Originally published at the Stiletto Gang on 05.11.16
Iām going to let you in on a secret ā writing is not for wussies. Itās for old people.
Or at least it makes you feel old. Carpal tunnel. Eye twitches and strains. Aching neck, sore back. The human body was not designed to spend hours sitting at a computer, and the hours compound into stiff muscles that have forgotten how to move. Walking into the kitchen after a prolonged bout of editing, I look like I’ve escaped from the neighborhood old-person jail… er… assisted living facility. I imagine that back when writers were churning out novels by quill and candlelight that it wasnāt any better. But at least back then we were likely to die by forty anyway and probably needed to worry more about childbirth and dental hygiene than whether or not our wrists were a tad achy.
I could trot out some line about suffering for my art, but the truth is, I do many things to combat the muscular stress of sitting and writing. First of all, I got married and had a kid. Although, maybe that wasnāt quite my intended outcome when I started down the aisle, it has to be said that nothing curtails long hours at a computer like a toddler. However, the things I intentionally do to keep myself from becoming Quasimodo include walking / jogging, stretching and keeping up on my martial arts training. And then I whine and complain until my husband gives me a neck rub. And then when all else fails I break down and pay for a massage.
Below are the most common stretches I do for my wrists. These drawings were actually produced by one of my former employers ā Visual Health Information. They produce drawings for physical therapists and others to give to patients. I have found all of these to be very helpful for my extended typing lifestyle.
When I received the usual fistful of useless bits of dead tree along with my receipt from Walgreen’s I almost chucked the entire lot in the trash, but decided to do the environmentally responsible thing and chuck them in the recycling at home. Ā Imagine my surprise when, onceĀ home, I realized that one of the coupons actually had value to me. That never happens.Ā It’s always twenty coupons for spam and baby food or spam baby food. I read and re-read the coupon, checked the fine print – it really was a coupon for a FREE mascara. Ā But, but, but… I love FREE. Ā And mascara – I love mascara! Ā This can’t be right. Ā I read the coupon again. Ā Yes, it definitely said free mascara.
The next week, I trotted in, picked up my mascara, handed in my coupon and waited for the other shoe to drop. Nope, still free. Ā I walked out with a tube of Revlon Ultimate All-in-One mascara and floating on a cloud of euphoria that can only be generated by free make-up products.
A week later that cloud had evaporated under the wilting heat of real life testing. This mascara is possibly the worst mascara I have ever used. At first glance it looks OK, the formula seems a little thick, but hardly unsual. Ā But two hours after applying I look like theĀ member of Our Gang known as Freckles. Ā The mascara leaves a nuclear dust cloud of black particles strewn across my face and clothes. I would have less mess on my face if I simply threw the mascara brush at myself. Ā This more than any other product I have ever owned has caused people, including strangers, to say, “Um… you’ve got a little… something?” while tapping awkwardly at their face.
Conclusion: Yes, I got free mascara, but I got what I paid for. Definitely NOT Carrie Mae approved.
An authorās job is not just to tell a story, but to decide how a story should be told. Is it better in first or third person? Is it told in one long march of words or are their chapters? We have to decide genre, tone and feeling. And once those decisions have been made an author must create and track the main plot of the story – the one that we struggle to capture in the blurb text on the back cover ā as well as the sub-plots, underlying themes, and finally, the characters themselves.Ā All of those pieces require not just the ability to write, but also the ability to track information. Because, as any serious reader will tell you (sometimes at great length), consistency and details matter greatly to a well written book, and while we can rely on an editor for some items, they are only human and can only catch so much.Ā It is in an authorās best interest to provide the cleanest manuscript possible.
Iām currently working on two vastly different stories: the fourth Carrie Mae Mystery Glossed Cause and a Romance Horror novella Wild Waters.Ā Each story comes with an array of characters, research and plot twists that to be perfectly honest I canāt hold in my brain.Ā Possibly pre-production of a toddler I could have kept hold of all the details, but no longer. Now, to keep all my worlds organized, I must rely on a system of notes, plot outlines and spreadsheets.
