What is a Best Seller?

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In an effort to increase my market knowledge, I delved into this topic headlong and found it particularly daunting. Here I’ll sum up what I’ve found, and perhaps ‘de-mystify’ it for you some as well.

The question that led me on this journey was ‘what does it mean to have a ‘BEST-SELLING’ book?’ and ‘what does it mean to be a BEST-SELLING author?’

First off, both are relative. Technically, if Author A publishes through small press B which only publishes 10 titles, and theirs sells 20 copies, whereas the other nine sell 2-3, they are a BEST-SELLING author of a BEST-SELLING title. Best selling where, according to whom, and compared to what are the questions one could ask following Author A’s “Best Selling” claim. (The same goes for ‘Award-Winning’ . . . it’s all relative, and it can all be a means of hyping an author or title.) There are plenty of smaller magazines and editorials that make their own lists, specific to genre, etc. And sometimes, those are more realistic. After all, in a small genre, you can’t expect to outsell a widely-appealing summer beach/airport read one could pick up at Walmart – that doesn’t mean it’s not a best seller or a success, when comparing apples to apples.

Quick Disclaimer: From a marketing perspective, let me just say I totally understand the reasons for highlighting what you can when you’re selling your self, your brand, or your product (book). I’m not attempting to ‘de-bunk’ these claims, nor am I de-valuing them. I’m just callin’ it like I see it.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s forget the people who just claim ‘Best-Selling Author A’ without qualifying it, leave out e-books, and focus on the best-known BSLs (Best Sellers Lists): the New York Times, and USA Today. These are two examples of two different types of listings. Also note that there are ‘top list’ and ‘mid list’ rankings, unofficially.

General Note on reading these lists – you’ll see three columns of numbers:

The column in big print on the left is the title’s current position on the list. The blue column is last week’s ranking, and the red column is the number of weeks on this list. In this example, you can see the number 1 slot for fiction debuted this week at number one. Number four has been there, in the number four slot, for four weeks.

The NYT breaks out their best-sellers by categories based on Fiction/Non-Fiction and how the book is bound (trade paperback, hardcover, mass market paperback, etc.).

They supposedly put Children’s books on their own list in 2001, due to the raging success of the Harry Potter books, which they just couldn’t shake off the other lists. The ‘Children’s Books’ listing is now separated into ‘picture books’, ‘chapter books’ and ‘series’ – of which, Harry Potter is on its 191st week on the NYT . Anyhow, children’s books aside, there are 35 slots on each of these lists on any given week. Midlist starts around the #10 slot. (Publisher’s Weekly follows a system close to that of the Times, but only lists 15 titles, as opposed to 35.)

The USA Today list, on the other hand, lists all books, regardless of genre and format. The list has 150 slots reported per week. Midlist starts around the #25 slot.

So, uh . . . what qualifies as a NYT/USA Today bestseller?

*sigh* Relative. Relative. Relative. Book sales fluctuate, just like anything. There are slow times in the book market, just like any other market. And again – are you comparing it to other books in its ‘class’?

The only consistency seems to be that both of these lists rely on sales feedback from the major chain booksellers: B&N, Borders, Powell’s, Costco, etc. And, at a casual glance, they seem fairly consistent, if you consider the differences between the broken-out and non-broken listing.

You want a straight answer you say?

Hmm… it looks to me like a FICTION HARD COVER selling between 5,000-10,000 copies in a week will be on the NYT. Of course, a mass market paperback would have to sell more. A non-fiction title, perhaps less. And it also depends on the week. Say highly awaited series conclusion XYZ comes out in a week where there’s a lull, and the list is simply dominated by books that have been selling steadily in the 5-7K range for weeks, and XYZ sells 25,000 copies. Well, it takes the number one slot. But the same book coming out against ten other highly-anticipated books might fall into the middle of the list somewhere. It’s relative. And . . . truth be told, I don’t think the they really want us to know what determines a USA Today or NYT ranking. What it takes to earn your spot is a secret guarded closer than the recipe for Bush’s baked beans.

