A Good Resource for Writing Back Cover Copy

By Elaine L Orr

I am recovering from a shoulder replacement, which I know will help me in the long run. In the short run it makes me want to bop my head against the wall. But I don't think that would help the shoulder.

In the meantime, I thought I would refer you to an excellent article on writing the back cover blurb for your book. This is always a tough task for me because I feel as if there is so much to say and so little space in which to say it.

Lois Winston always has a succinct way of providing information. In this case she is writing on George Cramer's blog, but you'll also want to go to her own site, which is referenced below the article.

https://gdcramer.com/2025/09/18/lois-winston-3/

Her five steps for thinking through the blurb are practical and to the point.

Here is to a day of successful writing!

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To learn more about Elaine, visit her website or sign up for her newsletter.

Avoiding He-Said and She-Said

By Elaine L. Orr

It goes without saying (but I will) that authors want readers to know who is doing the talking in their books. There are ways to do that well and ways to distract your reader from your story by doing it clumsily.

A couple of points.

1) If you have to ascribe conversation to a character, consider doing it by beginning the segment with action, then have the character speak. For example:

I didn’t smile. “Those aren’t ready yet. How about a pumpkin muffin? You can pay me tomorrow.” 

From the kitchen, Linda called, “Always a pleasure for a good customer.”

2) The similar option to avoid is using action and also specifying who said something. 

Mr Hawthorne," I said, taking a hammer from the toolbox, "it's time to find that box of nails."

3) It is often appropriate to simply say he said or she asked. I use this at  least a couple times in each chapter when writing in first person. I asked, I said.  The key is not to do this many times a page. Or designate the speaker by name, just not every time.

4) Clarity is key, of course. When two people converse, a reader can follow who said what for a number of lines of dialogue -- as long as each person's dialogue begins a new paragraph.

5) When more than two people converse, it's important to ascribe almost every person's speech -- within reason. If one character asks another a question and they answer, it's generally clear who replied.

6) My personal pet peeve is authors who try to convey emotion when designating the character talking. This usually involves adverbs, the bane of good writing.

"It's time to go to the parade," Jan said, gleefully.

"Funerals always make me cry," I said sorrowfully.

Remember the adage, show don't tell. Jan can turn a somersault to show her glee.

By the way, when it's your book, do what you want. Just keep the reader in mind.

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To learn more about Elaine, visit her website or sign up for her newsletter.

Copyright and Learning to Write in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

By Elaine L. Orr

Every author I know has wondered how AI will affect the publishing world and how our work could be used without our permission. Note I said 'used,' not republished.

We've heard about artificial intelligence (AI) for years. What has changed is the more recent advent of generative AI that creates text (books, in our case), images, videos, or music. It trains by 'reading' our work. 

I recently joined the Copyright Alliance, which has many resources on the broader topic as well as excellent materials and videos on AI and its impact on authorship. It's free, always a good thing. I've learned a lot.

What Does ChatGPT do With My Writing?

ChatGPT has learned well from analyzing my work. I asked it: Can you write something in the style of Elaine Orr's Jolie Gentil cozy mysteries?

ChatGPT said: Got it — you’d like something in the style of Elaine Orr’s Jolie Gentil cozy mysteries. Those books usually feature:

• A small-town setting (Ocean Alley on the Jersey Shore).

• A smart, witty amateur sleuth (Jolie, an appraiser and reporter).

• A circle of friends and community members who add humor, warmth, and sometimes conflict.

• A mystery that’s light on gore, with clues tucked into daily life.

• Plenty of banter, food, and small-town gossip.

I can create a fresh cozy mystery concept (not copying Orr, but inspired by the tone and structure). Here’s a short sample opening that could grow into a series:

---

Sample Cozy Mystery Opening (in the style of Jolie Gentil books)

Chapter One – Baking to Death

The ChatGPT sample went on with a brief chapter 1. Not bad, though I stay away from things such as cupcakes and other baking -- they're somewhat overused, and I'm a lousy cook.

I asked ChatGPT a couple of other questions about how it would develop characters or story lines, and was shocked not just at the decent responses but the speed. Scary good.

All of this was free, but after a couple more questions, I reached the end of the free...speculation, for lack of a better word.

What Does ChatGPT tell you about what it's doing?

Note some of the phrasing in the the above. It said, "Got it — you’d like something in the style of Elaine Orr’s Jolie Gentil cozy mysteries.?" The italics were theirs, I suppose somehow saying they aren't directly ripping off my work? And I suppose they aren't.

Can You Use ChatGPT to learn about writing?

