Writer's Relief Available Online

One of the most annoying problems I’ve noticed in the past couple of years is that some writers put punctuation marks like commas and periods outside of quotation marks.

For instance, they’ll write: Mary said, “We’re going shopping as soon as I finish the laundry”.

Rules for grammar do change over time, and I've seen writers make this mistake so many times lately, I was beginning to wonder if I had missed the memo on new rules about placing punctuation marks outside the quote marks.

However, according to today’s Writer’s Relief newsflash, the most common grammar problem lies in placement of punctuation in relation to quotation marks. Here’s what they say, which by the way is exactly what we all learned in school:

The standard rule is to include periods and commas within the quotation marks.

Writer’s Relief offers monthly newsflashes that provide good, helpful information to those wanting to get published. Although it is supposedly sent monthly, I receive something from them weekly. You can sign up to receive the newsflashes at: Writer’s Relief, http://www.wrelief.com.

This month's focus is on print-on-demand publishers
This month they have a good article titled: The Ins and Outs of Self-Publishing. Although some of the terminology is odd and the information could have been more complete, I suggest that anyone who is interested in getting a book published, read this important article.

If you’re interested in getting your book published, I would also recommend checking out www.Booklocker.com to see what they offer to self-publishers. They provide a complete print-on-demand service, or writers can choose to use the services they want. For instance, if you have your own artwork or know someone who can create the bookcover design, that’s okay. Have your own editor? That’s okay, too.

Booklocker’s quality control is excellent, the prices are lower than most, and royalties are higher than other POD companies, plus the owners are very easy to work with. And they’re honest, something you don’t always find in this day and age. Writers own all rights to their work, and the contract between writer and Booklocker can be cancelled at any time if a better offer comes down the pike.

Sometimes a bestselling author on Booklocker’s list will receive a contract offer from a traditional publisher. Having had experience with a traditional, although small publisher, I’m not at all sure that I would ever accept an offer from a traditional publisher again, although to be honest, none have approached me on my two latest books because neither is a bestseller. Even if one approached me with a multi-million advance offer, no strings attached except that I produce the manuscript, I might not sign it, but frankly, since I’m not a celebrity and my books don't cover a celebrity or dish dirt on one, that’s not going to happen!

After doing all the work necessary to create a bestseller, why on earth would an author then turn it over to a traditional publisher so they can receive an 8-10 percent royalty when Booklocker pays 35 percent? True, traditional publishers have big advertising budgets and they can get placement on the shelves of major booksellers, but neither of those steps will guarantee that I’ll sell more books. My books are offered through the top bookstores, and anyone can walk in and order them and have them within 10 days. Maybe a few more books would sell if buyers saw them on display in a store, but who knows.

One troubling aspect of bookstore display can be seen at Barnes and Noble. If you’ve been in one of their stores lately, you’ve probably seen people using the store like a library. They take a book from the shelf and sit down to spend the day reading. Speed readers like me can whip through a 200-page book in a couple of hours. My question is, why would anyone pay for a book when they can read it for free?

Amazon, the major online bookstore force in the world, has my books listed on its site, but my page doesn't offer the option of browsing inside. For people who want to read a one- or two-chapter excerpt, they can do that at my page on Booklocker's site. But if they want to read the entire book, they can buy it.

If you decide to use a POD publisher to get your book published, make sure they offer your books through the biggest bookseller sites on the Internet—Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. You’ll be way ahead of the game. And make sure your book is listed in Ingram’s directory, which means it will be available to all booksellers and libraries. Then any one of them can order your book. I noticed that a library somewhere purchased several copies of my book, and can only assume they found it listed in Ingram’s catalog.

Print-on-demand publishing services are growing as more and more authors, even those with previous publishing house contracts, try their hand at self-publishing to make more money. And for newcomers, sometimes this is the only game in town except for completely striking out on their own and finding their own printer and paying upfront for printing costs, formatting their manuscript into book form, paying for the artwork, storing printed copies of their book, marketing and advertising, distributing, and all the other details of getting a book on the market.

Self-publishing has been around for years, and many top-earning authors began this way, but now it's been made a whole lot easier with P.O.D. publishers.