Petit Melon
Member
Is it in her POV? Use Mom and Dad if that's what she calls them.
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Writing-GAF: Writing, Publishing, Selling |OT|
- Thread starter AngmarsKing701
- Start date
Is it in her POV? Use Mom and Dad if that's what she calls them.
Conkersbadfurday
Member
Yeah, it's her POV. I switch a few times when it feels prudent, like when her mother is angry she calls her Eve.
I just wish it didn't lead to such clunky wording on occasion.
Petit Melon
Member
Sam's mom and dad sounds more clunky to me, imo. It also sounds like someone else's POV, unless there's a reason why she sounds so detached from her parents.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
So ehm, I just noticed that you can buy books on the Google Play store. Is that a tie-in from Amazon or from another company? Because I can't find the publisher information for it, but I do know Smashwords has this as a feature. But I don't think Amazon does.
Sirap?
Sirap?
Nappuccino
Member
Yeah, third person subjective can get away with Mom and Dad. Fiction makes a good point about that POV though. If that breaks away, you'll run into some problems.
Conkersbadfurday
Member
It's third person subjective, so it's told from her point of view and her voice but also in third person.
Right. I can try the latter. Didn't think to just go with "mom" or "dad" due to the third person aspect of it. I figure that would work in first person just fine.Fiction said:
I'll see how it looks
Google Play books is by Google. Or am I misunderstanding the question?
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
it's Google's front-end, yes. But it's the supplier / publisher link that I am interesting in.
Smashwords had (haven't checked in ages, honestly) a supplier deal with Apple and the Nook platform (oh, it's "kobo" now? Or is that a different one...), meaning that any book publisher through their site / platform is also be available on certain smartphones, but not Android.
As far as I know, Amazon does not have any other link than their own store (for obvious reasons though). Google Books however, requires either a partner program through a publisher or by signing up for it yourself.
I'm wondering how that relates to the other two, because with those you basically have to do fuck all to get it out there, but I haven't heard of anyone doing self-publishing with Google yet. It doesn't look like it's a lot more effort, but the market share of Android is something like 50%? versus Apple's roughly 20%, so it's worth checking out if the behaviour of the demographics on these devices is the same.
(you get Apple via Smashwords, and under smashwords own royalties agreement (70-80%, if I'm not mistaken). I have no idea what Google's royalties agreement is)
edit:
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2014/05/selling-ebooks-on-google-play-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
Sounds... ehm, publisher friendly, but perhaps not all that self-publisher friendly. Then again, few (self pub) people seem to be aware that this exists and the difference in market share among devices that use it.
Petit Melon
Member
I'm writing a YA book that has parents in the same perspective and she refers to her mom as Mother, because Mother is her "name" for her mom. Other characters call her by her real name, but she still calls her "Mother" and she is "Mother" while in that character's POV. I misread your original post loloops
Anyway, here's how my old pub's stylesheet referred parents, which only helps on grammar side of things but...
If you're using "Her" in front, it's lowercase. "her mom, her dad" never in uppercase.
If you're referring to them only, it's uppercase like a name. "Mom" "Dad"
Even something like referring to them by a nickname is an option, for instance, I used to refer to my parents as "Volcano" because of their tendency to fight before they finally divorced. Something like that could bring an element of instant characterization depending on how positive or negative it is.
Zeitgeister I'm not sure if this is what you were looking for but here's the link to sign up to publish your books on google play https://play.google.com/books/publish/
I've published my free fantasy serial on there but have had very few downloads. It's not too difficult to upload, I've read that some people have had a lot of success on google, comparable to amazon even, but I don't remember where I read that. Here's a link to a very helpful post on kboards, it's older but I think it should still be accurate.
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,167655.0.html
Update since it was asked for, my Sci-Fi erotic romance has been up for a week and in that time I’ve had 87 Kindle Unlimited borrows and 25 sales. I’ve had four people sign up for my newsletter and a 5 star review on amazon and a 4 & 5 star on goodreads. This is my best sales month so far so I’m pretty excited. I’m halfway done with the sequel and on track to publish it in May. I’m not paying someone to edit these, like with my ERROMs, but I’m doing my own edits and using grammerly to catch other little things. Still using canva.com for covers. I think that’s all of it
I've published my free fantasy serial on there but have had very few downloads. It's not too difficult to upload, I've read that some people have had a lot of success on google, comparable to amazon even, but I don't remember where I read that. Here's a link to a very helpful post on kboards, it's older but I think it should still be accurate.
