Applying to Freelance at Reedsy

 Most of you know that although I am a devoted Guru fan, I haven't been getting much work there since I returned to freelancing. In fact, much work in the writing area hasn't been posted to bid on. I assume this is because all those "get-rich-quick" YouTube schemes that used to focus on hiring a freelancer to write/edit a book for you to post on Amazon have now turned into letting ChatGPT write your story for you. Good luck with that... 

So, I reevaluated Upwork because that and Guru have traditionally been the best freelance websites, in my opinion. This is primarily because of the SafePay/Escrow features. 

I did recently see a promotion (or rather an anti-promotion) for Reedsy. It was by a vanity press trying to sell its own "cheap" editing services. I investigated and discovered that according to Reedsy itself, its freelancers make a whole lot more than what I usually make, and they primarily attract overflow work from traditional publishers. This looked appealing. 

The catch is that they are picky in whom they "hire" or rather allow to work on their website. You fill out a profile, with a minimum of three links to books on Amazon and your website, and then they look and see if you are good enough to work for them. They do not, however, during this application process specify what you need to get hired--er, rather to work on their website. This is buried in a separate link.

First, you have to have worked in traditional publishing as an editor. For me, this was no problem because I have. The problem is that they want you to link to the books where you have worked as an editor--but these books can only be on Amazon because they will not let you upload a book from smaller, niche publishing company websites or from university publishing companies (where the theses and dissertations I have edited are published).

Presumably, you have to actually be credited as the editor (and I am not sure if I have ever been because I contractually do not allow my clients to use my name on their work without written permission--I also work under a lot of non-disclosure agreements). So, in short, I could not upload any of my "real" work. They do not tell you why you are denied, but I am certain this was one reason.

Second, although the profile you fill out asks for 3-5 book links, the hidden page on what they are looking for says you must have at least 5. Since they will not allow you to upload any more than 5, I question how you can have "at least 5." Perhaps they should have one of their editors look at their requirements and update them.  

I am glad there are "freelancing" websites that actually screen their employees. However, I have used many good editors on Guru who have probably not ever worked for a traditional publishing company. I also don't think a link on Amazon is the best way to determine if a publishing company is a valid publishing company. I cannot tell you how many publishing companies that have been formed in the past 5 years and post all their books on Amazon because they technically are self-publishing other people's books, are not legitimate publishing companies. 

The problem is that they cater to traditional publishing companies (the only ones who can probably afford to pay the prices). It makes perfect sense that they would want to use people who already have worked there. My question is, why are these people now freelancing if they were good editors at their respective publishing companies?

I do wish I had known these requirements before I went through the process of applying. It was a complete waste of time and had I known the requirements beforehand I wouldn't have bothered.

Kirkus Review's Slant for Traditional Publishers

Traditional publishers and those who service them are not ignorant about the self-publishing cash cow. Kirkus, a review service that has been around since the 1930s, specifically focused on traditional publishers and was funded by them, until it learned it could make money from indie publishers. It then set up its "Kirkus Indie Reviews." Now, in general, Kirkus only gifts less than 3% of all the books it reviews with a star. It also only gifts about 10% of its reviewed books with a "Get it" status (the second highest favorable review). Most of its books get general reviews containing the good and the bad, and I read about 20% end up with bad reviews. That means, starting off, you have a 1 in 5 chance of paying over $400 for a bad review. 

For comparison, if you submit your book for the traditional Kirkus review (which I believe is only for traditional publishers), the editors will pick which books get any review (I believe this is 10,000 books per year) and 10% of those books will get a star. 

Whichever way your book gets a Kirkus review, understand that you cannot get a star just because the reviewer liked your book (i.e. you cannot become eligible for their $50,000 prize just because you got an excellent review). The editors at Kirkus are solely responsible for giving out the stars and promoting the book.

However, Indie authors need to be aware of a few contract clauses that Kirkus has stuffed in that mean you may not be getting a fair review. Note: although the top of the Contract says it is a general contract, it specifically talks about Kirkus Indie--so it does not apply to traditional publishers.

First, know that you cannot cancel the contract, but Kirkus can cancel it as long as it refunds your money. It does have any time limits on when it must do this, however. 

The most important and detrimental thing about their contract is two-fold. (1) You do not have any input into who is reading your book, and Kirkus does not have any contractual guidelines that limit who can read your book. This is important because Kirkus can assign your book to be reviewed by anyone. If you have a sci-fi book, they could give it to someone who only reads romance. Even worse, they could give your romance to a computer programmer who only reads books when he gets paid to do so by Kirkus. His review, based on his lack of knowledge about any sort of writing except computer programming, is perfectly acceptable under the Kirkus contract and you cannot complain about it. Nowhere in the contract does it say the reviewer has to be qualified to review the book, but it does say you cannot even request that the reviewer is qualified to review the book.

(2) In addition to the above, under "Miscellaneous," they clearly state they can hire freelancers to review your book. This means, you are not getting reviewed by Kirkus review staff with years of experience. No, if you are an Indie author, you are going to be reviewed by a freelancer. 

Kirkus' contract fully covers its butt. In my opinion, its "Indie" section is nothing more than a moneymaker for its annual award, which it usually gives to traditionally published authors. In 2024, all the finalists were from major publishing companies or their imprints. I did not go back further than this, but I presume the results are the same every year--especially since it seems most of the stars go to books selected from traditional publishers by editors and those same editors give out the stars. 

They state they make the "best efforts to provide" an unbiased book review. It does not say they will provide an unbiased book review. Nor does it say they will provide a "fair" book review, i.e. one by a qualified reviewer who actually reads your book in its entirety. 

Kirkus has been targeting Indie authors for years with marketing campaigns. My advice to those who are self-publishing is to save your money. 

