The reason why I became a book reviewer was not only because my love for reading but because of my concerns for this age of immediate publication and the quality of the books that are being written and published. I fear that this will lower the reading standards of our future generations. I feel as a reader and a parent that we must filter out these poorly written books and find the gems! They're out there but we must stumble over many to find them. One of the concerns I have is I'm seeing more and more stories that contain…

When I think about why I love to read, I think about getting so lost in the story that I can’t hear the teakettle whistling or even feel the need to reach for a cookie. Perhaps the story has the kind of dialogue that lets me see the characters in full animation sparking words and phrases back and forth like a tennis match. Sometimes the author is such a wordsmith that the village comes to life with stores, sidewalks, children, and a mountain behind and I just know that I’ve been there. If the writer is exquisite, the words flow…

Get with the times- I certainly appreciate the love affair with a good book - I have shelves full of them. BUT, like it or not, “the times, they are a-changin” (actually have changed). To not have your book available as an e-books is just crazy. We have reached a point where more people are buying e-books than print books and the gap will only get wider. Let’s face it, fewer and fewer people are willing to spend $15- $30+ on just any book. This is not to say that you shouldn’t publish a traditional book. When I love a…

In the vein of the comment by Gloria H. I would like to add that there is another trap that all too many self-published authors fall into: it is the verbose, sometimes grandiose, and self-serving acknowledgement page, or even worse, pages. (I am using a male author to make my point but it applies equally to both sexes.) These invariably start off with something like, “I want to dedicate this book to my wife, Margie, who has put up with me for what seems like an eternity; my seven kids who are too numerous to name here but they know…

Respectfully, I have a word of cautionary advice for all you self-published authors who want to have your book read by a wide audience. It doesn’t matter how good your tale is, it may not get read if you don’t put the same degree of effort into designing the cover that you did into crafting the story. Bland and boring covers lacking in visual appeal, or those that give no indication of what I am about to read, turn me off before I even pick it up off the bookstore shelf, or read the description on-line. I guess I feel…

I am probably one of the few people living north of the 35th parallel who hates to see winter end (although this one hasn’t been particularly harsh anywhere in the Continental United States). The reason is that the long dark cold months of January and February are the very best time to curl up with a good book. The hustle and bustle of the holidays is over, decorations are down and packed away, and usually it is too snowy to venture outside. I get a cup of tea (or perhaps a glass of wine) and settle back for hours of…