Someone asked me recently about the first book I ever published.  How big a thrill was it?  Honestly, I remember a bit of disappointment. Maybe I had been expecting too much – trumpets and fanfares would have been nice.  Instead, the delivery guy dumped a box on my office floor, mumbling about how hard my office was to find. (Yeah, well, I admit it was in the basement of the Physics building, not where one would expect to find a “published” professor of medieval history.)  

Gamely I unpacked that box and trotted off to the dean’s office to present him with the first copy. He looked at the cover, didn’t bother to open it, and said, “That’s nice, Carolyn.  But what have you written lately?” I was crushed.  Little did I realize that that phrase –- what have you written lately -- would be the recurring chorus of the rest of my life. 

When did the thrill come?  Not until a couple of years later.  I was in Washington, DC, working on a project for the NEH.  On the weekend, my husband and I went to the actual Library of Congress, where I headed straight for the card catalogue (no electronic searches in those days) and hunted for my name.  And there it was, among those millions of other cards: The Dilemma of Arnulf of Lisieux, by Carolyn Poling Schriber. Gasp.  I was a real author.  In a real library.

  I tend to forget that feeling these days, with several books to my credit and little need to visit a library, thanks to the Internet.  But libraries, whether they are stately edifices or dingy back rooms or computer screens, have always been an important – maybe the ONLY important – link between an author and a reader.  And it’s that connection that matters – the moment when an author says something important and a reader gets it.

I needed to remember that fact yesterday.  I was at a meeting among friends and colleagues.  The other attendees were all good people, dedicated to serving their communities and helping those in need.  In a casual conversation, someone mentioned that my book, Beyond All Price, had become the number-one bestseller among Amazon’s free Kindle editions of historical fiction.  What did the other listeners hear? “Free.” One fellow shook his head in pity: “That’s nice, Carolyn, but those are all copies you just gave away.  They’re worthless.  You didn’t make a cent on them.” I don’t remember what I mumbled in response.  But here’s what I SHOULD have said: 

“Worthless?  More than thirty thousand people now have my book in their hands. It didn’t cost them anything, but they asked for it because they wanted to read it.  How is that different than a patron going into the town library and asking to borrow an interesting book? A library buys one book and passes it around until the cover falls off. The author may earn a few cents (although I never earned a dime from The Dilemma of Arnulf of Lisieux), but the readers get it for free.  Money doesn’t bestow any value on a book.  The only thing that gives a book value is the moment when a reader picks it up and “gets” what the author has to offer – whether that’s new knowledge, an emotional experience, inspiration, understanding, or just pure entertainment.” 

So, in answer to all the critics of electronic books, as well as to all those who judge an item’s worth by dollar signs, I suggest that Kindle’s free book offerings are the equivalent of a great public library. Both provide free books to readers. Sure, you still have to pick and choose among the offerings.  Some books will be wonderful and some will be trash. But it matters that they are free and accessible to millions of people who would not otherwise be able to read them. 

My own moment in the sun, here, is about over.  Amazon seldom leaves a book on the free list for more than a week, so within a day or so, the price of my book will jump to $2.99, and sales will plummet. Beyond All Price will fall off the bestseller lists, although the label will stick, at least for a while. What will last the longest?  The readers who connect with me, if only for a moment, make the writing process worthwhile.  I will remember them longer than those who paid for the book to be polite and left it unopened on a shelf.  

As authors, we spend a lot of time trying to promote our books. Our biggest obstacle is obscurity because there are a lot of books out there. No, really. A lot. We like to think that good stories are all it takes to make it (in author terms “make it” usually means “become well known enough and sell enough books that I can quit my day job and write for a living”), but you can doubtlessly think of mediocre books that are selling bazillions of copies and authors you love who never make it out of the “mid-list” category. 

Sometimes it’s just the author (or publishing house) with the biggest marketing budget who wins, but you, as a reader, have amazing power. Don’t believe for a second that you don’t have anything to do with whether an author makes it, because you do. A lot. No, really. A lot. Why does this matter to you? Well, authors who get to quit their day jobs can write faster and put more books out for you! The following are some little things you can do that can make a big difference. Some of them only take a few seconds. Your favorite authors will appreciate the effort. Trust me. 

