reading

Reading and Writing Dreams

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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When reading fiction novels, the reader often encounters dreams.

Authors like to include them for several different reasons:

  1. They can reveal our characters’ deepest desires, motivations, and fears. 
  2. They are often used to serve a narrative purpose, such as moving the story forward or revealing something about the character we did not know until that point. It could uncover an inner conflict or something the character feels guilty about. It could foreshadow a story’s future events or even change the trajectory of the story.
  3. Dreams are often vivid in color, sound, feel, and even smell. They are often fantastical. Objects may speak, pulsate, and make noises.
  4. Dreams may reflect a character’s subconscious emotions and thoughts. They are a great opportunity for authors to use metaphors. 

5)    Dreams can be magical. They can provide moments of clarity so that they influence the outcome of the story.

Readers: Enjoy dream sequences. They may help you focus and predict where the story is “going”—and why.  

World Book Day

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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Friday was WORLD BOOK DAY. It is celebrated on April 23 each year to promote the love for reading and writing. Also called Copyright Day, it promotes the importance of protecting intellectual property via copyright laws. 

This year’s theme for WORLD BOOK DAY emphasized how literature inspires awareness of global issues such as poverty, inequality, hunger, and so on.

Next week is Teacher Awareness Week, recognizing the role of teachers in developing skills, such as reading, in our schools. 

As they say, “If you can read this, thank a teacher!”

Salaries for Book Editors

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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Are you considering editing/proofreading manuscripts for fellow authors?

Last week’s post focused on certifications/requirements for book editors. This week, we focus on salaries.

My research says the average salary for book editors ranges from $45k to $85k, depending on the amount of time spent, the type of editing one does, and total business garnered. 

The hourly rate in the US is $30.

I don’t know about you, but a large percentage of authors never make that kind of money!

So, if finding and correcting other authors’ mistakes is “enjoyable,” you may want to consider becoming a BOOK EDITOR.

Want the best of both worlds?  Why not consider doing both??

Making a Go Of it With a Pen Name

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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Obsessed for years with the movie, Somewhere In Time, and a 1862 poem by Christina Rosetti, entitled Remember, I set about writing a book in a genre very different from my own.

Since this book is unlike the fiction I have been writing for many years, I just relaxed and had fun with it. No expectations on my part. Only curiosity as to how it would be accepted by my reading audience.

I placed it in the category of Romantic Suspense. However, recent reviewers have suggested that it is better described as a “Psychological Thriller.” It has a touch of fantasy and even paranormal, but Psychological Thriller??? This blows my mind!

Wondering what to do with your afternoon? Here’s the Amazon link. Read a portion for free. You’ll be hooked. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DP5L58SD

Have You Heard That Word Before??

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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An author-friend of mine and I often read each other’s work. Last week she used a word in her story that I hadn’t heard before. 

I normally use context clues to gain meaning of unfamiliar words, but in this case I still wasn’t sure. I had to look it up.

I ‘ve heard more than once that readers either skip over unfamiliar words (thus not gaining the express meaning of a sentence) or if the author uses too many of them, they put the book aside.  Sometimes they do look up the meaning. However, they become irritated if there are too many unfamiliar words in a book and most likely will not select books from that author again.

Readers, please share how you react to unfamiliar words in the books that you read. Authors really do want to hear from you. After all, we really do write for YOU!

Reach for the Stars

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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Do you remember coming home from school with a tiny foil star for exemplary behavior or academic accomplishment?

The idea of receiving stars for “the remarkable” carries on to present day when they are even earned on the internet by people, products, vacations, songs, photographs, inventions, and so on.

We’re all aware of what they mean. We appreciate—even strive to—“earn” them.

No one is more aware of this concept than authors. Stars from reviewers translate into public awareness of them and their books, which ultimately mean sales.

We put forth our best everyday, keenly aware that our final product will be judged by our readers. Our end goal is a product worthy of those priceless five-star reviews. 

Remember Me

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

It’s two days past the official Valentine’s Day, but it’s not too late to put your Romance Novel on your Facebook page. Most women—and even a growing number of men—are reading love stories as one way to find encouragement, hope, and relieve the stress of everyday life.. 