It depends on genre too. I remember reading a story about how a particular author’s publisher decided to market her book as romance vs. fantasy. Why? Well, a romance ‘best-seller’ sells through in the 40-50K area, where a fantasy ‘best-seller’ sells through with 10-15K copies.

Okay, what about a NYT/USA Today bestselling AUTHOR?

Heh. Sorry, relative again. Each publisher has their own rules depending on… who knows what … that determines when they will claim one of their authors is a ‘NYT Best Selling Author’. Simply making the list isn’t enough. They might require you stay on it for a minimum number of weeks, or hit a certain slot, etc.

In the end, of course, we also face the question: ‘Just because the masses like it, doesn’t mean it’s good’. Sure. True enough. But in some cases, the numbers don’t lie. (Who doesn’t have Harry Potter on a shelf somewhere?)

Some argue that the NYT and other lists mean nothing. After all, they don’t account for eBooks, or for what is selling in small independent ‘brick and mortar’ bookstores. Those have their own listings, which seldom resemble the Times.

Some other lists to look at which might sing to their own tune:
Amazon – Updated Hourly
Booksense (Independent Booksellers Only)

Long story short – a ‘Best Seller’ might be something to aspire to, but there are several levels of best sellers, and sales status according to limited (and in some cases skewed) surveys doesn’t necessarily indicate quality, or even popularity. Sadly, there are plenty of amazing authors and books who might have a very loyal following, yet never make the list, or never break mid-list simply because of poor timing, poor marketing, or some other crappy unfairness of life. Just because it says ‘bestselling blah blah blah’ on the cover doesn’t mean you’ll love it. I mean, plenty of people think Tide is the best detergent, but it makes me break out in hives.

Personally, I take the ratings with a grain of salt and rely on recommendations from people I trust, or my own gut instinct on an unknown title/author I want to check out.

And now that I know what goes into it – my dreams won’t be shattered if I can’t put those words after my name. They’re just . . . words. There are so many more interesting ones.

… Queen of the Underworld
…….. Chocolate Connaiseuse Extraordinaire
…………… Clive Owen’s Personal Sex Slave

Batman-The Dark Knight

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The new Batman movie has garnered many excellent reviews and in my opinion deserves all of their praise and more. The movie delivers on the clichéd ‘summer blockbuster’ action front as well as a deep character driven morality play, fraught with symbolism and tragedy.

In this new installment of the caped crusader, we find Bruce Wayne fighting crime in Gotham City. He is tolerated by the policemen for his help capturing criminals, but there is an unease about the mysterious figure whom some believe is actually just a new brand of bad guy. Even the public views him with distrust and suspicion, hence the name ‘The Dark Knight’.

Bruce wants to give up his nocturnal exploits to marry his beloved Rachel, a lawyer who is aware of his secret identity and refuses to be with him as long as he continues to be Batman. For now, our hero has given up her love to protect the city; it needs him and his special brand of justice to keep it safe.

Enter Harvey Dent- the new flawlessly moral, incorruptible District Attorney. His reputation for justice precedes him. Eager to find corruption where ever it may lie, he chases murderers, drug dealers and bad cops with equal fervor. He forms an uneasy alliance with Batman and Commissioner Gordon to bring a ring of mob bosses to trial, thus causing the press to name him the ‘White Knight’.

Bruce Wayne sees salvation in Harvey Dent. He feels he can put away his cowl and leave justice to the new DA. This leaves the city with a protector and him free to marry Rachel. The only problem is, Rachel is now engaged to Harvey, and the mob bosses are after her as retaliation against the DA. Batman finds he must continue to wear his cape and work with his rival for Rachel’s well being.

The Joker, a new criminal mastermind, surfaces against the back drop of the convoluted love triangle and Bruce’s internal battles about his identity and purposes. He is vicious and maniacal in a way that disturbs even the crime bosses of Gotham City, assembled to decide how to best protect their investments. He performs a ‘magic trick’, making a pencil disappear from the table in front of him in a particularly gruesome manner. Watch for this particular scene in the movie, I can guarantee the whole audience will give a collective ‘Ughhh’.

