The Future of Books

Is a PDF a book?

One definition of a book is Physical objects consisting of a number of pages bound together.

Another definition of a book is A written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together)

Although there are almost as many E-Book readers as there are formats available for reading E-Books, can you call them books by the definitions above?

When reading for review, I prefer PDF format only because of simplicity, and I can delete it after I finish the review. I don’t call it a book; it is just a written story by some author.

There are many companies where authors can publish their book, even the venerable Simon & Schuster created Archway Self Publishing, where anyone can write and publish.

Companies like Lulu, Xlibris, Book Locker, Outskirts Press, Create Space, and many more will publish manuscripts; an author can pay to have a manuscript printed into book format, either hardbound or paperback creating a publishing house.

Is this to be the future of books?

As an avid reader for over six decades, the future of books and the written word are something special in my thoughts, I wrote a blog post titled The Demise of the written word. In that post I mention the use of software, I see in commercials extolling the virtue of diction software to write. Is this manuscript creation of the future, this type of manuscript will likely end up requiring more editors and proofreaders, because no software is 100 percent effective and correct.

Publishing houses no longer have editors and proofreaders for every manuscript and proof copy of the books they print. Although, publishing houses are adding to the burden authors face in today’s publishing environment, which begs the question, Are books better or worse than years past?

I leave it up to you to answer.

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor, Proofreader

Published Author, Reviewer, Marketer

http://xeeme.com/RobertMedak

Authors, do you save your work off computer?

I recently had a problem with my computer that caused me no end of grief. Grief, in the fact my password list, WIPs, and more are inaccessible to me because of the problem with my newest computer, causing me to start over from the beginning with everything.

There are many places one can use to save work to access anytime from anywhere, which I should have done. There is the cloud, memory sticks, CDs, or any type of removable hardware that allows you to access your hard work in case the computer crashes.

This post is to enlighten you to the possible damage which can be caused by a computer glitch or worse. You could lose everything. From personal experience, I can say that starting over from scratch sucks.

A memory stick that plugs into a USB port is cheap compared to the time spent on projects. I will be using some type of storage device that can be removed from the computer and stored in a save place so I never lose my work again.

I recommend anyone working on a book or list of some type spend the money and get at least a 2 Gigabyte flash card for saving work to make it safe from hackers if you use the cloud or some online storage site. Personally, I don’t trust my information to someone I only know as a site and no one behind it.

Please save your work so you never have to go through what I have been for weeks.

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Editor, Reviewer, and Marketer

http://www.authorsden.com/robertmedak

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/freelancewrtr

Why is it hard to publish your book?

First, as a writer you are competing against roughly 99,999 other writers trying to publish their book per year.

Second, traditional publishers tend to look at self-published, vanity published, or published online less as writers than writers in highly rated magazines, or published traditionally.

Third, traditional publishers expect writers to have a marketing plan, followers, a PR plan, and a promotional plan for their book.

Forth, traditional publishers want to know about how writers will use social media marketing, and network marketing to garner interest in their book.

Fifth, traditional publishers might like the writer to have a blog, book trailer, and web site for the book as well before the writer completes the book so there is a ready-made audience before publishing the book.

Sixth, publishers want a book with few errors needing editing. These errors include, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and typos. Traditional publishers are looking for ready to print manuscripts. They don’t want to spend time and money, correcting manuscripts in today’s publishing culture.

Seventh, is a good deal of luck with the right genre, homework, and the publisher willing to chance publishing your book, and a ready-made audience and a large number of followers.

This is the hardest part of publishing, especially for new writers if their name is not a household name like, James Patterson.

Eighth, reading the submission guidelines carefully. What potential publishers are looking for as to the type of genre they publish. You’d be surprised how many publishers receive the wrong material.

Ninth, the proposal letter. If a writer’s proposal letter doesn’t show writing ability, the manuscript may never reach a reader, because of the number of manuscripts received in a year and the time it takes to read a manuscript by an acquisitions editor to see if the book is worthy of publication.

From this partial list, it’s easy to why it is hard publishing your book. Read articles from editors and reviewers online and you will read many complaints about the quality of self-published books, vanity published book, and more about the lack of quality writing.

Writers need to take responsibility for the quality of their babies to ensure they are the best book possible to help in publishing them so readers will ready quality writing, thus insuring they will want to read the writer when their next book is available.

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer/Blogger/Editor/Proofreader/Reviewer/Marketer

http://www.authorsden.com/robertmedak

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/freelancewrtr

What readers want from authors

As readers move from traditional hardbound books to digital books for the various e-readers available now and in the future, one thing hasn’t changed over the years, the reader’s expectations. They expect a level of quality when they spend their money to purchase a hard copy, or time downloading a digital book.