A 5-Star Reader's Favorite Book Review: When Eagles Vie with Valkyries: War and the Journey Home by Paul Hellweg

[cultural sensitivity, racism, prostitution, offensive language/profuse swearing, drug/alcohol/smoking, violence, graphic violence, violence against women, mature themes, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, depression, PTSD]

5-stars

In When Eagles Vie with Valkyries: War and the Journey Home, Paul Hellweg gives us raw, gritty free verse poetry from his experiences in Vietnam. Using literary devices like irony, repetition, allusion, and enjambment, we are transported to the battlefield in Vietnam—a young history major’s first day on the job—or we are brought to modern day bars and brothels in America where that same vet is trying to forget what he had to do. This book is not just dealing with the trauma our Vietnam vets went through, though. It also highlights the trauma of war through the eyes of a soldier who is so talented he can turn swearing into poetry in places and convert the sounds of the battlefield into a Wagnerian symphony. 

I think When Eagles Vie with Valkyries: War and the Journey Home reveals universal truths about all war to which any soldier can relate. It should be required reading for government officials who have never served a day in uniform but have no problem sending young men and women to fight wars so they can line their pockets as their military industrial complex stocks rise. Paul Hellweg is both graphic and witty, with poems like, “A Tidy Battlefield.” But there is tangible vulnerability and pain in the mix that is especially poignant in poems like, “Boots in the Mud,” “The Peace of Westphalia,” “Wounded,” and “Pain.” Some of my favorite lines are too brash to be shared in a review, but one was from Bête Noire, where after a land mine explodes under our author, he notes that as he is heading back down to the hole it created under him, “Gravity does what gravity must, and you meet the beast, maw open wide in greeting.” The best part about these poems is that they do not stay stuck in 1968, but they show a veteran slowly regaining his life again over the course of the next 50 years. 

Reviewed by Jennifer Reinoehl for Readers' Favori

BYOBA: Buy Your Own Book Award

 There are so many horrible books I have read lately that are "award winning" and by "award winning authors." Yes, you can buy your own book award, but why go to the trouble when you can just make one up yourself and post a website somewhere for it? This fad is going to cause serious problems in the future and the people pushing these awards should be prosecuted for fraud. These are not real awards. 

One example is: Literary Titan This not only allows you to pay to get a book award, you also get a good review (or many good reviews) out of it. 

Another is the Book Excellence Award. They are trying to sell you their promotional services. 

Yes, bad reviews are hard to stomach. But they should be learning points. Did the reviewer personally not care for your book or was there a universal flaw that needed to be fixed? Being told your book is amazing as long as you can pay someone to say that is not an accomplishment. 

How do you know it is a fake award? There are many ways to tell. 

• You could read a few samples of the "award-winning" books on Amazon and look for typos and content issues. 
• How long has it been an award? If it has been around for decades it has a better chance of being legitimate. If it started after 2019, it's probably a scam.
• What kind of prize do you win? A lot of awards talk about the "cash value" of the prize you win. For example, with the Book Excellence Award, you get a grand prize with a "cash value" of $30,000. Now, that is their estimated cash value and the only real thing you win is a free marketing package that the sponsoring company does. Grand prizes should be the chance to get real representation and traditionally published or produced. 
• Is the sponsor their own editing/marketing/book cover design/vanity press type company? If it is a company that is selling any book related services in addition to the contest, its a scam.
• If the award is offered by a publishing company, look carefully at their website and see if authors must do pre-orders or pay a fee to get their book published. If either of the above is true, the contest may be a front for getting more clients. There is nothing wrong with entering it (as long as the entry is free or low enough cost you don't mind losing the money), just be prepared to be solicited if you lose the contest. 
• How often are awards given out? If it is any more frequent than yearly, it's a scam. 
• High entrance fees.

A lot of people say if there are a lot of categories it is also a warning sign, but I disagree with this. Final Draft, for example, is a good reputable script competition, but it has a ton of different categories. The more categories and the more prize levels the more likely you will win--especially if you write in a niche category. However, a lot of categories doesn't necessarily mean it is a scam.

Probably the worst part about being self-published is that major publishing companies frequently are the sponsors of legitimate book awards. This means, in case you didn't guess, that you will probably not be able to enter. 

Goodreads Book Review Group Blues

 So, I am in the regular Review Group now, and I am having the same problem as before. You can see this by looking at some of the reviews for the Baroness of Surli on Goodreads. Now, if you have been following me, you should know I have a book review matrix that I believe helps me give unbiased reviews. I adopted this when I started reviewing indie books and working for Reader's Favorite. (I tend to be harder on traditionally published or vanity press books--depending on the vanity press.) 

I also happen to like almost any genre. I do not care for memoirs, self-help, business books, horror that is supernatural or gore, erotica, and a few others. I will, however, read almost everything. (Erotica is the reason I have a clause in my freelancing contract that says I have the right to stop working on a project and refund any deposited funds without giving you anything if I deem the project to go against my ethics. Too many people told me they were doing "urban fiction" or "romance" and then tried to get me to work on their smut. Every sex scene I edited out they put back in with all my other edits when I finished. I wanted to throw up. Just as it is wrong to feed a Muslim pork and tell him its beef or vice versa for a Hindu, it is wrong to use a person to complete a project that as a whole is unethical to them.)

Anyway, since the Genre Specific Group is indefinitely closed, I started doing these general groups again. I decided any review is better than none. And, as before, most of the reviews say the same thing: "I don't really like reading this genre of book." Okay, okay--I get it, I created my serial novels as my own way of competing with some of those writers who put out thousands of "works" in their lifetime. My mashup genres combining historical novels in a sci-fi setting is a new thing and not going to appeal to everyone. That is why I am publishing them in serial for the first half, so people can see if they like the style before purchasing it. 

