F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction (New Weird) Author

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Update on WIP: Second Set of Comments In!

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You're Such a Tease. (By Russ Anderson from London, UK (MGDK's middle) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
You’re Such a Tease. (By Russ Anderson from London, UK (MGDK’s middle) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
I received the next set of comments from a family member who is also a book editor. For professional reasons, I can only title this person as an “editor.” Here are some of the editor’s comments on my WIP…again, these are also quite encouraging! I’ve always been good with the idea of the story, but have not really been quite sure how this story might be received…but it’s looking like those who read it are quite taken—even “intrigued”—by it. And isn’t that what writers strive for? To write something that grabs or touches readers?

Of particular note, this editor even mentioned how “shocked” they (not giving away his or her gender) were by what I’d done with the ending. How cool is that?

Shocked.

Wow. Love it.

So, here are the editor’s comments. Again, as I’d stated in my previous blog on the subject, I’d sent the editor questions to help me assess my effort. I’ve included some of these questions where necessary, but those that give away too much of the story I’ve left out of this post or deleted content. I’ve also deleted content that is of a more personal note.

The editor’s comments:

It’s a different book than I remember looking at 10 years ago! The characters and some of the scenes seemed familiar, but more developed and focused.

From an editorial perspective, the manuscript works! It flows; it’s relevant; isn’t bogged down with unnecessary detail; avoids tangents; stays true to the plot.

From a reader’s perspective (if I can truly separate the two—editorial vs reader…), it’s a really powerful story! If I’m being honest, the fantasy/metaphysical genre isn’t my wheelhouse, but with respect to the story itself, <WIP> was intriguing. I wanted to understand the voice in Ben’s head more <deleted material>, so that definitely kept my interest. I liked the chemistry between Ben and Kendra, and the sex scenes (hello, pink elephant in the room!) could give E. L. James a run for her money.

(FPD: Really, I could give E. L James a run for her money? How cool!)

Question: So, did you think it all “fit” the story?

Answer: I do think it all “fit” when you consider the story as a whole and the different personalities of the characters, the infidelity, and Ben’s internal struggles—as well as his “fantasies.”

Question: Wasn’t “too much”? Yes, graphic, but did the scenes “work” for the given story? I was trying to strike a contrast between the mental and the physical. It had to be stark.

Answer: It was definitely graphic and definitely stark; and if the scenes had lacked the momentum you achieved—the buildup—they would have seemed too much; but given the context, the scenes absolutely worked.

Question: The ending make sense?

Answer: The ending definitely made sense! It wasn’t the ending I was expecting at all! <Deleted material—but some really cool comments on being shocked by what I’d done, but the editor’s comments gives away the ending! :-] >

Cool standalone comment: I think you highlighted the fact that everyone has skeletons and secrets; either we act on them, or we suppress them—whatever “they” may be.

Question: Any other comments?

Answer: If I’m being honest, the metaphysical content in the last couple chapters clouded things for me—but that’s a personal opinion. I see why you went there, and it worked in its own way. I mentioned before that metaphysical/fantasy is not my wheelhouse, but I respect its inclusion in <WIP>.

***

Thank you, “editor” for all your time and effort!

I still waiting on  two more readers, including my Cover Dude, Lon Kirschner (also keep an eye out for some near-future blog posts, probably starting this Fall, where Lon and I are going to highlight and comment on some of his work, which I love! I’m really looking forward to these posts!), then incorporate them, format them, then will shoot for a July/August 2015 release!

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Write A Review!

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Strength and Protection In Cooperation! (By Deep silence (Mikaël Restoux) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
It’s a Team Effort! (By Deep silence (Mikaël Restoux) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
I don’t like to prod readers into doing this every time I talk about books, but I think doing a blog post about it is okay.

Writing reviews helps authors!

Reviews help get the books out there, and if you really like the work, give a great review, that only helps more (though an argument can be made that even bad reviews gets your work out there: “there’s no such thing as bad press“…). It’s all about word of mouth…passing on information through your own personal network. When you love a movie or book you talk about it, and that’s all we’re doing, here. But in writing this stuff down you preserve it for future and continued use. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

It helps keep authors afloat!

