Should Amazon Require Self-Published Authors to Have Editors?

Reblogged from Story Addict:

• 

This has been in the back of my mind for a while. To be honest, I don’t think it’s feasible for Amazon or any other publishing platform to require this of its self-published authors, but let’s speculate, shall we?

The Pros

A lot of self-published authors plunge into publishing without realizing that they do need the help of a professional editor.

Read more… 538 more words

I loved this post because I do believe published (especially self-published) books should be of a certain quality, and that usually means that a writer should work with a good editor. I have no faith in reading a story that has instances of grammatically incorrect sentences, misplaced punctuations or lack thereof, spelling mistakes or structural inconsistencies. I also believe a good editor will encourage the writer to 'kill his/her darlings' for the sake of a better story. Objective input is necessary. Samir

The Opposite Sex

Vanessa’s post ‘A Different Perspective‘ got me thinking about my own process when writing the opposite sex. Although I often prefer to stick more to the male characters (I do understand them better), I also have to work with female characters. I’d start off by saying its fun. Lots of fun. And difficult. Capturing the essence of a female character’s emotion in a specific scene due to certain circumstances, and letting that emotion play itself out through action has always been challenging.

One of the things I often do first, is to compare myself (what I think I would feel and do) to that of the female character. Equipped with this basic knowledge, I would conjure up images either from personal observations or characters in other texts (often from the literary spectrum) and then apply the different possible actions the female character can take. The next step is to analyze what fits this particular character’s personality so as to establish credibility and consistency. Despite this somewhat methodical approach, I do get it wrong more often than not.

Whispers by Muli wa Kyendo

Whispers is a novellette I stumbled upon in a second hand bookstore, in a town I’d been to only that one time. Going straight to the publication details of the book, I saw it was by a Kenyan author, and as I’m always interested in African writers, I bought it. Besides, who can refuse an interesting book for only 50 cents?

Muli wa Kyendo has apparently written several more books and plays, which I’ll be trying to hunt for in the future. It’s always a pleasure to read a writer’s work which makes you want more.

The Synopsis

Josephine is a young woman trying to make ends meet in Nairobi, where she works as a secretary. When her boss continuously encourages her to “visit” his place and she continuously ignores or refuses, he fires her. Without a job, she must also decide whether she loves Musyoki or Joseph as all her friends, including her best friend Agens, are off getting married.

Dear Author

Dear Author.

Two words I’ve grown to hate.  The salutation of rejection.  I open my email and there they are and I know it means not only another rejection, but a form rejection, the impersonal device used by publishers and agents to clear the slush pile decks as efficiently as possible.  I understand.  And I hate it.  I am nobody.  I am “Author.”

Read the rest of this post at Writer’s Wavelength by Cynthia J. McGean

When Your Characters Gaze, Ponder & Move About: A Random Rant

Reblogged from The Blabbermouth - Linda P. Epstein:

I've been reading a LOT of manuscripts lately, both submissions and from my clients. I've noticed a common weakness in writing that is easily remedied. If you want to describe something, just describe it. You don't have to have your character's "gaze fall upon" whatever you want to describe. They don't need to "all of a sudden notice" it. It doesn't have to "catch their attention." Believe it or not, I've read those exact words in about five different manuscripts this week.

Read more… 248 more words

A fantastic blog with all kinds of useful advice from an agent. This entry particularly struck a chord as I have to deal with this often in manuscripts as well. So writers, please pay attention.

Rest In Peace: Chinua Achebe

You have always been, and will continue to be, an inspirational writer. Your voice brings African storytelling to your books and your style makes them a work of art. Things Fall Apart will forever be my favorite book which I have read many times and I know I will read countless times more. Your books that I am yet to read, I will open with awe and anticipation.

Rest in peace.

Samir

postscript: The Guardian has a nice article here.

The Lake by Yasunari Kawabata

The Lake is the second book of Nobel laureate Kawabata that I have read. Unlike the House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories, which I thought to be a remarkable text particularly the title story, The Lake came across as a frustrating work in terms of style.

Briefly, it is the story of a homeless stalker, Gimpei, who follows certain women that he finds posses a certain quality of beauty. What we know of Gimpei is that he was a former school teacher until he stalked one of his students, and that he had committed some ambiguous crime in the past.

Smut by Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett is a prolific writer whose works include plays, screenplays, short stories and novels. Not to mention that he’s also an actor. I’ve read a bit about certain works of his and I’ve heard a lot about them. And I’ve finally read one of his books. I found the book Smut on a ‘bargains’ shelf in a bookstore and it was too tempting to ignore buying it.

The Stories

Smut is a collection of two novella-like short stories: ‘The Greening of Mrs Donaldson’ and ‘The Shielding of Mrs Forbes’.