New author

[skates]

Hi Folks

I recently just self-published my first e-book.
I've always wanted to write but have taken the view that I should wait until I had something to say.
I now feel that I have something to say and think that I have found my voice. I've had some nice feedback from the book and people have kindly said that I have a lively easy style which takes the reader with me.
Unfortunately, I do appreciate that, the voice is very raw and untrained. I really enjoyed writing the book and I want to write more. However, I really need to learn the craft. I appreciate that the structure and "point" of the book needs work and I guess that is all going to be part of my learning curve.
I look forward to reading through the various posts and seeing what help I can pick up.


Kind regards


Steve ( Skates )

[ALRyder]

What's your genre?

[judysh]

Hello. I just joined this group, and I am very excited and looking forward to reading and reviewing.
Quite few months ago I started writing a book of my own, so far, I have gotten about 25 pages written. It is a private-eye outerspace time travel story, and I've stopped for a while while I go back and read up on astrophysics. But, I did something just for a laugh - I posted the beginning of Chapter One on Readwave. Much to my amazement 100 people posted to say they read my piece, and 5 people - yes, 5 - out of the entire universe of the reading public - said they liked what I had written, and one person even asked what happens next! Well, if that's not a boost to a new writer's ego, I don't know what is!
But now, I am looking forward to reading and reviewing books written by real authors. I had been on my local city Library Advisory Committee for 6 years (maximum time allowed), and I am a strong advocate of literacy. So - bring on the books!

[moderntimes]

Okay, skates, let's start by some questions that you need to clearly understand aren't meant to be picky, just to learn more about you and your writing...

1- What's your book about and what is the audience? By that I mean, is it for adults or young adults or whomever? Don't just tell the genre, but a sentence or two about the storyline.
2- Why did you choose to self-publish? Did you try to shop your book around first to agents and publishers, or did you go straight to self-publishing?
3- If you did try to sell your book first or at least place it into a professional genre? If not why not?
4- What sort of things do you want to learn about here in this forum, and elsewhere? Do you want to sharpen your narrative technique, your descriptive skills, or "increase your word power"? (title of a famous but awful writer's guide...

So talk to us more, ask questions...

And by way of introduction, as you can see I'm a young and handsome guy --- raucous laughter... okay, I'm a writer myself, obviously. I've got a modest publishing history, magazine articles, short stories, essays, etc. I'm now writing a series of modern American private detective novels, the first two "Blood Spiral" and "Blood Storm" sold and published, the 3rd "Blood Vengeance" now in progress.

[deedee1178]

I write poetry and have since I was a teen. I sometimes get writers block and cannot even contemplate what should be said next. I've used quite a few ways to get around this problem. By far, the most effective for me has been to put my headphones on and listen to music. Any kind of music will do. Just the melody relaxes me enough to think a little more clearly.

[Nathrad Sheare]

What might help any authors here who want some tips on how to improve their work are the reviews in the Private Review Team forum. One of the guidelines Scott has given us reviewers is that we have to be helpful. The link to the left under my profile picture will take any of you straight to my review page, if you're interested. The world needs new authors to keep on dazzling it with the art of language. I hope you all achieve everything you set out to in the first place. I'm sure I'll be reading your books one of these days.

Ciao for now!

Nathrad Sheare