For the Carrie Mae books I track characters with a spread sheet that notes who they are (name, basic role, job or company) and also what book they have appeared in or if they have been deleted or omitted from a book.Ā I also have a rather extensive style sheet that helps me keep track of how certain things, such as chapter headings are formatted and whether or not Iām consistently formatting things like āAK-47ā and āINTERPOLā the same way over multiple books.
For Wild WatersIām writing in two different time periods ā WWII and Vietnam Āā and they each use distinctive slang that I organize in a couple of basic lists.Ā There are also multiple character points of view and it is important to keep track of what characters know and when they know it, so that each plot point is revealed at the correct time.Ā Tracking character arcs are more difficult and sometimes require multiple ways of visualizing.Ā I will frequently write out the plot from each characters point of view or I will graph it out on a virtual whiteboard, utilizing the main plot points.
There is no perfect system of course, and each author must work the way that works for them. But when examining a well-written book, I am frequently in awe, not just of the beautifully constructed words or strong turn of phrase, but the underlying construction of a book.Ā Sometimes, I find it amazing that any books get written at all.
https://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/OrganizingBox.jpg540720Bethany Maineshttps://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aug2016-Logo-op3-300x69.pngBethany Maines2016-04-07 01:05:272023-03-13 14:52:14Organizing My World(s)
Recently, Iāve been learning about the nitty gritty āhow-toā of e-publishing.Ā While there are many how-toās on how to put your story up for sale in the virtual marketplace, learning how to make an epub file is a lot more difficult and confusing.
As someone trained in how to make print books, this status is infuriating to me.Ā I can make words magically appear on paper ā why is the screen any more difficult?Ā But as it turns out epub formatting is more akin to website programming than to traditional book design.Ā Both epub and websites must account for the fact that the designer can never be certain what or how the end user will view their product.Ā Will it be on a phone, a tablet, or a desktop screen?Ā Will it be a horizontal or vertical?Ā Which operating system will be accessing the file?Ā All of these factors play into how an e-book is seen and creating a file that can be used in ANY format means that many of the traditional design elements beloved by graphic designers, such as color, size, and forced white space, must be set aside. Learning to create an epub is a bit like feeding content into a slot in the wall, letting the machine in the next room whir away, and then trying to guess how the machine works by looking at the book it produces
In the last few years website programming has experienced a burst of development that can make creating a website an almost drag and drop, WYSISWYG experience.Ā Meanwhile, digital publishing lags behind, still in itās infancy.
Take a look at these images of the first page of my third Carrie Mae Mystery novel, High-Caliber Concealer.Ā One is a screen cap from a mobile phone kindle app and the other is a photo of the printed book.
Youāll notice several differences ā the large area of white space before the chapter title is gone and the fonts are not the same.Ā Fonts in epubās must utilize a websafe font or embed the font within the file.Ā But, not all devices recognize embedded fonts, and they make a file larger and some platforms take a percentage out of an authorās royalty based on download size (youāre hogging space on their server).
However, there are some similarities that the programmer managed to achieve.Ā Notice how the gap between āBrunchā and āMexicoā mimics the print version?Ā And youāll see that while the font isnāt the same, the font hierarchy and general sizing of the chapter information is the same as the print version.
And beyond the appearance of words on a screen there is the tricky business of making all the chapters appear in the right order and having a hyper-linked (click and go) table of contents that allow readers to navigate easily through the book.
No digital book is as simple as a word doc you type at home.Ā So if you see a well-crafted book on your e-reading device, take a moment to appreciate the book programmer!
In my quest for world book domination I frequently peruse tips on how to better market myself/books.Ā Some come up with some interesting strategies that are worth pursuing and then thereās this listā¦
I wonāt mention the name of the blog I found it on because I donāt believe in public shaming.Ā But letās just assess a few of the items on this list shall we?
