Making Your Readers put you in the Re-Read Pile

I want it. I would absolutely love it if my readers would treasure my book and place it in their re-read pile. But the question is, what books to you keep? Buy in paperback so you will never lose them. Or do you purchase in ebook and keep it for reading on the fly?

WELL....

I’ve been doing some downsizing lately since we moved. And I had to make some hard decisions when it came to keeping my paperback books that have to be crammed into my measly two bookcases.

So, I decided to only keep the books that I knew that I would read again. And they are quite a few that I decided I would read again. Books that I read once, had a good ride, but didn’t think I would stick with it another round, they were donated to the library.

PAPER BACK BOOKS I was least likely to take off my shelf were:

Non-Fiction: There is a difference here because my paperback books do take up space. The books that survived and kept their space on my bookshelf were the non-fiction ‘how to’ books and the cookbooks. They didn’t even have to compete.

Poetry: As for my fiction titles, I held on to my books of poetry, which came in 2nd place because I love reading poetry and my family does have a poetry speak talk once in awhile where we recite our favorite pieces of poetry outloud.

Hard to Find Again Books: Yep, those Conan books, and comic books turned full length novels, I held on to them.

Fiction Series Titles: Series that I enjoyed each book in the series (which meant I wanted to re-read every book in the series). If there was a series where there was even one of the books I didn’t want to re-read, I donated the series.

Picture Books and Middle Grade Fiction: I kept these since my younger kids still prefer to read with a book in their hand.

EBOOKs I was least likely to take off my shelf:

Series: Here is where I don’t mind keeping a series in which I didn’t like as much.

Fiction: All of my fiction books that I liked or thought my daughter would like, I keep on my device so I can share the book with her.

MY CONCLUSIONs

I’m more likely to hold thousands of ‘only read once’ books on my ebook device since it doesn’t cost me to keep them and I can archive them. Also, I figure if I’m bored and run out of books to read, I can always find time to read that ‘okay’ book that I haven’t read in 5 yrs.

However, I’m less likely to want to keep non-fiction books like cook books or How To’s on my reading device because I like to write in those books.

As for genre’s I’m more likely to keep my picture books and Middle Grade books on the shelf since my younger kids still prefer to have the book (only because I refuse to buy them an ereader though).

SO…WHAT STAYS ON YOUR READING SHELF? Paperback or Ebook?

by LM Preston, www.lmpreston.com 

Reading, Writing, and Snacks, Oh My!

When I write, I snack. When I read, I snack. Unfortunately, the foods I crave during these times aren't that great for me--full of sugar and simple carbohydrates. Soda, slushies, cookies, candy, chips. There are probably plenty of peeps out there with this same problem, so I'd like to share some healthful snacks for reading and writing that I've started to eat instead.

Instead of sugary soda, iced green tea is my new fav. Yeah, it's an acquired taste, but then so is soda.

Popsicles? Who doesn't LOVE Popsicles? A whole box in one writing session, please. How about making your own using tea, or better yet, blend some coconut milk with your favorite fruit  or berry and pour into molds, freeze, and gobble up!

Popcorn! I know, this is somewhat debatable--empty calories and all--but if a natural kernel is used, it could be a low-cal crunch fest. Stay away from microwave popcorn, though.

The basics: Fruits, chopped veggies, nuts (a handful of nuts a day). All these are great quick pick-me-ups.

There's nothing like frozen grapes or frozen slices of peach or mango, especially on a hot summer day. Yum!

KIND Bars are delish to have on hand, too. I can sometimes find them on sale for 99 cents at the grocery store.

So there you have it. The important thing is to keep it simple and clean. Nothing processed. If you absolutely have nothing healthful in the house, drink a giant glass of water instead. :) We are given only one body. Let's make it last a long time...

What are your favorite good-for-you snacks?

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Angela Carlie writes fiction about young people. She's the author of Dream Smashers and the Lords of Shifters Series. When she's not daydreaming or writing, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, and traveling. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband, teenage son, and furry critters. For more information, you may visit her website at http://angelacarlie.com

A Reader Writer or a Writer Reader

What I mean by the title is:

Do you read for enjoyment, the pleasure of reading, of losing yourself in another world, another time?

Or, do you read to become a better writer?

I must admit I do both.

