Posted on by Alexie Linn

Is Spelling and Grammar Your Friend?

Is Spelling and Grammar You Friend? Did you catch that? Did you stop reading and want to fix it?

I have great news! You don’t have to. And you don’t have to be an English teacher to write a top-notch book. But you do have to know how to present a clean, clear, reader-friendly story to get top-notch reviews.

Coming up is two easy ways to polish your ‘spelling and grammar’ for clarity and happy readers.

But first I’ll tell you a story of my own about a book I just paid money for and read.

Is Spelling and Grammar You Friend?

The book promised to show me how to write, publish, and sell videobooks. There were two major problems:

  1. It was really a book of links and how-to’s for ranking on You Tube and Google. And promoting his choices of editors and producers.
  2. The spelling was so bad that I had to stop reading to figure out what the author was saying… like ‘you’ for ‘your’. SEO doesn’t call these STOP words, but I do. I had to continually stop learning and rewrite the sentence to understand what he meant to say.

The result of these problems?

I’ll give his book 3 stars because he did have some good points in the how-to’s. But I’ll take off one star for the not giving what he promised in the title and description. And deduct another star for the spelling and grammar.

AND I feel cheated; ripped off; defrauded. I won’t buy another book by this author. That’s significant and crucial. I can’t trust him to keep his promise.

Having gotten that rant off my chest, here’s the two easy methods to rid your story of my personal ‘STOP’ words.

1. Your word processing program has ‘spelling and grammar’ checks as well as ‘readability’ scores and wordcounts.

I currently write in Word. The ‘Review’ tab is where I find ‘Spelling and Grammar’ check for the entire document. It does the work. You and I reap the rewards. Easy Peasy and how I’ve earned the ‘Quality Book Award’. Have you found and used your spell-check yet?

2. Hemingway gives ‘readability’ scores by grade level and more.

I suggest Hemingway because it offers a free version that’s quick and easy to check for adverbs, passive words, and hard-to-read sentences. But there are more to choose from if you want to spiral deeper into grammar.

One is Pro Writing Aid and another is Grammarly. Both of these also have a free version. Check them out and go with what works best for you. But do something to encourage reader-friendly prose.

Sadly, I can’t suggest a quick and easy program to give you a heads-up for an on-point title and description.  That’s one you’ll have to figure out on your own. But please do that, too. Perhaps a beta reader that will give you quality feedback… another human? If you’re a one-person show, let your manuscript cool; step outside of it; and answer the questions from a new perspective.

Do I feel better now? Only if I’ve helped you see how important ‘spelling and grammar’ and on-point titles and descriptions are. Have I painted the picture in enough detail?

On that note…

Happy Trails and Tales,

Alexie Linn

P.S.  Free Audiobooks……Free Audiobooks……Free Audiobooks…..

Click here to join our Audible Lovers Cornucopia group. It’s free and where you’ll find links to Free Audibles for your listening and reviewing pleasure.

The easiest way to get updates is to follow this blog and  follow me on Facebook.  New posts should appear on the Alexie Linn page – if I’ve held my mouth right… 😊

BUT! If you only want updates and pre-order deals of new releases of Books, Vellas and Audibles, the easiest way is to follow me on Amazon. When you get an email notice of a new book release, simply ask for it by the title – or for all the Alexie Linn authored titles at your favorite retailer.

And just one more thing. Here’s where to find and follow me on Goodreads. Please do to get in on all that Goodreads has to offer. Goodreads is always at the very best price. It’s FREE!

Posted on by Alexie Linn

Serials Are Not Cereals

The Serial – That’s Serial, Not Cereal

Serials have been making a snail’s pace comeback. What’s a Serial?

A Serial is like a TV soap opera that you read. But it can move faster and have an end before the next millennium.

alexielinnauthor
A Serial to read with your Cereal

Serials are touted as entertainment on the run because you buy and read one episode at a time.

