Today is an admin day.
The innkeeper site puts a handicap symbol up on my phone screen. It doesn’t click open. It doesn’t swipe away. However it interferes with reading.
Peggy
Possibly an issue you are already aware of, but in case not: the new accessibility tool button is covering a bunch of the screen while in the blog pages. My phone is running android and I read the blog pages in chrome…
Brittany
Removed the accessibility bar on small screens.
I hate to bother you with a trite question, but I keep losing the ability to shift from one page to the next on the blog and on the innkeeper site. I’ve been trying to get back to an earlier post and there is no way to move to earlier pages. This happened a few days ago, and then suddenly the controls at the bottom of the page were back and I could move backward and forward again on the blog pages. Now the controls are missing again. Am I the only one having this problem ? !
Sizanne
Added previous and next links at the bottom of the blog posts across the multisite.
Hi folks – I promise I have searched your site with every key word I can think of, and have not found what I’m going to ask, so please forgive me if it’s already there. I’m wondering if you have any wisdom to offer on the subject of using pseudonyms? Pros and cons? I’m about to self-publish my first book, and I want to try getting it right from the start, but while the google is my friend, everyone has a different answer and none of them seem to come from a basis of experience. I respect so much of the information you impart here, so I’m asking you instead. Any response would be greatly appreciated – I had never imagined writing the book was the easy part. *sigh* Thanks, Jess.
Jessica
Do it. I wish very strongly that we had gone with an even less recognizable pseudonym. Ilona is my real name and we should have gone with something like Lorna Sterling. The pseudonym will save you so much grief. Writers are recognized by names not faces, and trust me, there will be times you don’t want to be recognized.
The current innkeeper book (Sweep with Me) is slated to release from Amazon on January 14, 2020. Is this correct?
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B082TVGFPW/
Yes. Remember, it’s a novella, so it is about 1/3 of a typical novel.
While you’re in question answering mode:
Will there be an audio version? Simultaneous with the novella release or somewhat later? Also: Renee as narrator (because it’s Dina again) or someone else?
Soooo many questions 😉
+1
Sometimes I wish I could use a pseudonym too 😁. Good luck with all the admin duties.
+1
If only a pseudonym worked on my kids……
When every question at the dinner table from the kids was addressed to me, I’d just say, “Mom’s in California, ask your dad! ” And point to himself. Then I’d refuse to speak for the rest of the meal. Almost as good as a pseudonym.
So uhh out if curiosity where did you prefer that you wouldn’t be recognized?
No need to answer if it’s private of course 🙂
I can imagine a few!
I don’t think I’d want to be recognized by a fan while at something rather stressful or private like the doctor, hospital, or pharmacy. I think some fans may act a little odd, too, once they learn you’re not some rando but a favorite author. That day when you look totally haggard and someone wants a selfie with you?
I imagine aspiring authors or fellow passenger might also have a few questions or try to sell you on an idea. Think captive audience on a plane being “pitched a new story” for which they’ll go 50/50!. I’ve read that some famous people (and people with high consultation fees like doctors) tell strangers they sell insurance or some other not-engaging job if asked about occupation in captive situations.
I would also like to know this, if you can share. 😆
It could just be “I’d really like to make it through the line at the pharmacy with my flu meds without someone asking me about the book.”
For what it’s worth, the accessibility button never got in my way (in case you have lots of complaints about it going away and have to decide whether or not to bring it back) and I use an Android phone with Internet Explorer, but I’ve also used Chrome too. Thanks for putting the links to previous posts on! 😊
I just wanted to second this. I use the generic browser (I guess Android browser? Samsung browser?) and read on my phone and it never gets in the way. I really appreciate your making the effort to support people with special needs despite not having them myself, and I really hope you continue to do so.
Like the name Lorna Sterling. And I will purchase everything you write this year. But in print versions. I like to hold books when I read them.
So thank you for having them available in print version.
Heh I might be remembering wrong, but Lorna Sterling might be the renowned author of swashbuckling romance 😂
Thanks for handling all those details. I hope you get some time to relax. Pseudonyms: Excellent contest opportunity.
Well, you can still write as Lorna Sterling. Maybe something about pirates and stuff?
