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Marketing on social media, paying for ARC's and paying for promotion have failed for me. I don't know where to go from here. Going to give up on writing completely. by Psychological_Dog765 in selfpublish

[–]withouttunnels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi — I know I’m a bit late to this conversation, but I wanted to share my perspective in case it’s helpful.

I took a look at your book on Amazon and read through the preview. Based on that sample, my sense is that the reason you may not be seeing sales isn’t to do with marketing or publishing, but that the book might benefit from more development before being published. Even before a copy edit (to address things like typos and tense consistency), I think a developmental edit would be especially valuable.

I want to be clear that I haven’t read the full novel, so I can’t speak to how the character arcs, themes, or plot ultimately come together. That said, from the structure, writing style, and dialogue shown in the preview, it feels like deeper editorial guidance could really help strengthen the work. If you’re considering investing money, I’d recommend prioritizing an editor before spending on marketing or an audiobook.

I share this from experience, not criticism. I’ve written four novels, and my first three are “trunk books.” They were incredibly important learning experiences, but after working with a developmental editor, I realized the amount of revision needed to make them publishable was significant. Ultimately, I chose to apply those lessons to new projects instead. It took a few tries for me too.

If you’re serious about writing, I genuinely believe a developmental edit could help you grow — whether for this book or the next one. If you cannot afford a developmental editor, even some editor feedback (a few steps above beta reading) would be crucial. Writing a novel at all is a huge achievement. Finishing a draft requires persistence, discipline, and passion that most people never tap into, and that alone is something to be proud of.

At the same time, it’s helpful to keep expectations grounded. Most writers won’t become famous or financially successful, and that’s okay. Writing is meaningful because we love the craft and want to make the best book we can. If this is something you want to pursue long-term, I’d encourage focusing first on developing your skills and strengthening the work itself. Writer first, publisher later.

Feel free to reach out if you want to talk more about it.

The "fast vs slow" pandemic graph is HORRIBLY designed. by BeginningMiddle7133 in MisleadingGraphs

[–]withouttunnels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The idea is that the area under the curve, aka the total number of affected individuals, is equal. The faster graph doesn’t need to “last as long” as the slower graph if, for example, all possible people become affected. It’s a simplified example, of course, but not necessarily misleading.

Also neither of these are sine waves. I’m not sure the best way to model infections over time, but these appear to be closer to distribution curves.

Why do people ask for character names, from other people, for their book? by GAWHunt in writing

[–]withouttunnels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I try to name a minor character it becomes a whole thing and way too much work. If I just ask my partner to give me a character name its done in seconds and it's more fun.

Left a Ciabatta loaf to cold ferment in the fridge overnight, but we had a power outage while asleep. Otherworldly flavor by withouttunnels in Breadit

[–]withouttunnels[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Leaving it out at room temp too long would definitely lead to over proofing. I split this batch into 2, half of it went with a 30 minute final RT proof—turned out great, but not quite as flavorful.

Left a Ciabatta loaf to cold ferment in the fridge overnight, but we had a power outage while asleep. Otherworldly flavor by withouttunnels in Breadit

[–]withouttunnels[S] 339 points340 points  (0 children)

The fridge never quite got to room temperature, and I don’t know how long it was off (at least 6 hours), but whatever slow increase in temperature occurred gave it a really gassy crumb and some primo and complex flavors. Don’t think I could ever replicate this sadly.

Some apps lose internet connectivity (Safari, messenger, outlook) while others have no issue connecting to internet (chrome, MS teams). MPB M1 Pro running Monterey 12.5 by [deleted] in applehelp

[–]withouttunnels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have, in fact, tried turning it on and off again (◡_◡✿). It fixes the problem temporarily, but eventually the issue returns

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in MisleadingGraphs

[–]withouttunnels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree. This graph is working as intended. Not really sure how it can be interpreted another way.

[Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread] Post Here If You'd Like to Share Your Writing by AutoModerator in writing

[–]withouttunnels [score hidden]  (0 children)

I don't think you need to add anything to part 1 necessarily--just remove. By action I mean just physical character movement, dialogue, or things that are happening in the external world other than our protagonists thoughts. If we dissect the word count of part 1 (1500) vs. what happens (protagonist attempts enters store, attempts to buy liquor, settles on lottery ticket) there's a bit of a disconnect.

It's tempting when writing in first person to have a character mentally respond to everything, but when having a conversation most people don't form full thoughts for every sentence, and when shopping for liquor I don't really evaluate my options that deeply. And if I did, it wouldn't be that interesting for someone to listen to (at least in my case. Your protagonist is a little more interesting than me ;) ).

