Month: November 2016

Thrifty Thursday: Gobble Up eBook Deals

Turkey Thumbs-up ebooksHappy Thanksgiving! It’s time to gobble up hot free and 99 cent eBook deals. And the best part is – they won’t make you feel all bloated and sleepy! So take a look and download some eBooks and then tell your friends to come on over to Thrifty Thursday and check ’em out!

Readers: look in the comment section below. If you see one you like, click over and buy it. How easy is that? (If you don’t see the book covers, adjust your browser’s adblock settings.) Continue reading “Thrifty Thursday: Gobble Up eBook Deals”

Which “Stroll” Flash Fiction Story Gets Your Vote?

Vote5It’s that time again…time to choose your favorite flash fiction story of the week! It’s all up to you now – only one can win Flash Fiction Readers’ Choice Champion honors. It’s super easy – choose your favorite and cast your vote below.

Check out this week’s entries here. Make your decision, then use those share buttons at the bottom of the post to spread the word. Attention Authors: It is okay if you ask people to vote for you!

Voting polls close Thursday at 5 PM Pacific time. If the poll doesn’t close on time, any votes received after 5 pm will be removed.

REMINDER – entries over the 250 limit are disqualified.

Which "Stroll" Flash Fiction Story Should Win the Readers' Choice Award This Week?

  • Barbara Badger (23%, 3 Votes)
  • Biswajit Mukhopadhyay (23%, 3 Votes)
  • Dale E. Lehman (15%, 2 Votes)
  • JB Wocoski (15%, 2 Votes)
  • Bill Engleson (8%, 1 Votes)
  • Marc Twine (8%, 1 Votes)
  • Judith Garcia (8%, 1 Votes)
  • Luigi Silvestri (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 13

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NOTE: Entrants whose submissions exceed the 250 word limit will be disqualified even if they win. ONE VOTE PER PERSON, please. Duplicate votes will be deleted. The results displayed above are unofficial until verified by administration.

The Next Seven Book Reviewer Complaints

Mistakes authors makeEveryone had so much fun with the last seven complaints I had while reviewing books, I thought I’d give them a chance to get right down to some more. Some are a bit esoteric, but when a reviewer is really busy and looking for an excuse to go on to the next book, a few of these will do the trick every time.

8. Information Dump

This is feedback from everyone in comments on the earlier post. NEVER, EVER, EVER bore the reader with an Information Dump. I know you need us to know the whole life story of the main character, but we don’t know we need to know it, so why read it? So we put your book down after Page three.

When is an information dump not an information dump? Never. The only time information is okay is when we don’t notice it, or, best yet, when we want the information. If you can set up a situation where the reader feels like, “Why is he doing that? WHY is he doing that? WHY IS HE…? Oh! That’s why!” then you’ve got it nailed.

Part A: Developmental Errors Continue reading “The Next Seven Book Reviewer Complaints”

How to Come Up with a Great Book Title

ereader-best-titleLife just isn’t fair. It’s hard enough to write a book, but then you have to come up with a title for it, too.

Not long ago, as we minions reclined around the gruel pot, we got into a discussion about how we come up with titles for our books. (We were asked for our input for an article about story title secrets at ridethepen.com, which started this conversation.) As it turns out, we use a range of techniques, from market research to gut feelings to serendipity. Continue reading “How to Come Up with a Great Book Title”