The system (I don't know the neutral reference for an AI program!) also develops outlines, character sketches, clues, character arcs and more. If you were a novice writer, you could tell it to write a mystery about (for example) "a couple in a mountain town who discover buried treasure and are pursued by the people who buried it."

In fact, I just told it that. This was the response:

Here’s a short mystery story draft based on your idea:

---

The Treasure in Ashwood

The mountain town of Ashwood was the kind of place where snow muffled sound, and secrets lay deeper than the pine roots. Emma and Daniel, a young couple fresh from the city, thought they were starting over when they bought the old Miller cabin. They hadn’t counted on what they’d find buried beneath the sagging porch.

It was Daniel who uncovered it first—a rusted tin box, sealed tight with wire. Inside, wrapped in oilcloth, lay stacks of old bills and a small velvet pouch filled with raw gemstones that shimmered even in the weak afternoon light. Neither spoke for a long moment. The silence between them wasn’t awe—it was fear. Someone had buried this. And someone might come looking.

That night, the wind howled across the ridges, and Emma swore she saw headlights lingering too long on the road below. By morning, muddy bootprints trailed near the cabin, leading back toward the tree line.

They decided to keep the treasure hidden, but word in Ashwood spread quicker than frost. At the diner, an old logger leaned across the counter and muttered, “Best bury back what ain’t yours. Folks around here remember where they left things.”

Soon, strangers began to appear—two men in heavy coats, asking questions, their eyes too sharp, their smiles too thin. Emma recognized one of them from an old photo in the town archives: a man declared dead twenty years ago in a mine collapse.

The couple realized the treasure wasn’t forgotten loot—it was blood money, hidden away by men who had never really left. Now they were being hunted, not just for the cash, but for knowing a secret meant to stay buried.

And in Ashwood, the mountains kept their own kind of justice.

---

Would you like me to expand this into a full-length short story (3–5k words) with detailed scenes, dialogue, and a twist ending, or keep it more like a tight novella-style mystery outline you can build on?

Yikes!

Then you could pick either option they provide or just exit. It took ChatGPT about five seconds to write this short piece.

I note you can learn from ChatGPT because you could tell it to develop the novella-style outline and see how it does it. 

People use generative AI for many things, but it still shocked me that it could write a story and do it so fast. 

If you've used it, feel free to comment. 

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Writing Across Sub-Genres -- is it worth the time?

By Elaine L. Orr

I have created two series that are essentially cozies but do not feature an amateur sleuth. One is the Logland series, set in central Illinois, a small college town. The sleuth is a police chief named Elizabeth Friedman. She and her all male crew are very serious about their work but not worried about what's around every corner the way police in more urban areas have to be.

I started the project as a stand-alone and wanted to write something really funny. Among the early scenes is a call to a fraternity house that is rowdy and has a goat that munches its way through the dining room. I like the mystery and, as I tend to do, really enjoyed the characters and didn't want to let go of them.

There are two more books, Final Cycle and Final Operation. I think Final Cycle is one of the best books I've ever written. But I understand now that I can't really market the books well as police procedurals or as cozy mysteries. Readers want one or the other. The books get good reviews they just don't sell a lot. 

So, undeterred by marketing evidence, I introduced a new series last week. It's the Shore Shenanigans series, set in the same Jersey Shore town as my Jolie Gentil series. The former is a pure cozy series, albeit with a real estate appraiser as the sleuth and a bit more involvement in the town's business community than you might see in some other cozies.

The sleuth in the Shore Shenanigans series is George Winters, formerly a reporter for the local paper and now a private investigator. I actually thought it through over a couple of years and had him get fired from the paper, work with an insurance company as an investigator so he would qualify to be a PI, and then get his PI license. It's rare that I plan that far in advance.

George will find mysteries to solve among the guests at Mayor Madge's Cozy Corner B&B, as he does in the first book, Fired Up and Feisty. It features senior citizen high school alumni who seemed to have some scores to settle among themselves.

The crimes will matter as well as the people who are killed and the potential suspects. However, they can't be gruesome stories and the sleuth needs to interact with other people. I like Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries, and many others of that era, but the PIs spend a lot of time in their own heads. Readers don't necessarily look for that these days. 

Other characters from the Jolie series will appear from time to time, but won't feature in the crime solving. Those characters have well established roles in the town, and the link between the two series will create good synergy. Or so I think.

Not to compare myself to Louise Penny at all, but the Inspector Gamache books also have a cozy element by featuring the town of Three Pines and its residents. You would be hard pressed to find more quirky characters. But as a police inspector, he clearly handles more violent crimes than I intend to write about.

I would be interested in what readers and other writers think about using someone other than an amateur sleuth as the key figure in a cozy series. You are welcome to throw tomatoes, but if you have any ideas on how to make it work (and let readers know that), it would be even better.

