One… Two…

The garden box project is coming along.

I found this post on the four people you absolutely need in your writing life. Most people would read this article and then begin to count;  “One…” as the first finger cautiously extends.

But not me.

Sure, I’m married and one would think my wife would be my cheerleader and motivator. My wife is Japanese. She will never read a novel in English; not going to happen. My writing hasn’t brought in any significant green either so… when she watches me doing three or four different things to earn money she hardly realizes I’m still writing. There are also cultural differences where woman vary in what they believe their duty to their husbands are.

I wandered into writing and am just now trying to get up to cruising speed. In regards to the article, a mentor? Don’t see that happening in the near future. An editor, someone everyone absolutely needs. I don’t have an editor but I know where to find them. Now if I only had the money to hire one.

Create Space provides editing services. It is not too personable of a process. But I found this site somehow via Facebook; reedsy.

Another site, another service, another user ID, another password, will I completely forget about this account in a few months? Will I stay up nights wondering how many accounts and profiles I created and completely forgot about? Will they come back to haunt me, hijacked by an evil entity? We are all over subscribed on the Internet.

On reedsy you can select up to five professionals at a time and ask them for offers. You can study their profiles, choose the best editors, or cover designers, you feel may meet your needs, send them a request and ask for a quote. You can grill these professionals on whether they use software or do it the old fashioned way. (There are several editing software programs/services available) All the professionals on reedsy appear to be of significant experience and though the site is based in England, there are plenty of American professionals from across the country listed.

The reedsy site will charge 10% for any contract their site facilitates. I would hope that fee goes down as their membership grows. They are a site under construction. They have a clear layout of their services but the web site hasn’t been fully developed to provide all they dream of. In the future you will be able to do your writing, if you desire, right on the site; ‘in the cloud’ as they say these days.

I am pleasantly surprised by reedsy so far and am glad I created an account. I hope that doesn’t change. I am also making more use of Goodreads.

I am not far along in the editing of my two recently completed works, but work on the first draft of “Loyalty’s Fertile Soil” the next in the Chuck Hammer series is gliding right along. I am developing step by step a clear schedule to increase productivity.

I read a lot, under the suggestion that it improves one’s own writing. I search the self-published free via Amazon Prime science fiction market. I have been disappointed with much of what I have read. This month of June however, I hope I have found a good series to follow along with another series I have previously mentioned. (Ryk Brown has gone back to Amazon as his exclusive handler)

The Odyssey One series by Even C. Currie is the new series I will be trying to follow. My review on Goodreads. As it was the author’s first work and based on my own writing experience I am in great expectation that his writing will improve greatly. Also, something I didn’t mention in my review, he alludes to the religious element of mankind’s background which interests me greatly. I am looking forward to see where he goes with it.

There is a problem with a whole lot of under par self-published writing out there. The reviews tell you little to nothing and are of questionable origin. Therefore I will create a page on this blog in which I will review authors, not any individual work. I will focus on the free e-book market (Amazon Prime/Kindle select). Here will be my rating system:

  Author; enough said.

       Writer; has it all in order, professional editing but may not be the most profound thinker. Must show depth in some areas.

            Story Teller; great stories, not completely there in editing and/or storyline but shows potential. Generally worth the read if your tolerance levels for imperfections are medium to high.

                 Wanna Be; Has good ideas, can put together a general acceptable storyline but hasn’t taken it to the next level. Implies potential lost for lack of professional input.

                      Hack; looking to make a quick buck, lacks originality in storyline, poor character development and devoid of professional input, but somehow I had to read to the end.

                      Hack from the Depths of Hell; I couldn’t keep reading and that is almost impossible for me.

As far as the paid market turn to what’s in your local bookstore as a quality control tool. I saw the salvation of the bookstore last week at Barnes and Noble. They are selling vinyl with their books. That would be records, 33’s, albums, the way people used to buy music. Consolidation of low tech systems under one roof, I hope it works.

I will have my author review page up by mid-July.