writing in Cursive Italics.” The Daring Book for Girls, by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz, 1st ed., Collins, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2012, pp. 10–11.
Rueb, Emily S. “Cursive Seemed to Go the Way of Quills and Parchment. Now It’s Coming Back.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/education/cursive-writing.html.Did you learn cursive in school? Do you ever write in cursive? Let me know by writing in the comments.
