TheEntilza: I just took a look at my portfolio here for the first time in... quite a while, and it appears to have been deleted, except for the stuff I've disabled. Is that supposed to happen?
    TheEntilza: nvm. It's all there, just couldn't see it on the 'current' view. -


TheEntilza: It's FRIDAY (relatively speaking).
Woot woot!
    William Walz: The problem, more often than not, is that I have too many relatives speaking, usually all at the same time. -


TheEntilza: Is 'hump day' a bad day to be sharing stories? No one's reviewing the last one I posted. :(
    nor84: It's only "hump day" in this part of the world, and we have members from all or nearly all continents. -
    nor84: In a five-day work or school week, when you pass Wednesday, you're over the hump and headed for the weekend. -


TheEntilza: What is this 'highlight' feature I'm finding available?
    shelley kaye: it "highlights" a book or post in your portfolio, putting it on top of any recent posts :)

    -


TheEntilza: http://gandjpublishing.com/

I'm trying to find out about this company. Specifically I'm looking for testimonials and complaints that AREN'T posted to their website. Google came up with a lot of completely irrelevant stuff.

Anyone know where I can find the info I'm looking for?

Thanks!
-ME
    Joy Graham: That's Showboats publishing company, I believe. You should ask her since she's a member here on fanstory. She and her hubby are good folk :) -
    shelley kaye: they are wonderful people and will answer any question you have
    -


TheEntilza: It's so refreshing to critique NOT-ME's work occasionally. I've been writing and rewriting my own stuff for so long that I keep finding myself picking famous authors' sentences apart. Brooks and Salvatore come readily to mind...

Does anyone else do that?
    cephira: Yes, especially when I work so hard on POV only to find an author switching up POV like a kid in an arcade. -


TheEntilza: Does anyone know a low-cost (or free) publishing agency what can get my book on bookshelves, both cyber and physical?
    jjstar: Contact "Showboat" here on FS. She is a POD publisher. An excellent one, I may add. :) -
    cephira: Publishing on demand I believe. -


TheEntilza: What is a "Free Banner Advertisement Supreme" and how do I use it?


TheEntilza: Does anyone have anything (good or bad) to say about the Publish America company? I mean, they publish books for free. What's the catch? Lower royalties to the author?
    redrider6612: There are many complaints against them. Just google their name with the word "scam" to read some of them. -
    TheEntilza: In my experience, 90% of people who don't read their contract yell 'scam' at the top of their keyboards. I was looking for more first-hand testimonials. Hmm.

    I actually went into their publications list and saw many, many titles. Pinging a few of them against B&N confirmed that their ISBNs, Authors, and titles were legit. Those that I tested anyway.

    I'm just confuzzled atm... -
    redrider6612: I've heard they are slow to pay royalties, they force the writer to set a high book price, and they aren't good to work with. -
    TheEntilza: I see. I should probably go with someone else then... -


TheEntilza: Is there such a thing as a writer who's satisfied with his or her manuscript? I said some time last year that my first novel was officially ready to take to a publisher; and I still find myself rereading and making revisions.
I even cut fourteen chapters (moving them to a planned sequal) to make room for some content I didn't have room for before.
/sigh
    cephira: I don't think there is such a thing...I think it is a leap of faith in the end because you can't keep revising for eternity. But I know EXACTLY what you mean. -


TheEntilza: My posting is prolly gonna slow down now. I don't have a 'lead' in my stories atm... and I'm moving soon. ;.;

btw. How do I check how much time I have left on my membership?


TheEntilza: Starting to wonder if I fubar'd with my last post. No one saying anything about it makes me nervous. >_>
    Twilightspire: Sorry, I have been crazy busy and haven't been able to review. I promise to get to it soon. Been trying to drum up some votes for our little compilation book for the Book of the Month contest. -
    TheEntilza: Heh. Was referrin' to the Dragonstone entry. /shrug
    It was prolly just the holiday. -


TheEntilza: Is the site bugging, or something wrong with my computer? I have to load my home page several times to get my menu to fully appear...
    flippant: Same happens to me - I think it might be a browser issue because it loads fully on safari but not chrome. -
    jjstar: Me too! So glad it's not my computer! Sometimes just the top few bubbles for comments or certificates pops up, and then just some of the bottom ones.. -
    TheEntilza: ok... seriously... what's going on with this? -
    TheEntilza: Anyone found a fix for this yet? It's gettin' kinda old... -


TheEntilza: Right now I'm debating whether I should...
a) finish 'Rise of the Sin'dorei, vol 1' (fanfic)
or
b) work on my 'Dragonstone Saga' (an original work)
or
c) Get going on Vol. II of Baldur's Gate (another piece of fan fiction).