What readers expect:

• Readability
• Believability
• Characters they can empathize with
• Believable Dialogue
• Descriptive
• Good editing
• Deep POV
• Tight writing
• Consistency
• Good word choice
• Proper use of nouns, verbs, and adjectives
• Proper grammar
• Proper punctuation
• Proper spelling
• Words that don’t send the reader to the dictionary
• A book that doesn’t bore the reader

This is only a short list, but you get the idea. Readers are author’s best friend or their worst enemy, the author makes the difference by the words in their story, how well the edited the manuscript is, and the author proofreads it before it reaches the reader.

Some may think this is a lot to ask, but consider the fact, the author’s reputation is on the line with every piece of writing they prepare for consumption by readers. This could be a blog about the book, a viral book tour, an author’s web site, a press release about their book or any piece of copy.

Authors need to take readers seriously. Word of mouth advertising is still the best form of advertising. How will the reader talk about your books, authors? Will they give it thumbs up or thumbs down because there are errors? It’s your choice authors.

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor, Reviewer

http://twitter.com/RJ_Medak

http://www.authorsden.com/robertmedak

Would you ghostwrite?

I read a post on a blog where the author said, “No Thanks”, because they felt if someone wanted a book, they should be the one to write it.

As a ghostwriter, you receive no credit, no royalties, only what you receive for the project.

Does this make you a “writing whore”, as a blog post coined the term? Are you writing only for money, or are you writing because of a calling to write, even if you’re not paid?

Anyone can write, but not everyone is a writer. If a writer writes a book, shouldn’t they be the one to receive the credit and any royalties from their work? I believe they should.

I have been thinking about this and wondering if I would write a book for someone should they ask. I am leaning more toward “no”, because I am using my skill set to create a story for a person. I feel I should be the one whose name should be on the cover as either co-writer, and any profits at least split. I doubt many clients are most likely not to agree to a split of royalties and your name on the book.

The final decision about whether or not to ghostwrite is up to the individual writer.

There is software available to spin articles, and more. As a writer, I only publish 100 percent original work that includes headlines, for stories that in essence are the same subject, but would pass Copyscape as zero duplication. That is what original means to me.

If you choose to ghostwrite, just write well.

Robert Medak

Writer/Editor/Reviewer/Marketer

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com

Who is responsible?

Who is ultimately responsible for the quality of writing that reaches the eyes of the reader?

First, traditional publishers don’t have the time or resources to copyedit or proofread books because of today’s publishing environment.

Second, many authors choose to self-publish or create digital books on various platforms.

Third, authors choose POD or companies like Lulu, Create space, Xlibris, Booklocker, and more publishing companies showing up daily.

Fourth, do publishers offer copy-editing as part of a publishing package?

Fifth, but not final, is the author.

As a reviewer who has reviewed over 100 books within a period of six years, I’ve seen what appears to be what I call quality writing becoming passé.

I have written blog articles about the trend of quality writing becoming obsolete; or has editing become outdated?

I have no explanation; I’ve noticed a trend in published books that makes me wonder if teachers still teach English in schools as it was when I was in school. In many books, I read for review, there are errors in grammar, punctuation, typos, and wrong word choices. I’ve also notice errors in punctuation consistency, and word usage.

Example: If the author uses the word, truck in a story, than car is used. It might be nice if the author would explain where the car came from. Am I the only one that finds this weird if the character arrived in one or the other in the story then they get in to a vehicle in the next paragraph that uses the other word? I’ve seen it.

I have noticed the use of old clichés, so old that they were old when I was young. What about taking a cliché situation and turning it around to make it new again. Authors are supposed to be creative.

What this all boils down to is, the author has the ultimate responsibility of the quality of the book that the reader purchases to read. If authors choose to publish a book, they need to obtain a copy and proofread it for any errors in the production and correct them before readers get to read the book.

Robert Medak

Published Freelance Writer, Editor, and Reviewer

Writer’s Block is a Myth

by Robert Medak


Writers talk about Writer’s Block, it is just a term and nothing more.

Some writers may disagree with me. Writer's block occurs because the writer hasn’t paid enough attention to their research, or has a clear conception of their writing project. Before tackling any writing task, it is necessary to have a clear concept of what they are writing, albeit a story, and article, a synopsis, or pitch.

My favorite quote, which I use as part of my e-mail signature, is by Mark Twain that speaks volumes to me is, "The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say."

Before beginning any writing project, the writer should take the time to gather their thoughts about what it is they wish to accomplish with their writing project. This may be a difficult concept for some writers to comprehend, especially the beginning or unpublished writer.

There are different types of writers. I for one am a seat of the pants writer. Writing for me is to have a clear concept of what I want to say, than say it the best way possible for the reader to have a clear idea of what I am saying. I want to engage the reader and offer information that may help them in articles I write.

The bottom line is to have a clear idea of what you are writing, get it written down, then edit it or have someone you trust edit the work for you.

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