Publishers Comments – Page 18 – Rosepoint Publishing

Global Observation of World Book Day–Read Much?

Amazon celebrated World Book Day on April 20 — **Picture from Amazon Kindle Prime Landing Page**

This year, World Book Day is being observed on Sunday, April 23rd. Amazon Kindle Prime has a beautiful landing page, commemorating the day with pictures and an invitation to join in the global celebration of “reading, authors, and books.” On April 20th, Seattle promoted a “Global Free Library, author readings, and book inspired activities.”

This is truly a global event; however, the UK and Ireland seem to take it one step further by providing World Book Day costumes for children.

Originally organized by UNESCO on April 23rd, 1995, the annual event primarily promotes reading and publishing. Of course, there is a strong emphasis as well on the importance of protecting copyrighted material. Last year there were 250 separate events on four continents by more than 100 countries.

The 20th anniversary of World Book Day is celebrated by sharing why you #LovetoRead. Share your stories on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It’s not too late to set up your own Goodreads Reading Challenge. (I’ve had to reduce my reading challenge to 65 books this year–I’m writing more.)

Reading empowers you through intellectual growth and activates imagination. Reading is major relaxation, a quiet moment to yourself; the ultimate stress reliever.

Love to Read, but don’t have a book at the moment? No problem! Just check out my Review list! I read across most genres and probably have a recommendation for you–just ask. Oh, and don’t forget the books by Stanley McShane, especially if you are into Historical Fiction! ©2017 Virginia Williams (Picture of woman reading by Canva free pics.)

Premade Book Covers–Your Design on Tap

With so many authors looking for a change of their covers lately, I’ve looked at my own and wondered if they should be updated as well. For the most part, I was satisfied with them, and I know that a good cover helps sell. But are these book covers eye-catching; do they invite closer inspection of the book? Continue reading “Premade Book Covers–Your Design on Tap”

What is Black Hat and White SEO–Recent Question on Quora

Very interesting question recently on Quora regarding SEO and a new term I hadn’t previously seen discussed. Black Hat and White SEO.

As I’m sure you know, SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. Google seems to control guidelines and rules for SEO as the Oxford Dictionaries do for the comma. I read any snippets of information on SEO I can as I want to be cognizant of any hints and ideas that might help in Google algorithms–they control what you see–or how deeply you have to dig to find what I’ve written. Continue reading “What is Black Hat and White SEO–Recent Question on Quora”

Planning the “PERFECT” Book Launch

I have been following Joynell Schultz for some time and watching with interest her progress as she decided on her book cover, published her first book, and proceeded to market and promote that book while beginning on her next. Joynell writes “speculative fiction,” a genre of which I had not previously been aware. In the meantime, she has been posting on her blog the details of her path to progress, including one of her latest blog series, “1,000 True Fans.” I’ve been amazed at the speed her blog has grown. Joynell lives in Wisconsin with her family and is a veterinary pharmacist. She enjoys nature, cycling, running, hiking, and travel–when she isn’t writing. She released her second book in early April and went on a heavily targeted plan to promote. She never fails to educate. Enjoy!

Joynell Schultz, Author

My Writing Journey (1) Is there such thing as a perfect book launch?

I have my new novel, Blood & Holy Water, set to launch thisweek. I’ve done a pile of reading, listened to as many podcasts and webinars as I could find, and spoke with other indie authors on successful techniques.

As I’ve mentioned in past posts, just hitting the “publish” button does not bring in sales for a novel. It takes some work (and, perhaps, some magic.)

I know I don’t have the secret formula here, but here’s how I lined up my release.

Pre-Launch:

Built up my email list / mailing list. I began my push in January, with a real focus in February. Now, I’m up to nearly 1500 subscribers. (You can see how I did this in my 1000 “True” Fans Blog Series.) I’ll email this list during my launch and cross my fingers for some…

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Infographic for Click to Tweet Guidelines for WordPress

Mea culpa, and by the way, that is directly from the Oxford Dictionaries that I was so busy posting about on my blog Friday. Yes, I was trying something new, and as always with this old dog, graphic tricks don’t come easy. So apologies to all who received multiple updates as I doggedly tried again to create a “Click to Tweet” to my post. This is a free basic plan–there are paid upgrades (aren’t there always?). You’d think these things would be easier than they are, but apparently everything has to be tantamount to learning Photoshop. I seem to be the last one to figure these things out–or maybe not–if you haven’t tried it lately, perhaps this could help?