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Showing Grief and Continuing the Story

By Elaine L. Orr

Compelling stories lead readers to grieve. In the sixth Harry Potter book, Dumbledore fell from a parapet. Who would survive that? But it was a magical story. I held out hope. Then Harry entered the headmaster's office and there was Dumbledore, in a picture frame, just like all the other dead headmasters. I sobbed for a couple of seconds. 

Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes made me feel sad, but it infuriated my mother-in-law. She finished it because I recommended it, but she hated the deaths of Angela McCourt's young children, especially the twins. She told me never to recommend a book like that again!

But what about characters themselves? Catcher in the Rye initially seems to be a story of extreme detachment from life and an adolescent's sarcastic view of the world. It is that, but the basis for nearly all of Holden Caufield's feelings and actions stem from his brother Allie's death -- though Holden himself doesn't truly grasp this. 

In the Potter series, Severus Snape carries one of the most extreme burdens of grief in modern fiction. It's only near the end of the series that his unrequited love for Harry's late mother is shown to be the tragedy of his life. As a reader thinks back through the series, it's clear that his near-hatred for Harry (the son of the man who won Lillie's love and a child who dares to have her green eyes) is rooted in grief.

How does a perhaps less deft author portray grief well? As any student would say, grief needs to be shown, not told. There are obvious indications: people sob at a funeral or throw themselves over a closed coffin.

But how can a character indicate his or her grief after people have gone back to their daily routines? Their grief may be so extreme that they don't, but it's the less obvious expressions of sorrow that build a real-life story. The woman who eats less and loses weight is almost a cliche. What about the one who signs up for every fitness class she can find so she's exhausted at night and able to sleep? The reader may spot the symptom before the character.

Grieving people can lose interest in activities that they always liked, become forgetful, stuff their faces as opposed to reduce their appetite, and go over spoken (or unspoken) conversations obsessively. 

The symptom I'd like to write better is what I think of as the clarity of death. When a family member or colleague dies, suddenly we know what's important and what's not. We want all the unimportant stuff to just go away -- phone calls to return, houses to clean, or that committee report that is suddenly too stupid to write.

As you might infer, the clearest symptom of 'death clarity' is impatience. A character might be able to hide some feelings of annoyance, but the writer needs to figure out whether to display them in daily irritation or an explosion of temper. Or both.

Ruthanne Reid's article in The Write Practice Blog, "Show Don't Tell: How to Write the Five Stages of Grief" offers a comprehensive picture of subtle and very direct expressions of sorrow -- immediate and long-term. 

As a mystery writer, I want the story to go forward and don't usually spend enough time on the sorrow of family and friends who've lost someone. It's a key component of making the reader care about the crime and the need to solve it. If it's not clear why someone should care about the victim's death, then all the reader has to do is flip to the end to see who done it.

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To learn more about Elaine, visit her website or sign up for her newsletter.

Blogging versus Online Content Strategy

By Elaine L. Orr

Some months I don't feel like posting, but I don't want to let go of a blog I started at the end of 2011. When I'm in a 'why do I do this mood,' I look to other bloggers for enrichment. 

Inevitably, Jane Friedman's name and content pop up every time. This time, her updated post on "How to Start Blogging" appeared. She notes a blog may not help too much to promote an author's work, so it's important to be sure it's something you want to do.

Consistency is key. Why would people read your blog (which is now often termed simply content) if they can't rely on you doing it regularly? The second year I did the Irish Roots Author Blog, I had 54 posts. Fifty-four! Most were short and many were direct promotions of my books or sales. I don't use the blog for such direct marketing now. Hopefully, mentioning my work in the context of a post's topic does bring readers.

My numbers fell off. In 2016, there were sixteen posts. I did have a hip replacement and knee surgery that year, but surgeries aren't a good reason not to blog. It was more that I had to squeeze the writing itself into less time because writing does not compete well with opioids. Maybe for some people...

I finally settled on trying to do thirty posts a year. I don't always make it, but the goal is helpful. If nothing else, I may publish three posts near the end of the month -- like this month.

What I balance (in my mind) now is whether to post only about writing. Can't do it at the moment; I get too angry at what's going on in the United States. If I don't let some of my opinions out in the blog they may come out in less appropriate places. Like when I want to yell at someone in a store who doesn't believe in equality. (T-shirts are a giveaway.) I like the concept of treating people fairly. 

I just hit more than 20,000 views in the last month, so perhaps controversy is a good policy in terms of readership. 