People do read them. I even read them. It’s what can initially get someone to buy a book…and buying books keeps authors in business. Sure, you can pass books on to others, but if you don’t buy books…authors don’t get paid—especially Indie authors who do not get advances.

Now, this next part will sound a bit odd…but, if you like a book and write a great review it can balance out negative reviews. I know, sounds self-serving, but I hadn’t even considered this part of reviews until I read a post by ex-agent on the topic. Buuut…it’s true.

You’re not going to please everyone.

When I read reviews I always compare the ratio of poor reviews to the good ones in anything I’m researching. Bad books notwithstanding (of which your book very well could be but hope it isn’t…), negative reviews are written for different reasons…not just because a book is “bad”…some people are just mean-spirited. Some people are jealous. Some people are the competition and perform less-than-savory practices (some business competitors—I’m not saying authors would or have done this, and I certainly hope they do not—but some business competitors have actually paid people to write negative reviews; Amazon does crack down on this practice whenever discovered). Some people just trash everything…are always looking for ways to beat down another in any way possible…it’s the only feeling of power they feel they have. That’s a sad thing. I’m not even sure most of these people are even aware of their behavior.

And all that said, as authors, we need to avoid responding to such negativity, as Craig Stone discusses, and let the readers handle those negative reviews. So, please resist the temptation to respond to the angry and the negative. Let it go.

But…if you truly enjoy something…write it up! On Amazon, Twitter, Goodreads, et cetera! On your own blog! Just write it up anywhere public! Don’t let the mean-spirited squeaky wheels get all the attention And if you do write up a review, please pass the link my way (see contact info below). If you’d like a copy of the cover to go along with your review, contact me and I’ll send you a file of the cover art. As long as you properly attribute the work and cover art, you can freely send it to anyone and everyone!

It’s hard to get your name out there loud enough in today’s world. It’s even harder for Indie published authors who have even fewer resources and “brand name appeal.” Don’t get advances and promotional budgets. Anything you can do to help your favorite author is a Godsend. Get your friends to write reviews…get them to post blogs, do interviews. Send e-mails! Tweet it up!

Again, thank you all in advance for everything!

Contact me: I may be contacted at fpdorchak at fpdorchak dot com for cover graphics to include on reviews, for interviews, or speaking engagements. Do you have a favorite radio station? Contact them about interviewing me—I’ll give away free books!

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Words. They Affect Us. (fpdorchak.wordpress.com)

Update on WIP: First Comments In!

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Not Out Of The Woods Yet. (By Galatà Maria Grazia [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
Not Out Of The Woods Yet. (By Galatà Maria Grazia [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
I just received my first set of comments in on my WIP, and wow, I am so humbled and honored by this reader’s thoughts—and, well, praise—for the work-in-question! My head’s still spinning! I still have three other’s inputs I’m awaiting, but this first set of comments are quite encouraging!

So, here are some comments from Edie Scott, who has graciously allowed me to reprint her comments and use her name. Edie is a big reader across all genres. After she had finished reading my WIP, I’d sent her some questions to help me assess the whole effort. I’ve included some my questions (the others give away too much of the story, so I left them out of this post) where necessary, and deleted content that would give away too much of the story or is of a more personal note:

Overall: Edie says: “Well, I have to say that this story really was very impacting….”

Question: So, did you think it all “fit” the story?

Answer: Everything fit so well. To use an old cliché, it fit like a glove. There was no getting lost in the “action,” there were no questions and no left over ideas just hanging out there. The story certainly required the reader to “get lost” in the book or they would lose so much of the story line, but this fit…perfect!!!

Question: Wasn’t “too much”? Yes, graphic, but did the scenes “work” for the given story? I was trying to strike a contrast between the mental and the physical. It had to be stark.

Answer: I think if you would have been less graphic the story would have been less intriguing and less grabbing. I honestly felt the story grab me from my current reality into what was truly happening in this guy’s mind. <Deleted material> the book was one I couldn’t put down…the other “scenes” <deleted material> detailing and deepening the storyline….