However, one review got to me because it was point on--and it wasn't even a bad review. She said the book was filled with typos? (The blog for the books is filled with typos--I put out my first draft so I can publish a chapter every day, but I do proofread it before publishing.) She gave one example where I used "to" instead of "too" and suggested I get an editor. (For the record, I used "too" correctly 20 times and "to" correctly "1012" times. I did misuse "to" about 8 times which are now fixed--but usually I misused it by creating a split infinitive.) I am thankful she pointed my typos out. I just wish she would have done it privately because I really do not think it is completely filled with them. But these are the unforgiving rules of the group--if you have published a book with any typos they can be called out. Since even traditional publishers usually have a few typos (many typos now), this is a real possibility. Since some people are not aware that things like serial commas may or may not be a typo depending on the style guide you use, this can also create problems. (To instead of too is always a typo. Split infinitives are also always a typo unless you have a single character who always uses them in dialogue. I am not saying this review in particular was wrong.)

She went on to say that I wasn't really creating a new world or new characters, but that was okay because some people do that. This, I hope she is wrong about. She did not read the original novel, to the best of my knowledge, so her comment is justified from her point of view. 

The Baroness, in my book, is trained in military arts and kicks butt--she even takes down the male lead while pregnant and saves his life when she is not. I promise that did not happen in the historical novel it is based upon. The original character mostly faints and screams and gets taken advantage of or almost taken advantage of by several men. My male lead is tortured by what he does, but his actions, in my opinion, are not nearly as bad as the actions of the male lead in the original. The original was not a character I had any feelings for and I certainly wouldn't have married the jerk, I can at least understand the male character I created. In the original, the Dad tries to shoot the Baroness, and then when they make up, he kisses her on the lips "like a lover" while she is sitting on his lap--yeah, that's not a translation issue and I was grossed out, which is why it isn't even remotely a part of my book or his character. 

I felt the reviewer, like some of the others who have reviewed me, was belittling me for recreating a once popular but little read public domain book--this is my interpretation and feeling about the review, so hopefully I am not correct. Reviews can hurt some times--and most of it can be what our own minds make of them.

I could have written my book without citing the original because it is in public domain (and it is doubtful many people today have already read it), but I am not like that. I believe the original authors deserve credit. Since these are mashups, I deliberately keep some of the original text in tact, but I also believe I have changed my books enough to pass the 70% copyright test. 

You cannot copyright ideas because ideas don't tell the story. Since college, I noticed my talent is to capture all the main ideas of a plot in a novel way, like for example, John the Baptist's beheading or Jael's driving a stake through Sisera's head. I have my own ideas, too, but I equally like recreating things my way. Saying these books are invalid because of that would be the same as someone saying, Gordon Ramsay is just remaking Beef Wellington so there isn't anything special about it. I mean he is using the same beef anyone else can use!

In the meantime, I am back to the Review Group. It is always tough to get a less than 5-star review. Authors should take those and learn from them if they can (like fixing typos), but as an author you also need to recognize when the reviewers negative opinion is not the end of the world. In the end, it is one person's opinion. If this one wouldn't have told me to get an editor on a book that has been through two beta readers and that I have been through twice myself after writing it and then rewriting it, and if I wouldn't be a degreed, professional editor, that probably wouldn't have hurt so much. But I have always said that you need to have someone else edit your own work regardless of your qualifications. This is still true and the review is proof of that. That said, the only reason she could have found so many typos when four other previous reviewers did not, would be that she was not interested in the story. I'm sorry for that, but it is unfortunately the nature of the General Review Group. 

A 5-Star Reader's Favorite Book Review: Dogs of DevTown by Taylor Hohulin

I give this book 5-stars.

[drug/alcohol, gambling, gangs, somewhat graphic violence, violence against women, murder, mature themes]

Dogs of DevTown by Taylor Hohulin is a thrilling ride through a dystopian future. Shan is a bounty hunter who will work for any mob boss as long as the boss pays in cash and uses a paper contract with her. Living in a dystopian world where everyone wants to get hooked up to the Net through a port in their necks and most are on the drug Oracle, Shan is unique in that she does neither. When one of her regular employers, Loxx, hires her to find one of his absent employees, she enters the underground turf of someone calling himself Sigma, who is even more powerful than any of the mob bosses she knows. Will she be able to finish the job for Loxx and walk away from the mystery she has glimpsed without looking back and triggering Sigma’s ire?

Dogs of DevTown was so good that I went back and checked the copyright page halfway through because I couldn’t believe a major publisher hadn’t released it. The theme that no man is an island rings especially true today when many people think they can shut themselves off from the rest of the world and survive alone. However, as was true in this book, once you try to live independently from the world, you may find your plans ruined by something your neighbor did. This may be an especially hard lesson for people like Shan, who only see how independent from the world they are, but the truth is she relied on others even when she thought she could take care of herself. I also enjoyed the message that sometimes the weakest people in our lives are the strongest in our moment of need. However, this book does not moralize. Taylor Hohulin filled his book instead with action and moments where the intensity is not a fistfight but a battle of strategy. I highly recommend this book!

Reviewed by Jennifer Reinoehl for Readers' Favorite 

The Dangers of Defunct Goodreads Groups

I have posted on here before about the dangers of exchanging book reviews on Goodreads, so I went into this with open eyes. Unfortunately, the Genre Specific Goodreads Group only has one active moderator left. I reached out to him to try to get it going again and offered to split the work and run the groups for him, but he declined. He told me to contact the moderators of the general Review Group to find out how I could get it started again by myself. I don't need to do this because I know I can't and the moderators of another group cannot do anything about it either. Unfortunately, Goodreads does not seem to "clean" its groups when moderators are AFK for months or years. 

I haven't been on Goodreads in a long time. First, I was focusing on freelancing and then on the court cases. Needless to say, I found myself in a lot of defunct Goodreads groups that haven't been closed. Goodreads really need to close groups if the moderator has not been on in a year. If the moderator has been on but has not been active and Goodreads gets complaints because the moderator cannot be contacted, again, Goodreads should reach out to the moderator with a warning that the group will be closed if the moderator isn't involved in it. 

