Experience something different…

14 Comments

• cs says:

  August 9, 2011 at 10:24 pm

  I don’t know if you live in England Sharon, but if you do I hope you and your loved ones are safe.
• Sharon says:

  August 10, 2011 at 7:02 am

  Oh, thanks. I’m really touched you stopped by to ask. Yes, I live in England. There were rumours of a riot possibly breaking out in a nearby town, but I’ve not heard of anything having happened there yet. Hoping it doesn’t. It’s not just London — it is happening in a few other areas as well, and there’s talk of it spreading. Can’t tell you how upset the good, decent British people are. This is mob rule and doesn’t speak for the majority of us. The scenes of people coming out together to help each other clear up — that’s the truer face of Britain. It’s the same refusal to be victims that have got the country through worse than this. Most of us are just wishing someone in our ‘leadership’ had the courage to bring in a greater police presence and the army. Thanks for asking.
• cs says:

  August 11, 2011 at 12:20 am

  I’m glad Sharon and as a Scot I feel so sorry for those who have lost their property. Even more so since three young men where murdered as well. The police whilst I feel bad for, and wouldn’t want to be in their shows, did nothing until it was too late. The army was needed, forced was needed, and instead nothing was used and people have lost their lives.
• Sharon says:

  August 11, 2011 at 6:28 am

  Totally agree. Alas the police could only wait for orders from above. It should have been zero tolerance from the start.

  By the way, I’ll be looking for a new home for that long-awaited (boy, is it long-awaited) book I mentioned many moons ago asap. I thought I had placed it, but then I decided I couldn’t agree to the changes the publisher wanted so that fell through. I’ve had to shelve it as I’m working on a companion book using a character from the first, and I needed some distance from it after much ‘negotiation’ that turned out to be pointless.
• cs says:

  August 12, 2011 at 12:29 am

  Very true. I just hope things don’t start up again.

  Was it that M/M contemporary book you were working on? I’m sorry plans fell through with that. Right now I tend to buy from Samhain since they’ve got that discount thing going. But only when they have an M/M book I’m interested in. Dreamspinner is also a good place, and Loose Id – rarely now because their prices vs. the length is always debatable.

  I hope you get a home for your book. You’re talented and whilst I may not have read every book you’ve written — you deserve a lot more recognition and praise with your work :]
• cs says:

  August 12, 2011 at 12:30 am

  Excuse my typos. I tend to comment in the wee hours of the morning.

  *with/for your work.
• Sharon says:

  August 12, 2011 at 7:17 am

  Ahh…thanks. Yes it’s that book. Publishers make edits, of course, but I couldn’t agree to the cuts. While they had their reasons, I had to consider them and decided the publisher could be right ‘for their market’, but it didn’t mean my book was ‘wrong’. I didn’t just have a gut reaction — I asked the opinion of several gay men as to the subject matter and they said it sounded like good conflict…so I had to back away. It felt like something fundamental was being changed. I’d rather self-publish if it came to that.

  I tend to buy my romance books on the Kindle software (though I don’t own one), only because my card company has a fit about overseas payments large or small. I’d rather be able to shop in a way where the authors got the highest percentage, but I get tired of calls of ‘Did you make this payment?’ LOL If I can’t pay some other way I have no other way to buy them.

  Don’t worry about typos. You should see my drafts. Brain working faster than my fingers even though I’m a decent speed.
• cs says:

  August 12, 2011 at 2:34 pm

  Was it something in the story they didn’t like? If so I can understand your reluctance especially if it changed the story. Self-publishing is also a good route as well, more control a little more work but if it pays off – then all is good.

  I just downloaded the app for my desktop. My brother’s wife bought him a Kindle for his birthday and he loves it. He’s a big fantasy reader, and most of the books he reads come in hard back and are like a 10000000000000 pages. So this is good for him. I’ll be getting one too soon.

  I buy directly from the publisher myself, but at the end of the day as a customer I’m always going to look for the cheapest option first.
• Sharon says:

  August 14, 2011 at 10:30 am

  Mostly something about a character and the way the character reacted, but I asked some gay friends and writers their take on it, and they said it was realistic and something many gay men go through. If the publisher didn’t want to deal with that subject, fair enough. Unfortunately, many people don’t realise sometimes a writer can sign up and then get changes thrown at them they’re ill prepared for. Fortunately, for the most part I’ve worked with decent people and things can often be negotiated, but once a writer signs a contract they have to face the possibility of edits they disagree with — it’s a whole subject that really needs a huge essay to cover. I prefer publishers who are up-front. The joke is having spoken to others about this story, I thought of a way to make the subject they didn’t like work better for the story. It needed a tweak to make the whole thing work, granted — but that’s not the direction they wanted me to take. :/

  I guess knowing what it means to the writer to get the highest percentage, I’d like to buy where I know they’d get the most pay, but yes, as a reader one does look for best price, understandably, and also it’s just not always possible or practical to buy from the main source.
• cs says:

  August 19, 2011 at 10:05 pm

  That is unfortunate. I mean if it’s done in true form, with research to back up the reaction then that’s a real shame on the publishers front.

  I never knew that about things can change after the contract has been signed. That’s very…distressing to read I might add. After all don’t authors need to submit a full manuscript to publishers nowadays. It’s not like an author is hiding their intentions with the book they’ve written. It would be something I’d be interested to read, if you ever want to share on that aspect. I truly did not know publishers/editors could do that.

  I honestly don’t know what problems people face when buying directly from the publisher. I suppose if you have a card with the main brands on them, or a paypal account it’s easy. I wouldn’t buy paperback from a publisher. Too overpriced. Then again LGBTQ books tend to be in general which confuses me. I’m not just talking about e-pubbed books into paperback.
• Sharon says:

  August 20, 2011 at 8:57 am

  I’m not saying it didn’t need work, but after talking with others I was able to edit in a way the publisher still wouldn’t want — it doesn’t remove the parts they object to, just clarifies them. I’m not saying they’re wrong — every publisher tends to have readers who like certain things and they will make changes to create the largest sales for their market. Creativity and business don’t always work hand in hand, unfortunately.

  Um…yes. Quite often, though not always, a writer signs a contract and then receives edits and may have no idea what to expect. I’ve written some blogs on editing elsewhere, but it’s a good subject to add to so I’ll do that this weekend and give you a shout.
• cs says:

  August 22, 2011 at 1:25 pm

  It is a business as you said. I mean they go with the trends and demands, but it’d be nice to see a business branch out or even attempt at a more niche market.

  That I understand, editing certain things adding things is a given. I was more confused about publishers actually being able to change a fundamental part of a story, even after seeing the raw manuscript.

  Looking froward to the piece when you get a chance to write it
• Sharon says:

  August 23, 2011 at 8:50 am

  You can pop along to my peripheral site (there is a link to it on the ‘Everything Else’ page but it’s here: http://smbidwell.wordpress.com/ ) and read my post Creativity vs Business. Also look down a short way and read Edits Happen. Both may interest you. Any time you ever have any questions, just shout.
• cs says:

  August 28, 2011 at 2:27 pm

  Excellent. I shall comment over there once I’ve read your posts. Thank you.