Follow Friday

Follow Friday is hosted by Alison and Parajunkee.

Q: What is the BIGGEST word you've seen used in a book lately - that made you stop and look it up? Might as well leave the definition & book too.

I guess because I ready mostly YA, I haven't had to look a word up since 2010. I don't remember the book or even the word. But for a while I kept a chart of words and definitions, so I know I have had to look up a word.

If you stop by, please leave a link so I can visit you.

How I Feel About the Book Industry

Substitute "drunk girls" with nerd girls, and these are my thoughts exactly.

Edited: This was supposed to be funny. But I see I've gotten pageviews w//o comments, so I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

Q&A

I've got questions & I'm seriously hoping you have answers!

1.  I have a couple of other blog pages, but I can't seem to get them to show up anywhere, though I've published them. Does anyone know how to do this?
2. Can someone tell me how to make a button?
3. Marketing-- How do you market a book in a genre you have no contacts in?
4. Has anyone ever paid to have a blog tour organized? What could one expect to pay for this?
5. I had more questions than this, but can't remember the rest. Which probably means I'll be doing the same post again in the near future.

Follow Friday

Follow Friday is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee.

Q: What hyped up book was worth all of the fuss?

TWILIGHT. Sure, lots of others were, but after I fell in love with Twilight, I started a book blog. Meaning, lots of times I read the book before the hype. Ha! ;)

OH... If you like to review "sweet romance," please let me know in the comments. I may have a short fix for you ;)

On Digital Rights Management (It Doesn't Say What You Think It Does)

Before we get started, you can find an excerpt of Kismet at the Daily Harrell.

I think for an author I may have a unique view on digital rights management and piracy. I don't like DRM. I don't hate piracy. Yep. I said it. Hear me out, before you call me crazy.

DRM often limits the devices a reader can access your story on. That means if I want to buy your book, but your DRM software doesn't work with my reading device of choice, I'm probably not going to buy your book. If I do, and I can't read it or have a hard time reading it, I associate your name with a reading process that is a pain in the butt. Even if I associate your name with a story I love--it was still a pain in the butt. If I only liked the story, it wouldn't be worth it. In short, I think DRM can cost an author sells.

Piracy may cost an author sells, but it offers exposure. Yes, I know. Stealing is stealing. On the flip side, most people aren't willing to spend money on an author they don't know. If a reader finds your work for free from a slightly less than legal source, you may become his/her new favorite author. You wrote a book they illegally borrowed, but books are usually out legally long before they're available illegally. If someone loved your work (which they wouldn't have seen otherwise), they are likely to buy your next work, and the one after that, and the one after that. Don't get me wrong. I understand the business sense, that we have to be careful about how many books we give away, and I don't like the idea of a website making money off my work and me not. I just think when we consider DRM software, we need to think it through. Are we willing to give a book away for discoverability? Do we want to protect our work to the point of losing potential readers? Also, lots of times downloads come from countries where the book isn't legally available, so did we actually lose anything?

For what's it's worth my thought is that you should copyright protect your work. You should not use DRM. If my work is being illegally given away for free and still has my name on the cover, I don't care that much (unless and until I'm a best seller--then things get more complicated). If my work is being given away for free with someone else's name on the cover, I've copyrighted, so that will change and I will be paid restitution. If my work is being sold illegally, I sue.

What are your thoughts on DRM?

On Setting

First off, congratulations to Ruth. She won my contest hosted by Kelly Hashway.

I've never understood that common thought in the writing community that setting should be another character. I've often thought setting wasn't really that important. Yet, I've often been told I'm good at setting. Ironic, because the  only thing I've ever really done to achieve a "quality" setting is write places and cultures I know.

I recently realized whether I knew it or not I've been good at setting, because I understood one thing. Whether a writer a hits you over the head with setting or not, a story takes place where it does for a reason. It could only happen to these characters in this setting. My husband's family is visiting from India right now. They've made it perfectly clear they're not fans of U.S. culture. My father-in-law picked my copy of Climbing the Stairs up and began reading it. Denying the whole time, that it's a romance novel. Finally, he admitted it was a romance, but there was a lot about Indian culture woven into it. This is true, because it's set in India during World War II. In that moment, I realized all books have culture woven intricately into them. A story can only happen in that setting.

That's when I realized I'm good at setting, because I write places I know well. I set stories in a culture I understand (a culture that I don't always agree with). When I start a new story, I think where does it make sense for this to happen. My brain links back to places I've lived and things I've seen and generates a match. This will almost always be in the South, since that's where I spent most of my life. Once I know my character's world, I move on to writing. That's it. That's all I do to be "good" at setting.

Happy Birthday To Me & Kismet Release

It is 9/11. I am 28 today, and Kismet is now available!

If you don't know what to get me, buy my book ;). LOL Just joking, but it would be nice though :D.

Synop
Tiffany is a hard-working accountant with no time for love. After escaping her sister's too wild Cancun bachelorette party, she meets a local guy, Luke in the bar. When they're forced to spend time together, Tiffany lets her guard down, but she still has to return to the US in two days. Will the airport be their final goodbye? 

The tour kicks off tomorrow on Kelly Hashway's Blog. I'll be giving away a couple of books, so please drop by and say hi. And I still have a few reviewer copies of Kismet to give away, so if you're interested email me at bethfred08(at)gmail.com with a link to your blog. Thanks! 


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