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,167655.0.html
Update since it was asked for, my Sci-Fi erotic romance has been up for a week and in that time I’ve had 87 Kindle Unlimited borrows and 25 sales. I’ve had four people sign up for my newsletter and a 5 star review on amazon and a 4 & 5 star on goodreads. This is my best sales month so far so I’m pretty excited. I’m halfway done with the sequel and on track to publish it in May. I’m not paying someone to edit these, like with my ERROMs, but I’m doing my own edits and using grammerly to catch other little things. Still using canva.com for covers. I think that’s all of it
Conkersbadfurday
Member
Hmm. It just seems strange to me to try that, yet it really shouldn't. Hell, even as an adult, I still think of my parents as "mom" and "dad" and not their names, so why that convention wouldn't work here puzzles me.
I'm probably just being anal or silly or something.
Will ask my other test readers when draft three is done on what they think. Odds are I'll make the change.
I appreciate the help!
Crash Station
Member
Cover for the first short done. It's bad, but servicable.
Probably going to need your help for one of them down the line though, timetokill.
Probably going to need your help for one of them down the line though, timetokill.
toddhunter
Member
Best of luck. Can't hurt to try.
Conkersbadfurday
Member
Finished the third draft of Amp then. Wound up cutting about...six pages out of it, which isn't bad given that it was 90 pages long. Not quite 10%, but close.
I'm really happy with it right now. Time to start pestering my brother to draw me up a cover, and time to find another few test readers to make sure I haven't fucked anything up.
I imagine I'll self publish it for a dollar, do like no promotion, and then just start on the next story right away.
I'm really happy with it right now. Time to start pestering my brother to draw me up a cover, and time to find another few test readers to make sure I haven't fucked anything up.
I imagine I'll self publish it for a dollar, do like no promotion, and then just start on the next story right away.
Good luck!
NipplesAndToes23
Member
I'm sorry to post something irrelevant, but you have the second cutest avatar on here.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
What Cyan, am I in trouble?
FlowersisBritish
fleurs n'est pas britannique
Life is all questions and no answers. Let the mystery live on!
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Any one that I'm currently using of course.
Crash Station
Member
sirap, gonna need confirmation on some things.
So don't put the shorts in the erotica category (even if they are definitely erotica) and don't use stuff like "taboo, virgin, etc" in the keywords?
Edit: Okay, I've got pretty much everything ready to publish. Just need that last bit of confirmation.
So don't put the shorts in the erotica category (even if they are definitely erotica) and don't use stuff like "taboo, virgin, etc" in the keywords?
Edit: Okay, I've got pretty much everything ready to publish. Just need that last bit of confirmation.
Crash Station
Member
Too late, hit the publish button. Right now, I can't see this NOT bombing, but no point in not doing it. Already spent a dollar making the cover, so let's hope I can at least make that back.
....I should get back to writing the 5th short >_>
....I should get back to writing the 5th short >_>
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
There are no rejections in this challenge. \[-_-]/
1 short, 3, or 28, you're all in. The overall goal is just to try something new and take it through to the end (the publishing phase). When it gets closer to the date I'll re-poll everyone and see where they are so that I can group them accordingly.
Two pillows. One for the butt, one rolled up for the back.
Haha. Let us know when it goes live. Don't forget to send me your details for the story share later (if you wanted to do that part), and your pen name publishing stuff.
Good luck~I took a week break from writing. I'm now 1.5k into my third part. It's from one perspective currently this time around. I'll still figuring how to go about it. Also I don't know what the climax is or how I'm going to conclude it. The first two I had rough ideas going in; this one I've got nothing. It still needs some more cooking time.
It really depends on how much story you have in your shorts. Some folks get away with putting erotica in romance, and the only people you have to worry about are the readers. Amazon doesn't really care.
You can put pretty much anything under keywords, it's the blurbs that you have to watch out for. Avoid words like cock, pussy, sometimes even father can get your book dungeoned. That's why you get really weird phrases like "man of the house".