Just in case you could use a short Infographic on the whole Click to Tweet thing, I created this one and hope that it helps sufficiently that you will try it, if you aren’t indeed way ahead of me already. Click to Tweet

Continue reading “Infographic for Click to Tweet Guidelines for WordPress”

Which Side of the Oxford Comma War Are You On?

The Oxford University Press sparked a war back in 1892 that continues to this day with as many on both sides of the line protesting their side as the right one.

The Oxford comma (also referred to as a serial comma, or even the Harvard comma) is that “comma before the conjunction at the end of a list.” The Oxford University Press style guidelines touched off the conflict back when Horace Hart, controller of the University Press, organized a set of rules for the Oxford Press employees.

While the anti-comma faction would eliminate the second comma, the pro-comma faction would add it, sure that it provides clarity. The “pro’s” are more commonly found in the U.S. (I wouldn’t be without mine!) Only journalists forced to use the AP style generally omit it, but that was originally a bid to save space! The anti-comma people hold sovereignty in the U.K., except, of course, for Oxford University–go figure.

Why all the fuss over bell, book, and candle? Aren’t we invoking the Oxford comma for purposes of clarity? Click to Tweet

And doesn’t that really promote consistency of comma use? Apparently not in some scholars eyes. The article by Warren Clement to The Globe and Mail noted this example: “She invited her father, a tuba player and several ballerinas. It is clear that she invited her father, the musician and the ballerinas.(?Is it?) Now insert the Oxford comma: She invited her father, a tuba player, and several ballerinas. Suddenly the father has become a tuba player.” (Really?)

Hmmm…You say to-may-to and I say to-mah-to…

And we’ve been at this 125 years? So I’ll submit to you one final argument illustrated in riveting detail that you may or may not have seen before: “We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin.” I rest my case.

Illustration-Oxford comma — Illustration by AE Ferg-Offered by Stephen Tall

Exploration of Sunken (Treasure) Ships

What is it that attracts us to sunken ships? Whether treasure ships or WW2, the fascination seems endless and demands a search. If found; explored.

What happened to the ship and it’s crew? Was it a battle? Was it a hurricane like the one in which the Marguerite went down?

My grandfather, son of the captain, was first officer abroad the Marguerite about to cross the equator “some ten of fifteen miles west of Lagos,” (aka the gold, ivory, and slave coast) on a starboard tack when a typhoon struck the ship and she down, stern first. My grandfather always classified the Marguerite as carrying general cargo. No treasure there–we think! Continue reading “Exploration of Sunken (Treasure) Ships”

MS Word Spelling and Grammar Checker, Grammarly–or Both?

Late to the party again? Sometimes I never get there at all! It’s not as if I haven’t heard of Grammarly before, just that I’ve been quite content to finish my thoughts and then run the Spelling and Grammar checker under “Tools” in my very old MS Word (2003) program. But there are advantages and disadvantages to the simple Spelling and Grammar checker on my equally old (POS) computer. I wonder if the newer word (2007, 2010) .doc and .docx have a more complete command of the language? Currently, I must “add to dictionary” constantly slang terms, colloquialisms, and common blogging expressions, as well as the idioms commonly used for sailing or popular historic word usage (from my grandfather’s manuscripts). So, I thought I’d look into the fuss over Grammarly.

MS Word Spelling and Grammar Checker

Part of the reason I continue to stick with MS Word Spelling and Grammar checker is that it also gives me Readability Stats, including passive voice phrases (8%–that’s acceptable at under 10%). This is the Flesch Reading Ease score for this document (55.5%–I’d prefer to see 70%) as well as the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score (at 8.9 or freshman in high school–should be easy to read–I’m good with that), about which I’ve previously written and I try to keep my posts within a certain level.