The index to The Irish Roots Author Blog has five categories -- reading, writing, publishing, marketing, and musings. The latter are my favorite posts. Blogs can be what we want them to be.

Start one.

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To learn more about Elaine, visit her website or sign up for her newsletter.

Why Do Readers Like Some Books More than Others?

By Elaine L. Orr

To be clear, I have no idea why readers like some books more than others. 

I like the kind of mysteries I write, and I like to read those others write. But I've been surprised that books I think will grab attention (and sell well) may move off the shelves slowly, while one I thought would draw fewer readers is very popular.

When I moved to Illinois I decided to write a book set in central Illinois, and did not intend to make it a series. I've never laughed so much when writing as when drafting Tip a Hat to Murder. I liked the characters so much it became the first book in the three-book Logland series. And the only one to have more than 100 reviews. I think the second book, Final Cycle, is one of the best of the forty or so mysteries I've written.

Reviews are good, but the series is not a true cozy series. The primary sleuth is a small town, female police chief and I describe the series a 'police procedurals with a cozy feel.' I suppose that tells readers the books aren't as gritty as other police procedurals, so readers who like those books don't pick up the series. Conversely, people who read my amateur sleuth mysteries aren't looking to read about a professional crime solver. 

There is a goat in a fraternity house dining room early on in the first book, and that's a bit off topic for me, too. So is t he occasional swearing (mild words). 

The message I get is don't try to mix sub-genres. Readers can't focus as easily -- in my opinion. While I wanted to write something with a sleuth who had a reason to investigate crimes. the books' structure also means there is no other profession or hobby to focus on. My family history series draws readers with that interest, my Jersey shore real estate appraiser gets in all kinds of trouble when she goes into uninhabited houses. And she's really involved with the local business community. A police chief is sort of always on duty.

However, I still laugh when I think of future books, so I plan to add to the series. To attract more future readers I put the three-book series in a box set on Kindle Unlimited. People have a chance to get acquainted with the books an I can occasionally offer the box set free. There's always more to learn about what to write.

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Reading to Soothe the Soul

By Elaine L. Orr

I was fortunate to be introduced to books very young and to have been around adults who enjoyed books. Reading is the best stepping stone to a writing career, and there was a library in walking distance. I doubt it was 600 square feet, but it was heaven.

When a friend recently entered an Alzheimer's care facility I noted the activity calendar showed people read books to residents so I asked to join the reading team. It's a fascinating opportunity. People from a wide variety of careers (physicians, teachers, book publishers, homemakers) have very little comprehension of what's going on around them, but they like to be read to.

I choose books for very young children, and started with Billy Goats Gruff. My only criteria is that the books have to tell a story rather than just amuse. Attention spans are very short. 

Every now and then something in a book will click a memory in a resident. Last week, a story mentioned (only in passing) collecting syrup from maple trees. Suddenly a man I'd never heard speak raised his head and described the process to tap a tree, hang a bucket to collect sap, and use the sap for syrup. Then he ducked his head and grew quiet again.

I pick relatively short books with good illustrations and walk around the room to show the pictures. The natural ham in me tries to act out character voices.

The library in Chatham, Illinois has a large selection of used books and children's books are usually fifty cents or a dollar. I decided to buy the books in case a resident wants to keep one. Occasionally they do.

Sometimes I'll take a second book that's a jumping off point for conversation. One about truck stops let us talk about taking vacations when cars traveled on two lane roads rather than interstates. Mostly I mention things they might have seen and get some appreciative nods. The key thing is never to ask the residents if they remember something. Some folks can perceive that they used to know more than they now do, and it would be frustrating to ask what they can recall.

Today it's almost 100 degrees in central Illinois, so I took The Snow Monster by Jodi Dee -- a story about a little girl who likes to eat snow and mistakenly made a wish about eating all of it! We can then talk about blizzards and making snowmen as children.

It may sound as if I'm doing something noble. I'm not. As with most forms of volunteering, I get a lot more out of reading than the residents do by listening.

If you're interested in doing something similar, check with a memory care facility. The one I go to likes to have readers in the hours before lunch and dinner, because the residents are waiting to eat and it makes the time go faster. You'll get more than you give.

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Projection Is More Than an Old-Fashioned Machine

By Elaine L. Orr

I sometimes teach in a middle or high school, and I laugh to myself at how differently kids speak to a teacher in a classroom than they speak to each other.   Answering a question in class, some of them talk almost in a whisper.  You ask them to speak up and they do raise their voices, but nowhere near as loud as they could. You have only to stand in the cafeteria to realize they know how to get people to listen to them.

It may sound obvious, but part of making your voice heard is to project well. I am often in groups, at meetings or fun activities or church.  I admit to a hearing deficit, but if that were the only issue then it would be difficult to hear everyone. In fact some people come through loud and clear.

