My Quandary - How to Support Each Other's Books

I like that approach, Abe. Yes, Forest Elf, those links are a good way to spread the word.

Malcolm
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Malcolm R. Campbell

http://www.malcolmrcampbell.com

Elf, I doubt that your romance novels are drivel, but I'm cut to the quick (whatever that means) to learn that you don't like shootouts in Virginia City or stories about great battles. Please don't tell me you can't stand mysteries. I'm not sure my old heart could take that.

Abe, I have a confession. I wouldn't know an adverb from a rattlesnake. I did all that diagramming of sentences in school and can recognize a noun (well, sometimes) and an adjective. The other parts of speech, forget it. I've read a couple of books a week since I was 11 or 12 and that taught me everything I believe is necessary. Newspaper editors did the rest. I learned about its and it's and that things revolve around and center on.
I sat through a ten minute lecture by a managing editor because I used the term "grammatical error" in a story. If it's an error, he claimed, it isn't grammatical. Had he not been the managing editor I would have said - well it doesn't matter.
The only rule I keep in mind is Cornell Woolrich's - "Never let grammar stand in the way of a good sentence." He majored in English at Columbia, an Ivy League School. I also keep in mind John D. McDonald's advice: If you don't read at least two books a week, you can't write."
So, Abe, I couldn't pass a fifth grade English test, yet earned a living from writing most of my life. I know what looks right and what doesn't. And I sometimes think of the English majors I have known who are so rule-bound and stilted that they are incapable of writing a sentence anyone would care to read.
So now you know.
study

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Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America
www.dickstodghill.com

Malcolm, I'm afraid I hijacked your thread. Sorry. My only thought on the topic is that there aren't enough people here to make a difference when it comes to sales. As for reviews, those from the average person don't mean much.
I'm not trying to be discouraging; any sale is a good one.
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Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America
www.dickstodghill.com

The funny thing, Dick, as I think of grammar rules, is that I don't know the rules and it's my parents' fault.

My parents' use of grammar was flawless. So, in an osmosis kind of way, I learned from them. This led me to never pay attention during grammar lessons in school because I saw no point in it. The rules were boring and if one was speaking and writing correctly already, the rules could only tangle one up, I thought.

Of course, I can't spell either, and I guess that's my fault. lol!

All these years later, I still feel that way about rules. Yet, people say that since I'm a writer, I ought to know that stuff.

Malcolm
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Malcolm R. Campbell

http://www.malcolmrcampbell.com

Dick, you made my day.
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"To Beirut and Back"
http://www.freewebs.com/abemarch

Yep, too many books, Anne.

Malcolm
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Malcolm R. Campbell

http://www.malcolmrcampbell.com

Joined : 24 Jun 2008 Posts : 4

Hello everybody,

I'm thrilled to see a
discussion about how to support each others' books. It's my main
concern. Mainstream writers have festivals, book reviews in well-known
newspapers and journals. POD writers have next to nothing. So, the way
I see it, we really do need to get busy.

The breakdown of books
by mistakes in the posting above I thought was fantastic. I've read
three self-published books with no mistakes in them at all. One was
produced by a book packaging company and ghost-written from an original
draft by the author. That book was superbly turned out. One book was
edited by a cleric on behalf of the author. That book is extremely
impressive, one of the best. And the last book, although its cover was
created by a graphic designer, appears not to have been edited by
anyone except the author. However, she explains in her notes that she
produced the book according to a review cycle. A team of her
proofreaders checked the work in regular shifts until it was ready to
be published.

I'm currently reading a book published by
iUniverse which is about imperial politics in 18thC China. This book
would be impressive regardless of which publisher's name it bore. My
review of it won't be out for a couple of weeks. But I've been
impressed so far.

In fairness to my selection criteria, I should
add that my review website does have a fillout form where authors have
to put details, including a sample of their writing, in, so there's a
fair chance that I'll be able to avoid getting sent books which are
real howlers.

The books that I've mentioned so far are
featured on my website. I can't praise them enough. I think they're
superb. It's true that I also have reviews of some self-published books
that I didn't enjoy that much. But even they didn't have grammatical
errors in them. I tended not to like the way in which the story was
being told, or only to like some of it.

There is a body of
fine writers who are producing their books using POD technology. I aim
to locate as many as I can and feature their books on my site.

Best wishes,

Pat
I review books here:http://www.litarena.com/books/

Pat, I'm sure I've submitted a book for review. Can you check your database as I've yet to hear back from you.

k_kantas@yahoo.co.uk
http://www.freewebs.com/froget

Heads & Tales 978-1-4357-0808-2
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Heads and Tales out now!
http://www.lulu.com/karina-kantas

Joined : 24 Jun 2008 Posts : 4

Hi Karina,

You're most likely to hear back from me once I've got my short stories section up and running. I'm concentrating on novels, authors and discussions about content on the site at the moment.

Regards,

Pat

We have way too many books in our house, a house we are trying to sell. Our realtor said we needed to de-clutter more than we have and when I look around, the clutter is mostly books. Sometimes someone will talk about a book on a certain subject and I'll say, "I've got a book about that." So I give the book away, but often I have already given it to someone else.

My grandkids come and look through the books in my house and talk about which ones they've read. My granddaughter was writing poetry for creative writing class and wanted to put her poetry into a work of art, like a maze, and I told her I had a book that did that. I finally found it in a box of my mom's books. I had given it to my father.

Books are beloved objects. When we give a book to someone in this family, we always write a special message in the front. I have old books with loving messages from beloved relatives long gone.

Carol

Me again.

I also wanted to say that my writing has greatly improved since writing on messageboards. They are great practice. When someone takes what I say in a different way than I mean it, I know I've got to work on the way I say it. I did teach English at one time and kind of liked the diagramming, but still make mistakes.

I like authors and have become a better writer spending time among them.

Carol

I could not agree with you more, Carol. Not only are message boards good practice for me, they are also full of interesting people and useful information. (This forum, especially.)
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Zada Connaway
Mother's Journals: parts 1, 2 and 3 ISBN # 1-4241-6969-0

http://www.zadaconnaway.com/

Three Star Member Joined : 07 Jun 2008 Posts : 171

Just another side of book reviews on Amazon: I have two books published by a small publisher that has perhaps three dozen authors in his stable. The big time operator's marketing plan was to have all his authors write Amazon reviews on all the other author's books, thereby making his titles more appeaing in the marketplace. Understand now we we're not asked to read the books, and he certainly would not supply copies for that purpose--if we wanted to actually read the book before rating it Five Stars, we had to purchase the book. My falling-out with him was not over his not supplying books but his coercion that we falsify reviews in the first place. A few of his authors did as told for a while , I refused from the start, but the scheme quickly died away, but it does point up that reader reviews on Amazon are not all they might seem to be. I have placed two or three reviews on Amazon, but I own and have read the books I reviewed.

Jim Woods
www.ultrasw.com/jwoods