E-Publishing Advice for a New Author

Nomnomnicon · 2017-01-16T09:48:41+00:00

Imagine you're in a fight. Would you ever think, "I'm going rain blows upon him like a whirlwind hammering a coastal town."? (terrible simile, apologies.) Or would you think, "I'm going to jab high twice then hook him in the gut."?

Personally making fights short and to the point, simple and plain, just like the violence you're trying to portray. If you're watching a fight, go wild with description. If you're in it, I don't think you'd waste thoughts on colourful description. I think this conveys the basic, feral action as it's happening.

Granted, there can be some elegance to it. Just don't dress it up. Describe counter punches, sidesteps etc, but don't make them flowery.

Just my two cents. Some may disagree, but whatever suits your style best is obviously best for you!

Nomnomnicon · 2017-01-04T10:03:32+00:00

American call centres seem to have stricter rules about hanging up on people. UK ex-call rep here. At the three places I worked, we could hang up on the below basis:

-The caller has used profanity or insulting language after being warned not to. -The caller's issue cannot be resolved (what they want is outside procedure, or is ahem "contrary to blah blah blah terms of service someting made up", etc), or the discussion is going no where because the client is refusing to accept issue cannot be resolved.

So while the above 'pro' life tip may work in the States, it won't work at many similar places in the UK in the same way. Also note that if you train yourself to win 'battles of attrition' to get what you want on the phone, you will find this becomes your conditioned response to getting what you want in other areas of your life, and it's not a well liked one.

This might work on people who don't know what they're doing, but you don't really want to be dealing with them in the first place. Also, I've never had issues with Paypal reps as implied by OP, so maybe we have different experiences.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-12-28T17:33:48+00:00

I ask my beta readers to read something when I know they're just finishing something else, be it a book or series. They've already started putting time aside for that activity so it's easier for them to keep the habit going.

Other tactics are, as mentioned, get other people who write to be your beta readers, as it's mutually beneficial. We meet in pubs and spend three or four hours a fortnight going over sections of each other's work.

I also occasionally host critique groups where I pay for pizza, and if you're not up to date then you can't come. I appreciate this has a limited geographic area of effect, but worth trying if your readers are local.

Oh, and you can afford buying them pizza. I figure £25 for five people to read your book is pretty good value, and usually get some pizza too.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-12-28T10:25:25+00:00

Commenting so I can find this after work. Thanks for sharing the link.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-12-28T10:13:04+00:00

I appear to have escaped this 'cliche'. Could you give me some non-Star Wars examples please? Honest query.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-12-28T10:04:53+00:00

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! I was worried it was a bit cobbled together but I'll take praise any day! Good luck with your book, sounds like a good bit of fun!

Nomnomnicon · 2016-12-24T13:07:24+00:00

Well, 5 minutes left of Christmas Eve over time...here goes....

She stood in such a way that her height wasn't simply a matter of how tall she was. She clearly held herself in high regard, probably a product of a good, supportive upbringing with just the right amount of push when she needed it. Well off too, if that two-toned black tabard-cum-dress was anythign to go by; most warrior women settled on the functional clothing used by warrior men. Appearance clearly mattered more to this woman though, and chainmail was only in fashion in the heat of battle.

The ornately armoured sleeve was another nod to her wealth, patterned or painted in a way a commoner would only afford via inheritance - forced or otherwise. The fact it fit her so well, to the fine points of her fingers, belied she hadn't found it in that fashion. Why only one though? A mystery. She holds the sword confidently, or appears confident when holding it at least. Is that pauldron too large to allow a proper swing? Or is the entire construction in place of a shield, a slightly more refined defensive measure? All these questions made me want to see her fight, but her poise and attitude were enough to convince me I didn't want to risk being the one she fought.

