Tag: Self-Publishing

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self Publishing Book Review of the Week: Murder with a French Accent

Murder with a French Accent

by Janet Hannah

This self-published book was recently reviewed by Shelley Glodowski of Midwest Book Review:

Janet Hannah was born in Toronto, Canada. She earned a Ph.D. in Rutgers University. MURDER WITH A FRENCH ACCENT is the follow-up to her first Alex Kertesz mystery, THE WISH TO KILL, which was well received. She currently lives in Jerusalem.

 

Alex Kertesz has been tapped by his department at the University of Jerusalem to journey to a small French company who has acquired the rights to an organism for commercial development. Located in Toulouse, France, Alex arrives to a somewhat hostile atmosphere and little to be done on the surface of things. But an explosion in the lab; snide comments; and finally his own kidnapping convince him that all is not well at Agrogenie:

 

“‘I have to catch a plane,’ he said, extricating himself from her grasp, but the large man he now thought of as Boris appeared at his other side, pressing him toward the open door of a parked car. He spun around to make a dash for it, but Francoise blocked the way, and something hard and heavy smashed into the back of his head.”

 

Writing about something as complicated as biochemistry is not an easy task, particularly when the intended audience is mystery readers. But Janet Hannah pulls it off with aplomb, breaking complicated theory down into pedestrian language when the occasion calls for it. Dr. Alex is a reluctant traveler and hero in this whodunit, and Hannah has to spend quite of bit of the book putting everything into context for the reader.

 

But when Hannah gets around to the murder, she totally changes gears to create mayhem as Dr. Alex finds himself pulled into the vortex of a situation he hardly understands. It’s lucky that he is fluent in so many languages and that he has kept himself in good shape. He is called upon to perform stunts worthy of James Bond, and that’s where the real fun of the novel lies.

MURDER WITH A FRENCH ACCENT is a nicely wrought International mystery.

For more information or to order the book, visit the author’s webpage: www.outskirtspress.com/murderwithafrenchaccent


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Self-Publishing

Self-publishing Advice: Ask the Book Doctor

Writing advice for the self-publishing author.

Q: I use three periods in my dialogue a lot to indicate pauses of speech, interruptions of words, etc., but I haven’t seen this in many books. I keep trying to limit myself or use other means of communicating, but I don’t know what to substitute them with. Are they okay to use? Can I use them a lot? What are some alternatives? Below are some examples:

“Goodbye, brother.” John took her hand and squeezed it. “We have to go. I’m sorry…I’m just,…I’m sorry we couldn’t save you.”

“Matt…what did you trade for them?” He looked up, tried to smile, and was about to give an excuse, but her disapproving stare made him look down again.

A: Although three periods (called ellipses) can represent hesitation in dialogue, so can a comma, and the two should never be used together, as it was in the first example. In the second example, a simple comma would suffice. “Matt, what did you trade for them?”

The use of ellipses for hesitation (not for interruption) is acceptable, but like any creative writing device, it should not be overused, which is why you won’t find the device used too often in good literature. Use ellipses only when hesitation is vital to the dialogue, as it was in the first example. Use a dash (sparingly) to indicate interruption, as in the example below.

“I’m sorry, but I—”
David scoffed. “Sorry? Don’t give me any of your excuses.”


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Bobbie Christmas, book doctor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at http://www.zebraeditor.com.

Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-publishing in the news

Self-publishing pioneer, Lulu, recently pulled planned $70 million IPO, which has generated some discussion as to the future of this long standing service provider. As book publishing continues to push through its current industry-wide revolution, does this suggest that the early, free models are loosing viability?


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Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self Publishing Book Review of the Week: Looking for Closure

Looking for Closure

by Maria Stewart

This self-published book was recently reviewed by Mary Cowper of Midwest Book Review:

When you aren’t satisfied with the answer, the only response is to dig deeper. “Looking for Closure: The Therasa Ferrara Story” is a niece’s journey to find out the truth of what truly happened to her aunt over two decades ago. With a suspicious comment when she last saw her, Maria Stewart does not buy the simple homicide verdict she was given by the police, and offers a true crime drama that has to be read to be believed. “Looking for Closure” is a solid and recommended read that should not be missed by true crime readers.

For more information or to order the book, visit the author’s webpage: www.outskirtspress.com/lookingforclosure


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Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Avoid these 5 mistakes when choosing your publisher

1) DO NOT CHOOSE SPEED OVER QUALITY
Avoid publishers that claim to publish in 24 hours. After the time it took to write your book, do you want it published right, or overnight? Avoid overnight publishers no matter what they charge because the only one looking at your book will be a computer. It should take between 6-15 weeks.

2) DO NOT BE FOOLED BY HIGH ROYALTY CLAIMS
A royalty is simply a percentage of another number. The actual dollars and cents you earn depends upon that second number. The truest royalty is a royalty based upon the retail price of your book. Many publishers use “net royalty” which is a royalty based upon their profit. To be sure, always confirm your profit in dollars and cents.

3) DO NOT SIGN YOUR RIGHTS AWAY
The main advantage to self-publishing alternatively with a on-demand publisher is that you keep all the rights to your work. The rights are valuable. Read the contract. Your rights should clearly stay with you.

4) DO NOT BE CONFUSED BY BULK DISCOUNTS
If a publisher normally offers discounts to an author who buys their own book in bulk, that tells you two things. 1) It tells you they are more concerned with selling to you than to other readers. 2) It tells you they are charging you too much for lower quantities. Do you really want to be forced to buy 100 books at a time just to get a fair price? “Bulk” discounts simply trick the author into buying more books than they need, which defeats the whole advantage of on-demand printing.

5) DO NOT BE TRICKED BY AUTHOR DISCOUNTS
As an author, your per-book price should be based upon the production cost of the book, not the retail price. No wonder publishers inflate their retail pricing. You should always receive a below-wholesale price, regardless of how many you buy. You will never make money if you have to buy your own book at wholesale from the publisher.


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