Comment on Blogs ā The theory is that you will become recognized and friends with other blog commenters as well as those running the blog and then you will RISE TO FAME!Ā Orā¦ not. Ā Of course, having additional friends will help you expand your fan base.Ā But pursuing that strategy for the sake of selling books is so lacking in any genuine feeling that it will actually turn people against you.
Bethany Rule #1 ā always be your best self online.Ā Only comment on a blog if you have something interesting and positive to add to the conversation. Trolls donāt sell books.
Create a Viral Video ā Letās just hop right on that shall we?Ā Weāll get out or cell phones and film our cats and then, bam, done!Ā As this article on Slate indicates, only 10% of YouTube videos get more than 1000 views. Ā Videos these days are higher in quality and there a simply MORE of them out there than in the beginning days of social media. Hereās my attempt at a viral video ā itās awesome, you should watch it.Ā But I only paid for food for the crew and a make-up artist to make the video happen, everything else was done in trade.Ā I felt comfortable with my investment Ā and I view the video as a great sales tool to introduce people to my book series, but I never counted on it going viral.
Bethany Rule #2 ā if you have to pay a lot of money for a product that youāre going to giveaway for free, itās probably not worth it.
Go on National TV ā Yup, Iām just going to dial up Oprah right now, promise her some bread, and book myself on National TV.Ā Getting air time, particularly on a National level, is one of the things that happens when youāre ALREADY famous.Ā Thereās a reason Donald Trump has ceased to advertise.Ā Heās getting 15% of the national news time (according to a recent news piece I saw on my local news) and 50% of the election coverage.Ā He doesnāt NEED to advertise. Ā Ā Iām not recommending that you be Donald Trump ā one is more than enough ā but being getting air time is something that you either pay for, or you get because your famous for something already.
Bethany Rule #3 āĀ work to be locally famous.Ā Join groups.Ā Send press releases.Ā Volunteer to judge writing contests.Ā Talk to people.Ā Network and connect ā people sell books.
The internet is full of many tips, some are more helpful than others. Ā I just hope that you find mine a little more helpful than the one from the blog that shall remain nameless.
https://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aug2016-Logo-op3-300x69.png00Bethany Maineshttps://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aug2016-Logo-op3-300x69.pngBethany Maines2016-03-10 01:00:492016-03-08 22:28:43Bethany’s Rules for Marketing
Personal Fitness
/in General Writing, Graphic Design, The Stiletto GangOriginally published at the Stiletto Gang on 05.11.16
Iām going to let you in on a secret ā writing is not for wussies. Itās for old people.
Or at least it makes you feel old. Carpal tunnel. Eye twitches and strains. Aching neck, sore back. The human body was not designed to spend hours sitting at a computer, and the hours compound into stiff muscles that have forgotten how to move. Walking into the kitchen after a prolonged bout of editing, I look like I’ve escaped from the neighborhood old-person jail… er… assisted living facility. I imagine that back when writers were churning out novels by quill and candlelight that it wasnāt any better. But at least back then we were likely to die by forty anyway and probably needed to worry more about childbirth and dental hygiene than whether or not our wrists were a tad achy.
I could trot out some line about suffering for my art, but the truth is, I do many things to combat the muscular stress of sitting and writing. First of all, I got married and had a kid. Although, maybe that wasnāt quite my intended outcome when I started down the aisle, it has to be said that nothing curtails long hours at a computer like a toddler. However, the things I intentionally do to keep myself from becoming Quasimodo include walking / jogging, stretching and keeping up on my martial arts training. And then I whine and complain until my husband gives me a neck rub. And then when all else fails I break down and pay for a massage.
Below are the most common stretches I do for my wrists. These drawings were actually produced by one of my former employers ā Visual Health Information. They produce drawings for physical therapists and others to give to patients. I have found all of these to be very helpful for my extended typing lifestyle.