Paper Checker

There are a number of free, but limited, independent spell and grammar checkers out there available for download. One is Paper Checker. It is easy as copy/paste. And while it invites you to paste the text of your paper (or upload a file), I didn’t see any word limit. The Terms of Service, which you must agree to, were last updated February 20, 2014. After pasting (or uploading) your text, just select “Get Report” and you’ll immediately receive your analysis. This is not a program I’ve personally used and I’d assume is limited. (That is, don’t expect to upload a novella size text for analyzation. OOPS! Word doesn’t recognize that word [analyzation] either).

Grammarly

I signed up for the Grammarly Extension yesterday, intending to use it for this post, but almost before fully “signed in,” asked to upgrade to “professional.” I’m not sure about you, but I get really ticked when immediately asked to upgrade before I’ve had a chance to use or understand the program. The free version is available to download for your browser on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox and is compatible with Word and Outlook. Is the “FREE” version that cheesy? Well, let’s see:

Grammarly Pros:

The naysayers insist it is not that great at telling you if you have the correct word.

1. Free Grammarly for Word currently uses 100 grammar rules to apply to your document.
2. Punctuation correction.
3. Will work with WordPress(?) as well as Facebook. (I have yet to prove this.)
4. Grammarly can scan a document and highlight those words (thesaurus) that could be replaced to strengthen the text. (Upgrade to premium)
5. Grammarly now corrects out of order pronouns; i.e., Her children and she—She and her children…
6. Word spelled correctly but used in the wrong context is caught. Examples: lose/loose, affect/effect, lie/lay, there/their/they’re
7. The biggee according to Bill Winterberg, Journalist out of Atlanta…The service goes beyond the basic spell check and grammar check built into the word processor, as Grammarly can identify correctly spelled words that are used in the wrong context. (According to the Grammarly website.) (Is this, or not, another upgrade to premium?)

And that alone will separate the men from the boys… or writers from blogger/hobbyists. (“Major” improvements have been added over the past year, according to my new email.)

Mercy! So, are there any cons? Yes…but these may not all be cons–just more incentives to upgrade:

Grammarly Cons:

If you are busy writing in real time, you may lose your train of thought if you are constantly interrupted. I normally complete my text and then test. I have enough interruptions without contending with my program constantly second-guessing me.
You don’t get off that easy–you’ll still need a command of the English language and grammar rules so you can decide when to accept the suggestions made by your software. I routinely use contractions; Word Spelling and Grammar catches those and apparently must be ignored every article.
You must be online and connected to use the software. (Another reason I like to work in MS Word and test when I’m ready.)
Blog writers, students, journalists, and others may edit content according to their profession. (For free, I was given a choice of student, professional, or other.)
A writer may select their specific genre to receive the best analysis. (Upgrade to premium.)
Text can be analyzed to provide results that separate writing from casual, academic, technical, or business. (Upgrade to premium. The first upgrade is $8.75/month when billed annually.)
The plagiarism notification is available after upgrading to premium.
Premium Grammarly currently uses 250 grammar rules to apply to your document and ensures text incorporates the standard for writing based on the pre-selected genre.

Conclusion

This is a test. This is only a test! If you use Grammarly for Word and are totally sold, see something here I missed, see something here I’ve incorrectly interpreted, please let me know. I’m just getting started on yet another piece of software I’ve been made aware of and never used. First, I’ll run this through my usual–MS Word Spelling and Grammar. Then I’ll paste in Grammarly.

NOTE: I tried uploading in both options:

Paste
Upload

The paste checker came back with two (2) “critical” issues, 14 advanced issues, which are only accessible through an upgrade to premium.

Upload was done twice. The first came back with 5 critical issues, the second with 6, both suggested 24 advanced issues. (Items suggested were adding “the” in front of upgrade…)

(A) Although it says formatting will be saved with upload–was not. (Formatting was saved with copy/paste.)

(B) Ignoring a suggestion results in an “undo” arrow.

Unless I upgrade to premium, I don’t see a real advantage for me over the current MS Word Spelling and Grammar checker. For some great, additional and current details, however, including comparison of free and premium, see here, and let me know what kind of spell and grammar checker you prefer. Is it Grammarly? ©2017 Virginia Williams – Photo attribution: 123RF