People who cannot be easily heard at all or who don't come through clearly are doing one of several things. They:

1. Speak in a conversational tone, as you would at the dinner table.

2.  Start a sentence or thought in a strong voice, but as they get to the end of their point, they drop their voice or speak quickly.

3.   Don't finish some of their sentences. It's natural for your brain to move from topic to topic. But if you're speaking to someone, you need to finish a thought.

4. Don't open their mouth as fully as they could. If you're muttering to yourself or talking to someone sitting next to you, you don't necessarily enunciate well. Part of that is rushing through sentences without fully forming the words.

5. Talk too fast. When you listen to a bunch of  kids giving presentations at school, they talk twice as fast as adults or even faster than they usually would talk to other kids. They want to be done. Adults do this too.

Some things to keep in mind would be jotting notes before you start to talk in a meeting or when talking to any group. That's when you are nervous and most likely to talk quickly or drop your voice at the end of sentences.

Put a small pebble or dried bean under your tongue and try to speak clearly. It isn't easy, and of course you have to make sure not to swallow the pebble. The speed at which you talk when something is under your tongue is probably close to the speed you should speak in many settings.

If you are told that you don't speak clearly, record yourself and play it back. Many people are surprised that they sound higher in the recording. Don't pay too much attention to that. Listen to the pacing and how each word sounds. If you don't like what you hear, watch a couple of newscasts and listen to how the announcers enunciate every word even when they are speaking in a conversational tone. That's your goal for just about anything other than a casual conversation with friends.

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Remembering their Sacrifices on Memorial Day

 By Elaine L. Orr

I often think about how an entire generation rose and sacrificed to defend freedom and save the world from fascism. My father (Miles D. Orr) and his brothers William Tom and Harold James were among the brave, but ALL of their siblings (total of nine) played important roles, as did their spouses. 

Miles was a friendly guy, but he did not have even one close friend. He loved to go to Missouri each spring and play golf with his brother and brother-in-law (Curtis Jackson) and rarely missed high school reunion weekend in Mount Vernon, MO -- held on Memorial Day weekend, if I remember correctly. He NEVER talked about his war experiences except to say things like the Red Cross had good donuts.

Not long before he died, he wanted to talk about "the War" so he spoke to one of my brothers. My brother had to swear he would not repeat what he was told because the experiences were so awful Miles did not want the rest of his family to know what he endured. My brother repeated one thing -- Miles had sworn never to have a friend again, because he watched so many friends die awful deaths. Essentially, he wouldn't bear the pain of loss if he didn't get close to anyone outside of his family. 

Not long before he died in 1994 I pulled together some of his poems so he could see them in a booklet. I later published them and his letters to his sister (Marguerite Orr Harlowe) in Portrait through Poetry. Probably 20 times a year I'm thankful she saved them, and that my cousin Barbara found them and shared them after her mom died. 

Military men and women could not talk about what they did or where they were, and correspondence was censored -- appropriately. Among their topics, besides family, were books. She would send Miles books and he would share them with fellow Army Air Corps members. They'd share opinions. Books.  

I try to remember to make Portrait Through Poetry free for Memorial Day, but forgot. So, it'll be free from May 27 to 31. It's amazing that Miles could write happy poems. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004T5   

Never Forget.

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Looking for Balance or Writing Without a Muse

By Elaine L. Orr

I've been less interested in writing the last few months -- something that has never happened. I had successful cancer surgery in 2024 and serious neck surgery in early 2025, so I explained (to myself) the recuperations affected my writing drive.

To be honest with myself, medical issues are not the problem. I am in a major funk over not simply the election of Donald Trump but the people around him who want to shred democracy. Without one iota of introspection or analysis of government programs, they have slashed the ability of governments at all levels to meet the needs of citizens. I think the result will be vastly reduced services and many functions pushed to state budgets. And reduced food programs, cuts in cancer research, slashed health care, etc.

The president is not sure everyone needs due process (guaranteed by the 5th and 14th amendments), which is meant to ensure fairness and protect people from arbitrary government actions. A senior aide is talking about why it would be okay to get rid of the right of habeus corpus, which is the right of a person in custody to be brought before a judge to determine if their confinement is lawful. 

Immigration as the Focus for Denying Rights

Trump and his ilk have created an enemy (immigrants) around which they hope to gather enough anger to support their actions. It's a common action of authoritarian leaders. Who would question the need to expel violent criminals who entered the U.S. unlawfully? Almost no one.