A Mascara Massacre
/in Carrie Mae, Life, Make-UpWhen I received the usual fistful of useless bits of dead tree along with my receipt from Walgreen’s I almost chucked the entire lot in the trash, but decided to do the environmentally responsible thing and chuck them in the recycling at home. Ā Imagine my surprise when, onceĀ home, I realized that one of the coupons actually had value to me. That never happens.Ā It’s always twenty coupons for spam and baby food or spam baby food. I read and re-read the coupon, checked the fine print – it really was a coupon for a FREE mascara. Ā But, but, but… I love FREE. Ā And mascara – I love mascara! Ā This can’t be right. Ā I read the coupon again. Ā Yes, it definitely said free mascara.
The next week, I trotted in, picked up my mascara, handed in my coupon and waited for the other shoe to drop. Nope, still free. Ā I walked out with a tube of Revlon Ultimate All-in-One mascara and floating on a cloud of euphoria that can only be generated by free make-up products.
A week later that cloud had evaporated under the wilting heat of real life testing. This mascara is possibly the worst mascara I have ever used. At first glance it looks OK, the formula seems a little thick, but hardly unsual. Ā But two hours after applying I look like theĀ member of Our Gang known as Freckles. Ā The mascara leaves a nuclear dust cloud of black particles strewn across my face and clothes. I would have less mess on my face if I simply threw the mascara brush at myself. Ā This more than any other product I have ever owned has caused people, including strangers, to say, “Um… you’ve got a little… something?” while tapping awkwardly at their face.
Conclusion: Yes, I got free mascara, but I got what I paid for. Definitely NOT Carrie Mae approved.
Organizing My World(s)
/in Carrie Mae, General Writing, The Stiletto GangAn authorās job is not just to tell a story, but to decide how a story should be told. Is it better in first or third person? Is it told in one long march of words or are their chapters? We have to decide genre, tone and feeling. And once those decisions have been made an author must create and track the main plot of the story – the one that we struggle to capture in the blurb text on the back cover ā as well as the sub-plots, underlying themes, and finally, the characters themselves.Ā All of those pieces require not just the ability to write, but also the ability to track information. Because, as any serious reader will tell you (sometimes at great length), consistency and details matter greatly to a well written book, and while we can rely on an editor for some items, they are only human and can only catch so much.Ā It is in an authorās best interest to provide the cleanest manuscript possible.
Iām currently working on two vastly different stories: the fourth Carrie Mae Mystery Glossed Cause and a Romance Horror novella Wild Waters.Ā Each story comes with an array of characters, research and plot twists that to be perfectly honest I canāt hold in my brain.Ā Possibly pre-production of a toddler I could have kept hold of all the details, but no longer. Now, to keep all my worlds organized, I must rely on a system of notes, plot outlines and spreadsheets.
There is no perfect system of course, and each author must work the way that works for them. But when examining a well-written book, I am frequently in awe, not just of the beautifully constructed words or strong turn of phrase, but the underlying construction of a book.Ā Sometimes, I find it amazing that any books get written at all.
Digital Publishing
/in Carrie Mae, General Writing, Graphic DesignBy Bethany Maines
Recently, Iāve been learning about the nitty gritty āhow-toā of e-publishing.Ā While there are many how-toās on how to put your story up for sale in the virtual marketplace, learning how to make an epub file is a lot more difficult and confusing.
As someone trained in how to make print books, this status is infuriating to me.Ā I can make words magically appear on paper ā why is the screen any more difficult?Ā But as it turns out epub formatting is more akin to website programming than to traditional book design.Ā Both epub and websites must account for the fact that the designer can never be certain what or how the end user will view their product.Ā Will it be on a phone, a tablet, or a desktop screen?Ā Will it be a horizontal or vertical?Ā Which operating system will be accessing the file?Ā All of these factors play into how an e-book is seen and creating a file that can be used in ANY format means that many of the traditional design elements beloved by graphic designers, such as color, size, and forced white space, must be set aside. Learning to create an epub is a bit like feeding content into a slot in the wall, letting the machine in the next room whir away, and then trying to guess how the machine works by looking at the book it produces
In the last few years website programming has experienced a burst of development that can make creating a website an almost drag and drop, WYSISWYG experience.Ā Meanwhile, digital publishing lags behind, still in itās infancy.