Decisions, decisions...
    Twilightspire: Ummm...I'm all for Baldur's Gate, but if any of the others are as good as BG, I think it would be a tough choice. -
    William Walz: I'm going through the same kind of hell myself. McDonald's, Burger King, or Jack In The Box? -
    Twilightspire: Jack in the Box is disgusting and causes mass food poisoning. Go with the King, at least it's a safe bet. -
    TheEntilza: You should always go with the King, oh uh huh!
    I don't think ya left a comment on that Epilogue, TS ;p
    Ohwells. I'll decide when I git home. -
    Twilightspire: I haven't had a chance yet, tonight, hopefully. -
    William Walz: Did you hear about that new fast food pizza chain coming over to the states from Iraq? Saddaminos. -
    William Walz: While on the subject of Iraq, The U.S. military recently banished all prostitutes from Baghdad. They decided to make it a no-fly zone. -


TheEntilza: Ever revised a piece so much that you never want to look at it again? >_<
    janalma: Read Elgone's essay, The Perils Of Self Editing. Made me smile when I read your comment, as I had just read the mentioned article by Elgone. -
    TheEntilza: Lol. I think I've heard of it; but I've never actually read it. I'll keep it in mind. :) -


TheEntilza: Rawr.
That is all.

Well, that, and I'd like to ask... why would someone leave, not once, but three times in the same book, a review of 'nice characterization!' followed by a quote from the first paragraph?

Strikes me as someone fluffing character/word count to get free member cents and/or dollars out of 'reviewing' a piece they didn't even read...
    DIS-illusioned: Yes, I felt duped by my meat, as well. It was quite 'rawr'...and could only have come from a 'cheetah'. :-D -


TheEntilza: A recent review of one of my pieces brings up an interesting question...

Is there /ever/ such a thing as 'too late' when it comes to adding to your characters or revealing more about them?

I personally am of the mindset that the answer is a firm 'no' since people are complex, ever-changing, always (when challenged) growing creatures.

As authors, should we ever truly stop developing our characters?


TheEntilza: Whelp, I'm pretty much finished writing Volume 1 of my Baldur's Gate fanfic... I just can't post it all at once. =
sixteen to thirty-two (depending on how often I have to split the chappies) to go!
Then comes Volume 2...


TheEntilza: I don't feel like reading through my EULA for this site...

If I've made significant changes to a piece, and want to ask that they be compared, can I put the second version up without removing the first?
    Celtic~Soul: You can edit an existing post and re-promote it but you can't put up a brand new post of a previous work even if you've edited the hell out of it. About the only way you can accomplish what you propose is to either:
    A. Edit the existing post and put the edited version of the story or poem on the page WITH the first version and re-promote. Warning: You won't get many reviews when you re-promote.
    B. Post the edited version in Lock and Key, invite a few people who to come have a look and give them specific information in the L&K forum about what feedback you need. Warning, if you choose this option, don't ever release the L&K to general reviewing because you'll violate that don't-post-a-work twice rule. This use of L&K sorta skates around that rule because it's a closed reviewing environment for the second post and can only be seen by those you invite.

    Good luck! -


TheEntilza: Epiphany moment:

I have the bad habit of breaking voice without even realizing it by saying things like "___ obviously realized ____."

*starts working to filter such events*


TheEntilza: Odd. My certificate on my last submission (more than two days ago) isn't expiring and no one's commented on it. @_@
    redrider6612: That is odd. If I may, I think I can hazard a few guesses as to the cause.

    First, reviewing seems to slow down on the weekend. I don't know why, since I generally have more time on the weekend and that is when I do my reviewing for the most part. I recommend waiting to post until Sunday afternoon to get the most bang for your buck.

    Second, fanfiction is not very popular here. I know, 'cuz I've posted a few fanfiction stories. People seem to avoid reviewing them if they aren't familiar with that fanfiction world. Your particular fanfiction world is rather obscure, so the odds of finding fans of it is pretty slim.

    Consider creating an original story of your own. Fanfiction is especially hard to get published, so other than giving you writing practice, it has no value. I used to write a lot of fanfiction, and I was very successful, but I didn't realize how confining it was until I began writing original works.