The Joker, brilliantly played by Heath Ledger who will no doubt receive a posthumous Oscar nod for this part, manages to confuse everyone. Why does he do what he does? He shows no signs of desiring either money or power as proved when he burns a pyramid of money as an unexpected way to kill a rival. It falls to Alfred, Bruce’s butler to name the Joker’s particular vice; he just wants to watch the world burn. Each time he kills someone, he tells a different story about how he got the tell tale scars on the corners of his mouth, giving him the garish appearance of a grin. He goes about killing, burning and causing mayhem with a vengeance that is reminiscent of Alex in ‘A Clockwork Orange’.

When Joker speaks he smacks and licks his lips in a distracting manner, his makeup is always smeared and smudged, suggesting decadence and decay. He brings a horrifying ‘joie de vivre’ to his work that is impossible not to stare at. In a particularly memorable scene that has him in a nurses’s dress, complete with white hose and shoes, he skips gaily down a city street, blowing up buildings in his wake with a remote control. The implied reference of ‘helping’ in the uniform of a care giver and the destruction of a previously imagined ‘safe place’ –a hospital, is poignantly ironic, not to mention disorienting in its absurdity.

This movie is aimed at adults, even though children and teens will flock to it and enjoy it. However, for those interested in the characters and their motivations this movie will satisfy those tastes as well. It remains true to the Batman mythos, and actually makes fun, in a ghoulish manner, of costumed Batman wannabees who try to help the caped crusader with his vigilante efforts. I’m not sure how the collective group of ‘fan boys’ will take that insinuation, but I’m willing to be they’ll be honored to be included. 🙂

Thursday Thirteen – 155th Edition

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Most of the contributors of the Writer’s Retreat Blog participate in the weekly meme, Thursday Thirteen, so every Thursday we link to the individual sites of each writer’s TT. Hopefully, this helps you get to know each of us a little better. This week we’ve got:

A.Cathernine Noon Thirteen Things That Have Happened

Eaton Bennett 13 Places I Want to Visit

Twilight

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When I was a girl dreaming about what my first (and only) boyfriend would be like, I imagined him larger than life. He was good looking, intelligent, witty and hopelessly and completely in love with me. I’d be endlessly fascinated by him and long to be with him when I wasn’t. Not because I didn’t have a life or outside interests, but because of something inexplicably more.

This boy I loved was dangerous and unpredictable–someone of mystery. He wasn’t evil, just slightly…tormented by the fact that he and I shouldn’t be together. The reasons why we shouldn’t be together varied: he was an alien from another planet; he was a ghost; he was an assassin sent to kill me; he had a crippled leg and didn’t believe he was lovable; his mother killed my older brother in a drunk driving accident and our families were enemies; he was actually from the year 3005; he had cancer and was going to die.

Whatever it was I made up to keep us apart, it was never enough to trump the all-consuming, powerful attraction and passion we felt for each other. (Yes, I know how corny that reads.) I had a lot of fun putting us through hell so the eventual capitulation would be all the more sweet, because that’s the key for me. In my fantasies, there had to be an element of hellish danger. I wanted it all. Excitement. Attraction. Mystery. Obsession. And one big gallomping roadblock. Reality didn’t make the cut. Who cared about realism? I faced reality just getting out of bed.

Why am I sharing this?

Because a book written by Stephanie Meyer has resurrected those feelings. The book is called Twilight and is about a teen-aged girl, Bella, who falls in love with a vampire, Edward. The story is told in first person narrative, which isn’t my favorite point of view, but after the first page or so, I didn’t notice.

As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face–it was hostile, furious.

Through Bella’s narrative, I feel how emotionally torn Edward is for feeling the way he does about her. He is attracted to her smell–to her blood–and to her personally, and finds the two desires impossible to reconcile.

Their romance, their ill-advised attraction that grows into love, is the driving force of Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. Sure, she’s seventeen and he’s 104 years old (but will be seventeen forever), and although they’re both aware they can’t stay together, they can’t not be together. Edward’s entire being shrinks from the thought of taking away Bella’s mortality, but she can’t envision her life without losing it. And thus begins the push-and-pull of a romance that for me is the ultimate escapism.

