Month: March 2018

eBook Deals March 8 – 14

Thrifty Thursday ebook dealsHere you go – a bunch of hot new free and bargain eBooks to read, just for you! You’re going to need these while you’re sitting at the beach, or on vacation, or just hanging at home. You can fill up that Kindle now with the free and 99 cent eBook deals right here on Thrifty Thursday!

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 “eBook Deals March 8 – 14”

Which “The Lighthouse” 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 "The Lighthouse" flash fiction entry deserves your vote?

  • Theodore Jerome Cohen (40%, 23 Votes)
  • Maretha Botha (14%, 8 Votes)
  • Judith Garcia (12%, 7 Votes)
  • Rutger Galtiarii (12%, 7 Votes)
  • Lou Silvestri (9%, 5 Votes)
  • Diane Selby (9%, 5 Votes)
  • Ken Alger (2%, 1 Votes)
  • Virginia Gayl Salazar (2%, 1 Votes)
  • Nicole T (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 57

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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.

You’re So Vain: Vanity Presses Versus Self-Publishing

writers paying for publishing euro-317927_960_720Over the years we’ve have several posts regarding companies that some call vanity presses or vanity publishers. About three years ago we had an entire series of posts about these companies, called #PublishingFoul. Five years ago there were two major players in this arena: PublishAmerica and Author Solutions with a few other smaller companies using the same business model.

The two biggies operated under a myriad of different names with foreign subsidiaries and multiple imprint names. Keeping track of them was tough. But a rule of thumb that is attributed to author James D. Macdonald that “money should always flow toward the author” was all a wannabe-published author needed to know to avoid becoming the victim of those who would prey on the less informed. But the only thing constant in the world is change, and over the last several years a lot has changed, both in this portion of the publishing industry and in how authors can protect themselves. Continue reading “You’re So Vain: Vanity Presses Versus Self-Publishing”

Funny Misplaced Modifiers and Other Common Writing Mistakes

misplaced modifierIndies Unlimited has all kinds of editing resources for writers. We even have real-life editors who take a spot at the gruel pot.

Because I am not an editor, while I’m reading a novel that interests me, the occasional typo or misplaced modifier is likely to fly right past me. In spite of that, I’m a writing tutor for Pearson/Smarthinking. It’s okay. I can pay attention when I have to.

I tutor over 100 students per month on higher-level orders such as thesis statements, content development, and organization. I also coach them on lower-level issues such as noun-verb agreement, sentence structure, and misplaced modifiers.

Over time, I’ve come to see the same lower-level mistakes again and again. Some are so sneaky that we can read a passage, know something isn’t quite right, but have no idea what it is.

Here are some of the sneakiest errors I see: Continue reading “Funny Misplaced Modifiers and Other Common Writing Mistakes”