Haha, on the FAQ I only saw mentioned bank account transferring, but again, it was a quick read, it might not have been updated or something if it's a recent change. Still, a deeper read about it and search for said posts may help me when I get to it. :P An uplifting paragraph. Very true, people in a small niche try to find others to pass the love to, so... the problem is always finding those first few. ;P No wait.- the problem is finishing anything. *keeps getting distracted* lol Must remind myself to cross bridges when I get to them only. The other day I was all "D:" when my friend was trying to give me advice on writing. Her Advice: So you write the draft for a basic beginning, middle and end and then you write. And tada! Story done. Me: . . . <_< I had the basic 3-points skeleton. Story is NOT done. T_T Her: No? D: You just write it and there it is. Me: T_T XD I envy her skills of "writing it and there it is", it's a good view, but it seems to fail miserably with me since I get stuck often. (Then again, this last bout of laziness was brought less out of being stuck and more out of 'lets see how many webpages I can design before I decide I don't want a webpage about this'). Oh, you didn't mention it, though I think I've seen his tumblr in the past, probably from goodreads, I'm fairly sure the rss was added there. I should have a look. And I'm glad you feel better!! But you should still go to the doctor if you're not improving more by tomorrow. I have a tendency of going "if I feel sick tomorrow I'm going to the doctor" and then feeling better just the one day lol <-can literally scare her body into feeling better for a while xD-| I haaaate doctors, but they're a necessary expensive evil.
Hmm! I thought Gumroad did use Paypal to pay. >_> Though that could be from my quick reading of the information. xD I think the gentleman I mentioned blogged about it 4 months ago or so, so I'm not surprised I forget details. >_>; Exactly! It's a big world out there and surely someone is looking for exactly the sort of things you like to write. You only need to find the niche of readers that will like your work. (And the smaller that niche is, the more likely they are to share it with others, too. So even if you write to a small fraction of potential readers, it makes up for it in that people who like that niche thing are more likely to seek out other niche-following people and tell each other about that awesome new thing they found. And if you write something that would appeal to a lot of people, well, you'll still find your audience if you just hang in there and do what you do and keep getting better at it. xD ) And, bah. I don't mind sharing. xD I wish I had more experience and more absolutes to share. Btw, did I mention Neil Gaiman's blog in my links? He's on Tumblr at neil-gaiman (I think "neilgaiman" is a fan-tumblr.... or the other way around. I just know he reblogged something from the other one today). NG's not my top 5 favorite authors, but probably top 10 and he posts several times daily (often questions from fans). Feeling better today. >_> I think it was just a sort of perfect storm of minor health problems. But if I start feeling bad again at all, I'm going to to the doctor. xD
Yeah, the websites thing is pretty lame, but hey, what can you do, eh? I just really don't get why I have to pay double taxes though. It sounds rather wtf (I'm guessing it's related with tax evasion somewhere... ), but then again I'm not very savvy in economy and such. Gumroad seems interesting, but from what I see (admittedly, just a quick read of the FAQ) it doesn't support ppal to retrieve payments and that's just about my only way of getting paid other than Western Union. And we all know no one likes that because you can get scammed- unlike with paypal /sarcasm. But I'll have a deeper look at it, it might be interesting to keep the link around, if they take or start taking paypal, the fees would be decent. Thanks. And yes, I'll still post 'for free' to my writing blog I guess, not that anyone reads it, not that I update it often enough for anyone to care either. xDDD It's not like I'm actually finishing anything anyway. lol But I think I'll also put up my own shop if I ever finish up anything, of course that would require I work my weakest weakness ever: any sort of advertising whatsoever. <_<; Yes, I think writing is the same as drawing in that aspect- if you enjoy it and you want to do it (both of which I do, I just wish I could finish things lol), it doesn't matter much if a lot of people don't like it. It's a big world anyone, there's bound to be someone somewhere who enjoys it too. XD As for giving out too much, hmm I'll have to consider that. And you're awesome. All the links and advice are very much greatly appreciated! Even if there's something that's not immediately useful, there's things that are still interesting or that might be useful soon/in the future. So please, do ramble. 8D Though I'm sad to hear you're still feeling unwell. Definitely go to the doctor! Even if you feel better tomorrow. And even if it's not the same your co-worker had it's still better to have whatever it is checked out. I hope you feel better~ *hugs*
