Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Feedspot: Thanks, but No.

I got an invitation from Feedspot, telling me that I had been linked in (Blogspot to Feedspot) and already had 26 views. So naturally I signed up to view it. I personally hate only having that option. I prefer to view first, then decide.

I was very disappointed. Feedspot doesn't include my additional pages...so why bother? Keep in mind that those pages are for my novels as the introductions to the stories, an appetizing sample. To date there are five, with one more well on the way. I am working on getting those five published. (No luck yet.) As an author I find Feedspot worthless if it can't connect to my pages for each of my novels. The sole purpose for having the Blogspot site is to connect potential readers with my stories so they will choose to read my work.


Saturday, October 19, 2013

Ready to go another round

I'm feeling recharged but still not up to the normal mark yet. I feel like I'm on a merry-go-round, but I'm ready for another turn. (You thought that was a boxing reference?)

I refuse to send out any more hard copies. It's simply too expensive. So I will not be submitting to any agency who requires it. Friends have recommended a few, but they are automatically eliminated. What I need to find is the right fit, not just my work fitting their goals, but their options fitting mine.

I wanted to submit three stories to one big-time publisher online, but their link is down...and has been since about August 1st. I'm not sure they even got the one I electronically submitted on July 29, as I haven't received any kind of acknowledgement. I guess I won't be getting my foot in that door. Drat.

That publisher has been trending away from new authors, and putting out more and more as series. I don't care for the series idea. It is so long between stories, I have to go back and skim over the previous ones. I really don't want to keep all these books on hand for that. I prefer standalones.

Oftentimes the newer books off the press by established authors are of inferior quality. The publisher admits to not editing established authors as thoroughly as new ones. What's with that? One well-established author (LF) has a new proofreader/editor assistant--she must sing her own praises to LF as she's doing a terrible job!--and some of us no longer want to read her work, even though LF was the author who brought us to that publisher because we liked her work so much. LF is singing her assistant's praises and backing her as a new author. Oh, no! If LF read her own last 3 novels in print with fresh eyes, she'd fire her assistant! She's making LF look bad.