Ephesians 6:7 and II Timothy 2:15

Rik's Coffee Thoughts

Random thoughts, mostly about writing, publishing, sailing, God, cats, my life, my loves and whatever happens to run across my mind between the first espresso of the day and the last cup of Joe before my shower.

Now - if I could only get Captain Hook to bring me my next espresso without spilling it, we'd have a good thing going.

For whom do we work and how do we go about it? If we are a Gospel Christian believing what Scripture says, we all need to look again at Ephesians 6:7 and II Timothy 2:15. In Ephesians we see that what ever we do we do for Christ and whatever we do for Christ is an act of worship. So, if we write, our writing is an act of worship. If we teach, our teaching is an act of worship. If we are a stay at home dad, our fathering is an act of worship. Scary, isn't it. Am I working to please me, to please my co-workers, my boss, my customers or am I working as an act of worship to God?

In II Timothy 2 we see Paul entreating Timothy to not only do his best, but to "study", to "go to school" so to speak, to learn and to perfect his "craft" so that when Christ looks at what Timothy has done (and when Christ looks at what we have produced), Christ will "smile because of you" (Numbers 6:25) and the worker will not be ashamed.

Warning, at this point today's blog may become very offensive to some.  This is not for the author who is faint of heart. And as such, I am sure that not everyone will like this missive.  
I am involved in a number of websites for various different groups of authors. Every once in a while, I will click on a book that is being advertised, go to Amazon and read the first five or six pages in the "look inside". 
 
I really really shouldn't do this. I do know better, but sometimes I'm curious.  In many, many of the books that I  peek inside I just have to scratch my head and wonder "why don't people study to learn how to write? Why don't they study about English grammar rules? And if they don't know the rules, why don't they at least hire an editor to check the grammar, spelling and the sentence structure?"  

I am appalled at the number of book samples that look like they have never even been read by the author themselves.  The occasional  typo I can understand, but when verb tenses don't match or when singular verbs are paired with plural nouns it really does give the author the bad name. When the sentences run on and on and on it shows to me that they have certainly not "studied" the craft in order to offer worship please to God. 

I have a colleague Valerie, who is a prolific writer. A piece of advise she gives to aspiring authors is:

"The number one outcry against Indie writers is poor editing and grammar. Don't give them another example. On your tenth book you can get creative. Not on your first."

"But my mother read it and thought it was wonderful." one author said to me. I felt like replying, "your mother probably thinks your shopping list is wonderful, but that doesn't mean that it nor this mess is ready for publication on Amazon."

The Christian singer Ethel Waters said, "I know I'm somebody 'Cause God don't make no junk."

I certainly agree with Ethel Waters, but she was talking about herself, God's creation not being junk. Not her work. And, if you every heard her sing you would know she studied, practised and practised and practised.

Sorry to be so harsh, but in a world where there are hundreds and hundreds of e-books being self published each day, it behooves us as professionals, as Christians writing as an act of worship to our King, to produce the best professional books we can. 
Just Rik's morning coffee thoughts ...

PayPal, Publishing and us

Rik's Coffee Thoughts

Random thoughts, mostly about writing, publishing, sailing, God, cats, my life, my loves and whatever happens to run across my mind between the first espresso and the last cup of regular before my shower. Now - if I could only get Captain Hook to bring me my espresso without spilling it, we'd have a good thing going.

I was going to title this "PayPay, Porn and Us", but I thought that might be a construed as being inflammatory. So - "PayPay Publishing and Us" it is. So, according to Mark Coker, Founder, CEO and Chief Author Advocate of SmashWords, PayPay has decided to start “aggressively enforcing a prohibition against online retailers selling certain types of ‘obscene’ content.” 

TechCruch picked up on this with photos of three well armed policemen (now who's getting inflammatory) http://techcrunch.com, with bold headlines that read, "PayPal As Moral Police? Forces E-Book Sellers To Remove Certain Erotica Content"
 
One TechCrunch reader wrote: "I've signed petitions against this censorship crap!"

Well,  I think that this is really an interesting "moral issue". And, we all tend to say "what one person believes is totally up to them."

So, let's say the moral issue is "people with green hair".

I say, "I don't believe in writing about people with green hair. It is against my karma."
You say "No worries, as long as you don't stop me from writing about people with green hair."

I open a corner store and say, "I don't believe I will sell any books about people with green hair. It is against my karma."
You say "No worries, as long as I can sell my own books about people with green hair down the street at the other book store."

My store goes international and I say, "I don't believe I will sell any books about people with green hair in any of my international stores, either. It is against my karma."
You say, "No worries, as long as I can sell my own books about people with green hair in other international stores and on my own web site."

I buy UPS and say, "I don't believe I will do business with any stores that sell any books about people with green hair."
You say, "No worries, I'll ship with FedX."

I buy VISA and say, "I don't believe I will do business with stores that sell any books about people with green hair."
You say - "Hold on, I use VISA! Censorship! Gestapo Tactics! Right to Arm Bears! Motherhood and Apple Pie!"

So, is it censorship or is it just an inconvenience to you that has you upset?

Just Rik's morning coffee thoughts ...

The "best" and the "worst"

Rik's Coffee Thoughts

Random thoughts, mostly about writing, publishing, sailing, God, cats, my life, my loves and whatever happens to run across my mind between the first espresso and the last cup of' before my shower.

Now - if I could only get Captain Hook to bring me my espresso without spilling it, we'd have a good thing going.