*dreamy smile* …..yeeeeaaaahhhh….
Hi, Tylikcat – good to see you on the Comment board again … you’ve probably been posting, I’ve just been AWOL. Hope you had a good XMas/New Year, and all is settled in …
It’s been pretty sporadic, TBH? I’m currently at SICB – or at least, in theory I am. In practice, I got here a day and a half ago, and slept all of yesterday, and haven’t done anything today. (I have learned more about ordering room service…) But my brother’s memorial was on the 2nd, and I guess the stress of planning and getting through that hit me harder than I’d realized. (I was practically still chanting “I’m doing just fine” to myself right up to the point where the bed pulled me in with gravitational force approaching that of a black hole.)
There are a ton of people here I was looking forward to seeing, and I have a cousin in Austin I’d hoped to meet up with, but right now if I can make sure all the tech stuff if working for my talk tomorrow, and maybe have a quiet dinner with a couple of friends, I’m going to call it a win. (And if I just get the tech stuff dealt with, well, that’s okay too.)
Good Luck with the talk and the tech! May it work like it is supposed too
Thanks. The tech room was closed – I’ll be heading down soon (but the talk isn’t until this afternoon, so I’m not sweating it – I didn’t bring my usual connector, but I also was packing almost three weeks ago, and I’m not going to worry about it. I can do it off a usb stick if necessary.) But I ran into one of my oldest and dearest friends, and her favorite colleagues, and they dragged me off for ramen and a science pajama party which was pretty perfect.
…I might even end up with a set of custom bedazzled safety goggles out of the whole thing. Cindy’s are epic.
Who says work can’t be fun 😁. Just shipped my husband off to CES in Vegas and he was doing the last minute tech check over the weekend. They were running late on one demo board that one of the engineers had to drive it to Vegas yesterday, because it was too late ship it.
Aiee. I can’t even think if CES right now.
My talk was well received, and I ran into a few more friends… but I only was up for a couple of hours of checking things out (including a very lovely solo lunch, since it was after three by the time I ate) before I retreated to my room. I can feel the accumulated exhaustion and stress slowly working its way out of my system, but there’s some working yet to do. (And I probably have some grieving to do yet.)
I’m really glad that you posted that admin-ish (really marketing and sales and purchase options and all that) post a while back, answering the question of how to best purchase your books (or anyone’s) to give you (the author) best benefit.
I had a follow-up talk w/ my fave (and only local) Indie-bookstore owners yesterday. They confirmed that yes, this WAS the best way – it gave YOU a bit more (apparently Amazon’s royalties to authors are a pittance), and it gives the bookstore owners a little something as well. (And I really like to support my local businesses.)
So … with this coming paycheck, I’m going to trundle down to my fave Indie-bookstore, and put in and pay for orders for all your upcomings, and all the stuff that I need to fill in the blanks for books that I’ve given to friends, or would like to give to friends, etc.
Thanks for the “heads-up”! I’m totally willing to do the two-step (bookstore order, then go back to pick up order) as compared with Amazon, now that I know that it benefits the author-bookstore-owner community so much more!
Many happy sales this 202!
Well since you’re having to do the chores (sigh)… How do I put a picture in my name icon on you comment board? Some have great pics and some, like me, get random graphics. What do I need to do? Anyone?
I haven’t figured that out either!
I believe that comes from your WordPress log in. The one that I have is one I set up to log into a different blog and it carried over to thisone.
Try gravatar.com
Here you go: https://en.gravatar.com/
Make an account with your email and upload your picture.
Thanks xxxKath
There is nothing wrong with aliases. Right now I go by the name Raoul the pool boy. Seriously though. With the internet and fans being able to access almost everything its good to know you don’t use your real name Loretta. OOPS! 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to worry about the readers problems. I love the both of you and have never met you. I would be a good fan if I did meet you, though. No over the top actions or embarrassing problems. Your writing brightens my world. The sharing of your family on the blog and twitch is excellent. And fur babies are family. Thank you for all you do!
I might be in the minority here but I love the new accessibility feature! I can scroll around it using an iPhone 11MaxPro with iOS 13.3. Perhaps because it is a larger screen? At any rate, included the information in case it helps as you work out kinks.