Danger-fueled obsession. I eat it up and crave thirds.

This isn’t Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This isn’t Angel, The Black Dagger Brotherhood or Anita Blake. This is Twilight, a different kind of vampire-human romance story that comes with a conscience and sweet, gentle passion, the kind that squeezes my heart and isn’t letting go. Bella and Edward’s slow-burning love, the danger and torment it creates from all angles, is one of the most compelling stories I’ve read.

I love Meyer’s fast-paced writing, her thorough characterizations, and her well-thought out plots. I love her imagination. This is exactly the fantastical stuff my dreams were, and are again, made of.

How popular is this series? The movie comes out in December, and there are rumors that there is a second movie coming.

The last story, Breaking Dawn, comes out August 2. Guess what I’ll be doing that day?

And! Stephanie Meyer is writing a companion book to Twilight told from Edward’s point of view. It will be called Midnight Sun.

Her scent hit me like a wrecking ball, like a battering ram. There was no image violent enough to encapsulate the force of what happened to me in that moment.

In that instant, I was nothing close to the human I’d once been; no trace of the shreds of humanity I’d managed to cloak myself in remained. I was a predator. She was my prey. There was nothing else in the world but that truth.


Remember Bella’s thoughts about his hostile, violent stare? This is what Edward was thinking at the time. He came thisclose to killing her. Stephanie Meyer knows how to deliver what I, her reader, wants to know.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this strongly about a series. Thank you, Stephanie Meyer. Your beautiful characters rock.

Words in Context

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Another Wily Wednesday! What to do, what to do? I don’t know actually, going to “fly by the seat of my pants”, as the saying goes.

…some minutes later!

Words! I want to explore the color of words a little. Not only the color, but the texture, the feel and the different ways words paint pictures for us. Hmm, I am wondering if this is a little adventurous for me? Too late, already started, can’t stop now.

Months ago I grouped together words that alone might be innocent, but together are most definitely not. So, if your of a gentle persuasion, embarrass easily or are uncomfortable with words that intimate sensuality and the erotic, I apologise right here and now. Sort of!

My list

Ivory: makes me think of the palest off white color. The feelings I attach with this word are soft, smooth, innocent and something waiting to be touched, felt with the fingers, handled with care. Expensive items are made from Ivory, such as piano keys. Ladies combs used to be made from it in centuries past. Now it is illegal to hunt Elephants and sell it.

Flesh: we all have it. Thoughts about flesh can be completely clinical, it comes in all shapes and sizes, colors and ages. We don’t hang too well together without it.

Hunger: food is probably the first thing thought of with this word. But, how many different types of hungers are there?

Seeking: We all do it. We are all seeking happiness, fulfillment, excitement, pleasure, friendship. The list is a lot longer than what I have written here.

Tongue: impossible to talk without one, to lick your lips when they are dry or to taste the food we eat.

Wetness: the planet can not survive without rain, we need water for so many of our daily tasks.

Penetrate: your mind can be penetrated by thoughts and ideas. Our computers are being penetrated by viruses and hackers all the time. Injections penetrate the skin and so it goes on.

Climax: the obvious climax’s come at the end of a movie or a book.

Alive: we all have to be alive to be reading this blog. Nothing happens if we aren’t alive.

Secret: we all have them. We try to keep other people’s and often want to know other people’s as well.

Folds: I automatically think of fabric and picture the way a beautiful velvet gown would drape and the shade and texture a fold in that dress would create.

Eager: those of us that are alive, usually are eager to experience life, eager to move on to the next project. Eager to see someone, or finish something.

All these words stand alone as quite ordinary words, nothing unusual or exceptional about them.
But listed below, they take on a different quality and texture. Bringing different thoughts to mind, turning from the ordinary to the provocative and full of possibilities.

