Publishing A Novel: My First Overseas Review!

I find it amusing that one of my most-read posts on this blog is the one I wrote about my first bad review. I don't know if the people reading this are other writers who've received rejections and are happy to know that they're not alone, or if these readers are simply people who enjoy hearing about others' bad days, but for whatever reason, that post is getting a lot of attention.

I'm happy to report that BAND GEEK received its first review from the United Kingdom on UK Amazon. And it got five stars from this person!

I haven't sold that many books overseas, at least not yet, so I still get a kick out of seeing sales from the UK or Germany, or France. I wonder how BAND GEEK's tale will translate in these places. Obviously there isn't a language issue for readers in England and the rest of the UK, but the British sense of humor is a bit different from America's. So I'm pleased that a teen from the UK enjoyed my book so much.

I do want to make it clear that I'm not trying to brag about my work by sharing these little triumphs. As you know, I'm more than willing to share my disappointments and I'm my own worst critic. I'm hoping that by blogging about both the good and bad points in my writing career that I can give readers -- and prospective authors -- a chance to see what being an indie author is really like. That said, thanks again to everyone who's weighed in on my book so far.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Writing A Novel: Use Your Words Wisely -- An Interesting Review

I haven't yet read the 50 SHADES OF GREY trilogy so I can't comment on the books; however, some of the reviews are pretty funny, including one where the reader kept a running count on repetitive phrases and words, such as "blushed," "flushed," "gasped," etc. Recently, I received a review where the reader also apparently kept count in my book ... and complained about my repetitive use of the word "that."

I'm not sure whether she means that I used "that" too many times (see, I used it twice in one phrase) or if she was critiquing sentences where I used the word twice in a row, i.e. "I told you that that girl isn't worth talking to!" (In this case, my usage is correct, though I very well could've had a typo where the word was incorrectly repeated.). Anyway, it was an interesting review and one that friends have joked about. One suggested that I used "a" and "the" too many times; another advised me to use more accents over words.

Still, much as some people may have laughed about it, her review got me thinking: When does a writer know when he or she has overused a particular word or phrase?

When I was at the magazine, we were all very aware of our word usage. Our longest articles were about 1500 words, certainly not anywhere near novel length, so we tried to vary attributions. As we quoted an actor, we wouldn't just say, "He said." We'd use everything from "He stated" to "He mused." We tried to mix things up as much as possible, making sure that everything made sense of course.

There were some other instances where repetitive words were pointed out to us. My boss once told me that I overused "however" as a transitional term. And the copy editors were always coming up with new ways to say the same thing. For instance, if we wrote about the winter weather and used "cold" three times in one paragraph, they'd suggest that we use a "cold," "frigid" and "freezing" to add some variety.

This may seem like nitpicking, but this kept our articles interesting and colorful. I kept this in mind as I wrote BAND GEEK. I thought that my first draft contained too many "weirds" so I edited a lot out. I also edited out a lot of characters' eye rolls, sighs and smirks. Actually, describing facial expressions and ticks was pretty tricky because there are only so many ways to write about emotions without going completely over the top -- so I can understand why E.L. James relied on a lot of blushing and flushing of her characters.

When one writes a 70,000-word novel, it's nearly impossible to NOT repeat certain words. I do think it's important to have some variety, but I haven't yet read a book where every single key word is different. Ultimately, moderation is ideal. I try to at least keep repeated phrases a few paragraphs apart.

This review was a little surprising to me, but I'm open to constructive criticism and appreciate the fact that this woman took the time to give me some. She definitely gave me something to consider!

Please read and review (and count words, if you wish) REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, just 99 cents!