Book Review Club discussion

Just thought I would add a thread where we can introduce ourselves to the rest of the group.

My name is Danielle Tara Evans, and I live in the US near Philadelphia, PA. I published my first book, Escalators: A Novel, in June of 2012. I will be releasing a revised version through Smashwords and KDP soon though! And I currently have three other books in the works. I write both contemporary and dystopian.

I've been writing for almost as long as I can remember, and I'm an avid reader too! I love anything that is dark; I'm not a big fan of light and fluffy, and I don't read YA. I'm married with four furry children - two dogs and two cats. I have a full time job working as an office administrator for an insulation company. In addition to reading and writing, I'm also a movie buff.

Looking forward to getting to know more of you! :)

I'm Cheryl B. Dale. I have several romantic mysteries out in ebooks along with a light mystery hardback.

My WIP is a vintage mystery with romantic elements, and I'm also working on a sequel to the light mystery.

Hi, Cheryl! It's nice to meet you. :)

You, too, Danielle!

Hi all! My name is Noah Fregger and I've recently published my first book, Gabriel's Watch - Book One: The Scrapman Trilogy. It's a lovely twist on the post-apoc and dystopian genre. Danielle mentioned earlier that she doesn't like YA or light and fluffy story lines. Well this book is anything but!
Can't wait for you guys and gals to get a peak at it. It's this humble author's opinion that you won't be able to put it down until you squeeze that last word from its final page, my friends.

Thanks so much for having me!

Awesome, Noah. I'm looking forward to reading it!

Better be

:)

Hi I am Helen Karol and I have written and published my first romance in a series Chances & Choices. It has recieved two 5 stars here at goodreads and a few at smashwords and amazon. However, I have unpublished to revise after some beta readings and will be relauncing soon and would love some reviews of the new version. Workng on new cover and contemplating new title.

HelenChances & Choices

Hi, Helen! I just released a revised version of my first book so I know where you're coming from. This is all quite a learning experience, isn't it? ;)

It's nice to meet you! :)

Thanks - it is quite a process - I keep swithering ovr titles and covers. I just need to get on wiht the revision.

Nice t meet you too - perhaps we can swap. I also review for the Kindle Book Review. That requires a formal request through the website but that coul be done after an informal swap.

Helen

Helen wrote: "Thanks - it is quite a process - I keep swithering ovr titles and covers. I just need to get on wiht the revision.

Nice t meet you too - perhaps we can swap. I also review for the Kindle Book Rev..."

Helen, just sent you a message. :)

Hello. My name is Cole Davis. I read widely, with a particular interest in literary novels, history and psychology (not popular psychology I'm afraid). Other possibles are science fiction and computing, although I'm not up to date on either. Given the niche nature of what I have to offer on this occasion, I will try to go the extra mile for your genre if you'll read mine.

Although I have written fiction, novels and short stories, my publishing success has been in non-fiction. Here's the bad news: my publications are books on statistical testing. However, they are designed for those who do not wish to read about mathematics. Essentially, the typical reader will be the social sciences student who has to carry out a research project, or a professional who needs to do some. The books are short and attempt to be amusing at times without losing the point.

One note of encouragement for those of you who are self-publishing. My first stats book was self-published and it led to my getting publishing contracts for the next two (one is still in press).

The other complication: Because of the Russian postal system, it is best only to send hard copies to me (and for me to send hard copies) during the summer and maybe near Christmas when I am likely to be at home. However, both parties can send drafts suitable for Kindle or computer, as long as we promise not to bang on about the formatting!

Hi, Cole! Thanks for sharing and for letting everyone know that the topics you write about aren't as scary as everyone might think (in the sense of being completely over our heads). I'm sure we have some students in this group and others who are open to learning about what your books have to offer.

And congrats to you for getting publishing contracts! That is a major accomplishment.

By the way, we typically only exchange books through email as some type of electronic file so that won't be a problem.

It's nice to meet you! :)

Thanks Danielle. Yes, the book is definitely aimed at beginners to stats and non-mathematicians. It's also very short.

Re. getting published: I would say that there are two points to consider (well, three, if one says that non-fiction is probably an easier number than fiction): Find the gap in the market. Polish your self-published book; publishers will judge you by it if they are at all open to considering anything.

That makes sense. Thanks for your insight, Cole!

