tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post4928322035795118748..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Front to Back - Mari BiellaKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-76172759833653712112015-09-05T18:21:08.825+01:002015-09-05T18:21:08.825+01:00Nothing annoys me more than thinking I have 20% of...Nothing annoys me more than thinking I have 20% of the story to go - and then finding the end on the next page and the last 20% is author-puff. If I want to read chapter 1 of the next book, I am perfectly capable of finding it myself! In fact if I read chapter 1 now, by the time I go to look at the book for real, I'll re-read chapter 1, it will look familiar and I'll think I've already read the book, so won't buy it.... :-)Debbie Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06761474820689143835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-52800739516983297342015-09-04T00:07:03.740+01:002015-09-04T00:07:03.740+01:00Well done, Mari. I'm the pro-TOC side. After r...Well done, Mari. I'm the pro-TOC side. After rewriting MonsterTime I found I really dug the titled chapters. And I think I may revert to this form--or, for shorter books, at least with titled Parts. I'm moved to this because my latest Kindle has a nasty habit of jumping back and forth. It was very skittish with Bill's mystey Darkness. No Go Back to Last Page Read. No, I often had hunt to for minutes. Would be much easier to this if I'd been guided by snappy chapter heads. glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-27363540004475713102015-09-02T20:27:20.804+01:002015-09-02T20:27:20.804+01:00Interesting feedback Susan, they are excellent sto...Interesting feedback Susan, they are excellent stories, I think it was the publisher who formatted it for kindle, not the author. Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-41295603597375578662015-09-02T19:42:40.619+01:002015-09-02T19:42:40.619+01:00I have to say, I like a TOC and chapter titles in ...I have to say, I like a TOC and chapter titles in an e-book. I often want to find and re-read a particular bit - and I haven't always thought to note it with a bookmark.<br /><br />It's easier to find it again if the chapter titles give me an idea of where to look. I remember doing exactly this with a contents page and page-numbers in my copy of 'Kidnapped' long before e-books were ever even dreamed of.<br /><br />And I'm reading the excellent short stories in 'Something Vital Was Dropped' - and it has no TOC to enable me to skip backwards and forward between the various titles. Good as the stories are, this is a mark deducted for me.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-229281705565665332015-09-02T14:41:57.850+01:002015-09-02T14:41:57.850+01:00Add my thanks to those of the others, Mari, for su...Add my thanks to those of the others, Mari, for such a clear, valuable assessment of what's required. I appreciate Catherine's thinking on the titles for chapters dilemma, although the thought of having to find such things is stressful. I have enough difficulties trying to decide what to call the actual book.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-14170700184996446102015-09-02T13:27:34.819+01:002015-09-02T13:27:34.819+01:00Interesting points, everyone. I agree that the ToC...Interesting points, everyone. I agree that the ToC is less important in fiction, but I think it's nice to have anyway. What isn't so nice is to have to scroll through a series of chapter numbers before starting on a story sample, which is why I now tend to position the ToC at the back of the book whenever possible. I'm glad to hear that chapter names may be making a comeback, too, as they're far more interesting than just numbers.<br /><br />Dennis - I found the CreateSpace template surprisingly easy to use, too, though I must admit to spending half an hour or so turning the air blue when I couldn't get the page numbers to format properly. Apart from that, though, it was hearteningly easy, even for me...<br /><br />I often get the urge to start rewriting, Umberto. So far I've managed to resist, but for how much longer?!Mari Biellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14221256993468150226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-2574348097299780902015-09-02T12:38:06.359+01:002015-09-02T12:38:06.359+01:00Yes a helpful post Mari and seems to be sparking a...Yes a helpful post Mari and seems to be sparking an interesting debate. I too don't see much point in TOCs in novels where they are a long list of numbers, but I put them at the back. I always do the linking to start, end, toc, etc as well. As for finding something, you can search your book on kindle for words or phrases, which is a useful way of finding somewhere in a book. in novels youd' not normally know which chapter something was in by number, but you might know there's a rabid aardvark in that chapter which would be easy to search for. I keep front matter to the absolute minimum on kindle, but I do put in good reviews and cover quotes. Acks, which in my poetry books can be pages long and contain valuable info, but in novels are more like a few shout outs and thanks, I also put at the back in ebooks. you can include all your back matter in the TOC of course!Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-37120054553357734912015-09-02T12:36:45.167+01:002015-09-02T12:36:45.167+01:00Catherine, that's a very good point about chap...Catherine, that's a very good point about chapter titles. When I started writing novels in 19diddlysquat they were pretty well obligatory. To find suddenly that books were appearing without them seemed a marvellous release. Now I'm beginning to pine for them again. But I think ToCs are essential in any book, though I do understand that a bald list of numbers isn't much cop in an ebook. As far as layout and conventions are concerned, Mari, I hate to harp on about this but the Createspace template for - no, I must stop saying 'for idiots': I must say 'the beginner' instead - is a remarkable document which makes interiors not far off 100% professional without your even trying. There's a lot of tidying up afterwards and it's good to have familiarity with what constitutes professional practice but I'm really amazed and satisfied by the results. As far as back matter is concerned for a print book - yes, a selection from any decent reviews are good to put up on it, plus explanatory blurb, but I'm not above sneaking a few inside as well. Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-72689009828859873352015-09-02T12:09:50.200+01:002015-09-02T12:09:50.200+01:00Good, useful and informative, Mari - lots of food ...Good, useful and informative, Mari - lots of food for thought. I'm inclined to agree with Chris about ToCs - those long lists annoy me a bit as well. Although what Amazon wants, Amazon gets - and they do seem to want them. I've certainly started using them. However, I think Chapter titles are making a come-back! I used them in The Physic Garden and I don't know quite why I did - it's a historical novel and they just seemed appropriate and my publisher thought so too - but I'm doing the same thing with the new novel. I notice quite a few writers using them now. And this got me thinking - maybe it's partly the eBook effect. It can be hard to flick back and forth in an eBook, but your kindle will easily take you to a specific chapter - if you know the one you want. Perhaps chapter titles facilitate that? Or, I suppose, it could just be a welcome side effect! Anyway, I plan to carry on doing it. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-14025359476730430362015-09-02T10:17:33.765+01:002015-09-02T10:17:33.765+01:00Excellen post Mari. However, I have mixed views ab...Excellen post Mari. However, I have mixed views about ToCs. I appreciate them in non-fiction books which indicate the topic of each chapter, but I am less enamoured of them in novels where the chapter headings are Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc. I get annoyed at having to flick through 3 or 4 pages (sometimes more) of a ToC that just indicates the chapter number. And the habit of giving each chapter a distinctive title seems a tad old-fashioned nowadays. Therefore the ebooks I have on sale have no ToCs, although recently I noticed Amazon is demanding them, so I've decided on a compromise. In future I will add links to the Dedication, Acknowledgements, Beginning, About the Author, and Other Books. But I won't put chapter by chapter links in, they just annoy me too much, besides they eat up space for the Look Inside feature. What reader wants to know there are perhaps 80 chapters in a book?Chris Longmuirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488093821886798927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-62346884706850687632015-09-02T09:08:08.128+01:002015-09-02T09:08:08.128+01:00Yes. Most helpful. Thank you,Mari. How do you resi...Yes. Most helpful. Thank you,Mari. How do you resist the temptation (or, for me, compulsion) to rewrite while you're sprucing up, even though all this does is open a super-size can of worms? I have to steel myself. Of course, electronic publishing allows us so much more flexibility to revise, edit, update and polish a work before and after publishing it - and makes publishing a fluid process. That's the good news- and the bad news. I have a raging stiff neck that drops by like an unwanted in-law every time. But I learn a lot.Umberto Tosihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04939504157464234443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-22512184201826900402015-09-02T07:17:42.631+01:002015-09-02T07:17:42.631+01:00This is both Interesting and helpful. Thank you fo...This is both Interesting and helpful. Thank you for setting it out so clearly. Wendy H. Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04022089775887274043noreply@blogger.com