Doc’s Comments (group member since Dec 09, 2011)

Doc’s comments from the Creative Reviews group.

Sent this morning.

Doc

Madelon,

Got sick yesterday and didn't get the book out. My apologies for the delay. Will get it to you this week.

Doc

Madelon wrote: "I would be interested! I read on Kindle, so mobi format would work for me. My email is madelonw1011 at Yahoo.

There are some books ahead of you, but if I promise a review, I write one. Let me know..."

Madelon,

I'll see about sending an ARC copy to you this weekend.

Doc

Chrys wrote: "Hi Doc

Have you thought of joining any review groups? This is the one I've joined:

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/..."

Chrys,

I have joined several. I just haven't had a lot of time to ask for reviews and I ended up starting here.

Doc

I could use a few honest review to help promote my book released last April. It started off as a steampunk adventure, but by the time I finished, a fair amount of comedy snuck into the text. Everyone who's read it so far has agreed it is a fun read.

A night at the Opera of Prague leads a young English Lord to a chance meeting with an eccentric professor and his lovely young companion. But before the evening’s entertainment is over, a hidden assassin strikes at a visiting member of the royal court, destroying the opera house and putting our trio on the track of a mad scientist bent on toppling the Imperial Court from power. Can they find him and stop him before he makes another attempt? Or will they have front row seats for the first salvo in a war for control of the empire? In either case, can they survive the Perils of Prague?

Last month I published my short story Welcome to Paradox as an e-book on Smashwords. I'm still working on getting it available for Kindle, but it is already in the iBooks and Nook stores. I'm offering up coupons for free review copies to reviewers who are willing to do a write up for a short story.

I've you're willing to do a review ping me, or leave a comment here and I'll get you your coupon code.

Thank you!

Doc

Justin,

If they have breached the contract, get a lawyer to send them a letter identifying the breaches and demanding immediate termination. If they say no, then have the lawyer tell them you'll take them to court for breach of contract, damages, and lawyer fees.

Even if you have no case, they don't want to go to court, they just want to find some patsy to overcharge.

Doc

I wrote my first novel, which is currently between first draft and editing, using Scrivener on the Mac, exporting to Dropbox, and using Plaintext on my iPhone or iPad. I did a LOT of writing while traveling using my iPad and a bluetooth keyboard. It was an efficient way to use time stuck in a car.

Plaintext is another no-frills text editor.

Doc

Do the woods have a name?

"The Secret of Woods" comes to mind.

Doc

Stephen wrote: "I'm always a little cynical if a book is solely 5-star rated so having a range of scores adds some credibility to the existing 5's. Also, it's generally bad form to 5-star your own book."

So what rating should you give your own book?

Doc

Marjorie wrote: "Or should I take it on the cuff and accept it as part of the cost of being a public figure (an Author)?

I got my first 1-star "rating" from someone who JUST joined Goodreads and already, miraculo..."

Do you remember what it was like when you first joined Goodreads? I do. After creating my account, Goodreads kept showing me screen after screen of books, to see if I had already read them. For each of those books, I could mark it to-read, currently reading, or read. If I marked it read, Goodreads asked me to give it a star rating.

So, when I first signed onto goodreads, I racked up over 100 books with various ratings across the spectrum.

This person doesn't sound very different. They just like paranormal, think fantasy is OK, and they hate sci-fi. Some people never fill out their profiles. They want to use the site to find books, but don't care to let other people find them. Others can't be bothered to take the time.

I'd ignore it.

Doc

I always have a book to read while eating lunch and other slack time at work (such as it is).

Doc

Marjorie,

What is book one in the series?

Doc

Marjorie wrote: "Doc wrote: "There, I just added a bunch of books to the list.

Doc"

I've gotta ask because I thought I was the only one adding SciFi books to the list, but Doc, did you just add Lt. Leary, Command..."

Yup. I added a bunch of SciFi books to the list.

I've actually got a huge list of to-read books that I'm working through. Not just the list of books on Goodreads, but an actual stack of books I've already bought and haven't read. So it will be a while before I get around to your book.

And I have to finish writing my own novel, dammit.

*sigh*

Doc

There, I just added a bunch of books to the list.

Doc

Stephen wrote: "Well said doc :)"

Thank you.

Doc

It seems a little ridiculous to expect authors to be guilty of collusion when writing reviews of other author's works. After all, it would be much more efficient to find reviewers with significant followings and pay them to post good reviews. Better economics, too.

And I am sure that one can find reviewers willing to do good reviews for pay fairly easily. Even reviewers who have sizable followings. After all, they're in the business of writing reviews.

Authors, however, are in the business of writing stories. Writing reviews is inherently unprofitable for them, as it takes time away from their paying writing. But we still do it anyway.

Doc

Sarah, the Webbiegrrl Writer wrote: "No, Doc, that's discussion unto itself.

However, I did think most Indie Authors would have "discovered" their automagically-generated Author Central Page. Amazon creates a crappy, empty one for y..."

OK. I'll take a look.

And I've been here for a while. I just don't post unless I have something to contribute or a question to ask.

Doc

So, does one of those articles cover setting up an Amazon Author Central Page?

Doc

I find it interesting that we do a podcast about what PayPal is doing over on the Galley Table (http://flyingislandpress.com/flagship...), and they turn around and reverse themselves the same day the episode goes live.

Doc