You may have noticed that the artwork has gone up a notch on a few of my books.  Well, my little literary series was hit with these new designs right in time for my birthday, and Amazon took note.

The perfect opportunity to share with friends!

First the Reduced Price Novel!

Would you look at that beautiful new cover.  I love the new design – and so does Amazon.  Amazon is so pleased with the new artwork they have decided The Potter’s Daughter Kindle edition is a September pick for promotion the 10th through the 17th.  If you haven’t picked up your copy yet, or if you enjoyed the books and know a friend who may enjoy this slice of life story, this is the perfect time to spread the word.

Here’s how to gift a copy of The Potter’s Daughter to a friend:

1. Visit the Amazon page.
2. On the right side of the page, in the green box, click “Give as Gift”.
3. Type your friend’s email address, and a personal message telling them why you like these books.
4. Click “Place your order”.

Easy Peasy.  A beautiful novel for only a buck, so easy to give as many gifts as you like.

Even if you have read The Potter’s Daughter you may want to pick up a print copy.  This is a beautiful book to have on your shelf.

Wait!  There’s the Free Book!

Didn’t I promise you Free stuff if you signed up for the newsletter?

So here is another gorgeous new cover design and promotion, this one free from September 10th through the 14th.  The 14th is my birthday by the way.  Another tidbit of info is that the barn on the cover is the actual barn from the story, on a piece of property that was settled by my family before Michigan was a state.  If you haven’t yet picked up your Kindle Edition of Opening Day, or if you enjoyed the story and know a friend who may enjoy this slice of life tale, this is the perfect time to spread the word.

Here’s how to gift a copy of Opening Day to a friend:

1. Visit the Amazon page.
2. On the right side of the page, in the green box, click “Give as Gift”.
3. Type your friend’s email address, and a personal message telling them why you like these books.
4. Click “Place your order”.

This short story is Free so you can gift a copy to everyone you know.

Thanks for spreading the word and supporting the books so enthusiastically!

Thanks for Reading!

Daniel

This week the Cameron Kincaid cover art picked up a typography tweak!

There’s not a whole lot to say other than what’s up above: Amazon is offering The Cameron Kincaid Adventures Bundle, that’s both The Cathari Treasure and The Somali Deception in the same promotion, for only for 1.99 through August 14th.  If you haven’t picked up your bundle yet, or if you enjoyed the books and know a friend who may enjoy Cameron and Pepe’s adventures, this is the perfect time to spread the word.

The perfect opportunity to share with friends!

Here’s how to gift a copy of The Cameron Kincaid Adventures to a friend:

1. Visit the Amazon page.

2. On the right side of the page, in the green box, click “Give as Gift”.

3. Type your friend’s email address, and a personal message telling them why you like these books.

4. Click “Place your order”.

Easy Peasy.  Two Best Sellers for two bucks, so easy to give as many gifts as you like.

Thanks for spreading the word and supporting the books so enthusiastically!

Happy weekend and Thanks for Reading!

Daniel

Another candidate cover for my new sci fi adventure thriller.  Again Desultor is only a working title.  The colors are intended to represent the planar spectrum.  Maybe too abstract.

A candidate cover for my new sci fi adventure thriller.  Desultor is only a working title as I am still tossing a few around.  For those that are curious, yes, there is a Lovecraftian tint to the story.  A slight hue to set the stage.

THE CATHARI TREASURE STILL ON TOP!

“The Reader is Right”

a·bridge əˈbrij/ verb

past tense: abridged; past participle: abridged

1. 
shorten (a book, movie, speech, or other text) without losing the sense.  “the cassettes have been abridged from the original stories”

synonyms:     shorten, cut, cut short, cut down, curtail, truncate, trim, crop, clip, pare down, prune; abbreviate, condense, contract, compress, reduce, decrease, shrink; summarize, sum up, abstract, précis, synopsize, give a digest of, put in a nutshell, edit; rare epitomize “she was hired to abridge the works of Shakespeare for a children’s book club” shortened, cut, cut down, concise, condensed, abbreviated; summary, outline, thumbnail; bowdlerized, censored, expurgated “an abridged edition of the college dictionary”

* * * * * 

There is line editing and then there is cutting down a story to achieve another goal, to abridge.  Sometimes the goal is to condense, other times the purpose is to emphasize a mood or to create continuity.  How do you know when you need to abridge?  When your wife reads your new experimental novella and then says, “Everything after page seventy-five is great, I could not put it down…  After page seventy-five.  The writing is great in the beginning, just, slow.”

A great rule of thumb is to remove anything that does not add to the story.  Even then, you run the risk of front loading, creating the essential foundation for your story.  I once heard the novelist John Irving joke that each of his novels starts on what was originally chapter five.  I suffer the tendency to write long-winded literary prose as I ramp toward action.  Tongue and cheek I refer to this as a mimic of neobaroque.  For most every release, I have chopped the first few chapters without any consequence to the rest of the story.

William Faulkner is cited as stating, “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.”  Have the thick skin to sacrifice phrases or portions to improve your project.

I have another great rule, ‘The Reader is Right’.  This does not apply to those that strive to give notes, share what they would have written or how they would have told the story.  This rule also does not apply to haters.  There are those readers that will not like your work, the story, particular content, or the genre.  When I apply ‘The Reader is Right’ rule, I define a reader as a ‘trusted reader’, someone that knows the genre and suggests a sincere reaction to a section or element.  When a reader states that a section is too slow, the section is too slow.  There is a temptation to argue that the underlying theme of the story builds or is dependent upon a section, that the portion in question is necessary to build a gestalt.  Don’t argue.  If a reader states you have a problem then you do.  If a reader closes the book and does not return than you have failed.  Toss away the section.  See if the loss matters.  If there is a key element that truly is a necessity than bring the element back in either a condensed form, a new section, or play with moving other pieces of the story around.

I have been fortunate that several readers have volunteered to be part of my ‘first reader’ program to have the opportunity to submit feedback to early drafts.  (If you are interested, you can email info@danielarthursmith.com).  I never shun feedback.

In a short time, I will be releasing Agroland.  Agroland is the only first person fiction that I have written to publish.  The novella is also the first horror.  Given I was playing in a new direction I was expecting varied feedback.  Most of the First Readers offering to peruse my work prefer the other genres I write in (Especially our hero Cameron Kincaid).  All of the responses offered contained the three red flags of critic, courteous, pleasant, and polite.  Why are these flags?  Because I have learned that Trusted Readers become excited, are quick to point to sections they loved, pages that did not work, and contribution toward realism.

The final reader for each project is my lovely wife, the epitome of nice.  She is a floral designer and owns a bouquet shop on the Upper West side of Manhattan.  When she suggests a change, I do not argue, I do not fret a months work needs to be reworked.  I thank her, buy her lunch, and then return to writing.  My lovely wife is doing a service to all readers.  When Agroland is released, the story will be abridged (at least the first seventy-five pages.)

THE SOMALI DECEPTION HITS NUMBER ONE!