Big Bang Press to Publish FanFiction. Scribd’s Titles, Ice Dogs, and LOL Cats

Some news around the publishing industry -

From Book Business Magazine - Publishing Startup Out to Prove FanFic Authors Can Have Mainstream Success
"I was getting very frustrated with the fact that there are all of these authors out there who I think are really talented but weren't being paid attention to," says Morgan Davies , editor-in-chief of Big Bang Press. "You have people who are experimenting with their craft and doing all sorts of interesting things in their stories. There are many writers who I think will be quite popular in a wider audience outside of fandom."

Scribd now offers readers over 300,000 book titles through their subscription service.


I also received a surprise this week! Terry Lynn Johnson sent me a copy of her latest, Ice Dogs. She’d sent me bookmarks and postcards the week prior, plus I already had her first book, Dogsled Dreams. The cover is even more gorgeous than what the picture shows. Thank you so much, Terry - I can’t wait to read it.

 

Science of Formatting, IWSG, and Cat Update

I am visiting Stephen Tremp today with a piece title “The Science of Book Formatting.”

One of the sites listed at the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is featuring an article today by founder Alex J. Cavanaugh. Please stop by How to Write Shop for more info on the IWSG.

In other news - Spunky’s cone of shame comes off today! He will be SO happy.

And here is Rocko doing what she does best - contemplating trouble. My cousin sent that cute black door-frame kitty and of course, it caught Rocko’s attention at once. I come into my office and find it on the floor, I know who to blame.

Writing Reviews That Match a Book’s Star Rating

I’m being interviewed today by author Medeia Sharif. Please stop by and say hello.

There have been a lot of great posts and articles regarding book review etiquette. They’ve covered everything from how to contact reviewers, what to cover in a review, and why you should never respond to a review. I’d like to cover the content of a written review in relation to its star rating.

Sometimes I read a review that doesn’t match up with the amount of stars given. Perhaps the reviewer gushes over the book and yet only gives it three stars. In order to avoid confusing readers (or misleading them) here’s a breakdown as to the content of each written review:

5 Stars - This book hit it out of the park and the review should reflect that. Everything should be positive, with maybe one tiny issue mentioned at best. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it did land over 90% and an A.

4 Stars - This book was really good and most of the review should be positive. Obviously there were issues preventing it from being a 5 star, and those should be mentioned. But the bulk of the review should not be what was wrong with the book.

3 Stars - This book was good/average but nothing you’d read again. Since three stars is right in the middle, half of the review should state what didn’t work and the other half what did work.

2 Stars - This book wasn’t very good. It had a lot of problems and those should be mentioned in the review. It wasn’t God-awful, so there should still be a positive line or two. It didn’t fail completely, just really missed the mark.

1 Star - This book was awful. One star is an F and this book failed on almost every level. Almost all of the review will be negative, although hopefully the reviewer found one nice thing to say.

And with all reviews, if the reviewer didn’t connect but felt others might, that should be mentioned, and any book that wasn’t finished shouldn’t be reviewed.

That is how I see the breakdown. If you view the breakdown differently, please let me know!

2014 National Wormhole Week is coming up and we are hosting a blogfest.

Hosted by Stephen Tremp, Alex J. Cavanaugh, and myself.

This blogfest, also known as “Wormfest,” runs March 10-16, 2014, and is a celebration of Stephen’s upcoming release, Escalation.

Rules are simple:
Name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology will go too far and set us back. They can be the same thing or different.

Sign up HERE

Human Behavior and Realistic Characters, Marketing Ideas, Amazon, and Birthdays

Today it’s my turn at the Insecure Writer’s Support Group website with “Create Realistic Characters by Studying Human Behavior.”

Some other interesting publishing news:

Book Business Magazine has a regular feature, Brian Jud’s Beyond the Bookstore. Last week he posted an article - How You Can Come Up With More Marketing Ideas. There were ten tips, including “Stop selling your books. Start selling the benefits that people receive from buying your books.” That one is so true! And not just for books - if you are marketing yourself to the media, you have to take the same approach.

Forbes posted some interesting stats and figures about Amazon, including the fact that 14 employees are required for every $10 million in revenue generated. (In comparison, bookstores require 47 employees.)

And thanks for the birthday wishes! I had the typical 48-year-old’s birthday:

Despicable Me Minion Cake

Homemade Despicable Me Minion Hat from Friend

Singing and Talking Olaf from Frozen from Husband

That's normal for someone my age, right?