Here’s my friend, Mia’s, book cover—and its Amazon link. Consider reading it yourself, as well as sending it to your friends. It’shttps://www.amazon.com/Remember-Me-Marigold-Mia-Michaels-ebook/dp/B0DP5L58SD/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3GPOU9W0X70TI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.zYBdJYfWJGrvCOpeXExywkUlY2YBnX_fdMcwBBLvWeXGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.k94iT6aG5r7y3uxfnHunmj4K6ZlGmKuYWvGb40P77hw&dib_tag=se&keywords=Remember+Me:+A+Sonnet+for+Marigold&qid=1739555530&s=books&sprefix=remember+me+a+sonnet+for+marigold,stripbooks,151&sr=1-1

It’s a real pager-turner. A mixture of romance and suspense!

Update

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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Have you been thinking of updating one of your books? 

If you’d like to change your book’s details (contributors, categories, or description), manuscript, cover, or territory and publishing rights) here’s how to do it: 

Click on the ellipsis button next to your book on your bookshelf. Choose EDIT BOOK DETAILS, then SAVE AND CONTINUE. 

At the bottom of the Pricing page, click PUBLISH. Amazon will review your book to ensure it still meets their guidelines for quality/standards.

Some changes can be made directly to the published version on your bookshelf. Other changes require you to publish a new edition of your book.

Certain features are “locked” and cannot be updated until you publish the book as a new title (a new edition) from your KDP Bookshelf.  They are: language, title, subtitle, edition, primary author, digital rights management.

Take A Peek

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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I recently published another book. I looked at my book’s listing by typing its title in the AMAZON BOOKS search bar. However, I found that the LOOK INSIDE feature had not yet been activated.

This feature should be showing up online from 7-10 days after a book is published.

I later discovered it wasn’t that my feature had not yet been activated–Amazon had changed the feature. Now, there is a READ SAMPLE button below the book’s cover image, allowing potential buyers to click and receive a sample to read.

That’s really all that has changed.

So, authors, don’t be disappointed if you don’t see the cute LOOK INSIDE icon. It’s simply a change of wording. 

This is a great feature, when you think about it. READING SAMPLES allow readers to add the book to their cart or use 1-click to purchase instantly. They feel more comfortable ordering after “sampling”, discovering if it is a book they will truly like.

Note: Some features/pages aren’t available (or only available in limited amounts) unless the customer is logged into their account and/or have made a prior purchase. 

Authors need to be aware that this feature is NOT available for books with no ISBN, the sample cannot be adjusted, and specific pages cannot be designated to be “hidden” from view.

This is important to know. A friend of mine had pages entitled “Dear Reader”, Dedication, and so on at the beginning of her book. Because these took up about 8-10 pages, customers only saw those pages—and not any real story content. Authors may need to adjust the front matter in their books accordingly so customers can receive a meaningful sampling of their writing.

Unlike in previous years, Amazon now automatically activates the reading sample feature for authors. Less work for us!!

The Read Sample button is only available for e-books when using a mobile device  AND, it is not available for print books on mobile phones. 

Reading Trends for Writers

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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Understanding book sales is important for authors and publishers.

All of my books have been fictional. Each based on ideas that interest me at the time.

However, gurus are suggesting authors take a scientific approach to choosing our topics and genres.

With another book published—and starting to write yet another—I set out to garner information on trends among American readers. 

Recents surveys show that nearly half of Americans polled haven’t read any books in more than a year!

So then, let’s focus our attention on the other half—the readers.

I was surprised to learn that PRINT BOOKS continue to be the most popular format. E-books rank next; then audiobooks. 

The number of female readers is only slightly higher than for males.

Americans love HISTORY, MYSTERY, AND BIOGRAPHY.

Fiction sales gave gone up by 45% over the last five years. 

Non-fiction, especially political and self-help, are currently seeing a decline in interest. 

You can draw your own conclusions, but from these statistics, we might want to focus on women readers of history, mysteries, and biographies.

And although Romance has always been a popular genre—and probably will continue to be—perhaps now would be a good time for Romance writers to couple with the genres above…Romantic Suspense… Historical Romance, and so on.

Those are my thoughts based on a little research.