Ivory,
Flesh,
Hunger,
Seeking,
Tongue,
Wetness,
Penetrate,
Climax,
Alive,
Secret,
Folds,
Eager,

As you see, these words are no longer innocent, but have a totally different context. I am proposing a little challenge girls. A poem or a drabble using these words to paint a written picture and blogged here. For purely educational purposes of course. 🙂

Writing Prompt

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This awesome website provides fun prompts to do http://languageisavirus.com/writing_prompts.html

I decided no matter what I got, I’d stick to it and I was actually quite lucky. My prompt ‘Describe each of your friends, with no more than 10 words per person’

So, I’m describing my friends here….

Andi
Quirky, a bit mad but altogether alright as she is

Byz
The niftyest australian I’ve met, great humour makes me laugh

Dawn
Kind, bright and full of energy, she just blatantly rocks

Eden
A sherlocky tea muffin and completely loffley, she’s simply epic

Evey
Partner in crime in the creative lie game, she’s awesome

Gwen
Queen of writing, and always there to sort out problems

Jean
A lovely kind person who writes well, she’s utterly brilliant

Noony
She’s a mad muffin who is completely lovely to everyone

Some of the words aren’t exactly in the the dictionary but this was hard to write and I loff you all *glompsnuggles*

The Night Is A Harsh Mistress, Chapter 8

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The Night Is A Harsh Mistress
by A. Catherine Noon

Chapter 8

Rachel sighed. She’d taken a break at a Borders just around the corner from the 7-Eleven. It had been fun to zone out and people-watch for a while, but eventually she got bored and wandered toward the exit, through the New Releases. As she approached the door, a quick footstep nearby was her only warning before a man jostled her.

“Hey!” she blurted.

“I’m so sorry,” a familiar voice said.

Rachel looked up into the handsome face of the man with the Porsche. That’s right, he’d said his name was Steve. Steve had clear green eyes, just like twin peridots.

“Oh!” she blurted out loud. Great, Raych. Real smooth.

“Well, if it isn’t Sara! Fancy meeting you here!” he said, eyes twinkling.

“We just keep bumping into each other,” Rachel said with only a trace of grumpiness. He had sharp elbows.

He sobered. “Can I buy you a coffee to make up for it?”

Rachel hesitated. She glanced out the door at the waiting parking lot, and her empty car. She made up her mind and nodded. “Sure.”

He smiled again, flashing very white teeth, and she wondered if he, like Viktor, had them whitened, or if they were naturally that clean. He seemed unfazed by her scrutiny.

She got a Chai and he ordered a triple espresso. She blinked. Must be tired, or he had a high tolerance for caffeine. Given how high-energy he was, she wasn’t really surprised.

“So. What are you doing at Borders in the middle of the day?” he asked when they sat at a table near the window.

She studied him. “I just needed a break,” she hedged finally. “You know how it is.”

He chuckled and took a sip of his drink. “Indeed. I was here getting a present for my mother.”

He said it with no trace of embarrassment and Rachel was impressed. If it was a line, he was playing it well. He gets gifts for his mother, does he? Did he think that would impress her?

Grudgingly, she had to admit it did, at least a little. “That’s nice of you.”

He shrugged. “We’ll see. It depends what I buy.”

She laughed in spite of herself. “True.”

“I mean, she probably wouldn’t like a book on the history of cars, I don’t think.”

Rachel grinned at him. “Probably not.”

He grinned back, his face easy and open. His hair was styled neatly over his ears, just brushing his collar. A light brown, almost blonde, it made him seem younger than the wrinkles at his eyes implied he was. He took a sip of his espresso and studied her.

“You didn’t get anything?” he asked after a moment.

She shrugged. “Nothing really caught my eye.”

“What do you like to read?”

“James Clavell, some of Leon Uris, that kind of thing.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Really? Did you read Mitla Pass?”

She nodded, warming to him in spite of herself. “I thought it was one of Uris’s best. What did you think?”

A half hour passed like lightening and then he set his now empty cup on the table a little regretfully. “I do need to get that gift for my mother. But, meet me for dinner?”

She blinked. “Dinner?”

“You know, after lunch but before bed?”

She felt herself blush and deliberately ignored the concept of ‘bed.’ “Dinner is good,” she mumbled.

