Three for the price of none

Three for the price of none! Today’s the day I’m offering three of my Kindle books for free on Amazon. The free books are Wizard Chase, the first book in the Wizards Trilogy; Idaho Snapshots, my book of short Idaho history vignettes; and my newest book, Blood Anjels. A word of warning: Blood Anjels may not be appropriate for some young adults. Like my Wizards Trilogy, the main characters are young people coming of age. Unlike in the Trilogy, they confront questions of gender and sexuality. This may upset and shock some conservative parents. One has to remember that the characters in Blood Anjels are not human and while their reproductive strategy has echoes of human sexuality, it is not the same.

Now are you interested?

Download the books today only to your Kindle for free by following the link below.

http://www.amazon.com/Rick-Just/e/B000APJ3FI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

One Last Edit

I wrote yesterday about what I’ve learned from editors. It’s a long list. I should mention the need for them at various levels.

Most people understand the need for copy editing, sometimes called line editing. You need someone to tell you when you’ve left a word out, typed one twice, or forgotten that important comma.
You need a proofreader to compare earlier versions of a manuscript with corrected versions, to assure all the errors were actually corrected. They will catch typographical errors. Except when they don’t, which is why you need more than one set of eyes looking over your work.

You many want to work with an editor who understands plotting and story flow. Those are different skill sets, and not all editors have them.

Continuity is essential in a book. Do you use the same name for a character consistently? Is it always spelled the same? Is the timeline of the story linear (if it is supposed to be)? Is something missing?

This just skims the surface of what an editor can do. What I wanted to emphasize particularly today is the need for that one last edit.

You may think you’re through with editiors once your draft is perfect. Think again. There is the potential for introducing numerous errors at every step along the way to publication. If you are using  a traditional publishing house most of the final editing will be taken care of for you. You’ll probably receive galleys to go over one last time.

If you are printing a book yourself you need to have an editor look it over once you have loaded the copy into a desktop publishing program and have it looking the way you want it to look. Then, you’ll need to have someone check it over once it has been uploaded to a service such as Create Space.

If you’re using the same files to create a digital version of your book, you’ll need an editor to make sure the transfer from print format to digital worked the way you wanted it to. Many errors--particularly formatting errors--take place in that transfer. Finally, you’ll want someone to look at it once your files meet the specifications of your digital publisher. The process they use to turn your file into, say, a Kindle book, can introduce errors as well.

Meanwhile, don't forget that I'm giving away free Kindle copies of three of my books tomorrow on Amazon. Follow the link below to my author page on Saturday, then click on Blood Anjels, Idaho Snapshots or Wizard Chase.

http://www.amazon.com/Rick-Just/e/B000APJ3FI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Weakening Words

I sat on a panel of writers at an editing workshop last weekend. That got me thinking about what I’ve learned from editors over the years. Perhaps my most important lesson was to recognize and murder passive voice.

Recently, an editor pounded on me about my use of weakening words. I probably sin the most with the word “though.” Here’s an example from my book Wizard Chase:

I didn't like the plan, much. It was the best plan we had, though. It was the only plan.

That short paragraph is stronger, and one word shorter, without “though.”

I’ve taken to doing a word search for “though” in all my writing. I find that I can get along without it about 95% of the time. I sometimes leave it in when it’s not strictly needed, if it’s in conversation. Otherwise, I’m aggressive with the delete key.

There’s another weakening word that I’m pone to use in my writing. Stand by for irony. The word is “just.”

With apologies to Nike, here’s an example from the same book—the same chapter—where “just” is unnecessary and weakening:

“Let's just do it," said Valven.

The Internet has weakening word lists. Check them out. Do a word search on your own writing. Do you see words such as seemed, well, while? Can you get along without them?

Writing is the quintessential example of less is more.

Giveaway Day

Saturday is Giveaway Day! To celebrate the publication of my latest novel, Blood Anjels, three of my books will be free for Kindle users this Saturday. The free books are Blood Anjels, Wizard Chase and Idaho Snapshots. Just go to Amazon on Saturday, November 16 and search for any or all of the books. You’ll see that their price has been reduced to $0. Add them to your shopping cart, make the zero-dollar purchase, and they’ll be delivered free to your Kindle.

This is our little secret, right? Wrong. Please share this promotion with your friends who have Kindles.

Why? Giving Kindle books away always results in increased sales of my books. That’s because many of those who read the free book are kind enough to write a review, which encourages sales. Also, those who read a free book are more likely to purchase one of my other books.

Thanks for participating.

http://www.amazon.com/Rick-Just/e/B000APJ3FI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Research

Readers are often surprised when they learn that fiction requires research. You’re just making up the story, right? How can you get anything wrong?

Let me give you a couple of examples from the novel I’m currently working on, The Crappy Used Diary.

One of the key characters is a 14-year-old girl whose parents are adamantly opposed to her wearing makeup. Their opposition is equally met by her obsession with the stuff. Strategies for obtaining this essential substance help to enrich the plot.

I know little about makeup, and even less about how one might go about a DIY project in which two teenagers attempt to create it. Hello, YouTube. Suffice to say that burnt almond, honey, and olive oil play their roles.

Further, I know only a smattering of teen speak. Urban Dictionary is helpful here. My teenage niece is crucial.

I have no one to teach me the vernacular of a teenage girl in 1914, so I am on the search for diaries of that period.

For this book, I also need to know what was going on day-to-day in 1914. Several timeline sites on the Internet help me there. I need to keep in mind that news did not travel so fast 100 years ago, so major events would not reach ranchers sometimes for days.

I might get away with some errors in the 1914 entries in the book. Most readers won’t do a lot of fact checking. If I mess up the contemporary chat I’m in big trouble. That’s the language of my readers.

The Novel is Live

I started blogging about my novel, Blood Anjels, January 25, 2013. Those who have followed the blog from the beginning know about character and plotting decisions I've made along the way and they have helped me decide on cover copy and on the book cover itself.

Today's the day I officially move on to new projects, because today marks the release of the book on Kindle. The printed version will be available later this week.

You can read the first few pages and order the book through this link.

Getting Covered

Blood Anjels is nearly ready to go to press (and to publish as a Kindle book). If you’ve got two minutes, please help me by giving your opinion on two potential covers and on the back cover copy for the book. You’ll get a free Kindle copy as soon as it is published. Please feel free to forward the survey link to anyone else you think might be interested. Thanks.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/R33XRCG