INTERVIEWS, IDEAS to MARKET your BOOKS, REVIEWS, and WRITING TIPS
Book Review Policy
Note: The books featured on J. day Kennedy: A Writing Playground are received free of charge from authors, publishers or publicists. All books are reviewed objectively and no additional fees are received by this blogger.
You may be aware that I'm a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic. I require 24 hour care. I lost my caregiver (She's alive and recovering from the gun shot, but not working fr me.).
I've hired a new caregiver and while I'm trying to train her (it can take 6 months) I won't be able to devote the time to this blog.
Brain Fart Explosion will continue to have children's books reviewed and/or crafts and activities on Mondays, research posts on Wednesdays and jokes on Fridays
I joined Shelfari about a year ago. Recently I looked at Goodreads and joined it. Slowly I'm adding my reviews to the books I've read. In the midst of comparing the two programs I found them to be very similar and really
Shelfari
List the status of books I've read it I'm reading now I plan to read
Tags To enter tags you can click tags you've previously entered. Another feature is it lists tags others have used. I wish Goodreads had this option.
Rate & Review Books Rate books on a scale of 1-5 stars. Write a review of the book. It's not required that you review the book in order to rank it. Mark as favorite
My Edition Details It’s on my wish list I own it Date purchased and more
Community(Find friends) Most Active Members Members like you Most active Groups Group Categories Shelfari Blog Get friend suggestions based on reading taste. Gmail, Yahoo, Windows Live Hotmail & AOL. You can add friends not on Shelfari, but I liked that you know if they are already on Shelfari.
Reading Statistics Number of books you've read, type (by categories you assigned to books during your review) , date breakdown by year -
Goodreads List the status of books *At Goodreads a book's status is listed among its tags Read To read Currently reading
Tags To enter tags you can simply check boxes of shelf categories you've previously entered.
Rate & Review Books Rate books on a scale of 1-5 stars. Write a review of the book. It's not required that you review the book in order to rank it. Date I finished this book Date I started this book Number of times I've read this book I would recommend to:
(shown only to you)
Find Friends Find friends already on Goodreads that are friends on Facebook, Gmail, Yahoo, Twitter, & Hotmail. You can add friends not on Goodreads, but I liked that you know if they are already on Goodreads. Look at the books friends own & you have in common. Get friend suggestions based on reading taste.
Reading Statistics Number of books you've read, type (by categories you assigned to books during your review) , date breakdown by year.
. . . and the Winner is Goodreads
I chose Goodreads, because it has an author program.
Goodreads' Author Program Page explains the following:
Take Control of Your Profile
Make your profile a dynamic destination for curious readers. Here are some of the features you can use on your profile:
Add a picture and bio.
Share your list of favorite books and recent reads with your fans!
Write a blog and generate a band of followers.
Publicize upcoming events, such as book signings and speaking engagements.
Participate in discussions on your profile, in groups and in the discussion forums for your books.
How Do I Join?
If you are already a Goodreads member, make sure you are signed in. If not, Sign up for an account.
Search for yourself and click on your published author name. The author name is listed below the title of your book in the search results. If you do not find your book in our database of published works, please see section below (who can join).
Clicking on your name takes you to your basic author profile page. This page has your name at the top and "author profile" to the right of your name. This page is part of our database of books and authors and is separate from your member profile page (which lists your bookshelves and friends).
Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click "Is this you?" to send a request to join the Author Program. Please give us a few days to process your request. You will receive email confirmation when we successfully upgrade your user account to an author account. Joining the program merges your author page with your member page. The email will also contain further instructions for managing your author profile.
I've been reading books awarded the Newbery Medal and Schneider Family Book Awards. It makes me feel a bit inadequate. So, I began looking for qualities the books share.
One of the qualities they share are well developed characters. They have depth just like the people you know. They're not all bad or good. They are shades of each. In critiques by others you may have been told your your characters were too one dimensional. So I thought I'd research character development and share what I find.
The Importance of a Cheat Sheet You should have an image of your character physically. Create a character cheat sheet. List their physical characteristics and key information. For example, include things like eye color. It's entirely too easy to give your character green eyes in chapter b1 and in chapter 21 for their eyes to be blue. Another common error is changing a character's name. You might think you would never make that mistake. (I did and was wrong. Shhh don't tell. I'm trying to convince my family I'm always right and this was the first and last time I've ever been wrong..) Here's my cheat sheet for Patty. I like to note the chapters where I mention the trait with CH#. Name Patty Richards Age 12 CH2 Hobbies - draws, nail art Physical features - pug nose, green eyes, copper colored shoulder length hair, dimples, lanky
I list important things that happened in her past for quick reference, too. History - art lessons 8-present CH 5, 3 months in hospital CH1
Who is your character and what makes them tick? A character sketch is a great way to get to know your character. If you search on the internet, you'll find many.
As a kind of cheating tool for designing a character's personality search for astrological sign descriptions.