Question: The ending make sense?

Answer: The ending shocked me to be honest with you and that is why I think it was awesome! I expected the story to just continue how it was <deleted content>. However, the ending you chose almost made me want to stand up and cheer for Benjamin…it actually made me feel happy and excited for him.

Question: Any other comments?

Answer: I saw this question last night and gave it a lot of thought. I’m not one to tell you what you can do better because in all honesty what you do is great. You have gone so out of your comfort zone and so far out of the box with this one and then to have it turn out so intriguingly and mind-bogglingly, what could you possibly do to make it better?

I think you actually are successful with this new path…to me because the broad difference between what you are used to and what this book entails…that should totally boost your confidence to write anything you want! That’s the idea of a great author…a person who can write variety and be brave enough to embark on an entirely different story line…your you…I can never think of any kind of criticism, constructive or otherwise…I just love what you write.

***

Thank you, Edie, for all your support and generous words!

As mentioned, I still have to receive additional comments from three more readers, including my Cover Dude, Lon Kirschner (also keep an eye out for some near-future blog posts, probably starting this Fall, where Lon and I are going to highlight and comment on some of his work, which I love! I’m really looking forward to these posts!), then incorporate them, format them, then will release it to the world. I’m still hoping for a July/August 2015 release!

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It's Been So Freeing…

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Happy! By KenBerthold (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Happy! By KenBerthold (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
…going Indie!

No longer do I feel like I’m writing “toward” contests and agents and editors…but for readers. Well, as if I ever really did feel that way. Not so much “toward” the aforementioned, but, you know…had to go through them to get to all of you.

I am writing what I want to write and getting it out there.

So, sure, much can be made of the necessity for gatekeepers in the industry to keep things up to a certain standard, and yes, a certain argument can be made for that…but other arguments can also be made for going indie. The big one is that I now have four books out, with a fifth this year…whereas before…I had none.

This bears repeating: I have four books out with good reviews….whereas before I had none.

Am I pulling in revenues hand over fist from these efforts?

No, at least, not yet…but I have four novels whereas before that I had none. And readers are enjoying them. I have added “into the Wild” a handful of efforts that will be new to the readers who have never heard of these stories. Whether or not I rake in millions, I am finally fulfilling the part of me that has always wanted to be a published writer. To the part of me that has always wanted to help the world to look at itself differently. To give a new perspective on life and what may go on in the backgrounds to our lives. To add a little enjoyment to people’s lives. Sometimes I just want to write a story because it’s a cool idea.

So…nothing too deep in this post…just an appreciation for where I am now, in my publishing career…an appreciation for the readers in my life…for all the Mandys and Edies and Wendys and Lons and Pams and Pauls and Marcs and whomever-else-I-missed in my life, whereas before this I would never have met nor known any of you (well, except for Edie! ;-] ). I got into social media only because of my writing…but the friendships (virtual and otherwise) I have created over the past few years has been most enriching. The support for indie publishing has been incredible and surprising. You’ve all been great friends and supporters! Thank you—all of you—for your support!

And to new readers…I hope I’m able to entertain and enlighten and that we’re further able to learn from each other…to spread the joy of reading and writing!

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It’s Been So Freeing…

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Happy! By KenBerthold (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Happy! By KenBerthold (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
…going Indie!

No longer do I feel like I’m writing “toward” contests and agents and editors…but for readers. Well, as if I ever really did feel that way. Not so much “toward” the aforementioned, but, you know…had to go through them to get to all of you.

I am writing what I want to write and getting it out there.

So, sure, much can be made of the necessity for gatekeepers in the industry to keep things up to a certain standard, and yes, a certain argument can be made for that…but other arguments can also be made for going indie. The big one is that I now have four books out, with a fifth this year…whereas before…I had none.

This bears repeating: I have four books out with good reviews….whereas before I had none.

Am I pulling in revenues hand over fist from these efforts?