Vella serials are particularly suited to read on a smartphone and accessed through an App. Vellas cannot be downloaded to an E-reader like Kindle.

Episodes are purchased with tokens or ‘coins’, depending on the App.

Serials can, at the author’s discretion, become available in ebook and print version 30-days down the road. If you fell in love with a Serial, watch the author’s website and blog; follow the author wherever you can; or, better yet, tell the author you’d like to own it in book form. They’ll love you for it. 😊

Three reasons to indie publish a Serial are:

  1. Test Run – Get the feedback of whether readers are interested in your book’s topic before you compile, edit, and publish 100,000 + or – words.
  2. Build an audience – Perspective readers can ‘try before they buy’ your prose in more expensive and committed formats.
  3. Editing – Vella is my experience. It’s easy-peasy to edit one tiny episode of a Serial; while editing one chapter of a book entails several more steps and rereads of the entire project. The tradeoff is that Serials are uploaded one episode at a time.

Three reasons to read Serials:

  1. Give the author a test run. Do you and their prose click?
  2. Read an episode while you’re eating your cereal – or waiting for the bus – or stuck in traffic.
  3. Read it on your smartphone. No other devices or a book to carry around with you.

Three places to upload your Serial to…

  1. KDP/Vella –an Amazon company. Here’s where to find my latest Serial, Sally the Loner Meets the Sourdough Kid.
  2. Byliner Serials – A Barnes and Noble offering.
  3. Jukepop Serials – An indie publisher.

A Google search will give you 337,000,000 more details and options to choose from.

On that note…

Happy Trails and Tales,

Alexie Linn

P.S. Since this new, finely focused blog is just getting started, the easiest way to get updates is to follow this blog and  follow me on Facebook.  New posts should appear on the Alexie Linn page – if I’ve held my mouth right… 😊

If you only want updates and pre-order deals of new releases of Books, Vellas and Audibles, the easiest way is to follow me on Amazon. When you get an email notice of a new book release, simply ask for it by the title – or for all the Alexie Linn authored titles at your favorite retailer.

And just one more thing. Here’s where to find and follow me on Goodreads. Please do to get in on all that Goodreads has to offer. Goodreads is always at the very best price. It’s FREE!

But if you’d like to own this story in book form, send me an email here!

Posted on by Alexie Linn

Shapeshifting Phenomenal Characters – Part 2

Shapeshifting Characters – Part 2

Often a character will reinvent themselves along the way. What I thought was a kohlrabi will morph into an ear of corn – slim with silky hair. I’ve even had them change from blonde pale-skin to a dyed blonde black-skin.

You were a Kohlrabi in the beginning…

I have learned to let them shift, nestle into themselves, and become who they really are. The hard part is editing their character from the beginning when they pull shenanigans like black to white – or white to black. I only hope that they do it soon instead of waiting until the story is ¾ of the way through.

And, since I have to literally become each of these characters, the question my other half asks at the door is… “Who are you? What have you done with Alexie?”

This shapeshifting is so fresh in my mind because two of the individuals in my current work in progress have stolen Chapter 23.

I thought Jerry was a body building blonde displaced surfer… but then he tells me he’s a body building black man from the Watusi tribe that dyes his hair blonde. Then he hints that he might be Ralph, the big, burly, gruff café owner’s lover. Yikes! What’s a writer to do?

Let them have their way. It’s their story. Personas have to be allowed to improv as they see fit lest they lose their dimensional qualities and become flat. You, the writer, are committed to working it in and flex around their quirks.

High quality writing is so much more than throwing words on paper. The words have to ebb and flow according to the people, the story their showing, and make perfect sense. It all could – and often did – happen.

Happy Character Building,

Alexie Linn

P.S. Since this new, finely focused blog is just getting started, the easiest way to get updates is to follow me on Facebook.  New posts should post on the Alexie Linn page – if I’ve held my chin right… 😊

If you only want updates of new releases of Books, Vellas and Audibles, the easiest way is to follow me on Amazon.