Uah.... :x Well - re: the websites. There's nothing at all wrong with just writing and building up "inventory". You never know when they may make new contracts, you know? I heard Amazon is trying to get into Brazil and the more South America gets into the game, the more likely it is your country will too. :x Alternately, there is one service I've heard of (but not tried myself)... https://gumroad.com/ Not sure if it'll be any better for you, though. But if it's even marginally better, it might be a good alternative until such time as the uploading sites have a better deal with your country. :B (That guy I linked you to re: translating books is the one I heard about it from, so you could always talk to him about his experiences with it if you wanted more info.) I'm starting to come to the opinion in writing that if you think it should be there and you enjoy it, it doesn't much matter whether or not critiquers would say it ought to be there. :' Essentially, this: http://kriswrites.com/2012/06/27/the...ch-perfection/ The average reader will probably enjoy it, if they enjoy your style and especially if they enjoy your characters. Though, re: giving too much too soon, I suppose that depends on two factors: (1) would it be more suspenseful if it wasn't mentioned until later? (If it needs suspense/surprise.), (2) has there been a lot of exposition all in a clump? If it'd be more suspenseful/make the reveal more impactful, maybe move the scene until a bit later. If there's been a big dump of information, you might want to give the reader a breather. Otherwise, I'm not sure it matters. >_> You're not annoying. xD I'm not sure if I'm rambling anything that sounds helpful/useful/sensible though. Not been feeling 100% the last few days and if I'm not feeling well tomorrow, I might go to the doctor. (A co-worker had similar symptoms to mine and said that the doctor told her something about health complications if left untreated; etc, etc. So of course, I'm worried. >_>; )
Ohhh, good old Trillian~ Good old times. I stopped using it when there was some major effup and nothing connected- or things crashed on connect... so I switched to Pidgin (back then known as Gaim) on a friend's recommendation and couldn't be happier (oh, the lightweightness! xD) loool, yeah I know what you mean, it's actually quite comfortable not having to be a wake at a specific hour. Speaking of Australia (totally random, but it reminded me of this), the other day I was bored so I started re-checking out createspace and smashwords and such and was awfully disappointed by things that hadn't been there just last year when I first checked them out. I forget what the createspace thing was (something about amazon being mean to international users xD), but smashwords now "has to" withhold 30% of all earnings because of US taxes (for countries that have no tax contract with them, and of course, mine doesn't have one *rolls eyes*) which just suuuucks- because I have to pay 16% taxes here. ô_ó And if I get paid by paypal that's 3%+0,30c lol so that's like 50% taxes right there on what? 1 dollar earning per ebook, if I'm lucky? I didn't know if to lol or cry at that. <_<; So basically it's no longer worth it (for me, being outside of the US) to upload my ebooks anywhere except maybe for the sake of advertising (which is the only upside, after all those %s I saw fly out my window)- but I might as well be giving them out for free, after all. xD So yes, pardon me while I cry in a corner for a second (and then promptly go download zencart xD). Reddit sounds lolzy... until you show up on it, I guess. What you say about the filler and such is more or less what I was trying to do, but I still have my doubts, I'm so used to RPs over stories by now, where you sometimes have to give up more of the background on the post for the other player's sake rather than the "average reader"'s sake, that I still wonder if reading some random dialogue isn't boring to the reader. lol For instance I have one of the characters speaking about having been married once, but after all that blah blah is done, I wonder if it's not giving out too much too soon or just plain boring to follow up on the other character's life style in turn. XD That is, when applied to a short story specifically. If I was aiming for something much longer I'm fairly sure I'd expand. So, basically, on the one hand it's learning something (character background and perception), but is it something important enough to keep? (... I guess it's important if one turns out to be married currently xDDDDD which is not the case- but just because for me as writer it's important for development reasons doesn't necesarily mean my judgment on importance of it is good, if that makes any sense, my mind's a little fried today.) It's not something that can't be edited out or in later, but I'm just curious (and annoying ).