“Okay. Tomorrow at, say, seven?”

“Sure.”

“Where shall I pick you up?”

She made a split-second decision. “Let’s meet there. How about Georgetti’s?”

He brightened. “That sounds good.”

They separated near where they’d begun, next to the New Releases. She floated out to her car. It felt like she’d had a triple espresso. The week was looking up.

Setting the scene

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‘Nothing happens nowhere‘, or so said Elizabeth Bowen. I think she’s right. Your characters deserve a place where they can roam freely and interact, yet subtle enough to fall into the background (which is where it belongs, being a setting) like the landscape behind Mona Lisa. Her slight smile and lack of eyebrows would not be so amazing if the background was dull, hazy smudge.

Through the setting we can tell the time of year, the approximate century, the country and even the predominant emotions the characters are feeling.

Now when I first heard this, I could agree with all but the latter point. The weather could tell you the season, the various fixtures could be a big clue to the date and there are different building styles in every country. Of course, there are exceptions, depending on the hemisphere, the genre and the diversity of the community, but generally it’s true.

I didn’t think a character’s feelings could be shown through setting, but of course, they can. I’m sure we’ve all been out on a lovely day feeling miserable; the sun would be too bright and the heat an uncomfortable weight. When you feel happy, the whole world glimmers and seems more vibrant.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Eep! What I do when making a new setting is similar to what I do when creating a character. I note important things – the size, the walls (painted, papered, postered, colour) the floor (carpet, bare, rugs, colour), lighting, furniture. I make a plan, rough and by hand, to refer to so I don’t have my characters going through a door that wasn’t there in the scene previously. That’s the skeleton and it’s actually pretty boring, but needs to be done so you can move onto the fun bit.

I’m going to take my WIP, Unreal and more specifically, Stephan’s bedroom to show you what I do. I think of six objects I can ‘see’ in the room. If I can’t see six, I think about what that character would consider of some importance, and I list them.

Now, Steph is a romantic, and enjoys reading. In fact, the first thing I wrote about Steph was him curled on a sofa, reading a trashy romance. So the first thing in the room – a romance novel. Next, being undeniably British and a little lazy, the next thing in his bedroom would be – an old cup of tea. Stephan is a little absent minded, something that leads me to – a dried out plant. He also gets lonely sometimes, but has had many acquaintances. That added with the absent-mindedness mean there should be – an address book. The next thing is a secret, but it was the next item I though of -a stoppered vial. And then we get to the last object. A chessboard.

These items are all hints into Stephan’s character. Taking those six items and what I know of the room, I write a short description, around two- to four-hundred words long. It doesn’t have to be polished, but it has to be clear.

The bed is spacious and neat, the sheets a light ivory, the quilt carefully folded back to look inviting, no sign that anyone had slept there the night before. The windows along the South wall let the daylight bleed into the room through the long, thin curtains, the light colours making the room larger yet almost clinical. The door to the landing is on the West wall, the wood the same light ash as the bare floorboards. On the glass bedside table there is a book, the cover bent and curling but the image of a woman wilting in a man’s strong arms is still visible. The title is illegible, the gilt on the embossed letter flaked off. The pages also curl, as if it had been wet and dried quickly. Beside it is a mug, charcoal grey and square rimmed, a few simple green tiles adorning the sides. Inside, milk congeals in the long cold tea.

There is another table against the far wall, the varnish scratched and a few scorches along the top. It could be called a dresser, as it held a mirror with tarnished spots under the glass and a single draw with a brass handle. A withered, twiggy plant stands on the table; its stems twist morbidly as if it were in great pain, the soil cracked and dusty from lack of water. An empty vial, the length of a finger, has been left in the shadows of the plant, the cork sealed tightly with black wax. The rest of the table is taken up by a soapstone chessboard. The squares are cream and green, but there is only one piece on the board – a green rook. One corner of the board, diagonally opposite the single rook has been chipped off.