No, at least, not yet…but I have four novels whereas before that I had none. And readers are enjoying them. I have added “into the Wild” a handful of efforts that will be new to the readers who have never heard of these stories. Whether or not I rake in millions, I am finally fulfilling the part of me that has always wanted to be a published writer. To the part of me that has always wanted to help the world to look at itself differently. To give a new perspective on life and what may go on in the backgrounds to our lives. To add a little enjoyment to people’s lives. Sometimes I just want to write a story because it’s a cool idea.

So…nothing too deep in this post…just an appreciation for where I am now, in my publishing career…an appreciation for the readers in my life…for all the Mandys and Edies and Wendys and Lons and Pams and Pauls and Marcs and whomever-else-I-missed in my life, whereas before this I would never have met nor known any of you (well, except for Edie! ;-] ). I got into social media only because of my writing…but the friendships (virtual and otherwise) I have created over the past few years has been most enriching. The support for indie publishing has been incredible and surprising. You’ve all been great friends and supporters! Thank you—all of you—for your support!

And to new readers…I hope I’m able to entertain and enlighten and that we’re further able to learn from each other…to spread the joy of reading and writing!

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What Ever Happened to Book Editors?

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Do It Right. (Tacoma Narrows Bridge, by RustyObjects {Own work} [CC BY-SA 3.0 {http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0}], via Wikimedia Commons)
Do It Right. (Tacoma Narrows Bridge, by RustyObjects {Own work} [CC BY-SA 3.0 {http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0}], via Wikimedia Commons)
Book editors.

We all have images in our heads of what they are. What they do.

But are our images correct?

Marjorie Braman’s article, “What Ever Happened to Book Editors” got me to remembering the first time I’d ever heard about the real working lives of publishing editors. It was at a writer’s conference. From the very editors themselves. What I’d heard sounded more like my own work life (minus the specific book stuff)…meetings, meetings, and more meetings. Budgets. Schedules. Reading queries. Writing flap copy—oh, and trips.

I didn’t hear a whole lotta editing going on in those offices.

Now, they did tell us that any editing they did they had to do on their own time…at home. After looong days at work. So, they had that going for their job descriptions.

But what Marjorie’s article brings out is that publishers believe it’s all about acquiring and selling. She was flat-out told by her publisher at the time—as she says, “almost in passing”—that “We don’t pay you to edit.” She says that one little quip meant to her (and rightly so, as I’ve gathered over the years I’ve experienced being in the publishing world) was that editing is no longer important. It’s all about buying and selling. She says this has been true since she came into the business in 1985.

This date, I found curious.

You see, I started getting serious about writing around that time (May of 1987). I still have my original log books—see, I even started treating it as a profession back then…doing it every day, studying it, going to critiques groups, keeping track of all my work.

But, man, talk about being a day late and a dollar short in an industry where editors were editors and authors were cultivated!

On the flip side to Marjorie’s article is that she became a freelance editor and left trad publishing, so all of the above no longer applied to her. Now…she’s full-bore into helping authors write the best books possible.

But what she’d described above is what I’m seeing everywhere: the constant focus on the bottom line to every business. It’s all gone to bean counting. Bean counters are even making heady corporation direction decisions, all based upon what’s making money and what’s not. That’s not a good perspective. A good perspective would be the overall picture/health of a company and what needs to be reworked…sometime a “minor” correction in one department can generate huge, positive outcomes (yes, even positive revenue generation) elsewhere. It’s not just a “this makes money and this doesn’t.” What is working and what isn’t…how can we improve processes…more intelligently schedule…make better use of existing capabilities…make a better product/give a better service…and the rest will follow?

How can we publish better books?

Better cultivate authors?

Not just sell crap cause crap sells?

If all you have is crap (or “the same old thing”) available…that’s all anyone can buy. If you don’t challenge people, they do not grow.

A fair cost-benefit analysis (again, I find this different and more in-depth and useful than a mere “this makes money…this doesn’t…” indignance).

Just how much of a profit is really needed for an industry to survive?

Hire the people you need…staff the actual positions with qualified individuals…cultivate better authors…and let editors do what editors are supposed to be doing. I know all this “costs.” So do books. And there are other options out there for readers…for writers.

My dad always used to say, if you’re gonna do something…do it right, for God’s sake.