I use Trillian. xD; So I dunno how accurate it is. (Also, weird - re: "5 hours".) And it's not her up at unholy hours - it's me. xD She's up at normal baby hours. xD I actually have a pretty decent sleep schedule... for an Australian. xD I've always been a night owl, and with my bff being an Aussie and me not having to be awake at normal human hours, I've basically just switched to an Australian day/night schedule. If I had a day job or classes, I'd switch back, but since all my work is online, I can be awake at any hour. >_>; Yeah, I think Reddit's a bit like Digg and so on. I've never used the other, similar services. But it's basically a sort of odd forum where geeks hang out. xD There are so many "Sub-reddits" that you can find topics about just about anything. Some people have created sub-reddits where they post photos of their workmate and they photoshop a crazy costume on them. Or their roommate sleeping. Just weird, random, very specific stuff. xD (And memes.) Mmm... I guess it's sort of on instinct for me. If I need a "time filler" the scene still needs to "do" something. The conversations deepen the characters' knowledge and/or feelings about each other. Or, if I want to establish that CharA had a reason for not hooking up with CharB just yet. For example, that reason could be conscious or unconscious, stated or unstated. So maybe I'd have them have a conversation where CharA is hampered by their social fears from expressing their feelings and CharB isn't sure whether or not they like CharA that way yet. They may neither of them say anything, but while they're talking about likes and dislikes or that math test, their body language or emotions are telling the other story. Or I might have them outright argue over something which establishes to both the reader and the characters what the issue is keeping them apart. I guess the thing to do is once it stops being fun to read/write it, then the scene needs to be wrapped up asap, with the "point" of the scene made. And the "point" should be to let the readers know enough to understand why the characters are doing whatever they're doing, and/or the characters to understand more about each other or themselves. If no one is learning and it's not fun to read/write then it probably shouldn't be there. I'm not sure if that helps any, though. xD;
Haha, soooometimes I do that. Other times I just stay online during the day whether I'm actually sitting in front of the comp or not. My AIM has been kind of silly sometimes though (I've had people log in and the thing go "5 hours online" after only 10 minutes XD) which is why I don't much trust it. It's probably related to my not-actually-using-AIM (I use pidgin). What's your niece doing up at unholy hours? XD I'll never understand how people can be up all night, just like people seem unable to get me waking up early. Hrmm I'm not sure it goes with Reddit. I never use those things, but it didn't advertise it as openly as the Google reader thing (so it might and I just don't know it). Heeeeell, I don't even really know what Reddit actually is lol (I just know it appears in social buttons with all the Digg, Sumblupon and stuff xD so I'm guessing something similar). Ffff the fish tank lol, I remember that. I think I had those two too. Plus a whole page of translation/languages related things with word of the day and stuff I ended up never looking at, and one with games I never played. Yep. XD I used the Foxie theme for a while before I got bored and put it in random for games. Okay, I have a silly writing question! *raises hand* How do you deal with transitions and the "too much dialogue or too much summing up" in short stories? Example (just to babble on). As I'm kinda stuck on my book I decided to work on a short story that (if I make it in time) I want to try and submit for an anthology. Blah blah, I did like 2.2k words in a few hours which made my novel cry. xD But those 2k words where a tad of setting establishing and then quite a bit of character interaction until I reached a spot I figured was too soon for romance (they just met after all and it wasn't meant to be a one-nighter xD); so, rather than bore people with mindless interaction that went nowhere and pointless dialogue (or is that boring people in a romance/erotica? XD), I figured I'd be like "Well, they talked for a while about stuff and then went home." XD Obviously it wasn't literally presented that way, but you get the point? So, how do you personally deal with the "When it's enough or too little" for something (be it interaction or the fading-to-black "boring stuff happened after" for transitions between time-skipping scenes? Do you 'know' or do you just 'write on' and see what happens? What makes you think a transition is needed? (when you as writer/reader are getting bored with the dialogue or scene?) And, additionally, how much does background info establishing is important in a short romance/erotica (say between 5k and 15k words)? (I say romance because I want to focus on that, but there's sure to be some erotica in it too, I do have to fill up like 8k more pages with something, after all xD) Hah, I annoy and make you think ;D