That’s as clear as I see Steph’s bedroom. It’s not how I’m portray it in my story, but it’s handy for quick reference. Doing this can also help spark plot or just give the characters more depth. The book, for example, hints that Stephan likes to read in the bath. Who hasn’t dropped a book in the tub one time or other? The address book is in the draw, and it acts like his little black book, holding the addresses of revisited bitees, the people he can and can’t rely on. The vial and the chessboard were gifts from his maker.

I don’t do this for every room, but I do a general one for the places visited in the story, a more detailed one for my main character’s semi-private areas (not those areas! Romance writers, seeing smut everywhere… *muttermutter*) and where major plot events occur.

Setting is important for a story, but should be like the bass guitar in a song, the oak-taste in whiskey, something subtle but enhancing. Don’t forget it or you’ll lose an important layer. Respect settings. They are more important than you think!

The Edit Bat of Doom

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A friend of mine has a special bat. It’s called the Edit Bat of Doom. When the time comes, she pulls it out and uses it with great enthusiasm! Editing is a necessary evil. Everything from a thank you note to a 500 page novel requires a bit of editing. I know we’ve already talked a bit about the process this week, but here are a few more tips on it. So take your own Edit Bat of Doom out of the closet and lets learn a few new swings!

1. Read you paper out loud. It’s easier to hear a mistake than read one. If you stumble reading it, you know you have a problem. If you still aren’t sure, take it to someone you trust and ask them to do the same.

2. Leave as much time as you can between writing and editing. Fresh eyes pick out the problems faster. Try to do something in that break that gets your mind completely off your story.

3. Read the paper backward (from the end to the beginning) one sentence at a time. This helps you concentrate on sentences and words rather than on the paper’s meaning as a whole.

4. Know the errors you commonly make. Make a list of these errors so you know what to look for. For each error, read through the paper (or chapter for longer works) once. Don’t try to find all the errors on your list in one pass.

5. Use the spelling and grammar check, but don’t rely on it. Have dictionaries and thesauruses at hand and USE THEM.

6. Place **’s where you think a reviewer should pay special attention. Make sure to go back through and take these out though!

7. Ask yourself who, what, when, where, why, and how when reading for content. Does the text answer all the questions you think it should? Highlight the sentences that answer these questions. This makes it easier to see if the questions are answered in a logical manner.

8. If a character is acting out a procedure or action of some kind, do it yourself to make sure you didn’t miss any obvious steps.

9. Don’t edit under fluorescent lighting. The flicker rate is slower than regular lighting and your eyes won’t pick up inconsistencies as easily. (WOW! Learn something new every day huh?????)

Retired Words

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Interesting, unfamiliar and forgotten words taken out of my 1867 dictionary.

Nihilism, ni hil-izm, n. Nothingness; the doctrine that nothing can be known. (from L. nihil-ne, Not and hilum, a trifle.)

Facinorous, fa-sin’o-rus, a. Atrociously wicked. (L. facinus, a bad deed.)

Extirpate, v.t Root out, to eradicate, destroy utterly.

Imbroglio, im-brolyo, n. An embarrassing state of things.

Immolate, im’molat, vt. To sacrifice; to kill, as a victim offered in sacrifice; to offer in sacrifice. Ppr. Immolating, prêt. & pp. immolated. (L. immolo, immolates-mola, sacrificial meal.)

Parsimonious, par-si-moni-us, a. Very sparing in the use or expenditure of money; niggardly; frugal.

Rugose, ru’gos, a. Wrinkled; rough with wrinkles. (L. rugosus-ruga, a wrinkle.)

Turgescence, ter-jes’ens, n. State of becoming turgid; empty pompousness; bombast. (Fr.-L. Turgeo, to swell.)

Uxorious, uks-ori-us. a. Excessively fond of one’s wife. (L. uzorius-uzozr, a wife.)

Controvert, kontro-vert, vt. To turn against; to deny, and attempt to disprove or confute; to agitate contrary opinions against. (L. verto, to turn.)

This was fun, but exhausting to my eyes, the print is so small it hurts to read it. Hope you Enjoy these words. They are randomly chosen, just as I flicked here and there in the dictionary. 🙂