Give your character a habit or personality quirk. Two of my characters have personality quirks. -Meagan incessantly chews gum and blows bubbles. -Patty has the nervous habit of wringing her hands. Remember nobody is perfect (other than you and I). Make your characters well rounded. Think of your best friend. Don't they have some less than admirable qualities or annoying habits? Your characters should.
Write characters readers love them and you love bringing them to life. Do you have any tips to share for writing characters?
Thoughts are punctuated in a couple ways in manuscripts, but which is correct? "Quotation marks?" or 'Single quotes?' When you use tags I've seen the quotes, but how many different words are there to convey thoughts? I wonder, I think, etc. If you use quotes then what do you do if the speech is interrupted by thoughts? According to all of the websites that discuss the subject this is not the preferred method.
Italics? and Underlined? Italics is the preferred method, but some publishers prefer you underline the thoughts. Which should you choose? It depends on your publisher. Underlining is preferred by many, because italics can be missed easily by typesetters. Wouldn't it be nice if all publishers chose one or the other?
Does anyone know of an easy method for finding all of the italics? I'm legally blind and can miss sentences written in italics. What Here's my method in Microsoft Word. 1. Edit > Select All 2. Format > Font > 22 Now I go through and visually find each word in italics and underline it. This takes FOREVER.If you have a better, faster, and simpler method please share it.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
I'VE BEEN UNABLE TO PREPARE NEW POSTS BECAUSE A FIBER OPTIC CABLE WAS CUT & I'VE HAD NO INTERNET.
In late 2006 I made a decision. I wanted to get a story in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book. Here's how I did it.
I listened to thirteen Chicken Soup for the Soul books. I took a class, Writing from the Heart. I studied the list of upcoming book titles and story call outs. I read the guidelines before I began to write each story and after. I wrote over twenty stories and selected thirteen of my best to submit. Seven of my stories were considered for publication between 2007-2009. Four made it to publication. In 2010 I submitted three stries and one of them was considered and published.
I've set my sights on a much loftier goal. My first middle grade novel, "Crippled Mind" is in the final editing stage. I decided I want to win the ALA American Library Award, The Schneider Family Book Award. A book is a much more difficult task than 1200 word inspirational stories are to write. Remember I wrote 20+ stories to reach my goal. I guess it's good I'm writing a series. lol
Plan to Win the Schneider Family Book Award
Step One - Reading and rereading the guidelines for the Schneider Family Book Award.
Step Two - Read every winner's book that the NLS National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped has. (I can only read (listen to) audio books, because I can't hold a book or see to read a paper version. I'm legally blind and a quadriplegic.) For any books they don't have, I'll try to buy the CD. For any books do not have an audio version, I'll have my computer read the "look inside this book" and the reviews for the book on Amazon.
Step Three - Attempt to identify commonalities in winning books.
Step Four - Read vand edit my book for the millionth time and try to weave the common traits into my manuscript.
Step Five - Find a publisher.
I'm sure there will be dozens of steps I haven't thought about, but this is a beginning.
July 2, 2011 My caregiver, Remonica Sinches was visiting Mississippi. Her husband called to tell us she'd been shot twice. She was shot in the back and arm.
July 3, 2011 Mom just spoke to Remonicas husband again. Someone entered her sister's apartment and began shooting. She was the only one shot. Her forearm was shattered. She was in surgery for twelve hours. Apparently the gunshot in her back was not as serious.
Remonica did not have insurance. Please pray that does not keep her from getting excellent rehab for her arm. I'm sure she's months away from working at any job and taking care of me may be too much for her. Hopefully I can find something for her to do on the side that won't be too strenuous. Pray I can rustle up enough money to pay for a caregiver and her some side work.
Illustrated by: Maureen Brodsky (Marina Movshina) A boy and his war veteran uncle share a frank discussion about God and his uncle’s paralysis. The boy learns that Uncle B is unable to do many things, but having a good time isn’t one of them.
This was the first picture book I wrote and was accepted for publication. Kim Sponaugle suggested I write a book about paralysis. I read dozens of picture books and gave it a shot. I quit writing for adults and began writing almost solely for children.
Illustrated by Jack Foster Laced with humor and a message to put other’s desires above one’s own the book is an example of self sacrifice and true friendship. Reluctant readers will snap up the book and discover the fun reading can be.
Cobbledom's Curse is book II in the Klutzy Kantor series. Jack Foster returns and gives the character's images. If the cover is any indication, this will be his best work yet.
Here's something I've done cuz I type so slow. I made myself a Word document with my name, address, phone number, email , login names, etc.- just listed in a column. I make a lot of typos so this helps me out. Then lets say I go to a website that needs my login, or some of this other info. I don't have to type it. I just copy and paste it. Here's how: 1. You're on the internet and need to fill in some form. 2. Open your Word file that holds your general information. 3. Highlight the information you needed to fill in on the website. 4. Hold down the Ctrl key and the letter C. 5. Return to the website and click in the blank space. 6. Press the Ctrl key and the V key. 7. The information should have pasted into the blank. *** You can copy and paste information this way from almost anything to anything .