Take a look at these images of the first page of my third Carrie Mae Mystery novel, High-Caliber Concealer.Ā One is a screen cap from a mobile phone kindle app and the other is a photo of the printed book.
Youāll notice several differences ā the large area of white space before the chapter title is gone and the fonts are not the same.Ā Fonts in epubās must utilize a websafe font or embed the font within the file.Ā But, not all devices recognize embedded fonts, and they make a file larger and some platforms take a percentage out of an authorās royalty based on download size (youāre hogging space on their server).
However, there are some similarities that the programmer managed to achieve.Ā Notice how the gap between āBrunchā and āMexicoā mimics the print version?Ā And youāll see that while the font isnāt the same, the font hierarchy and general sizing of the chapter information is the same as the print version.
And beyond the appearance of words on a screen there is the tricky business of making all the chapters appear in the right order and having a hyper-linked (click and go) table of contents that allow readers to navigate easily through the book.
No digital book is as simple as a word doc you type at home.Ā So if you see a well-crafted book on your e-reading device, take a moment to appreciate the book programmer!
Bethany’s Rules for Marketing
/in Carrie Mae, General Writing, Marketing, The Stiletto GangIn my quest for world book domination I frequently peruse tips on how to better market myself/books.Ā Some come up with some interesting strategies that are worth pursuing and then thereās this listā¦
Comment on Blogs ā The theory is that you will become recognized and friends with other blog commenters as well as those running the blog and then you will RISE TO FAME!Ā Orā¦ not. Ā Of course, having additional friends will help you expand your fan base.Ā But pursuing that strategy for the sake of selling books is so lacking in any genuine feeling that it will actually turn people against you.
Bethany Rule #1 ā always be your best self online.Ā Only comment on a blog if you have something interesting and positive to add to the conversation. Trolls donāt sell books.
Create a Viral Video ā Letās just hop right on that shall we?Ā Weāll get out or cell phones and film our cats and then, bam, done!Ā As this article on Slate indicates, only 10% of YouTube videos get more than 1000 views. Ā Videos these days are higher in quality and there a simply MORE of them out there than in the beginning days of social media. Hereās my attempt at a viral video ā itās awesome, you should watch it.Ā But I only paid for food for the crew and a make-up artist to make the video happen, everything else was done in trade.Ā I felt comfortable with my investment Ā and I view the video as a great sales tool to introduce people to my book series, but I never counted on it going viral.
Bethany Rule #2 ā if you have to pay a lot of money for a product that youāre going to giveaway for free, itās probably not worth it.
Go on National TV ā Yup, Iām just going to dial up Oprah right now, promise her some bread, and book myself on National TV.Ā Getting air time, particularly on a National level, is one of the things that happens when youāre ALREADY famous.Ā Thereās a reason Donald Trump has ceased to advertise.Ā Heās getting 15% of the national news time (according to a recent news piece I saw on my local news) and 50% of the election coverage.Ā He doesnāt NEED to advertise. Ā Ā Iām not recommending that you be Donald Trump ā one is more than enough ā but being getting air time is something that you either pay for, or you get because your famous for something already.
Bethany Rule #3 āĀ work to be locally famous.Ā Join groups.Ā Send press releases.Ā Volunteer to judge writing contests.Ā Talk to people.Ā Network and connect ā people sell books.
The internet is full of many tips, some are more helpful than others. Ā I just hope that you find mine a little more helpful than the one from the blog that shall remain nameless.