Not sure if this is the right thread to be asking this but,
A start-up that I work with is starting the process (we've actually already submitted one) of writing grant requests (mostly to military contracts).
I'm at a bit of a loss of how to find:
A. Experienced grant writers (particularly those with experience writing grant requests for military contracts)
B. The costs associated with finding/researching/writing grant proposals
If anyone has any insight that would be amazing
A start-up that I work with is starting the process (we've actually already submitted one) of writing grant requests (mostly to military contracts).
I'm at a bit of a loss of how to find:
A. Experienced grant writers (particularly those with experience writing grant requests for military contracts)
B. The costs associated with finding/researching/writing grant proposals
If anyone has any insight that would be amazing
I know some guys, let me ask.Not sure if this is the right thread to be asking this but,
A start-up that I work with is starting the process (we've actually already submitted one) of writing grant requests (mostly to military contracts).
I'm at a bit of a loss of how to find:
A. Experienced grant writers (particularly those with experience writing grant requests for military contracts)
B. The costs associated with finding/researching/writing grant proposals
If anyone has any insight that would be amazing
Perfect! Thank you
KingofGourds
Member
Ah-ha-ha-ha! Today I drink with Conan, for today I received my first of a series of payments for the Graphic Novel I'm writing.
Writing for a living. THE DREAM ATTAINED.
Though spending six hours iterating a single conversation comprising of one and a half pages hath drained me, I feel adequately recompensed!
Ooo and I have some of that Dan Akroyd vodka left. Time to do the only other thing a writer is good for.....
Writing for a living. THE DREAM ATTAINED.
Though spending six hours iterating a single conversation comprising of one and a half pages hath drained me, I feel adequately recompensed!
Ooo and I have some of that Dan Akroyd vodka left. Time to do the only other thing a writer is good for.....
Awesome job. Hi-five!
...
I popped into the thread to say I had a strange dream last night. I was in a cafe talking to a life long friend, and we were reminiscing about how far we've come. Evidentially, we'd achieved a great deal. & here we both were trying to console our selves. Never mind, we were saying. We just have to keep trying a little bit harder. A little bit more work will do it.
I woke up and felt really odd. I would definitely be happy if I sold anywhere near my dream self. You know how in dreams you just know stuff? Well I am pretty sure in that dream I'd sold a hundred million copies. Both of us had.
I've spent the last month or so searching for worthwhile, long-term writing workshops. I was able to find this site and signed up for a membership to try it out. I dislike how your content is limited to science-fiction and fantasy, and I dislike how there really aren't objectives or principles integrated and taught as you make submissions.
There really should be a Toastmasters sort of service/community for writing. Something that has an educational track to guide its members through, while still focusing and depending on the peer-to-peer critique for progress, as that is ultimately the best way to learn.
I wonder how difficult it would be to get something like that set up. Ehh...
There really should be a Toastmasters sort of service/community for writing. Something that has an educational track to guide its members through, while still focusing and depending on the peer-to-peer critique for progress, as that is ultimately the best way to learn.
I wonder how difficult it would be to get something like that set up. Ehh...
Crash Station
Member
And it's up! Will see how this goes.
Alright, thanks a lot.
PMing you in a bit.
Alright, thanks a lot.
Haha. Let us know when it goes live. Don't forget to send me your details for the story share later (if you wanted to do that part), and your pen name publishing stuff.
PMing you in a bit.
Crash Station
Member
2 sales already? That's 2 more than I expected.
Fuckin hell.
Fuckin hell.
Congrats! Let the deluge begin
Edit: Having a hard time writing tonight getting caught up in the news. I just need to cover my ears and bury myself in smut.
Conkersbadfurday
Member
So I do some writing/editing for a smallish nerdy website that mostly reviews comic books. We do books too though, and I often offer that to indie writers who look like they have interesting stories to tell. I know what it's like to have no one care about something you wrote or made. I also like free books.
HOLY SHIT SOME OF THEM ARE SOOOOOOOO FUCKING BAD THOUGH
This is the second one that I"m just not going to finish or even review.
