Writing 101: Justify My Interest

 You spent all that time crafting an exciting book, filled with humor or romance or mystery (or whatever you write about). You wrote a blurb that garnered my interest, designed a cover that got me all fired up. So I bought your book. And now, I wish I hadn't...because you didn't even justify it properly. It's one of the simplest steps, and one of the most overlooked. Justify my interest in your work, and show all your readers that you actually give a crap about it. Take a few extra seconds to set your justification. Otherwise, you might look like an amateur.

 Justification

 Go to any shelf, pull out any book and open it to any page. You'll always see the same thing: neat, even edges on either side. There will be a few indents where paragraphs begin and end, but the overall look is still clean and straight.

You can create the same look with an ebook, and you should. Electronic books should absolutely look like print books, because everyone is familiar with how print books look and that's what readers expect to see.  Otherwise, one side of the ebook will have a ragged, unattractive edge. It looks lazy, it looks incorrect and it immediately aggravates readers.

 There are only four different ways to justify documents, and when you open up a brand-new blank document and start tying, your justification is automatically set. In most cases, it's automatically set to the wrong option.

• Left. The default justification for most word processing software, left justification creates a clean, even edge down the left side of the page. The right side ends up looking jagged and uneven, because spacing between each letter and word will be perfectly even between each line. Words will end at different points all down the right edge as a result. 

• Right. The opposite of left-side justification, right justification creates a neat, even edge down the right side of the page. This justification rarely appears in any work, and should only be used on selected text and images for stylistic purposes; you will not find any books where right justification is used throughout. 

• Center. When the text is set to center justification, it will be symmetrically arranged down the midline of the document. Center justification is often used for chapter headings and titles. It may be used in poetry, but standard prose should never appear in center justification. 

• Full. The only acceptable format for books, full justification creates neat, even edges on both sides of the page. 

 Here's the thing: Kindle will automatically change your justification. A lot of indie writers know that, so a lot of indie writers don't mess with the justification in their documents. But when you don't set the justification properly, you could get errors in your book's HTML code. The errors could create formatting errors that screw with the automatic justification...so that means you've got to manually set it anyway. Kindle is supposed to adjust the justification automatically, but the system isn't perfect -- and I know it to be true because I've read plenty of books with incorrect justification. So set it on your own before you ever publish your book, and avoid a silly error that could alienate your readers and make you look lazy.

Writing 101: Page Numbers, Headers and Footers

The beautifully bound books you buy from well-respected publishers usually have all the same characteristics...and that commonly includes helpful page numbers and pretty page headers that announce the title of the book and/or the author of the work. So why can't you include these same professional touches in your ebook?

Because of the formatting, that's why. If you want to use all that fancy stuff in your self-published books, do yourself a favor and give up the ghost right now. No matter what you do, they're never going to appear on the epage correctly. Yes, never.

Never, Ever Ever?

Never. There's no standard page size for eReaders, and there's no standard size for ebooks. What's that mean? Basically, that means your ebook is going to look different on different devices. Pull it up on a Kindle, and it will look one way. Open that exact same book up on your iPad, however, and there will be more text on each page. So if you try to carefully place page numbers at the bottom of each page, and add a header with your name and the book's title along the top, it's never going to appear correctly on all those different devices.

You can't even format your headers, footers and page numbers for a specific eReader and then only sell it on that eReader. You can sell your ebook exclusively on Amazon if you like, and make it available only to Kindle users -- but even so, there are different Kindles out there and more still to come. And your pages are going to look different on those devices. Even if they don't, your readers always have the option of changing the font size of your text. Someone who has trouble reading fine print might jack the size up, and that means less text will be appearing on each page...and that means your page numbers and headers are going to be off.

No matter what you do.

So save yourself the trouble, and only incorporate page numbers, headers and/or footers on books that are going to be physically printed on paper. Even when you're doing this, through CreateSpace or a similar self-publishing program, it's extremely tricky to get your embellishments placed correctly. Formatting your ebook is hard enough as it is. Do yourself a favor, and don't try to go above and beyond -- just focus on making the story perfect, and that will be enough to keep your readers happy.