So what's the problem? Nearly all immigrants (legal or otherwise) are looking for freedom and the chance for a better life for their families. They do the jobs Americans are unwilling to do. Have you ever seen a list of the prisons or mental health institutions that "released their criminal residents" to come to the U.S.? There's no evidence of that. Facts matter.

Multiple Congresses have tackled immigration problems (and there are many), and the 2024 legislation would have been a major step in controlling it. (President Trump didn't want it passed, as he wanted to run on the issue. Shameful. Republicans dropped support after having taken the lead on the legislation.)

Ronald Reagan tried. The Immigration Reform and Control Act he signed in 1986 authorized amnesty for 3 million people, with the proviso that U.S. companies would be penalized in the future for hiring undocumented people. President Reagan, and others, believed that if it was difficult for immigrants to work they would not come. 

The U.S. didn't limit immigration (except for health reasons) until after World War I. Immigration quotas based on nationality were made permanent in 1924 and abolished in 1965. While they don't exist now, most of the one million green cards go to relatives of U.S. citizens.

If you don't know the story of your family beyond grandparents. check out the U.S. census for their occupations and income levels. If you don't want to pay a genealogy site, go to your library; they'll have a subscription to Ancestry.com or another site. Same with the free Family Search Centers, sponsored by the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons). Some are affiliated with public libraries.

My own ancestors are all White. Most came from Ireland, none from what Mr. Trump calls the "s**thole countries. Or the African nation of Lesotho, which he maintains no one has heard of.

While one grandmother was born after her parents immigrated to the U.S., most came in the 18th and early 19th centuries. I keep wondering what ending birthright citizenship means for succeeding generations.

I Have Digressed...

I need to figure out how to balance the importance of resisting authoritarianism and cruelty with maintaining the ability to write.

In 2018 (when children were being taken from their parents) I wrote In the Shadow of Light, the fictional story of Corazon and Pico who were separated from their mother at the U.S. border.

This time, I'll revise The Art of Deliberate Distraction, nonfiction written as a panacea to constant worry. It needs to offer constructive suggestions for dealing with the overwhelming frustration and grief of the dismantling of democracy. How can people constructively distract themselves and possibly contribute to hope?

But I do need to continue to write traditional (cozy) mysteries. Besides being my bread and butter, they are their own distraction for people. They also have characters who work to make their world a better place. Good reading for the current time.

When I talk to unpublished authors, I always say they can't wait for a muse. They need to put their tailbones in chairs and work on some semblance of a schedule. Even if it's an hour a week. I need to stop waiting to feel better about the world and just write.

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Self Publishing Overview -- Whew!

By Elaine L. Orr 

Writers who decide to publish their books wear many hats. Some are more comfortable than others, and all are necessary.

You may be reading this before you finish a book or essay. It’s good to plan ahead, but more important to focus on what you are writing.

None of these tasks matter if you don’t produce a high-quality product.

THE BROAD DUTIES

 Some may seem obvious, some less so. The steps are discussed in terms of books, but apply to stories and essays. If I thought a step may not be clear for a novice, I added detail. Mostly, since the devil is in the details, you will have to learn more later – after you decide to self-publish and pursue these tasks in earnest.

 1.        Put yourself in a chair and finish the first draft of your book.

2.        Obtain feedback from several sources, and revise the book.

3.        Let the work sit for enough time to gain a fresh respective when you reread and revise again.

4.        Work with at least a proofreader (and an editor if you can afford one) to make your book the best it can be.

5.        Decide how to publish the book – digital only, add a paperback, think about audio.

6.        Determine where to publish the ebook and paperback– Amazon only, all major online retailers, Ingram Spark for bookstore and library distribution.

7.        Understand the copyright system. (Note: Under the laws of most nations, your work is copyright as soon as you put it on paper.)

8.        Determine whether you need to register as a publisher with Bowker and buy ISBNs or use free ones when offered. Some print-on-demand (POD) firms or ebook retailers provide free ones, but the ISBN is associated with their name. That does not affect the copyright.

9.        Decide whether to do all steps yourself or work with a hybrid publisher, who assists with self-publishing steps. If you choose this route, do your research and have a lawyer review the proposed contract. The following steps assume you will do all the work yourself, or contract out a few steps and oversee the work.

10.    Begin work with a cover designer by first expressing your ideas for a cover in a paragraph or two. Allow the designer to be creative, within some basic parameters.

11.    Develop a marketing plan, for online and real-world marketing. (There are hundreds of inexpensive ebooks and free blog posts on this topic.)

12.    Develop a master digital file by stripping the formatting and reinserting it.

13.    Approve the cover.

14.    Adapt the digital copy (by saving it with a different name) for each website that will sell your book.

15.    Load the digital book first to Amazon KDP, and carefully review its presentation in the digital previewer. You are not editing text, simply looking at format (such as text size) or layout.