Before I started doing this amazing thing called WRITING, I didn't give the way a sentence was structured a second thought. I read simply to lose myself in a story. After reading the book: "Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write" by Francine Prose, it changed the way I read.

The book gave me a new understanding of the sentence, the beauty of each word, and why sentences can and should be varied. Long. Short. Flowery. Succinct.

Now, admittedly, I'm still growing as a writer, BUT... I've come a long way.

What about you? Why do you read?

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Lips red as rubies, hair dark as night. 

Drink your true love's blood, become the Vampire, Snow White.

Every thousand years the Vampire Queen selects a new body, always the fairest in the land, and this time she's chosen Snow White.

Blood and Snow #1 
Revenant in Training #2 
The Vampire Christopher #3
Blood Soaked Promises #4 - add to your Goodreads - available August 2012.

The BLOOD AND SNOW series is a fractured fairytale with Snow White living in present day Salem, Mass. Her next door neighbors are 7 brothers who've been adopted by an eccentric, older man they call Professor Pops. The series will be told in 12 volumes. I hope you enjoy reading about Snow, the seven brothers, and the gorgeous Hunter, as much as I've enjoyed writing about them. 

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Lover of books, baking, and toffee-making. The author of the amazon bestselling romantic suspense, "Sleeping Roses," "Aligned: An Immortal Essence Short Story," "Exiled," and the Blood and Snow series. Honorary nerd with attitude.

Effects of the Indie Revolution on my reading and writing.

Hey, everyone! Laura Pauling here. Glad you popped by. I'm talking about how this Indie Revolution has jolted my reading and writing into high gear.

I’ve been reading a lot. I can't seem to stop. Lately, I've been reading 3 or 4 books at a time.

I have a list of books I’d like to read at my library, by my bed and on my Kindle. And then there are Indie books for under 5 dollars that are doing well that I’d really like to read. And sometimes I skip my lists and stacks and purchase the ones I’m dying to read.

But we’re all like that, aren’t we? (And the girl in the picture isn't me. lol)

picture credit

Just starting out as a writer, I heard the advice read, read, read, and cut, cut, cut. I’m more of an underwriter so the cut, cut, cut for me is more like add, add, add. But to be honest I kinda scoffed at the read, read, read.

I’ve always loved reading but I didn’t purchase many new releases. I read what I could from the library. As a writer, I don’t think I got it. But wait, I read craft books. Tons of them. That must be the key. So with my brain overloaded from craft books, I continued to write.

It wasn’t until I seriously started researching agents that I went out of my way to purchase new releases from authors my top agents represented. After all, that’s what we were told to do so like a good little obedient writer that’s what I did by golly. And I could definitely see a difference. For example, this one agent I respect loved one genre but I learned he also loves incredibly detailed writing. 

But something happened. I became addicted to new releases with gorgeous covers. I wanted to devour them whole. Some disappointed me but others I loved. I didn’t even read a lot of sequels. I wanted to taste new books. This was before self publishing hit.

And then self publishing hit.

So how has this affected my reading and my writing?

I'm reading even more and through all the reading I’ve done in the past few months, the good and the bad, the Indie and the traditionally published, I see that it is not following all the rules of the perfect first five pages that get you an agent or a deal or lots of sales.

It’s a great story with heart. I think it’s always been that way. I know this because regardless of publishing route, those are the books I read. I’ve put down just as many traditional published books as I have Indie books.

I’ve also branched out in my reading. I’ve read novellas and short stories. I’ve been reading adult books too.

I love that I have more choice.

So back to the craft books. I saw a bigger jump in my writing when I started reading more fiction and watching movies to study how authors applied all that craft knowledge crammed in my head. I saw it in action. And it led to blog posts like these:

Tips from the Opening Chapters of Nightshade.

Fifteen Tips to Strengthen Story Structure.

So how has the Indie revolution affected your reading? You are reading, right? And thanks for hanging out with me!

Laura Pauling (that's moi) authored A SPY LIKE ME, the first in the Circle of Spies Series. She writes about spies, murder and mystery. She lives the cover of suburban mom/author perfectly, from the minivan to the home-baked snickerdoodles, while hiding her secret missions and covert operations. But shh. Don't tell anyone.

Hang out with me at my blog and Twitter.