Hi I am Christopher Cummings. I just published my 1st erotic novel Charlotte's Obsession (http://amzn.to/12P9ujd). I would love to hear from anyone that might be interested in reviewing the book. Please email me at erotic.author@ymail.com. Thanks Christopher

Hi, Christopher! Welcome to the group! And congrats on publishing your first novel! :)

Danielle wrote: "Hi, Christopher! Welcome to the group! And congrats on publishing your first novel! :)"

Thanks! It is nice to be here.

Hi im new to the group btw ! its nice to meet you all ! :)

Gabriella *is awesome* wrote: "Hi im new to the group btw ! its nice to meet you all ! :)"

Welcome...I am new too!

Welcome to the group, Gabriella! It's nice to meet you as well. :)

Hi! My name is John Cassian and I recently published an ebook that I'm looking for readers/reviewers for. I'm more than willing to swap reviews with any authors who want to! Here is the info for my book, which is a first-person serial killer chronicle that's best described as halfway between American Psycho and Dexter.

Coupon code for free download: EY66T
Link to book: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Hi, John! Welcome to the group. Your book sounds fascinating. I LOVE Dexter (my husband and I even named our dog after him), and I thought American Psycho was pretty good as well - very messed up!! But the more messed up something is, the better!

Anyway, we're getting a new round going so I'll be signing up as well. Even if I don't get your book in this round, I'll try to get it in another (or just read and review it later on).

It's nice to meet you! :)

Danielle

Danielle,

Awesome! Please download it for free whenever you want! And let me know where to find your work so I can return the favor with a review.

Thanks!
John

Great, will do!

You can also download my book for free through Smashwords. Here's the link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/....

Thanks so much!

Hi everyone! My name is Téa Cooper and I write contemporary and historical romance. I'd be interested in swapping reviews particularly historical romance or fiction.

Hi, Tea! It's great to have you! Feel free to sign up in the review exchange where you review someone's book, and someone else in return will review yours.

It's nice to meet you! :)

Danielle

Interests: Reading (pretty much anything even the cereal box if nothing else is available), writing (all genres), family (wife and mother), growing in and spreading my faith, learning (information geek), travel (but I rarely ever get to), volunteering, bargain hunting at garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, etc.

In one sentence, who am I? An eccentrically entertaining neurotic bibliophile who sells collectibles, tries to have patience with my precocious daughter, fearlessly tries to do everything, and writes because I am driven to as part of my genetic composition.

My life goal (now that I finally figured it out): To become a philanthropreneur, combining writing with my love of non-profit work. I would like to produce children's books (and others if the market is right) and put part of the proceeds back into NFP organizations that are well-run and make a positive difference or have significant potential and need development assistance.

I serve as a volunteer and liaison for many organizations in my area, helping them share resources when possible and aid each other to become stronger and more effective in their missions.

My first book is a young adult novel, a sequel to The Secret Garden by Burnett. I would love reviews and can provide a digital file by e-mail or a hard copy.

I have several picture books in production, one we are just finishing the last details and should be releasing in a couple months.

http://staciemorrell.wordpress.com

Hello, Stacie! Sounds like you are a very busy woman! Good for you - it's great that you love to volunteer and help out others. And if you can use your writing to benefit non-profits, that's even more awesome!

It's nice to meet you! :)

Cheryl wrote: "I'm Cheryl B. Dale. I have several romantic mysteries out in ebooks along with a light mystery hardback.

My WIP is a vintage mystery with romantic elements, and I'm also working on a sequel to the..."

Hi Cheryl, I'm new to GR groups and just making my way into the world of writing. What is WIP?

Marisa

Danielle wrote: "Just thought I would add a thread where we can introduce ourselves to the rest of the group.

My name is Danielle Tara Evans, and I live in the US near Philadelphia, PA. I published my first book,..."
Hi Danielle, What is dystopian? I'm probably going to annoy a few of you but bare with me. I'm new to all of this and still trying to learn the lingo.
M

Hi Marisa!

WIP is work(s) in progress, and dystopian is anything the opposite of utopian - basically an imagined future or alternate society that is disturbing or undesirable. It is often associated with apocalyptic stories, although mine is not actually apocalyptic.

And no problem, you're not annoying - I'll be happy to help! :)

Thank you! Ha that's funny, WIP is a phrase we use at work. Kinda means the same thing. Thanks for your help, I feel ignorant on GR sometimes.

No problem! :)

Do any authors used Createspace to print paperbacks? Can you share a photo if you do?

I used Createspace when they had a different name, Booksurge.

This is the cover on Amazon. (I have asked them to remove it, as it has been superceded, but they refuse to do so.)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Practical-Sta...