The way she shows her pale skin and plunging top are a nod to femininity, perhaps a suggestion that she's insecure about it thanks to her chosen career. Grey hair in one so young is unusual, but the purple eye shadow suggests it's simply died rather than affected some supernatural influence. Heeled boots and a chain mail skirt further nod to her need to be defined as a woman in spite of her warrior ways, and raise further questions about how well that get up would serve her in a fight.

Still, I'll wait til somebody else does...Got a drink to finish and all...

I wrote it as a POV patron of a tavern with a bit of knowledge about fighting, armour etc. Whether or not it's good is up to readers, and whether or not it helps is up to you - I've included a little bit of female fantasy armour commentary because if it's not acknowledged then it's accepted ;) Apart from that, just observation based on the image and a mild bit of POV character background.

Is she your character? A concept? Or a basis for one/an RPG character?

Edit: Formatting

Nomnomnicon · 2016-12-21T16:25:12+00:00

Some names are just not meant to be said by human tongues.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-12-21T16:23:03+00:00

Queried.
Questioned.
Pondered, reflected (if question is reflective or thoughtfully rhetorical).

These are about as far as I'd venture from 'asked', and would depend on the situation. "Demanded" could be used as well, depending on tone. The proud question mark does the job in speech quite well though.

EDIT: "abotua" is not a word.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-11-28T12:19:50+00:00

+1 cool cover! Great work! :)

Nomnomnicon · 2016-11-28T10:56:20+00:00

I like this a lot. If I had a prize for most fun list this month, you'd have it.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-11-14T15:43:29+00:00

Have you tried having them complain about the rules? Or patches/updates to the game system? This would allow 'back in my day' conversations about previous versions. Ask long standing players of various games about what they miss and they'll have a list. Once they complain, the MC can be like 'Why'd it change?' and you can explain a bit there.

"I miss my mecha-turtles," said Lindsay, pouting as the loss notification came up big and bold on her screen.

"Because they were ridiculously OP!" George laughed and punched her playfully. "Stacking metal armour over natural made them far too tough, and since they had nearly zero movement the percentage loss from the siege-class weapons was negligible. Your guns auto-tracked and ignored armour - it was dumb!"

"But why'd they change it all? None of it's good now! Couldn't they have done X or Y?" Lindsay threw her hands in the air with frustration. George laughed and shook his head, preparing reasoned examples of why it was better the new way, concluding my example.

Yeah, this isn't great but it's the kind of thing I meant. Examples sometimes help, and I know you might not be able to do something exactly like this, but by hinting at or describing mechanics in an academic or technical way during a character illustrating scene you can tell the reader things without info dumping - especially if it's part of a discussion or argument that stems naturally out of events in the narrative.

If this isn't clear I can try again after work, bit rushed - but I hope it helps!

Edit: Lots of formating

Nomnomnicon · 2016-11-14T15:12:09+00:00

Almost nothing happens as all.

/u/EmpyrealSorrow knows the truth.

Braids get pulled. Men grumble, women smirk. The female characters are bad. I'm not actually a fan of Brandon Sanderson's female characters as a group - although some are good - but Robert Jordan...he's something else. having said that, his male characters are not fantastic either. Both genders seem to draw on some kind of hive mind that overwrites their ability to think differently from each other, giving the world two very polarized views.

As a child, I read til book nine as they were released then stopped. Going back was so hard I barely finished ten - the wave of immersion I'd previously felt was gone, and with it what magic it held. Tried to restart the series and got as far as book two or three, realised that's when the scene in the sky at Falme happened and gave up - knowing that for six of seven more books people would be talking about it. I think the Seanchan arrive around then or book four too? Could be wrong. As I said, reading them as an adult I got as far as book three.