Thank you for the tip about pseudonyms! Great advice!
Places one might not want to be recognized: in the grocery store with an unhappy toddler; on vacation with your kids – and you just want your family to have fun like everyone else; in the line for the bathroom at the local theatre, movie mega-plex, sports stadium, etc.
As to as alias, during the really rocky road of divorce, I was “Isabella of Spain” and my hang-out buddy was “Javier”. (It lightened the mood on darker days.)
Personally I like Ilona Andrews but that might be because it starts with an “a” at least by the programs I use so are near the top in my libraries …regardless love your writing so would have figured out another short cut if I had too.
And now I will be looking for anything written by one ‘”Lorna Sterling” , just in case! You do realise that you two could write the description on a porridage box, and I bet I would still love it.
So I don’t own a kindle or any other electronic reading device as I love holding the actual book. And I don’t have patience when dealing with computer issues. I read the blog from my iPhone. Before I purchase the novella kindle version—-am I able to use my phone to read or is a kindle the only way to view? 🤷🏼♀️ Thanks.
No, you don’t need a Kindle to read Kindle e-books. I use Amazon’s own program called Kindle for PC to read them on my computer. There are also several official apps for mobile reading: https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=16571048011
Jennifer, I don’t own a Kindle either. I downloaded yhe Kindle app (it was free) onto my phone (Android) and read all my Kindle books on my phone.
I read the word “handicap” at the start in someone’s letter and immediately cringed. It is one of those things really bugged me when I visited America, the word is so insulting and no-one seemed to get it, a bit like everyone throwing up a back facing two fingered salute over there. Coming from a European background it was the one word that I found always caught me off guard when switching between ‘British English’ and ‘American English.’ To quote one of my friends when she was asked if she was handicapped, “No, I don’t play golf.”
The quirks of globalization and multiculturalism never fail to intrigue me. 🙂
I agree, not the best descriptive term!
I understand the reason for using pseudonyms and agree it makes sense. I have problems when authors use multiple pseudonyms, which again, I understand, but if I like their writing, I usually like it across all genres, so want to be able to easily find all their stuff! Multiple pseudonyms makes that difficult. It also makes it more difficult for me to keep track of what I have read/own of their stuff. I keep track electronically of what I own, what I have read and have it separated by broad genre…sigh. Such problems 😆.
First: the accessibility button was super annoying, but small enough to scroll around, so I didn’t miss any text. I’m selfishly glad you removed it, but I am also surprised someone complained. Something with a picture of a wheelchair on it tells me that this is something that some people who are not TAB (temporarily able-bodied) need. I would never say “remove the wheelchair ramp, it’s blocking my view of the flowers,” especially if I could step to one side and back again to see all the flowers.
Second, I read a couple of authors who write under different names depending on the genre they’re publishing in (the best well-known is probably Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant). Use a pseudonym, and make it memorable and unusual — not just for easy (fake) name recognition, or because as a writer your name is your brand, but in case someone tries to steal that brand, it’s less likely to be their real name, which gives the first published author rights in court. This has happened. I won’t name names, but a blogger I read published a popular series, and shortly after, someone changed one letter of the last name, published a similar series, and essentially confused the issue until people didn’t know who wrote what. The second author insisted that was her real name, but it has become apparent over the years that she stole the name and the plots of a number of different series (here is where I say don’t get me started on plagiarism and EL James, who is not actually a part of this story). The first author admits her mistake in not taking the second author to court at the outset. The more unusual your brand name, the less likely it is to be someone’s real name — the only defense legally would have been that author #2 was publishing under her real name.
Funny addition: before my high school friends found me on Facebook, they would Google me from time to time. There is someone publishing sex how-to and very explicit erotic romances under my name (of COURSE it’s MY name, not hers (it’s probably also hers)), so for years my old friends thought I wrote naughty books for a living.
Jane Smith, it is then. lol.
Sincerely, thank you – I have a less-than-common last name, and the thought of losing my privacy that way is somewhat disturbing. I’ll be finding a new name before I go any further down the publishing path. x
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