Helping out on Amazon 

Amazon is the big kahuna of book sellers, especially when it comes to ebooks, so helping an author “get found” on there can give them a big boost. You can certainly do these things on other bookstore sites as well (nothing against copying and pasting a review, for example), but Amazon tends to have more cool features to help an author get found. Here’s the list (any one of these things can help):

Helping out with Social Media 

If you’re involved with Twitter, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, etc., you can give your favorite authors a shout-out when they release new books. If they blog, you can follow their site (through Google Reader or other RSS readers) and share the link when they post something that may be interesting to your friends. If they’re on Twitter, you can follow them and retweet their links now and then. Authors don’t expect you to follow them 24/7 and repeat everything they say (that might actually alarm some folks…), but a little promotional help now and then is greatly appreciated.

If you like to be social about books, you can join sites such as Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing. You can help your favorite authors by posting reviews and talking about their books on those sites, or you can just use those places to find online reading buddies with common interests.

Do you ever talk about books or what you’re reading on your blog? You might consider reviewing your favorite authors on your site (you could even make a few dollars if you signed up as an Amazon affiliate). Also, if most of your favorites maintain websites, you could add an “author blogroll” list in your menu with links to those sites.

These days, most authors have websites and contact forms so you can get in touch. If you enjoyed their work, consider sending them a short note to let them know. While it won’t help them sell more books, it’ll make their day. Thanks for reading (this post and books in general!)

Here are some pairs (and one triplet) that are a bit more complicated than yesterday's list.

ACCEPT and EXCEPT may, depending on where you are, may sound identical, but they are quite different words.  Accept is a verb that means agree with or receive. Except is a preposition that means apart from.

ACUTE and CHRONIC: Acute means sharp as in an angle, or describes a disease that rapidly develops and gets worse. Chronic illness or problem may also be severe, but it is long-lasting and lingering.

ADVERSE and AVERSE: Adverse means unfavorable or hostile. Averse means having a strong feeling of repugnance or opposition.

AFFECT and EFFECT: Affect is a verb that means to influence something. Effect is a noun that means the result of something. (Just to complicate matters, these two words have speicalized academic meanings, but for most of us, this distinction doesn't matter.) Remember, if something affects you, it has an effect on you.

CONTIGUOUS, CONTINUAL, and CONTINUOUS: Contiguous means touching or adjoining in space.  Continual means repeated frequently. Continuous means uninterrupted in time or space.

DISCREET and DISCRETE: Discreet means circumspect. Discrete means having separate and distinct parts.

DISINTERESTED and UNINTERESTED: Disinterested means not having a bias or personal stake in an issue. Uninterested means to have no interest in something.

EMIGRATION and IMMIGRATION: Emigration is leaving a country, while immigration is arriving into a new country.  It all depends on where you stand in relation to the act.

FLOUT and FLAUNT: You flout a rule by flagrantly ignoring it. You flaunt something by showing it off.

PAST and PASSED: Past, the adjective, refers to something that has previously occurred. Passed, the verb, is the past tense of pass.

When you are editing y our manuscript, keep a sharp lookout for the following words.  They differ by only one letter but have different uses and meanings.

ADVICE is a noun similar to recommendation.

    I didn’t ask for Samantha’s advice, but she gave it to me anyway.

ADVISE is a verb similar to recommend.


     The doctor advised me to drink more water when I exercise.

ALTAR is a raised structure in a church.

     The congregation stood and faced the altar.

ALTAR means to change.

     The book is great; don't alter a word of it. (HAH!)

CAPITAL is a noun referring to a city or money, as well as an adjective that means main or precedes the word punishment


     Our capital goal is to raise the capital needed to fund the new project.

CAPITOL is a government building


     Which architectural styles were popular when this capitol was built?

CAVALRY is a horse-mounted military unit.

     During the Civil War, cavalry units still ranked as elite troops.