This is important because people in groups or joining groups who do not pay attention to the moderator activity can get into trouble. One of the groups I was in no longer had a moderator. I believe it was a review group that connected people who wanted to read books for free and review them with people who wrote said books. This in itself will always be a problem. There are usually way more people writing books than those who have time to read them. Anyone posting in that group that they were interested in reviewing specific types of books would get flooded. Even people who had not been active in months or who said they were not longer accepting reviews would continue getting requests. A moderator could have set rules--like your post stays up for five books and then it gets taken down and you have to repost when you have finished those. Or, the moderator could have closed the post when the original poster said they were done. Only the moderator and not the original poster have this ability.

I also did not realize that these posts are searchable in Google. I briefly offered a free pdf to people who were interested in reviewing it on their blog. To make matters worse I did this in a group that did not have a moderator--so the post could not be taken down easily or quickly. And I was even more stupid in believing that only members of the group could see the post so I added my e-mail address to save time. Yeah, dozens of spam messages later with some of them threatening me if I didn't pay them to review their book, and I am a much wiser girl. I was able to edit the post and remove my e-mail. I also contacted Goodreads, sent them copies of the spam messages and e-mails, and told them to please remove the post altogether. It took a few weeks and I still get spam from one of them who keeps changing her email address, but eventually I hope they all get blocked. I also reported them to Amazon. You cannot post paid reviews on Amazon except in the author section. In other words, paid reviews are almost worthless and you probably won't see an increase in income. Plus, if you get caught your account will be suspended. 

So, I have tidied up my Google Group memberships and canceled several with no moderators. Some, I am still hanging around but I will cancel in June if they do not have some moderator activity. Once spammers and other unethical people take over and find out they can post whatever they want, it isn't the place you want to hang out and try to promote your book. It also can waste you a lot of time (cleaning out the spam) and it can cause you grief as well as cost you money if you aren't careful. 

Online games frequently delete accounts or kick you from being a leader if you don't log on enough. Goodreads needs to learn from this example for its groups--especially ones with a lot of activity and no moderator. It would be simple for them to send out a message saying due to lack of leadership this group will be closing on X date. Please download or save any posts you wish to keep. 

Keys to Genres (1)

Authors who self-publish often have trouble classifying their work. I recently did a post on the different levels of heat in romance. But what is a romance novel? A romance novel must have two main characters the reader likes and can connect with. These characters must develop some sort of emotional connection that grows with the characters throughout the book.

Fantasy deals with the realm of magic. If something is magical or supernatural (like spiderman) it is in the realm of fantasy. This includes magical creatures and monsters.

Science fiction is similar to fantasy. The difference is there is no magic. Science fiction takes place in the future from when the book was written. (So 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is science fiction even though we now have submarines.) Science fiction can also take place in an alternate reality. Anything that scientists might talk about--time travel, faster than light speed travel, etc. is game even if science could never actually accomplish it. 

Magical realism is different from fantasy in that the magical things that happen are more along the lines of miracles that are then accepted by people who are living in today's society. 

Non-fiction is still considered non-fiction even if you have changed the names and identifying traits of some of the people. I am currently reading a book that claims to be both fiction and well-researched, conspiracy theory truth (and no, I don't think the guy is trying to do this for literary reasons). Non-fiction (except for something like a memoir or literary fiction, poetry, cookbooks, etc.) usually requires research and footnotes or a bibliography. There are a few fiction books that imitate this with footnotes (Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell comes to mind). If the footnotes are real and not made up, it is non-fiction. 

Poetry can cover a lot of things. The problem is that it must have either rhyme, shape, meter, imagery, or some other literary device, usually one that includes the repetition of sounds. 

Dystopian--the end of the world is grim. Usually, these are futuristic books with awful governments and people trying to escape them. 

Action/Adventure books--these books usually have a quest or mission and the daring feats or physical action drives the plot more than character relationships, world building, or character building.

Horror fiction is meant to scare or disturb you. There are a variety of ways this can be done from detailing grotesque torture to paranormal events. 

A thriller doesn't necessarily want to scare or disturb you, but it more is keeping you on the edge of your seat to find out what is going to happen next. 

If there is a genre you aren't sure about, feel free to leave me a comment and I will try to address it in a future post. 

A 5-Star Reader's Favorite Book Review: I Made This One for You by Christy Kim

 Christy Kim’s I Made This One for You is a picture book dealing with an important issue in our “sharing is caring” society. Hanuel is a young girl raised on this mantra. She soon discovers there are times when children don’t feel like sharing, such as when they are playing with a new toy. Hanuel struggles to understand how her friends can say “no” to sharing and still care about her. Will Hanuel learn that respecting others’ feelings is also an important part of caring?

I Made This One for You is a good way to teach kids about the other side of sharing. Parents realize the importance of teaching children to share their toys and other items but often overlook that some children could see this as a right to take anything away from another child. Christy Kim’s book also helps kids on the receiving side of the mantra understand the asking child’s feelings and how to deal with his/her own feelings and the feelings of the other child. I’ve had personal experience with this at a birthday party for my youngest. She had just opened a toy, and the child who gave it to her wanted her to share it with him. His parent even said, “Sharing is caring.” This put me in an uncomfortable spot because the toy was supposed to be a gift for my daughter. She reluctantly handed over the toy, and I felt her sadness and confusion. I wish I had this book at that time because it would have helped me (and my daughter) to deal with the situation. I highly recommend this book!

Reviewed by Jennifer Reinoehl for Readers' Favorite

Funky KDP Ebook Formatting

 Most new authors have no problem uploading their books to Amazon's KDP. But even with a basic book, some people may be a little confused at what to do. This is why when people hire me to format a book for KDP for them, I include free uploading support. I go through it with them while they are doing it. On occasion, I have even done the upload for them--but I require they change their password to a different one for me to use, so I do not have their normal password and warn them this is risky for them. I especially don't want them to think because they can trust me that they could trust anyone else. All your tax and bank information is in your Amazon account--so please do not share your password or account information, even a temporary one, with anyone even briefly. It's like letting your kids talk to strangers--most are probably fine but there is always that one bad guy who will run off with them. 

