Sunday, March 10, 2024

Thoughts on Grammar Checkers

Grammar matters.

Spelling matters.

When you are writing, those mistakes are called "typos." After you submit it, these are now mistakes and your readers WILL catch it!

So, what do you do? You can pay someone, but unless this person is a grammar guru, you may be spending money uselessly. But, can you do this on your own? 

The answer is YES!

HOWEVER...

There are things known as grammar checkers and spell checkers on most quality writing programs. I do use the word quality because you get what you pay for. If you get the free stuff, the quality of the program is what it is. Still, these programs have limits. If you do not know grammar, spelling and punctuation rules, these programs are useless. Remember, grammar checkers tell you "THIS MAY BE A PROBLEM."

But even then, when the error show up, you have to take the time to read the errors. Simply saying 
FIX IT, could create more problems.

Let me show you. I am editing a project now but take a look at this mistake that popped up. I had to totally laugh at this. I would love to see how someone would drink a glass of pork. "OINK!"


Still, as an author, you have to take the time to do this on your own. You cannot just assume that your copy editors are going to catch every mistake. I am not saying they aren't doing the job. They are. But even the best editors are going to miss things. Heck, you missed things too. 

So take the time. 


Monday, March 4, 2024

There Is A Need For Education

When the self-publishing/e-book revolution started, I began seeing a trend in authors and the quality of their writing. Then conferences started catering more to this group of writers, the trend became worse. But then, when Covid-19 hit, that trend exploded beyond belief. Now, the majority of submissions I see are rejections due to this issue. So what is it? Writers are simply lacking knowledge of how to write and the business of writing. 

What I am seeing are stories that "tick all of the boxes" of what should go into a story, but simply lack the quality of a book worthy of being published. I can see the authors doing what they were told to do, but really are not able to execute the story properly.  I see the same with their knowledge of what individuals do in the publishing business, or even the steps it takes to create a novel I have explained this before using this model, but I do think it might be time to bring it up again. 

Below is what is known as Bloom's Taxonomy. This is something individuals in education have worked from as they create curriculum and instruction within their classrooms. 




As individuals move up the model, they are becoming more proficient in that skill. Right now, writers are falling in the lower two and maybe three levels. Let's talk about this in terms of writing a standard contemporary romance. 

A writer at that lower level has read traditional contemporary romances and, if the writer sees one sitting on a book shelf, the writer could identify it. The writer could probably tell you the terms commonly associated with this genre. 

When the writer starts their novel, the odds are the story might be finished, but the reading of it clearly shows that there is something substantial missing. 

Moving to the second level of UNDERSTANDING, the writer has moved a bit further in his or her understanding. The story is not missing anything, but it is clear that the writer is "just going through the motions." Often, stories like this will use writing techniques simply because someone told them it works, but not really knowing why it should be used. Writing will be very formulaic, almost as if this is a fill in the blank worksheet.

We don't get to writing this "might" (and I say that very loosely) have a book being worthy of being published. These will be starter novels. Success as a writer beyond this point will not happen unless the author can move further up the pyramid. These authors are probably able to know why they use those writing techniques, however, being able to duplicate that process from novel to novel will likely be inconsistent. 

It isn't until the author gets to the ANALYZE level that the writer can start to show success. These authors have the ability to watch trends, adjust their writing and be able to apply those skills to their new Work In Progress.

I know I have taken a while to explain this, but I think it is important to understand where I am going to in this post. For many in the current writing population, they are simply looking things up on the Internet, and gambling on A) finding a quality piece of information; and B) being able to understand that skill. This current population are also learning from people who haven't figured it out either. It is a case of the blind leading the blind.

I would also add that for many, they see "the ability" to self-publish and think the process is simply that easy. For some of these authors, they have taken this approach because of the number of rejections they have received and are now blaming the publishers for not appreciating their work.

The reality of all of this is that we need to bring back teaching people how to write. We need to teach people how to study GOOD pieces of literature to understand what those authors have done and why it works. We need to bring back education of how publishing really works, including the roles of individuals in the business, the strengths and weaknesses of any approach, and certainly, the reality of how much money people can make in this business.



Friday, February 23, 2024

Getting A Lot of Rejections? It might be you!

I am sitting here watching my guilty pleasure of Shark Tank and watching these two guys just tanking it hard core. They are making money, but failing horribly! They have made millions of dollars but lost a ton of cash. I listen to this, and I think about so many authors out there. Rejections pile up and still they continue to do what they are doing. 

I am not sure if writers think that getting rejections is a sign of success, or if it is something they can use to justify something else. Maybe authors feel that this is something they will be able to tell everyone when they make it big... "I was rejected 420 times before I made my first sale..." We have all heard those stories. 

But the reality is, if you are getting a ton of rejections, the problem may well be something you are doing. So, what could it be? Here is the list of my common rejections:

  • You sent me a project I don't represent.
  • You sent me writing that was not ready.
  • You are writing something that is not marketable.
  • You are still learning to write.
  • You don't understand the business.
  • You sent a submission package that would be rejected by any employer.

Look, I get this is a tough business. Publishers are simply not buying now, or at least at the level we were once used to. Right now, publishers need to see something amazing.

Still, it is always important to look to yourself first. Is there something you could be doing to fix the problem? Start there.



Monday, February 19, 2024

Who Is Your Street Team

Simple question - Who is your street team?

If you are a published author, you need to make sure you have a team behind you. Yes, you should always have your family, your editorial team and your agent, but there is another team you need to count on. That is your street team.

These are the people who have your back when you have a new book coming out. These are the people who are always on social media, and hopefully, on platforms that might be different than your platforms. Here's how it works.

You have a book cover that just showed up. You are 6 months out from that book being released, but you still want to show off. Hey, you should be proud of it! So, you post it.

Now the street team kicks in. They immediately dive online, see your picture, comment on your picture and start sharing it all over the place! These people are overly excited. Comments such as: "Can't wait for Steven's story after seeing him in your last book!" and even more importantly, "What is the exact date? You will share when we can pre-order, right?"

But they don't stop there. These are the people who are on all of your ARC sites. They are reading those books early and cranking up reviews. If they post on one site, the post on ALL of the sites! And yes, they are putting out all of those great quotes you can use in your personal promos.

When those reviews show up, then you step in. Now you take the quote, with the cover, and the release information and start sharing it on your social media sites.


AND THEN YOUR STREE TEAM GOES AT IT AGAIN!


The key is getting your name out there. If you only share to your closed network of friends and they do nothing, you won't get those sales numbers flowing in!