    On the plus side, you keep your chapters short, which is good. -
    TheEntilza: Aye, I don't write fanfiction to get it published. I just write it to hone my skills. :)

    That said, there is an original book in my folio... that currently has only one chapter. >_> I know the whole 'you have copyright' thing, but putting my originals where others can see it... just makes me nervous. >_<

    In fact, one of my original books (which you will find no word of in a public space) is almost ready to go to the e-publishers; all I need is cover art. <_<

    Meandering rant over. Summarizing: thank you. :) -


TheEntilza: Honest opinions now:
If you (theoretically) saw one of my books, a complete work, on a shelf in a bookstore, would you buy it?
Or on a database online, for that matter.
    nor84: Bookstore sales depend on impulse buying, so IF it had a great cover, if it was a thriller or paranormal romance, and if I took a peek and liked the first few pages because they were a)exciting and b) error free -- then yeah, might I'd probably buy it. -
    Topher Phaestus: A lot of what Nor said. It would depend a lot on the cover. I absolutely judge books by them. And titles. -
    nor84: Right. Title is important. -


TheEntilza: How do I report a 'reviewer' who posts something to one of my works that has utterly nothing to do with it?
A certain someone put a 'review' on my most recent post asking me to 'join their mission' and didn't even mention anything at all about the submission itself...
    Sally Carter: Just hover on Info in the purple strip, and there's an option to contact the site. I looked at the comment. We don't get too many of those usually. Tom'll sort it out. -
    adewpearl: I just checked the review - she is an 11 year old girl from Pakistan who is passionate about the cause of education in a system that is denying most children a chance at education. What she did is against the rules, but I would give the poor kid a break :-) -
    shelley kaye: yea, i agree with brooke. maybe message tom, but also mention that the reviewer is a kid who's english is a second language....

    -
    Sally Carter: Whoops, sorry, should have read more closely. I have had spam type stuff before and wrongly assumed it was one of those. Slinks out... -


TheEntilza: #100 ranked novelist...
That's a good thing right? It's got a neat lil' frog icon so it's gotta be a good thing...
I need to start critiquing more so that I can buy certificates. :)


TheEntilza: I should really focus on finishing one of the incomplete books I've got up. But then scenes that are completely unrelated just keep popping into my head! q.q
    redrider6612: Wrtie them down then go back to the one you're working on. -


TheEntilza: Is there a way to convert a book chapter to a short story instead? Without reposting it, I mean.
    redrider6612: Yes. Go to "Books" in your portfolio. Find the chapter you want and click "Remove from Book". -


TheEntilza: I just created a new 'book' on site, but when I went to add the prologue, I can't find it. >_>

Am I doing something wrong?
    redrider6612: I just went to your portfolio and found a book called Rise of the Sin'Dorei. -


TheEntilza: Merry x-mas to one and all!


TheEntilza: The hardest part in writing any story seems to be... figuring out where to begin. Discuss.
    William Walz: The hardest part for me is turning off the TV. -
    William Walz: Seriously, beginnings and endings are easy for me. It's all the good stuff that comes between that causes all the problems. -
    Celtic~Soul: **slaps Bill** Don't mind him, he's just excessively humble. He's a damn fine writer.

    When beginnings seem hard, just begin. Put down any sentence related to the story and once you're into it, go back and adjust the beginning. That's much easier than laboring over opening lines when there's so much story to be written. And sometimes, writers find the beginning lines or paragraph comes on its own several pages in. So don't fear, don't fret...just write! -
    DIS-illusioned: Try writing from the right hand side of the paper/screen, leftward. It might spark something up there. :-p
    :) -
    jjstar: I hate the beginnings...okay..and the middle..have no idea about the end. I always tell my students to pretend they are trying to tell their best friend a story. -
    jjstar: Another thing we do is make webs..like draw a big bubble in the middle of your paper with your main idea, then draw branches that tell you about the main idea..or I just have them brainstorm lists of words that relate to a story they might want to tell. -


TheEntilza: I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. My energies have been devoted elsewhere and I came down with a case of writers' block. >_<
But in about two seconds I plan on posting a rough for this scene in 'Rise of the Sin'dorei' that I've been trying to beat out for a while.