The best format for paperbacks and hardcovers are PDFs. I recommend using a 5.5" x 8.5" format if you plan to do both paperback and hardcover because it will save you time. You also need to make sure your fonts are embedded in the .pdf. Using the styles feature is not always necessary, but it saves time and a headache in some cases. 

However, when you start to get into books that use a lot of different formatting and that have graphics, you really need to follow the recommendations and upload a .pdf instead of a .doc or other form. This will ensure your images and formatting stay put during the conversion.

For an e-book, you need to use either an .epub file or a .zip file. In addition to getting rid of Vella, Amazon is also getting rid of the .mobi file format and will no longer be accepting those files. Kindle Comic Creator (my go-to for intensive image books) will no longer work. Now, you need to use Kindle Create. 

Someone posted a project on Guru for formatting her book for Amazon. In the post she stated she would edit it and add graphics afterword. This is impossible. I mean, a .pdf or .epub could be edited if you have access to those tools, but I am not sure if an edited version would upload correctly--especially if the edits are as extensive as adding graphics. Further, you would now have to edit two documents instead of one. Once you have a .zip file, again, editing becomes a risky process and requires skill. 

Chances are good, if the poster of this project needs help figuring out how to format their book, they won't have the technical know-how on how to edit it afterward--regardless of whether or not those edits could survive the upload process.

Formatting is always the last step before you publish your book. Proofreading is both the last stage of editing and should fix the formatting, but a proofreader will not necessarily give you back the proper file formats. 

When I upload my ebook, there is nothing more depressing than finding out there are editing errors I missed (especially since I foolishly do this after I have done my paperback--a leftover from the days when you had to do the paperback first to save time and effort). This means, I have to go fix the document, recreate the .zip and .pdf files, and then I have to reupload everything. If I have already uploaded the paperback once, I also will have to wait the 72 hours to fix it. 

A 5-Star Reader's Favorite Book Review: Flora Finds Fall by Colleen Driscoll

Colleen Driscoll’s Flora Finds Fall is a charming picture book. Flora wants to play. As she goes around talking to her animal friends, she discovers they are too busy to play with her since fall has come. Each animal gives a reason that it cannot play, disappointing Flora. Soon, she gets to the wise Mr. Owl, who helps teach her that fall is everything she is experiencing and so much more. Will Flora be able to find a way to play even in the fall?

Flora Finds Fall is a good way to teach kids about the fall season. Kindergarten and preschool teachers should make this book a classroom staple, and parents should add it to their collection. Not only does Colleen Driscoll use simple words for young children and short sentences, but also her pictures show the children about fall. The nature collages will also introduce children to a unique style of art, and they can easily be encouraged to make their own collages after reading this book. It is ideal for extended learning activities such as a fall nature walk—to see how many of the things in the book they can find in real life. This was extremely enjoyable for me to read as an adult, and I could read it over and over to my young children. The pacing is great, and it shows many items children will recognize like leaves, pinecones, sticks, and acorns while introducing them to new items like squash soup and ginger. I highly recommend this book!

 Reviewed by Jennifer Reinoehl for Readers' Favorite.

Magical Realism vs. Fantasy

 I recently came across a book claiming to be magical realism, but it was really fantasy. This led me to the Amazon list of top-selling magical realism books. As expected, most of them were fantasy books or something else. So what is magical realism?

Magical realism is a book that takes place in the real world with real events happening and then throws in miracles that also happen. The miracles, like the main character flying, or in Like Water for Chocolate, the sad main character baking sadness into her food, are usually associated with an emotion and on display for everyone to see. In The Place of the White Heron by Alejandro Morales, the main character walks into a fire and saves people without getting hurt herself because she feels compelled to do so--to stop suffering and pain around her. The miracles are, dare I say, plausible in light of what we know about miracles. Magical realism has a literary (i.e. scholarly/ artsy) quality to it that most readers will find difficult to read. 

The textbook example of what a magical realism book should be trying to replicate can be found in the Biblical Book of Daniel. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walk into a fiery furnace and are neither burned nor smell like smoke when they come out. Nebuchadnezzar isn't really amazed--he's like, come over here and tell me what happened; they didn't mumble some incantation to protect themselves; and the guards died from the flames because the miracle was only for the three guys. 

Fantasy on the other hand creates a different world. Witches, werewolves, vampires, etc. may be living in our world in the book (think Twilight), but it is really a fantasy world modeled after our world. Mythology also delves into the realm of fantasy. Vampires are not real, so they cannot be a part of magical realism. Witches (as in people who can cast magical spells) are not real and casting a spell that works is not real. Once you use a spell as the method of something in your book happening, you have stepped into the realm of fantasy. If your animals talk or narrate the story--you have delved into fantasy.

So let's look at Amazon's top best sellers in magical realism and what they really are (numbers are skipped when they are just the same book listed elsewhere in a different form:

(1) Some Other Time: A Novel  This is a sci-fi parallel universe book. A woman wakes up and discovers she has gone back in time and traveled down another path. No miracles--just something that absolutely could not happen in the real world.

(2) The Lost Apothecary: A Novel This is historical fiction mixed with modern day fiction. There is really nothing magical about killing someone with poison... Sadly, this author/publisher should know better, so I can only assume it was listed as magical realism because there are fewer books to compete with in that category. In other words, it is a lot easier to be a best seller in magical realism than in, say, fantasy, where you are competing against  a ton of other books. 

(3) The Measure: A Novel This should be fantasy. Everyone in the world wakes up with a box that contains a piece of string depicting how long they will live. This is not a miracle, but for fans of mythology it should sound familiar (think the three Fates). Nothing else miraculous or magical happens in the book.

(4) Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Heartwarming Novel of Time Travel, Magical Realism and the Power of Healing  Good gravy! This one put "magical realism" and "time travel" in the same subtitle!! It is true that many magical realism books jump forward and backward time wise in telling the story--but that is NOT time travel and the characters are not actually travelling back in time!! That is not realism or a miracle. Time travel is a standard of science fiction and that is what this novel is. 