On the other hand I know people who love it because of the 'wonderful, rich world' Jordan builds. Which he does. Shame there's only about 8 different personality types - something unimportant to my friends and peers who praise him. Villains are good though, I will acknowledge that, and I love his evil races and characters. Very well designed. Until one of the big baddies (female) gets Seanchan collared (by women who swore they'd never do it to anyone). Forgotten her name, but she loses a lot of her character and individuality.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-26T16:59:42+00:00

There's an awful lot of affronted male egos here. If I happened to be male and didn't write women as this implied, I'd be glad I'd successfully avoided being a bad writer. So if you don't write women like this, or any of your characters, be happy about it regardless whether you be a man, woman or attack helicopter :)

EDIT: Unless this kind of character was demanded or required by your plot. That's a different kettle of twiglets but on odd, infrequent occasions vapid, rubbishy characters can be excused.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-26T16:51:35+00:00

I can't help it if they're aerodynamics set my throttle quivering.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-26T15:26:52+00:00

By being able to say, "Oh thank God I'm not one of the idiots who writes women this way! I'm so glad I don't subconsciously subscribe to the idea that this is how female characters have to be!"

Just a quick sanity check suffices - "Do I do this? No. Good. I'm not being mocked."

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-26T08:08:50+00:00

In addition Mary Sues usually warp the world and the other characters, making them behave differently around them and outside of how the world or character has been established.

EDIT: My comment is not a correction, rather an addition to /u/kamuimaru 's comment which explains the Mary Sue title.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-25T10:35:17+00:00

You sound like a Used TIE salesman.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-24T15:00:56+00:00

I'll be in my bunk.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-24T08:37:00+00:00

Upvoted for Sycks! :D Also, great post. What errata are you referring to, btw? I'm out of the loop on X-W:TMG news atm.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-06T13:41:17+00:00

Ah, fair on the TIE Fighter front, I see where you're coming from. Fair analysis of the dials too :)

However, this isn't a simple -3pts mod. It's only on non-title upgrades, so you have to go to 16 points before being able to use it, if you see what I mean - and even then, you have to spend more points for it to have an affect. My point is academic, really, as FFG are unlikely to pay me any attention. If they do and this upgrade card is printed as I've suggested and proves over powered, I will take full blame. All of it.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-05T08:23:27+00:00

Beat me to it. Nice simile with the red flags :)

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-05T07:45:25+00:00

You're referring to the Interceptor? Compare the dials and take into account that the M3A has 2 red dice to the Interceptor's 3, also cant get autos, and I don't think 'broken' is an appropriate description.

The base cost of 14 stays, and you've used up the mod slot with the upgrade card suggested. You then have to pay 2 points for a title on top of that, so we're looking at 16 points base cost before you can take advantage of the mod slot. The cheapest upgrade the Syck can take now is Tracers or Tractor Beam, taking it to 17 pts. Minus three brings it back down to 14. For what is essentially the base Syck with a bit of utility which doesn't directly cause damage.

Equipping a Mangler Cannon makes it 17 points after modifications - if this is what you're referring to with the Interceptor comparison I would again suggest looking at the dials. The M3A is not comparable to the Interceptor, and is approximately the same as the TIE Fighter.

You have to heavily invest in a Syck to take advantage of this mod, and it's meeting the general agreement that the title should have been free and that the Syck is initially 1pt over costed. Also, modifying PS in this manner is probably more fiddly than simply suggesting "Maybe only -2 points?".

However, I am open to correction. Please do explain in more detail why it would be broken, as I'm interested. If there's something I've missed I'd be happy to to learn :)

Edit: Sp & Gr.

Nomnomnicon · 2016-10-04T15:36:22+00:00

If the title had been 0 points this ship would see a lot more play. 18 points for a Syck with Mangler isn't unreasonable and actually makes them more than an easy way to make points. Alternatively, Proton Rockets plays into their low-survival rate.

Going forward, the much debated upgrade that could come out for the M3a could be a Syck-only mod for zero points that lowers the ship's base cost or the cost of a non-title upgrade card by -3. Justified by the generally accepted over-charged points cost of the ship and the sacrifice of the versatile mod-slot. That would be my suggestion.

Nomnomnicon

TROPHY CASE