I am visiting with my 86 year old mother-in-law and as such, I get to read some of the literary masterpieces that I find laying around her house. This morning I picked one up as I was sitting on the throne - you know - that great literary tome, Readers Digest. It was November 2011 and on page 217, I read:

Topfive.com asked its readers to create hysterically rotten excerpts from mystery novels. They didn't disappoint.

• "The sight of Hobson's crumpled body, a bloody dagger cruelly protuding from his temple, shot a ripple of horror through the tuxedoed throng attending the Bristol Butler's Convention. Who could possibly have done such a thing?"
•  "It was no surpirse to find her nude body sprawled across the bed, her Halston suit, Prada chemise, and Manolos in a heap on the florr; she'd never be caught dead wearing last season's fashions."

OK - I mostly share this blog with the almost 600 members of the Indie Author Group. So, come on, add a comment with your "best" and or "worst"

Just Rik's morning coffee thoughts ...

How Many Stars Do You Expect?

Rik's Coffee Thoughts

Random thoughts, mostly about writing, publishing, sailing, God, cats, my life, my loves and whatever happens to run across my mind between the first espresso and the last cup of' before my shower.

Now - if I could only get Captain Hook to bring me my espresso without spilling it, we'd have a good thing going.

Star system of ranking books - who knows what it means?

Based on 40 plus years as an educator, I have evaluated the works of countless students, from Graduate School all the way up to four grade (8 year olds). As published indie authors, we are not in primary school and the grading of our work is probably much more akin to that of Graduate School. So, how did I grade the work of my graduate students?

1. I assumed that for a student to be in graduate school, they had to be good and so did their work.
2. Good work at the Grad level would get you a three. You're a graduate student, good work is expected.
3. Really good work would get you a four, and I would often read it more than once, think about it a bit, ponder it.
4. To get a FIVE it had to be so good I would be thinking "Wow, I have to show this to Dr. Smith. This might just make a good presentation paper at that Big Conference in Sydney, Australia next year "
5. FIVEs are not to be thrown around lightly. A paper with a single typo or grammatical error could never get a five. Ever! A five is perfect. Errors are not a display of perfection.

So - transfer those thoughts to your writing, to your published, professional work. You're a professional, offering a time of entertainment for a fee. It does not mater if the fee is 99 cents or $9.99 - if you are charging a fee, you are a professional.

And your readers are your "graders", they are "marking" your work. If you want a Five Star Review - if has to be perfect. Five out of Five is a perfect score! An ice skater at the Olympics does not get a perfect score if they stumble. To get a perfect score you cannot even stumble a tiny bit. 

If I review your book and it is a great read, but there are errors or poor grammar in places, it may be a "great read" but it won't (and shouldn't) get a five out of five!

Just Rik's morning coffee thoughts ...

Keeping Abreast of the Industry

Rik's Coffee Thoughts

Random thoughts, mostly about writing, publishing, sailing, God, cats, my life, my loves and whatever happens to run across my mind between the first espresso and the last cup of, before my shower.

Now - if I could only get Captain Hook to bring me my espresso without spilling it, we'd have a good thing going.

Keeping Abreast: You may want to at least look at these sources once a week, possibly subscribe to a blog and try to sort out what is happening.

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing - Joe Konrath's excellent blog

Publishers Lunch - The Publishing Industries' Daily Essential Read - from their blurb: "now shared with more than 40,000 publishing people every day. Each report gathers together stories from all over the web and print of interest to the professional trade book community, along with original reporting, plus a little perspective and the occasional wisecrack added in." This is an excellent resource for information about the publishing industry. Publishers Marketplace costs money but publishers Lunch is free. Linda has gotten it for years. Her agent, Danielle recommended it to her. 

Let's Get Digital - David Gaughran's Website - another super resource.

Smashwords Blog - the blog of Mark Coker

The Best of the Season to you and yours (you pick the season and you pick the yours!)

Just Rik's morning coffee thoughts ...

Traditional and Vanity publishing houses

Rik's Coffee Thoughts

Random thoughts, mostly about writing, publishing, sailing, God, cats, my life, my loves and whatever happens to run across my mind between the first espresso and the last cup of regular before my shower. Now - if I could only get Captain Hook to bring me my espresso without spilling it, we'd have a good thing going.

I have been posting my morning coffee thoughts for a while now on a specific FaceBook group, and a number of the readers said "You should do a blog!"  OK - here we go, Rik's Coffee Thoughts:

Some simple thoughts on Traditional and Vanity publishing houses from twenty years of experience with five different publishing houses.

Point one - all publishing houses publish to make money for themselves, all of them! Every one!

Point two - there are differences. Traditional publishing houses take you on because they see your future sales and their commission on those sales as a potential source of income. Sometimes (not always) you get an up front advance, sometimes you don't. If you do get an advance, your sale's royalties pay off the advance before you see new money! 
They pay all the up front costs. Edits, cover design, sales promotion, proof copies, advance reading copies, sending those copies to readers, postage, phone calls, support. Everything. You should never ever pay anything up front with a non-vanity press!

Vanity publishing houses take you on because you are willing to pay your own up front costs and possibly a publishing fee. If they are lucky they might see a return based upon your sales and their commission on those sales, but that is secondary. You pay in some way for edits, cover design, sales promotion, proof copies, advance reading copies, sending those copies to readers, postage, phone calls, support. Everything. If you go Vanity - get in writing, everything you have to pay for, everything!

Which is best for you?

Depends upon:

• how deep your pockets are,
• how desperate you are to get your work in print, 
• how lucky you might be in getting someone's attention, and 
• last, but by no means least - how good your book is.

Point Three - another option - publish it yourself.

Just Rik's morning coffee thoughts ...