They were generally awful, finding excuses to try to gouge out more money during the publishing process, etc.

I think most publishing companies do that - I originally published through Authorhouse, and they were the same way.

When I wanted to make revisions, I ended up republishing through Smashwords and KDP. Otherwise, it would have cost me hundreds of dollars through Authorhouse. (And I no longer feel the need for print copies.)

The paperback version of my book is through CreateSpace. Money-wise, I found them to be no problem. The only cost you may have is buying a printed proof of your book before it actually goes up for sale. But they also have an online proof tool thing that lets you see what it 'should' look like, and you can approve it from that and not even have to buy a proof if you want.

I assume since Cole's book was from the time before they were actually CreateSpace, there may be entirely different rules and procedures that apply there. Now, you can change your cover or interior content at will, much like you can with an ebook on Amazon itself. Since they're part of Amazon, everything links automatically to your book's page at Amazon. If you make a change, it takes them about 24 hours to process it. Once you submit a change, your book goes to 'out of print' status on Amazon and goes back to 'coming soon' status in the CreateSpace store, pending your re-approval of the new proof with the changes. Once you re-approve it, it goes back to 'available' on Amazon and the new cover will appear immediately. The 'look inside' feature will take a few days for it to catch up, and in the meantime will show the old interior content.

Now that I've covered how easy I found their system to be to work with, I have found some bad things too. Though their system is easy to deal with, their people are not. At one point during the setup process for my book, where an actual person is involved, they totally trashed my cover (after it had been fully setup by another person and approved by me, for no reason they could ever explain). Everything got moved so far down the page that the bottom of the image was off the bottom of the cover, my name on the spine was running off the bottom, there was about a 2 inch black gap at the top, and then because of all this movement of content the barcode covered words on the back cover. It was an absolute nightmare trying to get them to correct it, and I ultimately had to delete the entire cover and start the process over to get it fixed.

Beyond that, the quality of the final product can vary greatly. They use numerous printing facilities, and the quality clearly varies between them. Of the copies that I've personally obtained, some have been printed in Charleston, SC and some in Lexington, KY (I'm in the Southeast). The copies from the printer in Charleston have a weird cover where the cover content looks almost like an 'iron-on' or a sticker of some kind underneath the laminate. The inside pages are all cut very irregularly and sometimes the lines of text on opposing pages are almost a quarter of an inch off from each other. The ones printed in Lexington, however, are virtually flawless. None of the cover weirdness is present and every page is cut to line up almost perfectly. Unfortunately, though, I guess they dole out the work based on the load at each facility and you get no choice in which facility does the actual printing when you order copies.

So, there's no charge to make revisions? I know there isn't when you publish directly through the Kindle, but I thought there would be when there are print copies involved. (I also find KDP's system easy to use.)

That's a shame that you had so many issues with your cover (and the employees)! And how strange that the one printing facility does a great job while the other one is lousy! That was the one good thing about Authorhouse - they did a nice job with the cover, and the printed copies were high quality. I had no issues in that aspect. I just couldn't stand the constant phone calls; I ended up telling them I can't afford to do anything else. Please stop calling! And then anytime I saw their number on my phone, I just ignored it.

I think Smashwords is the best company to deal with, but they only do ebooks so I know it's not for everyone.

Yeah, there are no charges to make revisions. If you go a bit deeper though, and have your book made available through the cataloging channels so brick-and-mortar retailers can stock it, there is something like a $25 re-cataloging fee if you change anything that requires it to be re-cataloged (like the price or certain descriptive aspects). But uploading a new interior file or a new cover doesn't cost anything, and if it's not cataloged there's no cost to change the price or descriptors either.

As far as Smashwords, I actually just pulled my book from them, leaving me only at Amazon right now for digital. I discovered last Friday that they've been distributing an old edit of my book since 5/10, and had even sent that old edit out to the various retailers, replacing the current edit. There was nothing to indicate to me this had happened until someone who got served up one of the old edits mentioned a formatting issue that I knew had been corrected. When I got a new copy myself and saw it and started asking questions at Smashwords, we were able to track it back to that date and they say their system apparently arbitrarily reconverted an old copy and put it in place of the current one. It affected most of the formats, and of course got the important ones - mobi and epub - but didn't replace the html or pdf versions. They've yet to figure out why it happened themselves, and say that to their knowledge this is the first time such a - as they're calling it - 'glitch' has ever occurred with their system.

I'm debating in my head right now whether I want to just stay with only Amazon and go ahead and enroll it in KDP Select or put it back up myself at the various retailers where Smashwords had placed it.

