1.31.2013

How do you Spell High Ate Us?

I've been missing. Lost in a mountain of snow and no one came looking. Sad. I learned how to survive by adapting to the Yeti. Oh they're out there all right and I've been accepted into their clan. They let me return to my normal life as long as I promised to pay a tribute to them once a year. Which reminds me. Does anyone know where I can score a satchel of dung beetles and an 8-track tape of Air Supply's greatest hits? Anyone?

I'm trying to resurrect my writing/marketing career. I've been on a bit of hiatus, which can be a fun word if you break it up and happen to know anyone named Atus.

"Hi Atus! Where have you been?" ..... That's all I got.

Ah, the joy is endless.

But seriously, there are so many ways to connect with people now-a-days. E-mail, cell phone, Facebook, twitter, blogging, Pinterest (whatever that is.) I bet people who enjoy voodoo love Pinterest.
My problem is I have a short attention span and my memory is awful unless we're playing the game 7-degrees of Kevin Bacon in which I rule the world. I also worry about bothering people. I don't want to be that guy that's always saying "Hey, look at me! I did something and I want you to love me for it."However, I know of no other way to get the word out about my books.

So let's try this. First, I will offer a Writing tip. I tried this before. Long before. Failed. But I'm all about second chances. And then, if I happen to have an announcement or something along those lines, I will add it at the end. These tips will vary in length and have no logical order to how I give them. For instance, this first one is short.

A Tip for Polishing up Your Manuscript - Open a separate word document or an excel spreadsheet (might be better) and cut and paste the first and last sentences of each chapter next to the chapter heading or number.

For example:

  • Chapter 1 - Boogies - 
    • Opening sentence - Connor loved his nostrils. 
    • Closing sentence - Which made him the last of the "picking" order.

Do this for every chapter and line them down the screen so you can see them all without too much effort.

Pretty simple right?

Now, take a look at each of your beginning and ending sentences and ask yourself a few questions. How often do you begin or end a chapter with dialogue? How often do you begin or end your chapter with a question? Do you start too many chapters off with pronouns? (i.e. Chapter 2 - He ran headfirst into a dumpster, Chapter 3 - His head was still spinning, Chapter 4 - He noticed a strange odor coming from his forehead, etc. etc.) Do you transition well to the next chapter, or does it just stop short and pick up on the next page with a different chapter heading? Do you see a pattern developing with how you end and begin chapters? Maybe you answered yes to some or all of these and you like it. Well, that's fine, but chapter transitioning is an important element of polishing your story and you should definitely develop a system for double-checking how you do it.

That's my tip and here's my announcement.


To gear up for the release of Hashbrown Winters and the Whiz-tastrophe, we’re doing a blog tour starting next week, February 4th -17th for the 1st Hashbrown Winters Adventure. I need bloggers! This book came out almost 3 years ago and I’m willing to bet there are a lot of you who haven’t read it with your kids yet. So… go to my publisher’s website and sign up for a slot. HERE - http://www.cedarfortbooks.com/events/author-tours/

It’s free and it supports a good cause. Me. And people will look at your blog too. So it supports you! Also, if you're a writer (published or soon-to-be published) I'll return the favor down the road.

Then e-mail me or something to let me know. These are great reads for your kids, but if you have the ability to let yourself travel back in time to elementary school, you might find them enjoyable as well.

We’ll then do:
o   Book 2, Hashbrown Winters and the Mashimoto Madness from Feb. 18th-Mar 4th
o   Book 3, Hashbrown Winters and the Phantom of Pordunce from Mar 5th-Mar 17th
o   And then finally the newest adventure, Hashbrown Winters and the Whiz-tastrophe from Mar 18th-Apr 9th

4 comments:

A.J. Dub. (Amy) said...

While I am a blogger and I know what a blog tour is, I am not sure what you are looking for. A book review? If so, who reviews it? The kid(s) of the blogger or the blogger or both?
I am not volunteering, as I stink at "book reports",and my blog is mostly about crafts and recipes and quilting. When I posted your various giveaways, I never got any hits on the links, so I think my audience doesn't care about kids books. Also, when I review a book it ends up like "It was really good!" Or "It was kind of lame."

Really I am just nosy/curious. And maybe someone else out there wants to know too.

Frank Cole said...

Amy, that's a good question. I honestly don't know what I want. Obviously, I want to spread the word about my books because I have do most of the marketing and I'm awful! So, I dunno, I s'pose posting my book on your crafting blog might not do the trick, but having your kids talk about it or report on it (report has such a negative feel to it) would be great. Whatever the case, you're a great supporter. Any time you can spread the word, I appreciate it.

A.J. Dub. (Amy) said...

I wish I could be more help.
I just told my 11 year old son about the new book and he said, "Weird, cool, awesome. Sounds like a book I would read."
:)

Frank Cole said...

Hey, that's a great quote!