CALVARY is a hill mentioned in the Bible.

     The crucifixion took place at Calvary.

CITE is a verb meaning mention


     Be sure you cite at least five sources in your next research paper.

SITE is a noun referring to location (whether physical or on the Internet)


     There are mixed opinions about the best site for the new residence hall.

COMPLEMENT is a noun or verb that refers to completeness
. Note that “comple” begins both complement and complete.

     Bethany always wears a scarf to complement her outfit.

COMPLIMENT is a noun or verb similar to praise


     Although his stage persona is extroverted, Boswell gets embarrassed every time someone compliments his acting abilities.

DESERT is a noun referring to a dry place or climate and a verb meaning leave

    love water too much to live in a desert. 
Although Mary went to the party with Jon, she deserted him as soon as she found her other friends.

DESSERT  is a noun referring to a sweet food. The extra “s” in this word comes from the sweetness.


     My favorite dessert is warm chocolate cake with coconut ice cream.

FARTHER is the preferred word when describing physical distance


     If I lived farther from campus, perhaps I would get more exercise.

FURTHER generally refers to figurative distance or distance in time. 


     Housing is an important topic; let’s discuss it further tomorrow.

ITS is the possessive form of the pronoun IT.

     The cow jumped over its fence.

IT"S is a contraction of IT IS.

     it's time to build a higher fence.

PRINCIPAL is an adjective meaning main or most important and a noun identifying a sum of money or the head of a school. Remember the saying, “The principal of your school is your pal”?


     The principal reason we hired Mr. Jones as the new principal is that he is extremely creative. [And I admit that sentence is too wordy!]

PRINCIPLE is a noun similar to rule or belief.


     Maxine adhered to three basic principles when she wrote her novels: revise, revise, revise.


STATIONARY means not moving.

     Although the scenery was dull, Jules enjoyed exercising on the stationary bicycle in his basement.

STATIONERY is a noun referring to paper and other writing .  Notice the “er” in both stationery and pper.


Mikaila writes so many letters that she buys new stationery every month.

    •    BACK - He turned back… He turned…
She eased back into her chair, letting out a sigh that hissed exasperation.

    •    UP (when the direction is obvious) - He jumped up onto the porch. Better: He jumped onto the porch.

    •    DOWN (when the direction is obvious) - He looked down at this feet. Better: He looked at his feet. 

    •    Don't fly (over, across, up, down, north, south, east, west) to Atlanta.  Simply fly to Atlanta.  You usually can't tell which direction you're going in an airplane, anyhow.

    •    Reconsider your use of  IT, THEY, SOME, MANY, FEW

    •    Name the object. Who are they? Quantify some, many and few.

    •    If you mention an animal, don’t refer to the creature as a cat, dog, horse, etc. Give the specific breed, sex, color, etc.

    •    If you mention a car, give the make, model, color, etc.

    •    If you mention time, define the duration--ten minutes or whatever.

    •    WALKED – try strode, ambled, sauntered, strolled, shuffled, staggered, etc.

    •    RAN – try jogged, scurried, scampered, hurried, dashed, rushed, loped, etc.

    •    CRIED --  whimpered, sobbed, sniveled, bawled, wailed, blubbered, howled, etc.

    •    Are they bland? Why? Choose adjectives that will and play on the senses and add sparkle to the text.

    •    COLD – How cold? Icy, bone-chilling, numbing, frosty, artic.

    •    HOT – How hot? Blistering, broiling, sizzling, scalding.

    •   

    •    Check for words such as FELT, FIGURED, and HEARD. Omit these words by explaining how the character felt and what he heard or saw. You don’t need to indicate a character looked at someone before speaking. That’s assumed. However, if the character looked away, this might indicate the character’s receptiveness.

    •    Search for these words: STARTED,  BEGAN, KNEW, REALIZED, APPEARED. You don’t need these words to introduce an action.

    •    She knew John lied. Better to say: John lied. POV tells us she knew.

    •    She started to cross the room. Better to say: She crossed the room

    •    She knew he hated her. Better to say: He hated her.

    •