(5) The Lost Bookshop: The most charming and uplifting novel for 2024 and the perfect gift for book lovers! (These authors all get an "F" for in writing subtitles! Notably, this "subtitle" is nowhere on the book. )  Hmmm.. the bookshop is more like a haunted bookshop. Weird , unexplainable things happen, but they happen to random characters and they are not "miracles" in that they are observed by the entire populace. Once you have characters keeping the "magic" secret, you have stepped into the realm of fantasy. 

(6) Grim Beginnings: An Aisling Grimlock Mystery Books 1-3 Deals with a family of "Grim Reapers"--100% fantasy, but that is how it is listed, so I have no clue why it is on the magical realism list on Amazon?

(7) Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel The octopus tells part of the story--no realism there. Again, this book is not listed as magical realism, but is listed as "Arts and photography?" Maybe these authors first list it as one thing and then another, and Amazon can't keep up with its lists?

(8) Eva Luna: A Novel Listed as historical fiction

(9/10) The Bookstore Sisters/Wedding--Fantasy not magical realism. Again, this is not something miraculous happening in the real world. 

(11) The Conjurer's Wife: A Short Story  Fantasy (Contains secrets and magic)

(12) Better Luck Hex Time Fantasy/mystery

(15) The Seven Year Slip Sci fi-parallel universe

(17) One Hundred Years of Solitude Magical Realism

A 5-Star Reader's Favorite Book Review: American Tax Trivia: The Ultimate Quiz on U.S. Taxation by Mike Kowis

5-Stars

At first glance, American Tax Trivia: The Ultimate Quiz on U.S. Taxation by Mike Kowis may look like a book solely for tax junkies. However, this book was—dare I say—entertaining even for a person like me who uses tax software to do her taxes and has no interest in them beyond that once-a-year torture. This book will not help you score better on any exams you need to pursue becoming a CPA. There are plenty of cookie-cutter books out there for that. What this book will do is give you and your friends a nice study break while you work toward that goal. The trivia is neatly divided into topical chapters ranging from famous quotes about taxes to questions about the U.S. tax code. Answers to the trivia questions can be found at the end of each chapter and are written out in a user-friendly format.

I don’t recommend sitting down and planning to read American Tax Trivia cover to cover as I did. Instead, this book would be better used by teachers (of not only tax law but also of U.S. history, politics, government, etc.) to engage their students, by students interested in tax law, history, politics, government, etc. to round out their studies or provide much-needed breaks from them, and by people who plan trivia nights or by people like the author, who work in accounting or tax law areas and want to plan fun get-togethers outside of work. This book will also appeal to trivia lovers. Mike Kowis has mastered the format they appreciate.

Reviewed by Jennifer Reinoehl for Readers' Favorite. 

Why Did I Write a Historical Romance/Sci-fi Mashup?

 For those who don't know, I am writing serial novels here. I post a chapter each day until about half-way through the book. At that point, if a person wishes to keep reading s/he can purchase it on Amazon.

These are all mashups--I combine two diverse genres in each book. Either historical romance and sci-fi or historical mystery and sci-fi. I then, in traditional mashup tradition, take a historical book and re-write it as a science fiction taking place in the galaxy Upsilon Andromeda. 

There are usually two things people do not understand when reading the book. First, they wonder why I keep some of the historical language even though the book is set in the future. Primarily, this is because I like the movie Romeo + Juliet. In my opinion, there was nothing better than mashing Shakespearian language into a modern setting. However, there is also the truth that history repeats itself. 

One beta reader went so far as to say he did not believe that if we were advanced enough to travel to the stars we would still treat women as second-class subjects (which only the Xiepvuians do in my books), we would keep nobility conventions, and we would still be using such archaic methods as arranged marriages. I find this ironic since in thousands of years of recorded history we have always had these things, and we continue to have them today. I firmly believe one thousand years in the future we will continue to have them--especially if we are starting over on a new planet. Will there not already be a nobility in place when colonizers first set foot on it? You will have a leader and people in specific positions and people in general to populate the planet. 

The second question I get is that if I wanted to go with all these conventions, why make it a sci-fi? That is also simple. Here we have specific rules--in societies where arranged marriages exist we don't have women who are the head of militaries or the head of prosperous businesses. In Upsilon Andromedae, a woman (and man) may be subject to an arranged marriage, but that woman was probably trained to fight just as well as the man she is marrying if their position in society requires it. 

This is a new venture for me. I definitely have not perfected it, yet. However, I know it can work. After all, George Lucus did something similar in Star Wars--he had futuristic people fighting with swords. He added a magical, religious element to science fiction. There are actually many science fiction books and romance novels that operate off of old-traditions set in future worlds. Now, the mystery series is more like Nancy Drew meets Deep Space 9, and I don't think I have come across anything like that, yet. But someone has to be the first to experiment with it, right?

BYOBR: Buy Your Own Book Review

I foolishly posted a request for reviews of my book in one of my longtime Goodreads Review groups. Sadly, this group doesn't seem to have a moderator and has become a free-for-all. As far as I am concerned, in this particular group, if people are not reviewing or requesting reviews they should be kicked. One person, however, has posted an ad for casinos and it seems that most of those who had a legitimate interest have gone--except the plethora of hopeful authors seeking reviews.

This group was designed for people who like to review books (i.e. on their blog) and who may not have the funds to constantly purchase books for said review. Unfortunately, it has also been inundated with authors who want reviews and who frequently will ask you to swap for a review after seeing you post a book for one. Even though I specifically responded to one of these authors and said I was not interested in a review swap, another one posted and asked for the same thing. I don't ever recommend doing a review swap. I will post on this later. 

Since I did not realize it was no longer a useful, moderated group, the "foolish" was that I offered my email so that I could be contacted for a copy of the book if anyone was interested. Naturally, I was spammed by the members of this group who should have not been members. 

Some of these spammers actually insulted and threatened me--telling me if I didn't want to pay for a review I was not serious about my work. If anyone tells you this, they are full of bologna. Not paying reviewers is standard, but paying for a review to be posted on Amazon violates Amazon's terms of service. 