Forgive me, it's still a rough draft >_<
    rosehill (Wendy): It's tough when you end up with a full case. I am in deep trouble with only a six pack. -


TheEntilza: I wonder if there's a Fanstory app for Android...
    specialkk: There is an app but I have it on my iPod. Not sure about Android. It's very hard to read though so I normally just get on the web to access FS :) -
    nor84: emmex said, "However, if a third party publishes copyrighted material onto another site, without approval, and for no reason other than to expose the author to hatred, ridicule and contempt they have indeed engaged defamation of character." I think it would also be a violation of the real author's copyright. If there's proof, maybe it's time to consult a legal eagle. -
    Meta~Mark: Nor? what does this statement have to do with this persons post??? -
    Meta~Mark: I think you meant for someone else..fyi -
    TheEntilza: Umm... Nor84... what's that got to do wif mah post? -


TheEntilza: My computer lives again!
After replacing the mainboard, the CPU, the graphics card, memory modules, HDDs, monitor, power supply...
oh yeah, sound card too.
    DIS-illusioned: Be careful; that Frankin-comp is gonna insist you assemble it a female companion--most likely a Mary-intosh.
    :) -
    TheEntilza: ROFL.
    Didn't I mention "monitor" as well. ;) -
    TheEntilza: And no, I buy computer components piecemeal and put them together myself. :) -


TheEntilza: I'm looking for a talented 2D artist to design the front-cover of my book (the one I haven't shared a single word of on this site). I don't have a lot of money to bat around, but I'm sure reasonable accommodation can be reached.

Contact me if interested.
    redrider6612: Have you checked our sister site? FanArt Review has many talented artists. -
    robyn corum: contact Jon eno, he's a member here and a great artist. Does covers, too. -


TheEntilza: Taking a break from Fall of the Horde for a few days whilest I work on my feature novel some more. :)
I'll have something new fer my fans some time next week... I think.


TheEntilza: I guess I accidentally doubleclicked something. When I tried to post 'Tidings' it told me that I'd already posted two stories today, even though it appeared in the listing @_@
Ohwells. It's there, and that's what counts. :)
    Grammies: You might check with Tom I think ou can only post a maximum of twice in one day. -
    TheEntilza: Yeah. I knows. The point was that it directed me to 'you can't put more stuff up' when I was trying to post my second piece for the day >_> -
    TheEntilza: Another oddity with that posting:
    People have commented on its successor, "Tidings, pt 2" but not on it, even after I split it in two. I'd be interested to know if anyone even /can/ see it atm... -


TheEntilza: Hrm. I might have blown it on my last chapter. >_>
Usually I've got my two responses and a certificate expired message by now...
<_<
Ohwells. I thought of a few details I needed to add anyway!
    TheEntilza: Yaaar! I'm pretty sure that that submission was bugged now. Had a heck of a time removing it (almost deleted the whole book! Eeep!) but it's done, and t'will soon be back and improved! -


TheEntilza: I'm confuzzled.

My rank for novels was 218, now it's 217 and says +1...

Does a lower rank number mean a higher rank?
    redrider6612: Yes. After all, #1 is higher than #2, right? -
    TheEntilza: Kewlio! Thx!
    *conspires to climb the ladder* -
    TheEntilza: ack! I dropped! I'm only 226 now! Q_Q -


TheEntilza: sigh... why is so much content on this site focused on poetry? I just browsed classes and there's one one prose for every ten that focuses on poems. :'(

Not that I have anything against poetry. I just never could figure out how to use it properly; and find prose much more interesting. >_<
    Grammies: Also agree with you. Have very little taste for some 'open' poetry because I can't understand it or what rules they follow.i have two hundred plus 'skip' and review pickings for prose are slim. -
    nor84: I know. I wish there were more prose contests, more prose prompts, etc. I guess I could start a member contest again. This Sentence Starts the story contests aren't hard for the contest originator to screen. Neither are 55 word contests. Contest originators are responsible for seeing entries comply with contest rules and it can be a lot of work. -


TheEntilza: Hmm. Should I put up a second Rianna chapter fragment, or the next section of the Sin'dorei story for my second daily submission...

decisions, decisions.


TheEntilza: Google docs == awesome

That is all.
    TheEntilza: Well, firstly, you get to keep rights to any work that you post there. Secondly, it's a free, if somewhat stripped down pass into MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Thirdly, you can edit anything you store on board from anywhere (I use my phone for editing a lot). Lastly, you can share your stuff with collaborators and friends selectively by manually putting in their e-mail addresses.

    So. Awesome. -


TheEntilza: Glarg.

