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My Badge of Honor: Trolls

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Troll_clip_art_medium

Trolls, gotta love them. My book came out the 7th of September of this year. On the 9th I got a one star rating attached to a rather mean review. I was confused for the book had just came out two days ago. Not wanting to start a war on my book page I left it alone. Every one told me it happens, it is no reflection on you, move on. My publisher felt that this was a person who was trying to help their friend out, who might be in the same genre, by lowering my book. She had seen this before I believe. I was wowed.

I can handle a one star review if you read the book but I truly did not think it was plausible they did. So I decided to dispute it. The comment complained about the pricing being to high however he/she placed the same review for my ebook and the one in print. I disputed first the ebook. I said this review does not match since they are complaining it is to high at 13.99 yet the book was listed at 5.99.

I then went to the print book to dispute that review. I mentioned how the book had only been out two days. Even if it was in print there was no way it would have been shipped out that fast for this person to have read and review. I did not think that was possible. Plus my publisher said no book had been sold via Amazon at that time. If they had purchased from her again they would not have gotten it that soon.

I placed both remarks to Amazon and moved on. I figured I did the best I could. This past Monday a friend texted me to say the reviews had been removed. I am not sure if my disputing the comments had any thing to do with it, I like to think so.

Writers alike this is a win for us. It is. I will not be able to get rid of every troll, it will happen, it is part of the game. But I am wearing this badge of honor for this time I got rid of one.

Author, My characters, Writing

Author: A Solitary Life

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2013-07-27 09.19.12

The life of a writer is solitary for the most part. Even if you have an office it serves one. You don’t get to have lunch with the office crew. You don’t get Christmas parties or birthday cupcakes. It is just you and your chosen method of writing whether that be by pen and paper or computer.

The social aspect that comes with working in a job with fellow coworkers can’t be reproduced in your office at home. If I had my way, all the writers I know would live in a 25 mile radius of me. They could come visit and write without us saying a single word to each other. It wouldn’t be required. Just the sheer presence of someone else would be worth it. The distractions are there. Within my reach is my fridge, TV, the internet and a host of other things that can preoccupy my mind as I work on any present WIP. One has to stay focus and prioritize when you work in an office of one. Things that might not get in my way if I had regular hours and an office space outside the home.

The solitude can be hard when humans are deemed social creatures. It does not always hit me as I tend to stay busy so my mind does not have time to think. Though there are those days, few thankfully, that I sit back in my chair and wish my office had a larger staff. Someone I could go talk to for thoughts, ideas and just general chit-chat.

Thankfully my characters draw me in as they beg for me to come play with them. How they want me to come and explore what is on the next page. They are always there for me during the good and bad times. I guess in their own right they are my coworkers sitting right there next to me waiting to talk.

eStory, Root Canal, Short Story

Publishing Online:”Root Canal”

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Jasper1

Last Friday I released my short story “Root Canal” online. It was a labor of love and stress. The entire time my poor editor got pestered with endless questions and then questions to her answers that she gave me. She does not get paid enough seriously.  What I hoped to gain from was four thing.

-Go through the process of getting a piece of my writing online and learning how to do so.

-Sell one copy to say I sold one copy to someone.

-Sell two copies so I can say I earned my first buck as an author.

-To further the process of getting my name out.

Anything else would be pure pluses in my mind. The end goal was not to sell a whole bunch, though that would be nice, but for this to be a learning experience for me. My good friend Tracy told me when she earned her first dollar she enlarged the book cover and framed it with her dollar. I thought that was a pretty awesome idea. But I am going to expand on that. I have printed out the first sale on Amazon which was my very first sale and also printed out my second sale on Smashwords. The two equals my first dollar. I have not worked out how it will look framed just yet. But I am definitely framing that puppy oh heck yeah.

I told my editor that I would feel a whole lot better on May 11th for that would be the day after the official release, I do. This is just a really good feeling. Granted it is a short story and a quick read but I am glad I put it out there. Some people will like it some won’t. But I accomplished what I sent out to do.  At the moment of writing this I have sold nine copies. To me that is all pure happy pluses and I thank every one who has bought this short story. To those I know and don’t know I hope you enjoy it.