Now, if you want the New York Times to review your book, paying $20,000+ is standard. However, everyone should realize companies pay big bucks for those, and readers should take them with a grain of salt. There is also Kirkus, which is, I believe, $450. Paid reviews must, by Amazon's terms, be on the page and not part of the regular review section--and real paid reviewers adhere to this. 

The spam I got was all the same: Buy my review. Some people tried to hide it on websites that offered free reviews, but only guaranteed paid ones. This is similar to what Reader's Favorite does, except Reader's Favorite has been around a while, it actually does review books for free, it does not offer to post on Amazon (where paid reviews can get you and the reviewer banned), and it has a real annual competition that you may or may not win if you pay to enter it. Is is small scale? Yes. Is it real? Yes. Unlike hiring Joe Smooth to write a smashing book review for you and then leave the marketing all to you, Reader's Favorite will post the good reviews on their website and in their newsletter. Some reviewers also post to their blog and other places. I have decided to start posting my 5-star reviews here on Wednesdays.

Most of you who have been following me know that I review for them. But like all my work, I work for them because I believe in what they do. 

Low reviews are not posted--and some people might take issue with that. I do not because I am not forced to give a good review--whether the person paid or not. I also am okay with this because I never have to post any of my reviews anywhere. Why would I want to post a bad review to my blog? Do I really want to share with you what not to read--or an example of how not to write a book? I have plenty of freelancing stories that do that. :)

Reader's Favorite and the authors who want me to review their books market my reviews. Technically, even when I give a bad review, the author could take the positive things I say and post those without the negative to his/her Amazon page for the book. Reader's Favorite reviews are not in the actual "Review" section of Amazon, but posted on the page by the author instead--in compliance with Amazon's terms of service. 

Another reason I support Reader's Favorite is because a low review should be a learning opportunity for any author. However, with independent publishing posted low reviews can ruin the author permanently. Big traditional book companies who can not only send free books to the New York Times but also get the editors there to read them by paying for a review, or they may have a group of screened willing reviewers who react positively to anything. Therefore, big publishers can get not only bad books to make money but also help bad authors keep publishing their books. That's not fair in my opinion. So, Reader's Favorite offers indie authors a way to screen their own less than stellar books, to learn from mistakes, and to invest in promoting books that get higher reviews. 

Warning: Upwork

I have heard people on Upwork complain that Upwork is saturated. I have also heard that Upwork may refuse your profile if they believe they have too many freelancers offering the same thing.

I don't know of any other freelancing website that refuses your profile solely because they think their market is saturated in that skill set. The only reason Upwork would have for doing this is because they want their top earners to keep making them more money. They don't want to take a chance on new freelancers getting jobs for less money to build their profiles and potentially upsetting employers by turning out sub-par work.

However, at the same time, I am sure they have realized they need some new freelancers, so they carefully vet only those who ARE going to work around the clock to earn Upwork its money and only allow those in who have skills that won't displace the freelancers already maintaining their cashflow. This video seems to support that theory--Upwork gives freelancers more "leads" if they are submitting more proposals.

As you know if you have been following me a while, I work exclusively on Guru. I have been thinking about using Upwork simply because job postings are down, and I have been struggling to find steady work. However, since I have always wanted to do my own work instead of slaving for other people, I am not to upset about this. I understand the overall job market sucks right now, so that being reflected on Guru is not surprising. With AI being promoted as the next writing, editing, get-rich-quick-without-investing-a-time deity, it isn't surprising. Perhaps I will post a video on my YouTube about the inside story on these "get rich quick with AI" schemes.

That said, I was looking into expanding onto Upwork, but I have always known Upwork makes it more difficult for new freelancers. It used to be that the less you made on Upwork the bigger the percent they took out of your pay. Now, it seems they have a flat 10% fee for freelancers, but they also charge employers a percent fee as well. This could actually be a good thing since employers have to be serious if they are going to pay to hire someone. The down side is that employers can pay a higher fee to automatically screen out 99% of the freelancers on the website. That's right, the highest paying employers can choose to not see your proposal if you aren't in the top 1% (presumably income-wise). That filters business to top earners and "freelancing" businesses.

Considering all these changes, it seems to have become an exclusive country club instead of a realistic freelancing website. For that reason, I decided against trying to branch out onto that platform.

Closed Door vs. Open Door Sex Scenes

 I recently picked up a book that the author stated had "closed door" sex references. Imagine my surprise when I came across the first open door sex scene in it. 

Unlike "Sweet" romances, which have a variable definition, "closed door" and "open door" sex in novels is pretty well defined. Closed door means the couple goes into the house together or into the room together and the door closes. You see them the next day. Open door means you go in the room with them. 

In this particular book, you were more than in the bedroom with them. This is not an open door blog, so I won't be going into details, but I can give you an example of "closed door" with my Baroness of Surli serial novel. Note, this starts with both of them fully clothed inside an ultra-helio, a futuristic flying machine. He has carried her inside it after rescuing her from thugs, set her down, and then she kissed him. In other words, the kiss he comes out of at the beginning was the first sensual contact between them. 

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When she allowed him to come up for air [from the kiss], he stammered, “Juliabella, please, you are not yourself. You do not want this.” 

“You know my name, but you have not given me the pleasure of yours.”

“Actually, I did several months ago, it is Talrederick, but you knew me as—” Juliabella laid a finger across his lips, silencing him.

“You saved me Talrederick. You are my hero. I most certainly do want this.” With that, she leaned forward and planted slow kisses down his neck. As a moan escaped his lips once more, Talrederick felt his control slipping.

[That was the end of that chapter.]

Chapter 7

Talrederick lay on a mat outside the ultra-helio staring up at the stars. He had always bragged to his men about how strong he was, but tonight, he discovered he was horribly weak. Guilt riddled his soul. 