Wow, that's awesome that they don't charge you for revisions! It makes me even more glad I dropped Authorhouse!

Sorry to hear about your issue with Smashwords - that is alarming, especially since you weren't even aware until someone pointed it out. There are certainly issues with every publishing company! How frustrating...

It might be a good idea to try out KDP select. I believe it only lasts for a short while, so why not give it a shot and see if you get any good results?

Good luck!

Cole wrote: "I used Createspace when they had a different name, Booksurge.

This is the cover on Amazon. (I have asked them to remove it, as it has been superceded, but they refuse to do so.)

http://www.amazon..."

Sorry Cole, I meant an actual photo of what the printed books looks like. I should have been more clear. I'm pretty happy with my paperbacks from LuLu.com, but Createspace would save me $.

They said they would send me a sample but I need to pay for it. I decided to just stay with LuLu.com because I need to get my book edited by 7/27 for a book signing.

M

D.A. wrote: "The paperback version of my book is through CreateSpace. Money-wise, I found them to be no problem. The only cost you may have is buying a printed proof of your book before it actually goes up fo..."

Hi D.A.,

Hmmm your post didn't make me want to use them LOL
I decided to stick with LuLu.com. I am very happy with their printing so far. Maybe it's just like everything else in life, you pay for better quality.

M

Danielle wrote: "So, there's no charge to make revisions? I know there isn't when you publish directly through the Kindle, but I thought there would be when there are print copies involved. (I also find KDP's syste..."

Hi Danielle,

You don't have to pay for revisions with LuLu.com either. The one REALLY big bummer, cause I'm sure all of you know how hard it is, is that you lose any reviews you had on their site.

M

D.A. wrote: "Yeah, there are no charges to make revisions. If you go a bit deeper though, and have your book made available through the cataloging channels so brick-and-mortar retailers can stock it, there is ..."

That's not encouraging. I'm sorry that happened. I need to re-publish my first book, cause I've learned so much about writing and formatting over the past 10 months. So does this mean they will keep my old copy once I upload a new one? Any advice, besides dropping Smashwords.com?

M

Marisa wrote: "Sorry Cole, I meant an actual photo of what the printed books looks like. I should have been more clear. I'm pretty happy with my paperbacks from LuLu.com, but Createspace would save me $.

They said they would send me a sample but I need to pay for it. I decided to just stay with LuLu.com because I need to get my book edited by 7/27 for a book signing.

I haven't a clue what you're on about. The cover is what it looks like, i.e. a heap of $hit. The inside wasn't that great either. I moved to Llumina. The final result was good, but I have to watch them like hawks for errors (although my book was quite complex, with images and tables).

Re Createspace: they may have changed their names, but I doubt if their overall attitude to their writers are any different.

Marisa wrote: "So does this mean they will keep my old copy once I upload a new one?"

Yes, Smashwords keeps a copy of all revisions. I don't exactly understand why. When someone has bought the book, if they return later to download another copy Smashwords gives them the option to download any edit from the one they purchased forward. If you upload a new copy now, anyone who buys it now will only get access to the new copy and any future edits. Someone who bought it before can get their original edit, the new edit and any future edits.

If you go to the download page and click the button to download, you should see a date (or multiple dates if you have multiple edits). You'll see their explanation there of what versions can go out to people who have bought it.

As I said, I don't fully understand their logic. As an author, I would never want any reader downloading a replacement/additional copy to be given any version other than the most current (which, presumably would be the best), no matter what version was current when they paid for it.

I am Pam Blevins and I am a retired Reading and English teacher. I absolutely love to read and read just about anything I can get my hands on. I would love to read any books offered and to review them. Thank you for designing this group, Danielle.

My name is Yousif Ibrahim and I'm an English teacher. I love teaching and I love thinking about language.l’m an academically trained, qualified and experienced translator. specializing in both Arabic-to-English and English-to-Arabic . I’m capable of doing everything in my power. I'm informative and strictly confidential. the translations is my hobby. My strongest points are a vast experience in interpreting. I like reading the books of thought and Islamic sciences & poetries too. Everything is worth it because it makes me realize that I can just blink my eyes & have it all goes on in mind activities. I'm quite a good man .l love people , knowledge and l was born to do it. l have three ambitions in life. l wanna be the greatest writer in the world. l wanna be gentleman in forthcoming future, l wanna be a greatest philosophy in Islam ,l can honestly say that l have found my way. l will never stop l will continue reading and writing even when I'm an old man .