Writing 101: Brand Names

We all snigger during the movie or TV show when someone's drinking a black-label can of a beverage called "Soda," because it's so obviously generic. But we also know why the movies and TV shows do it: they can't afford to pay a billion-dollar company for the rights to the brand name, or perhaps they don't want to endorse a brand name, or the company said they couldn't use the brand name, or whatever. Basically, they don't want to break the law by using a brand name they don't own. So what about when you use a brand name in your book?

Brand Names

We all use brand names, and everybody owns something with at least one designer label (yes, Levi counts as a designer label). I wash my dishes in Dawn, drink Coca-Cola products and swear by the Swiffer. But is it okay if my characters do, too? Telling your girlfriend to run right out and buy Colgate toothpaste in one thing; self-publishing it in print (or eprint) is quite another. So are your characters texting on Androids, or smartphones? Are they crying into a handful of tissues, or Kleenex?

Using Brand Names in Your Book

There's no simple answers -- there never are. Basically, it boils down to this: it's all in the usage. Yes, you can use brand names and no, you don't have to pay for them...unless you screw up.

• Brands as Nouns

Writing brand names into any book is very tricky. You can use them, but only when it's specific to that brand. For example, it's not okay to use the word in place of everyday nouns. You can't replace the word "toilet paper" with a specific brand like Charmin. You characters shouldn't be "typing away on the Sony Vaio" instead of on the laptop. In other words, you can't use brand names generically. However, if you add the specific modifier ("typing away on the Sony Vaio laptop") the usage is a little more specific.

You can reference that your character is using their iPhone to make a call or send a text, or that she reached for a can of her favorite soda, Diet Coke. You cannot use the word "Coke" when you mean any can of cola or soda pop. Brand names have to be used specifically, not generically. But even when you're careful about specifics, you're not out of the woods.

• Negativity

It's fine, and makes a story much more believable, to use brand names as a background in the story. It adds a certain element of realism when your characters enjoy a fine bottle of Dom Perignon rather than any old bottle of fancy champagne. But if you go on to say that the Dom Perignon tasted like utter swill, you're in trouble. Companies do not like having their brand names disparaged, and if you do then you leave the door wide open for a lawsuit. It's called defamation, and it is illegal. In other words, it's fine to mention brand names. It's not okay to make any judgments about them.

• Designer Labels

Can you mention designer labels? Absolutely! Let your characters strut their stuff in fancy duds from Calvin Klein, or have them sweating it out in a pair of well-worn Wranglers. Again, don't use the brand names generically and don't use them disparagingly in any way, and you're perfectly safe.

Review: No Mercy

I'm not sure when or where I stumbled across Wendy Cartmell's No Mercy, a collection of short stories, but I'm thrilled I did. From the first word to the last, this collection is engaging, interesting and extremely well written.

For starters, the formatting in No Mercy is perfect. I couldn't find a mistake, and you know how hard I look. But I didn't read the entire collection of stories in one sitting, when I promised myself I'd stop after one, just because it looked pretty. After the first thrilling tale, which introduced Cartmell's gruff detective Sergeant Major Crane, I wasn't about to put No Mercy down.

Each story was unique, but they all fit together well to showcase Cartmell's singular style. She writes descriptively, easily drawing the reader deeply into each tale before neatly ending the story with something altogether shocking -- and sometimes triumphant, or chilling, or sorrowful. The title of the collection sums it up perfectly, because Cartmell pulls no punches with her clear, sharp voice that shines in every page. Every little mystery was fascinating, and I'm looking forward to reading much more from Wendy Cartmell in the future.

Writing 101: Using Pen Names

How do you feel about using a pen name? Everyone's got an opinion, even your readers. Crafting the perfect pen name is a little like writing the perfect novel...only the name is probably going to stay with you a lot longer. If you don't use the right one, you'll make things unnecessarily hard on yourself.

What's in a Name?

