Category Archives: writing

for people who want to write a book, tips, ideas, inspiration and methods to make their journey to published author easier, faster and more successful

F#&K OFF

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The F word became a topic of conversation following dinner with friends last night. (What, you don’t have conversations with people like that?) The F word is used everywhere these days by male and female alike, no matter what their age and stage. We see it all over the internet, social media and it is rapidly becoming acceptable on our TV screens (try Netflix), in the office, and has been used in mainstream movies and comedy for decades. The whole purpose of the F word is to shock us but what its users don’t understand is that it is no longer shocking but merely annoying. It has little or no meaning when it is used so commonly and frequently.

It is used as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and a punctuation mark interchangeably. It is meant by its users to get our attention, to express some sort of shock or awe. But what it really is is lazy language. Rather than describe, articulate or make a meaningful point, we would rather use the F word to try and accomplish the same thing – lazy. It would have so much more weight to use actual language to make the point, so much more powerful because most people simply dismiss the F word and the thought around it. Consequently, what was trying to be accomplished is lost.

I am definitely not holier than thou so I am going to make a conscious effort to eliminate the F word from my own language choices. I will allow myself dispensation when whacking my finger with a hammer, although a forcefully used, “Shit!” may perchance make a suitable substitute.

BOOMER TUNE ALERT

There is no connection between the title of this blog and the title of this tune by the Righteous Brothers. I heard it on the way to the grocery store. Back in the day, it seemed like every dance seemed to close with this song. This 1964 offering was produced by Phil Spector and is usually thought of as one of his best recordings. Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley (cool name – I wonder if it’s real) had several top 10 hits including Unchained Melody. Their stage name came from a marine who used to attend their concerts and after each one would yell, “Hey, that was righteous, brothers!”

Lazy language is everywhere but wouldn’t it be much more impactful if people, ourselves included, actually used descriptive language to express their feeling and emotions to shock us? I suspect it would be. My sexism is going to show here but I still get a twinge when I hear a woman using the F bomb although I don’t think it makes it any more acceptable for a guy to use the lazy way out either.

SPRING CLEANUP

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I had a landscaping service clean up our yard yesterday since spring seems to be putting a tentative toe in the water these days. Good timing I think because it has decided to rain today and I hear that there is wet snow in the forecast. If we ever get some sun and warm temps, the lawn should look great. Speaking of lawns and lawn mowing, I made the huge switch this year. For about 8 or 9 years I have been using a push mower. I got rid of the gas powered beast in order to lower the noise and air pollution in the area but the real reason was because I simply got tired of repeated pulling on the cord to get the damn thing started. The push mower started first time, every time.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I bought a cordless machine – battery powered – I’m such a tree hugger! I haven’t had a chance to use it but I have high hopes for it being powerful enough and pollution free enough to justify the cost. I could continue to use the push mower but frankly, I’m getting a bit tired of having to constantly pick up pine cones and finding that the cut is not all that even if the grass is wet. Such are the problems of those of us surviving in the first world.

BOOMER TUNE ALERT

39 years ago, this weekend, The Blues Brothers made their debut on Saturday Night Live. John Belushi was a recent convert to the blues at that time but Dan Akroyd had spent many years roaming the blues clubs in his hometown of Ottawa and had already jammed with some of the greats like Muddy Waters. We all know the success that the Blues Brothers reached with albums and movies and since Belushi’s death on March 5, 1982 others, including his brother Jim, have filled in the spot. One of my absolute favourites is their cover of a Sam and Dave hit, Soul Man

Speaking of the first world, the border wall between Canada and the US seems to be getting harder to climb every day. On the south side, we have a leader who seems to want to make an enemy of everybody he comes into contact with. Nothing but conflict, imagined anger and threats. On the north side of the border, we have a leader who is constantly kissing ass with everyone he encounters regardless of their intentions or reputation. Approval ratings for both of these clowns are dropping every day with good reason. It’s too bad that people of talent and ability are no longer willing to subject themselves to the poisonous atmosphere of politics – only the narcissistic ego maniacs are willing to run. Perhaps we should be a bit more selective with our votes.

Simon Winchester is the person we all should have had as a history teacher. He takes one dimensional facts and information and turns them into living breathing books. I just finished reading Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World’s Superpowers. Clearly one of the best books I’ve read this year, it is the third one of his I have thoroughly enjoyed. He has a knack for finding the story behind the facts and creating human interest in geological or political information. If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that I firmly believe that there is a story behind everything and that’s what makes life interesting. Winchester makes history, events and circumstances come alive with incredible research to reveal the causes and effects behind some of the biggest stories of our planet.

Given the scary threats and posturing currently unfolding around the Pacific (which covers 1/3 of the planet’s surface) I found that reading Pacific by Winchester was timely and gave me an excellent background on what is in the headlines today.

HOW DO I PUBLISH MY BOOK

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Last week we covered book publishing and compared self publishing to finding a traditional publisher. To find a publisher that will take your book to market and make you a New York Times bestselling author is a daunting task without some very unique elements. As we have noted, traditional publishers are only concerned with how many thousands of copies YOU can sell. In addition, if you land a publishing deal, you will sign over all the rights to your book and this is where the real value lies in having a book on the market. The publisher will decide on your cover, title, distribution avenues, foreign rights distribution, and any movie rights, etc. Sure, they will give you a percentage of compensation (small though it may be) but they OWN your book. If you don’t believe me, read a contract before you sign it. Any offers you receive from a publisher will be totally skewed in their favor. Don’t let your ego make the decision – use your intelligence to do what’s right for you.

Last week, and in my book about how to write a book, we covered the basics of self publishing and informed you about some of the resources available for making that happen. In essence, after writing your book and having it professionally edited, you would need to have a cover created, and learn how to create the layout, upload it, and most importantly, how to market your book. There is a steep learning curve for the first time author and you may be saying, “but I wrote the book, I don’t want to become some sort of business guru, I just want to write my next book.” There is an incredible alternative now available with some very real benefits that stay with you as an author – full ownership of all the book rights while having a professional, successful publishing organization behind you looking after the essential elements of creating a bestseller. I am going to introduce you to supported self publishing right after this week’s

BOOMER TUNE ALERT

With a string of hits in the 1950’s, Chuck Berry’s distinctive guitar solos and duck walk transformed rock and roll to the point that he was one the first honorees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Many of his songs have been covered by other performers including “Roll Over Beethoven” by The Beetles. He had a number of legal troubles through his life but without any doubt whatsoever, his influence on rock music changed music for generations. It was not him alone but he was a very powerful influence on the crossover of so-called, “black music” to mainstream.

Chuck Berry

Oct 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017

R.I.P.

Kim Staflund is the publisher at Polished Publishing Group and has created this compelling presentation that you need to read – A Strong Case for Supported Self-Publishing] What Traditional Trade Publishers Don’t Want You to Know

Her company will take the work that you rely on a traditional publisher to do for you and let you retain all of the rights. She has done this for a number of bestselling authors and you will find loads of tips, ideas and examples on her website here. She and her team have the resources to take your book out of the bottom drawer of your desk and turn it into a bestselling book in both print and electronic format. If Hollywood comes calling, you retain all the rights and can negotiate on your own behalf instead of giving away those rights to the big publishing house. Lets face it, the reality of publishing is that no matter what you decide to do, YOU are responsible for book sales so why not get paid appropriately for your hard work. Just to let you know, I have not asked for and do not expect any compensation for recommending Polished Publishing Group. I simply think that first time authors should know their options when it comes to getting published and this is a good one.