Recently I stumbled across a new (to me) feature, enabling me to send a personalized digital autograph to my readers on request. It’s called Authorgraph, and if it sounds familiar, two years ago Kathy Rowe wrote an article on Kindlegraph, its predecessor. (If you go to www.kindlegraph.com, you’re redirected to Authorgraph.) But while Kindlegraph was solely for Kindle-users, Authorgraph now can be used by all eBook reading devices.
The one thing I like about this is that it tends to remove an eBook from the cold, impersonal void of cyber space and put a warmer, friendlier twist on it. I think we all enjoy the very personal give and take of buying a physical book from an author and having that personalization and signature on the title page. It separates that book now from all the other books that are otherwise identical to it. It marks it as ours. It commemorates a meeting of minds and hands, a connection, an exchange.
So how does Authorgraph work? Continue reading “Authorgraph – Sign eBooks for your Readers!”
The other day I was being interviewed by a reporter at the local paper for a weekly column called A Day in the Life of … These columns feature local, everyday people, from business owners to artists to worker bees to civil servants and volunteers. My particular column was to be A Day in the Life of a Writer. The reporter and I know each other, so the mood was casual, more a friendly chat than a grilling. He asked many of the questions I’ve fielded before: what genre(s) do I write, how did I get started, etc. Pretty much your basic interview. Suddenly, though, he asked me a question that poleaxed me. I sat there, mouth agape, brain churning, trying to figure out the answer to something I’d never thought about before. 
Ah, grammar; everyone’s favorite subject. I can see your eyes glazing over already. However, for the sake of good writing and better stories, let’s talk for a minute about clauses. In my recent reading, I’ve been running into quite a few instances of clauses gone wrong. Poorly written, clauses can be awkward at best and can cause major confusion at worst. Do you really want your readers to be confused? I didn’t think so. 