Stephen King. Anne Rice. Stephenie Meyer. What do all the big, blockbuster writers have in common? Names that are easy to remember and easy to spell. That's very important when you want readers to start looking for you on Amazon, Google and everywhere else you exist. By the same token, you don't want to publish books under a name that's too simple. Type John Smith into Google and you're going to get way too many results.

What's Wrong with Your Name?

Friends and family aren't going to recognize you by a pen name (and neither will all those people from high school who need to feel envy). Don't you deserve recognition for your fabulous self-publishing achievements? Sure you do, but if your real name is a thirteen-letter nightmare you've got to be reasonable. If you were lucky enough to be given a simple, easy to spell but unique name, then use it. If you weren't, try toning it down a little. Authors use initials, nicknames and small changes to tweak their own names into something that looks a lot better on a book jacket.

If that's still not an option, you might need to choose a pen name. But the truth is, lots of writers aren't very good at choosing their own names -- even those who fill their own books with believable, poetic and beautiful character names.

Picking the Right Pen Name

Once you begin establishing yourself under a pen name, you're no longer your own person. Your name will be all wrapped up with your reputation, with the public image you present, with the books that you write. Every time someone looks at your book, that name will be attached to it. So choose a good one.

• Don't go gimmicky. You write erotic fiction, so maybe a pen name like "Rose Pleasure" sounds like a great idea. It's not. There are very few examples in writing where gimmicky names actually work -- and most of those examples are in children's books. Pen names like Dr. Seuss and Lemony Snicket are more than vaguely ridiculous, but you have to get a little silly to spend lengthy amounts of time with kids so that works out okay. Otherwise, don't create a gimmicky name. Why? Because you want to get some sort of respect from your readers, and you want to be regarded as a professional. Choose a silly, gimmicky name and you'll never be taken seriously. 

• Don't go too exotic. It's tempting to come up with a name that's so fresh, so new, so exotic-sounding that no one could ever mistake it for anything else. Writer Poppy Z. Brite, for example, stands out for her unusual name. Problem is, it's way too unusual. Poppy Z. Brite sounds like a pen name, and anything overtly fake is always hard to take seriously.

• Don't go famous. Some names should really be off limits because they're already too well-known. If you publish something under the last name of Hitler, for example, you're clearly setting yourself up for failure and everyone you want to attract is just going to be confused. Try to avoid Presidential, movie star and other famous last or first names because you need to establish yourself on your own; you don't want someone else's name baggage bogging you down. 

Picking the right pen name isn't easy. Keep it simple, keep it decently unique, and keep it sincere-sounding -- like a name that someone could actually have. Above all, try to pick a pen name that says something to you, or about you, or that means something to you in some way. One day, an interviewer is bound to ask you about your pen name, and you're going to need an interesting story to go with it. That's what people expect from writers.

Review: The Teacher's Billionaire

I"m still a little confused by how much I liked The Teacher's Billionaire. The idea isn't exactly a new one -- your basic doomed couple who each come from completely different worlds. Their worlds collide, lust ensues, trouble looms...will they or won't they? Sure it sounds formulaic, but somehow it doesn't read that way. Christina Tetreault doesn't break any of the rules, but I completely fell for her enchanting tale anyway.

I'm not one for romances, particularly those in a contemporary setting. I can only tolerate love stories if they're steeped in history, something I actually find interesting. But somehow, this sweet romance kept me captivated and still followed the familiar genre formula.

 Tetreault's writing is so vivid, the characters so alive, that everything seems completely believable. A working-class teacher in Boston who works hard, gossips with her friends and doesn't feel so secure in her looks meets, and completely charms, a well-known Fortune 500 bigwig who just happens to be utterly gorgeous and all too eligible? Yeah, it could totally happen. I know it could, because it did in the pages of this book -- and I was so swept up in the story I never doubted it once.

The heroine's situation is pretty average, at least at first, but when a dark family secret comes to the fore she gets dragged into a new world that seems light years away from her run-of-the-mill Boston life. I would have liked to spend a little more time in Callie's world before the plot kicks in -- everything happens rather suddenly in the very beginning of the book -- but I liked her right away. She's not unbelievably gorgeous, or saintlike in her perfection. She's just a normal girl in a totally unusual situation, reacting to it as sensibly as she possibly can.