16.    Make formatting or layout changes as needed and reload the book.

17.    Choose a date for final publication, preferably in a month or longer. This gives you time to garner sales throughout the preorder phase, thus giving the book a higher rank when it is available for purchase.

18.    Load the digital book to other sites, possibly using an aggregator such as Draft2Digital, so you load fewer times. The more sites, the more places to correct if you find a typo later. (An aggregator loads your book to multiple sites, though not to Amazon. Though they take a small portion of your royalties, they save time and frustration.)

19.    Begin or continue formatting the paperback. (You may do this even earlier, recognizing it’s not final, but a way to review the draft book as you edit.)

20.    Load the paperback to a site such as Barnes and Noble or Amazon KDP (free) or Ingram Spark (some fees). Proof the paperback, using a paper copy at least once, and digital copy for the second round of paperback revisions.

21.    Consider publishing the paperback a week or so before the final digital release date, so you can order copies for the press and bookstores.

22.    Initial marketing should include an email blast to friends and fans whom you know will make early purchases. Follow this with social media posts (Facebook Groups, BookSky, Instagram, Pinterest, even You Tube).

23.    Implement the rest of your marketing plan (which includes real-world marketing) by visiting bookstores and libraries, encouraging local media to mention your book, possibly buying an ad in a local paper or another outlet geared to your readers.

24.    Encourage readers to leave reviews for your books online, and try to get local media to review the book at their online site or in print versions.

25.    Start your next book.

26.    Never stop marketing this one, even if you don’t work on it every day.

27.    Note: Audiobooks are for another day. Amazon and Google use AI to prepare books from your manuscript – though nothing compares to a talented narrator.

      These steps are simplified, but they could still seem like too much to absorb. Step away for a bit. Play a game of golf, read a good book, or walk a mile.

Still feeling overwhelmed? Remind yourself that authors tend to congregate in critique groups, library book clubs, professional organizations, and at conferences. You can create a network of advisors. You can also pay people to do some things for you – even formatting a book for publication.

When you hold your book, it all becomes worth it.

       RESOURCES AND LINKS

      There could be thirty resources here, multiple ones for most steps. Detailed material is for a how-to course. However, a few references may answer some basic questions.

     Who copyrights my book? When you publish a book (actually, when you write it) you establish your copyright, automatically, according to U.S. Law. You can choose to register the work with the U.S. Copyright Office in the Library of Congress (http://www.copyright.gov/). The fee is $35. Contrary to popular belief, this does not mean your book will be in the Library of Congress. A list of fact sheets is very helpful. (http://copyright.gov/circs/factsheet.html).

Do I need an ISBN for every edition? Not necessarily, but it helps. Amazon assigns an ASIN to each book, and it is becoming a commonly accepted book identifier for ebooks. Other sites assign their own identifiers. Some sites provide free ISBNs for paperbacks  Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Ingram Spark, to name a few.

The ISBN process is managed by Bowker (https://www.myidentifiers.com/), and means your work is in Books in Print. One costs $125 (!), ten are $295, and one-hundred are $575. Don't spend money you don't have, but buying ten could be a good goal.

 Should I get a Library of Congress Preassigned Control Number for paperbacks? Yes. You need to register as an author publisher and send a copy of the book to the Library of Congress. You can, and should, get the number long before publication. It's free.

https://www.loc.gov/programs/prepub-book-link/about-this-program/

 How many places should you publish? Some people do Amazon only, which lets you participate in its KDP Select program for ebooks. I publish “wide,” which means many sites. For that, I publish with Amazon and then use Draft2Digital to load ebooks to other sites – except Google. That’s separate. D2D is much simpler than formatting for all sites, though you make less per book sold.

I strongly suggest you use only three sites for paperbacks: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and IngramSpark. You could do just Amazon and IngramSpark, but I like to promote directly to Barnes and Noble (and you make more with them than by using a distributor.) Bookstores and libraries generally order only through Ingram. They will not order from Amazon. You can develop consignment arrangements with local stores, but that involves you ordering the books and keeping them in stock – a lot of work.