Like, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
/rant
HOLY SHIT SOME OF THEM ARE SOOOOOOOO FUCKING BAD THOUGH
This is the second one that I"m just not going to finish or even review.
Like, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
/rant
Have you ever found the opposite of that? I mean, something REALLY great that everyone should know about, but doesn't?
When's the movie coming out?
Just kiddingcongrats on the sale, and the wherewithal to put your work out there!
Conkersbadfurday
Member
I've read some indies that I thought were good, maybe not amazing, but not something I would be embarrassed recommending to people. What sucks is when you read something that has potential but is filled with typos and errors, not overwhelmed with them, but enough to be distracting. It's like they were on the verge of something really good but couldn't quite make it.
instead of writing erotica i ended up writing an xcom mission into a 4500 word short film i guess
this is what happens when you watch aliens, and then you go and find that the internet movie script database exists, and then all is lost
by the way, the aliens initial script is way better than the alien initial script and far far better than the script for battle for los angelas
this is what happens when you watch aliens, and then you go and find that the internet movie script database exists, and then all is lost
by the way, the aliens initial script is way better than the alien initial script and far far better than the script for battle for los angelas
Having read tons of short stories from Gaffers on Gaf, I'd say statistically some just have to be good.
Couple of my favourite authors are actually on Gaf.
LOL. That's even more sad.
The opposite happened with me. I once bought an expensive book in a big bookstore chain, just to find out how f*ckin' bad it was. Seriously, I don't know how (HOOOOW?!) that guy managed to get that shit published. The guy was arrogant and he simply got that ancient alien crap from History Channel and put it into a book, and added stuff like "the LHC is a portal to bring Satan to Earth made by the greys, because he's an alien from planet Niburu" and at the end Jesus came back to Earth in a giant flying saucer to save humanity... it was THAT bad, and the bastard couldn't even write properly. I... I don't even...
I'm not the type of person who usually shits in other people's work, but that guy was a so arrogant bastard that I couldn't believe the f*ck I was reading.
Niiice!
Here's mine:
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
.
Less than a week out from the release of my short fiction collection. This week, I'm focusing promotions by publishing one of the stories for for free: https://medium.com/@adribbleofink/tide-of-shadows-c9633a9a6bd9
A few other short fiction writers recommended I pick one of the stories and release it for free a short while prior to publishing the collection. The logic:
Will it make a difference? Who knows. I'm hoping that people will read it and share it with other readers because (I think) it's a good story, just as they would any other story published online. I also want something to link to in my upcoming interviews/guest posts/etc. for people who don't want to drop money on the collection before getting a sense of my writing style.
A few other short fiction writers recommended I pick one of the stories and release it for free a short while prior to publishing the collection. The logic:
- It might convince a small number of readers to not purchase the collection or cancel their pre-order, but the likelihood of it selling extra copies--by giving a positive impression of the stories within--is high enough that I should come out the other end with positive results.
- It's something that excited readers can share--extending the collection's reach outside of my immediate circle of twitter followers and blog readers.
- It shows good faith towards readers.
- It was recommended that I don't just pick the "best" story in the collection, but the one most representative of the collection as a whole. The five stories are so wildly different from one another, however, that it was difficult for me to do so. I went with the lead story, instead.
- I posted it to Medium, rather than my own blog, hoping that will make it seem a bit more legitimate. I'll write a post for my blog tomorrow pointing people in the direction of the story.
Will it make a difference? Who knows. I'm hoping that people will read it and share it with other readers because (I think) it's a good story, just as they would any other story published online. I also want something to link to in my upcoming interviews/guest posts/etc. for people who don't want to drop money on the collection before getting a sense of my writing style.
Crash Station
Member
Day 2 results (so far). 1 sale and 1 borrow.
With those and the 2 sales and 1 borrow I got yesterday (the latter from a friend's Kindle that I downloaded it on and flipped through the whole short), I made $10. With that, I can buy 1/5 a tank of gas! Yay!
With those and the 2 sales and 1 borrow I got yesterday (the latter from a friend's Kindle that I downloaded it on and flipped through the whole short), I made $10. With that, I can buy 1/5 a tank of gas! Yay!
Frankly, that could add up pretty quick for a story that finds any sort of momentum. Thanks for posting these updates.