No - the AIM thing is probably pretty accurate. >_> I generally log in between 6pm and 10pm central and don't log off until I'm going to sleep (between 5am and 10am sometimes). It typically depends on if I'm going to try to talk to workpeople or try to catch my bff. If I don't expect Min online and I have no need to talk to work people, I generally don't log in or will log off. xD (Last night my bff had her weekly tabletop game, so I logged off around midnight my time and stayed up until 8am or so watching Xfiles on Netflix and working on a picture that'll show up on Tumblr tomorrow and keeping my niece entertained while my parents did stuff.) Hmm! I'll keep FeedDemon in mind then. xD Mostly I'd want it to keep up with Reddit, I think. But iGoogle was also a convenient way to keep up with top news stories. And I had a little virtual fish tank and a Google Translate generator thing. xD And my gmail foxie theme matched the iGoogle foxie theme and it was cute. :c I guess I'll live with just the email theme. xD
Yes, actually I went to take some paperwork today to get in some classes, but don't know if they'll take me (or if I'll have to wait until next year). That sucks that it doesn't match up :/ Being so close to graduating and not being able to do so is most annoying. The dog was crazy, and by the end of his stay I was too. On the upside, his stay made Haru behave better. xDD Now she obeys a lot more, far from perfect, but a lot more lol- I'm thinking she went all "D: They gonna replace me if I don't behave T__T *behavesbehaves*" iGoogle goes away? Shame, not that I used it a lot anymore, but it was my favorite of the i/my!Services. But I suppose since there's Google Reader... It's most annoying though, when they put something out and decide to take it away a month later (ok, iGoogle has been out longer than a month, but still... ). I like desktop apps better (but with cloud synch), so I went with FeedDemon (Lite). I played with it all of yesterday and I'm honestly quite very happy; it can synch with your Google Reader feeds (which is where all your "follow"s from blogger go to) and is pretty light weight. It's even a sort of browser too, which I rather liked since if I decide I don't want to open chrome (I keep tabs from last session so it often takes a while to load <_<) just to see one particular page in full, I can do it from Feed Demon directly. I can't say I've played with it long enough for a proper "review", but so far I'd recommend it. It has tags that you can use on individual entries (and that I haven't used yet), most often viewed feeds, and you can organize in folders, etc. Yeah, bookmarking to read when in the mood is something I do too; sadly, since I bookmark a lot of stuff, half often don't get seen again (hence my sudden need for a rss reader <_<; ). I read through the blogs yesterday and they were pretty cool. I can see why you like PV better though. They have really useful and interesting stuff there. And thank you for the extra link. Will be looking at it right now~ Haha, yes I saw you on AIM a couple times, but every time I hovered it was like "Has been online for 12 hours" (not that I trust it that much) and figured you'd be going to bed soon, so I didn't want to bother you (It always makes me feel kinda bad when people go "hi!" and I was just about to go offline XDD). Usually I do log on at around 8am when I'm up and don't go out, but lately I've been kinda busy and MIA in the mornings. And since I go to bed super-early (because, after all, I wake up at 7/8am xDDDD).... My friends tell me off for being 'crazy' and waking up that early when I have nothing to do. xDDDDDDDDD But but... if I wake up after 9am I feel like I wasted the day T_T (even if I do nothing that day... though I usually have house chores to deal with, so.)
Ooch. Yeah, job markets are intimidating. Just keep trying. Study, maybe, to see what might improve your resume/sample, and try s'more. I can't really talk, though. That sort of process is why I held off on the idea of traditionally publishing and is more or less why I stalled in my college career (I just need an internship to graduate, but what interests me and what is financially plausible for me and what's available in the area don't match up well). xD You can train a cat not to jump certain places. But, yeah, that takes awhile and may not work. >_> So fair enough. xD And crazy dog. Impressive, but crazy. xD No worries. xD If you find a good RSS reader, lemmie know. Apparently iGoogle is going away next year (I have about a year before it goes away) and that's sort of my RSS page. >_>; I used to follow a lot of blogs, but mostly just bookmark them and read them if I'm in the mood for them. The writing blogs that I linked to are pretty much the only blogs I follow regularly now. (There are two or three that I didn't link to you, but I don't consider them quite as useful as the others. ...Then again...) http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/ He might be useful for following if you have any interest in being a professional translator for books. Uuhmm... http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2...itle-released/ here. To give you an overview of that sort of thing. (No worries. xD If you think of it or a new one, don't hesitate to ask. xD I don't mind.) ((PS: I've seen you log into AIM the last few mornings since I stayed up too late, but you always logged in when I was either just about to go to bed or when I was busy, so I wasn't able to say hello. xD ))