 Jane Friedman periodically updates her comprehensive post on self-publishing. Yay Jane!

https://janefriedman.com/self-publish-your-book/

    There are dozens of websites through which you can sell your books, and you don’t need to pay anyone to load ebooks. With most sites, you can also produce paperbacks but not distribute commercially, if you so choose. To give you a flavor for ebook and paperback publication, look to:

 Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) information. This link takes you to a broad overview; more detailed topics are in the left sidebar. Ebooks, paperbacks, hardbacks. If you use Ingram also, do not select expanded distribution.

https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A37Z49E2DDQPP3

 Ingram Spark Users’ Guide. Because Ingram offers your paperback book worldwide to diverse vendors, it is a detailed process. That’s okay. Use this as a reference tool.

https://www.ingramspark.com/hubfs/downloads/user-guide.pdf

(Note: Ingram works best for paperbacks. Ebook royalty rates are not as good as some other sites.)

 Barnes and Noble Tools and Tips for publishing directly with them. Ebooks, paperbacks, hardbacks. BN hosts author events, which is one reason I publish directly through BN Press. They can quickly get your books to their customers.

https://press.barnesandnoble.com/author-tools-and-tips

Draft to Digital frequently asked questions. D2D has been around for 15 years or so, and bought Smashwords, a popular ebook publishing site. You would not use them for paperbacks if you use Ingram.

https://draft2digital.com/faq/

 D2D publishes with all ebook sites, including Overdrive for libraries and the subscription site Everand. You can publish directly with, for example, Kobo and Apple, but I choose to simplify with D2D. While D2D has arrangements now with Amazon, you would want to publish directly with Kindle Direct Publishing.

 As the key site for Android users, Google Play Partner Program is essential.  It does not have specific guidelines, perhaps because it’s less complicated than other retailers. You load a PDF file, so the book appears as you see it on your computer.

https://play.google.com/books/publish/u/0/

    What About Traditional Publishing?                                                                     

     I would never suggest not going for a contract with a traditional publisher. In fact, I planned to find an agent and go that route for my Family History Mystery Series. I finished the first book in January 2020, the start of COVID. Uncertain about everything, I channeled my energy into work and wrote three books in the series that year. 

     Some smaller or niche publisher will review a book without an agent, but larger publisher will not even read a query an author submits directly.

    Read articles about finding an agent or ask author friends for suggestions about their experiences. Author organizations (such as Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Horror Writers Association) are good ways to network about this and learn more about writing and publishing.

     The bottom line is that you make the choices. How do you write the best book? Read, read, read.

     Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.

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 For information on Elaine L. Orr’s books, go to https://www.elaineorr.com or visit her blog https://elaineorr.blogspot.com Books are at all online retailers or ask a bookstore or library to order them. You can also sign up for her newsletter. 

Components of a Cozy Mystery

By Elaine L. Orr

When I began publishing mysteries in 2010, I hadn't heard the term cozy mystery, which was coined at the end of the 20th century. I just sat at my computer and wrote and later thought about the category my mysteries would fit into.

My choice of books with less violence was a deliberate one. I don't like really violent (especially sadistic) books or television shows. I also noted that movies with the largest box office income (at that time) were mostly Disney and similar movies.

It didn't take more than a minute to realize it was because anyone could see them. If you counted by ticket sales instead of dollars, I bet Disney movies would still be at or close to the top. Statistics vary, but Avatar and Titanic are generally in the top five. Intense, but not violent.

Given the lessened levl of violence, almost anyone can read my books. A precocious niece read them in middle school, but my books are geared to adults.

Key Elements of a Cozy Mystery 

• The story involves a murder, but it take place "off screen." Often the sleuth discovers the body.
• The sleuth is an amateur, never a member of law enforcement. Nearly all are women. 
• Professions vary, and sleuths sometimes own their own retail business -- bakery, bookstore, coffee shop -- or work in a field that permits a flexible schedule. She does need time to investigate. In my three cozy series, the sleuths are a real estate appraiser, a graphic designer, and a gardener.
• Small town are the norm. Plots can be complex and characters diverse, but the sleuth needs to know people to query (or from whom to ferret information). When she's one of 300,000 people (a moderately large city) there are fewer links among suspects -- or friends. Easier to get tips in small towns. Plus, less traffic.
• Minimal sex and swearing. Some books have a romantic element, but it can't take away from the mystery. 

Readers have expectations for all types of books. A spy thriller would have high stakes. Major characters will cross boarders and have sophisticated skills (think breaking into complex computer systems or being able to disarm an explosive device). 

A cozy reader does not want to read a detailed autopsy report. I used the word 'damn' a couple of times in an early book and a reviewer commented on "the swearing." That doesn't mean every character needs to be a goody two-shoes, but any swearing would definitely not include the F Bomb.

For a more detailed discussion, get Marian's perspective by going to https://cozymystery.com/what-is-a-cozy-mystery/. This incredible site has information on more than 20,000 cozy mysteries, including mine at  https://cozymystery.com/authors/elaine-l-orr/. Marian is a very generous soul.

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