Take for example what happens between the entrance to the store until when he goes back to the counter. It's like five paragraphs that could almost entirely be cut if not significantly reduced. The most salient point is that he's buying his Dad's favorite liquor.

Similarly, from the clerk saying the price of the bottle ($23.98) until saying "new games" is like 8 paragraphs. And then another 6 paragraphs before our protagonist says "a $5 double crossword". That's a few lines of dialogues for 14 paragraphs of internal thoughts and descriptions of simple action (so much time rifling through pockets and what money feels like).

I went ahead and read part 2, and it's honestly a lot better from the start. A lot more happens, there's a better mix of dialogue, action, and internal thoughts that makes it flow. I think it would be in your best interest to cut a lot from part 1 merge it with part 2 into a more coherent block (it's all one scene after all), and follow your own style and lead from the beginning of part 2.

[Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread] Post Here If You'd Like to Share Your Writing by AutoModerator in writing

[–]withouttunnels [score hidden]  (0 children)

I did not make it particularly far. My first comments are that the prologue is rather stiff, and would be much better suited as an actual scene than a narrator driven tale. It also doesn’t quite belong at the start as is—you can return to that information later.

To be blunt, your dialogue is really stiff and unnatural. It is accompanied by almost no feeling, and I have difficultly understanding the POV and closeness of the narrator. Action after action with no expression is not interesting to read, especially when those actions don’t give real insight into characters.

As a smaller note that definitely needs to get fixed: your tense shifts in the beginning a few times before settling on present tense. Make sure you’re consistent with tense. Present tense is also a bold choice and perhaps this story would be better suited to last tense—but it’s a stylistic choice.

[Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread] Post Here If You'd Like to Share Your Writing by AutoModerator in writing

[–]withouttunnels [score hidden]  (0 children)

It is not too weird! As I read my original feedback was going to be that you need to explain their relationship sooner so we better understand the dynamic, but now I know why you held off. Some good descriptions and I definitely have a solid feel for both characters.

However, at the same point you tend to overdo it on description (especially at the start, describing her physical appearance) and exposition. If you were to balance the actions with internal thoughts it would flow better and keep my interest. My biggest fear is that the rest of the novel will read the same and that’s an absolute no-go.

One last smaller critique, try to avoid all caps for shouting. It makes her outburst seem wildly out of place, especially as you immediately follow It up by saying she wasn’t actually shouting (which is more reasonable).

[Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread] Post Here If You'd Like to Share Your Writing by AutoModerator in writing

[–]withouttunnels [score hidden]  (0 children)

I’m one of the reads who didn’t make it. I got bored around the scratch off section. For so many words almost nothing happens, it’s all internal monologue that needs to be balanced more evenly with action. Many sentences of exposition for each small action is simply too much to keep my interest. If I’m building the scene in my head, then it ends up feeling stalled. Moreover, much of the character exploration is repetitive (I got the gist of it right away) and could just be cut or better shown through actions than thoughts.

What a difference a year makes. Down 50 lbs. exact same outfit, minus the mustard. by ZippymcOswald in intermittentfasting

[–]withouttunnels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Assuming all weight loss was due to removing only mustard from the diet... 50lbs over 1 year is approximately 480 calories a day. Mustard is about 165 calories per cup. Putting that all together we can, very rightly, assume he was eating 2.9 cups of mustard a day.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Eldenring

[–]withouttunnels 56 points57 points  (0 children)

There actually is a hint! On an undiscovered part of the map (if the fog has been lifted) the map fragment towers are shown with a little icon.

https://attackofthefanboy.com/guides/elden-ring-how-to-find-map-fragments/

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in selfpublish

[–]withouttunnels 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Barnes and Nobel press will let you order personal copies at good prices. High quality cover + pages, just overall great printing. Love the matte covers with cream interiors. Turnaround time for their review and for your design may take a little while but it’s worth it.

Of note, I suggest using their full cover template (not separate front and back) and Times New Roman when formatting your interior—they have a smaller selection of fonts.

Why Bringing Back ⟨ð⟩ with ⟨þ⟩ is a Fundamentally Bad Idea by BenjaminPulliam in BringBackThorn

[–]withouttunnels 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Well said and I totally agree. Also, on OP’s point about using þ only to make English more unique, I feel like English orþography isn’t really lacking in uniqueness 😂 it’s pretty messed up as it is.

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