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As you can read, there is nothing described that goes beyond fully clothed kissing. She kisses only his neck and nothing lower that clothing covers. Then, the screen effectively goes black. When the reader returns to the scene, it is much later, the man is outside (she is inside the ultra-helio). He is upset about what happened between the two of them and blaming himself (as he should have in this case). Although anyone reading the book should know what happened, it would be possible to read just the above information and conclude that he was feeling guilty for kissing her. You will not find the word "sex" anywhere in the book. The reader never sees anyone take his/her clothing off or go beyond kissing--hands, faces, and this singular instance of a neck.  

"Closed door" and "off screen" mean the same things: The reader can conclude your characters had sex, or the reader might also conclude something else happened. One of my beta readers, who apparently wasn't used to reading "closed door" romances, was left confused as to what happened between the passage above. And that's how it should be. 

The problem is that when you are like the author I first referenced and you tell your audience your book only has "closed door" sex scenes, but that is not true, you are going to have someone pick up your book and get angry when s/he stumbles across your very open door sex scene. You have performed a bait and switch and that will cause readers to not only leave bad reviews but also stop reading any of  your books. There are audiences for everything--find yours and market to it by writing accurate descriptions and warnings. 

New Year's Goals

 This year, I want to read 125 books (not including ones I write). I also want to write 14 books. Don't get excited, most of these are going to be mashups for my new serial novel website. I plan to keep track of this on the Goodreads 2025 Reading Challenge page. You should also be able to see my tracker on this website for books read, and I will update this post on books written. Many of the books I will be reading this year will probably be my Reader's Favorite paid reviews so I won't be posting actual reviews of them on Goodreads, but I may post some here.

I have said this before, but all authors need to be readers. The only way you can write a book and not be a reader is if you hire a ghostwriter to help you who is an author and trust them almost entirely. 

Books written:

1. The Waylaid Prince

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14.

Is My Romance Novel "Clean?"

Originally, writing romance was much more clear. You had Christian or Inspirational Romance, which followed Christian Book Guidelines. Then there were the normal romances, and last there was erotica. 

Unfortunately, normal romance spanned everything from no onscreen sex to up to five detailed sex scenes. You have a population of people who are not Christian that do not appreciate sex scenes or swearing but who also do not want a Christian element in their romance novels. This led to the development of "Sweet" and "Clean" Romance novels. 

First, understand that "Inspirational" and "Christian" romances are synonymous. Christian books have Christian characters. These characters cannot lie without a really good reason, gamble, or drink. No character in the book should swear openly and Christian characters should not swear at all (i.e. you could say "Billy the Kid swore as he saw the sheriff approach" but not print actual swear words). There should be no graphic (i.e. detailed) or even glazed over sex scenes and violence should be minimally described without detail. Pre-marital sex should not happen--especially between Christian characters. In addition, since the characters are Christian, there may be instances of "preachiness." My Series of Inconvenience is an Inspirational/Christian romance series, like the Inconvenient Widow.

"Clean" is currently under attack as a naming system. This is because a lot of people are closed-minded and ignorant. They associate clean with getting in a bathtub. They think if some novels are "clean" than all other novels are "dirty"--purportedly because that is the opposite of "clean." They further argue that they do not read "dirty" novels just because they like sex scenes, since sex is not "dirty." Whether or not "dirty" is a bad word and should not be associated with books containing sex is a silly debate because "clean" also means "virtuous," "righteous," "chaste," and "moral." I am married with five kids. I don't see sex as "dirty," but "clean" is not just about sex. Clean books are just a small step above Christian books in that they have basically all the same rules, except there are no Christian characters, so everyone has to follow the rules of no drugs, on-screen sex, alcohol, etc. Violence should be minimally described. Swearing should be mild or non-existent. On example of my books that would be in this category is The Viscount of La Soutain.

Next, is the "sweet" romance. Here, nothing is detailed or on-screen. The focus is still on emotional attachment as opposed to physical attachment. Swear words are mild--no F-words but maybe a few cr--s. Alcohol might be involved. Pre-marital sex is okay, and they may imply characters have sex (married or not) off screen. The rules are a little more lax, which creates problems. Some sweet romances include descriptive sex scenes--and they shouldn't. This is especially true since we now have "flavors" of regular romance. The Baroness of Surli is an example of a "sweet" romance. 

Above these, you have the standard romance categories. I don't edit or write sex scenes, so I don't have examples for these:

As we move up the scale, we get to "Warm" romances. These have one described sex scene and nothing kinky. Attraction can be the main or only basis for the relationship. Swearing should be kept to a minimum with "light" swear words. Violence shouldn't be graphic. Everything else, drinking, gambling, etc. is fine.

"Steamy" romances are another rung up the ladder. These have 2-3 described sex scenes--but nothing kinky. Swearing can occur, but shouldn't fill the book. Like above: violence shouldn't be graphic but everything else goes.

"Spicy" romances are the highest level of regular romance novels. These also have only 3-5 sex scenes, and similar guidelines as those as the "steamy" level, but kinky sex (such as BDSM) is allowed. Almost anything goes. 

Above all the standard romance categories, is Erotica. Just like "art" vs. "pornography" is often defined by the value of the work, people try to argue their "erotica" should be classified instead as a "spicy" romance because they have written a story that goes along with it. I say that is a dumb measure that Supreme Court Justices used to justify allowing pornography into the mainstream. The true difference in my opinion (which some may argue is not really a difference) is whether the purpose of the work was to sexually arouse the reader (or in the case of pornography, the viewer) or whether it has some other purpose. Poorly written books with descriptive sex scenes are erotica by my standards (and technically the Supreme Court's since there is no literary value) even if they have some semblance of a plot. Erotica is not necessarily one sex scene after the other, but the whole purpose of the book is to get to the next sex scene. The easiest way to discover if you have written erotica is to remove every mention of sex, send it to a beta reader without letting him/her know the book originally contained them, and see if the beta reader likes the story. If it passes the beta reader test, then look at the sex scenes--how many are there? How detailed are they? If you have more than five sex scenes in your book or if those scenes are usually longer than five written pages, you have probably dabbled into erotica even though you have a plot.