My next piece for "Before the Blade" is one 2.5k word conversation. Methinks I need to break that up a little... somehow.
    DIS-illusioned: Me thinks you need to break that up a lot...definitely!
    :) -
    TheEntilza: Well, it took some trickery, and editing magic, but I think I separated the uberconvo into three manageable sections, the first of which is already up.
    More to come! -


TheEntilza: Ok. I just signed on from work to check reviews...
I can no longer locate the 'log out' button. Someone mind pointing it out to me?
    Lady & Louis: If you look on the left in the panel with your new reviews/messages info, Sign Out is at the bottom. -
    nor84: If you look at the upper RIGHT corner, next to your name, it's there. -
    TheEntilza: Found it, thanks. I wonder why they made the link white-on-white >_> -
    Lady & Louis: They've fixed that now - the name is in a purple patch, so to speak. Much easier to see! -
    TheEntilza: Did they? I'm still 'seeing' white on white >_> -
    Lady & Louis: It might take a while to catch up. My side panels were still red until until about 9am Melbourne time today, and other people's had changed already.

    Maybe the colours sort of seep around the interwebs ... :P -


TheEntilza: Yay. Finally. Only took five tries to get that chappy to save. Anyone else having that problem?
    TheEntilza: Heh. Five tries to post. Many more to write and revise. ^_^ -


TheEntilza: I seem to have accidentally changed my website layout. @_@ How do I change it back? I don't like the purple one! >_<
    TheEntilza: And by that I mean the layout at the top of my screen has been flipped. @_@ -
    Jen Gentry: Looks like the purple one is here to stay for all of us. I am missing my menu tab. :0( -
    nor84: Jenny, look in the upper right corner. It has it's own space now. -
    nor84: In My Menu, upper right screen choose "my options" and see if you can change the colors. -
    Lady & Louis: The site changed the colour to purple and the layout, that's not something we can affect, accidentally or not! :) -


TheEntilza: Also... why does going to 'write > post chapter' always take me to the last book I posted to instead of lettin' me select? @_@
    Lady & Louis: It's just the way the default's set. If you've more than one book on the go, add to it through your portfolio instead. -


TheEntilza: I'm debating here. I want to post the next part of 'Before the Blade' but I'm not entirely sure it's um... legal.
On the one hand, there are /numerous/ literary precedents that have a fourteen year old kissing (that is usually about the age when such things become common place). I can think of at least two books off the top of my head that are not only in mass marketing and distribution; but also on the best-sellers list.
Sigh... I hate touchy/controversial subjects. Always afraid to stick my foot in the waters.


TheEntilza: I stand corrected. Ashantra's chapter in "before the blade" turned out to be five parts.


TheEntilza: Challenges are targetted from one member to another right?
    nor84: I believe they can be targeted to everyone or just to one member. Check out the form for them under the Contest tab. -
    redrider6612: Yes, they can be targeted, or they can be issued to the general membership. If a targeted challenge is declined, it's released to the general membership. -
    TheEntilza: Ah. I thought someone was challenging me to write a poem. My poetry is rubbish, so I think I'll just abstain, lulz. -


TheEntilza: I got my first six-star review!!! I i'm soooo happy! XD

Now to add the next sequence.


TheEntilza: Finished posting revisions to my first one, Rise of the Sin'dorei, based off of critic reviews that I agreed with. Thanks for the help to everyone that gave me useful suggestions, and thanks to everyone else for reading my stuff. ^_^
More content forthcoming. Maybe I'll add my Wheel of Time novella here...


TheEntilza: I wonder if there's a way to attach a glossary of terms to a novel. Hmm.
    Kelleigh: You could add it as a chapter... -


TheEntilza: Hmm. About a day now with no review of my latest release. Maybe it was *too* short. Perhaps I should edit in the next part. >_>


TheEntilza: I used to shoot for 1,500 words in a scene. Then I joined here and started getting feedback, and realized...
That's way too much - though doing it in the early days does seem to have helped my verbosity.
I think I'm going to shoot for 700-1500 words to a scene, and maintain 3,000 words to a chapter for now.
    Lady & Louis: One thing to remember is that reading on screen is a different matter from reading in an actual printed book. I'd hate to read such short chapters as we post here on paper, but I couldn't read real-book-length chapters here either.

    There's also the matter of promotion, on FS - the longer the chapter the more work reviewers feel they're doing for the payout. And since making huge payouts is ridiculously expensive and time-consuming, it's better all round to just shorten chapters. One way to do it is post "Chapter 1, Part 1" as some people do; that way you don't have to chop your story up so much. -
    TheEntilza: Thanks guys. Great advice!
    @L&L: I know. Oftentimes (at least on the stories I'm working on for in-print publication) I actually print them out to proof them. I find it hugely helpful. :) -