The unusual situation has an amazing smile. His name is Dylan, and he's your typical one percenter born in England and now engaged in American politics. Okay, so maybe typical isn't exactly the right word, but even he is totally believable. Tetreault beautifully gets inside his head and makes him seem like a pretty normal guy with normal guy hang-ups, despite the Adonis-like body, made-for-magazines face and highfalutin family connections. The reader sees him working out in the gym (that explains the rock-hard abs), and knows why he has a bit of a playboy reputation. It's easy to fall in love with Dylan, with Callie, with everything about the Sherbrookes -- and honestly, I was ridiculously happy when I learned that this is only the first in a continued series about the fascinating family.

 But it's not perfect. The paragraph indenting and justification are inconsistent and poor throughout, and you could go crazy trying to count all the missing commas. Aesthetically, this ebook isn't at all pleasing (I haven't seen the paperback version, so I won't speak for that), but it is beautifully written so that helps to balance the scales. I'll take an ugly book over a badly written one any day. I can't wait for the next installment in the series, for whatever Christina Tetreault writes next, and I'll definitely re-visit this book again and again. This one isn't going to be deleted from the Kindle anytime soon.

Writing 101: Adding Images to an eBook

Putting the text into a book is hard enough -- adding images complicates matters significantly. Writers have all sorts of reasons for inserting images into their books. In cookbooks, travel books and children's books, pictures are an absolute must-have. But writers in other genres may also wish to add a helpful visual aid to their work. A family tree, a map -- these are a common enough sight in many types of books. So...how do you add these elements to an ebook?

Images and eBooks

So, you want to add a pretty picture to your ebook. It is possible, but if you don't know exactly what you're doing it's going to become a frustrating, tedious affair -- and you may not succeed.

• Find/create the image. First things first: get the image you want to place in your book. Make sure you know where it's located on your hard drive, so you can get to it easily. You won't need it again until the book is finished and ready to be formatted.
• Open your conversion software. You probably already know that the word processing document you've used to write your book isn't ebook-ready. To turn it into something an ereader can deal with, you need to convert it. For that, you need conversion software. Open up your chosen program and load the book up as usual. 
• Add the image. Using the File settings, open the picture(s) you want to add to the book in the software program. You'll have at least two files loaded into the program: the book itself, and your image. Add all the images you want in the book.
• Add the HTML. Use the HTML editor to add the proper code to the file so the image will appear. First, find the exact location where you'd like to place the image within the book. Now, add your code. It's <img src="the name of the image file.jpg" width=500 height=300>. Write the title exactly as it appears in the file name; the full path is not necessary. Add any extra codes to make the image appear the way you want it (<center>, </center> etc.) and adjust the width and height values as desired.
•  Finish the conversion. Follow the rest of your conversion process normally, and preview the ebook to be certain the image is appearing the way you want.

It takes a little extra time and effort to add images to ebooks, but once you know the process it's fairly straightforward. An image can be a wonderful aid to readers, particularly if the book is set in a fantasy world or there are complex family ties for them to follow. Avoid sizing the image any wider than 600 pixels, as it may not read well on ereaders when sized larger than this.

Writing 101: Can You Use Celebrity Names in Fiction?

Every writer strives for authenticity, even in fantasy writing. It's important to create real, relatable characters that readers can connect with as they move through the story. And what's more relatable than the famous celebrities who populate the real world? There are some names that everyone's heard of, and in creating a believable character you might want to throw some of these celebs into your story. Whether it's a casual mention or something more, there's some important stuff you need to know before you use a celebrity name...like the fact that you might get sued for doing it. Using celebrity names is tricky, so you might want to think twice before you put them in your self-published book.

The Line Between Fiction and Reality

In creating a character that feels real, many writers use real settings for their stories. You might move your characters around on a university campus that genuinely exists, take them to a park you yourself have visited, have them eating foods that you've enjoyed in the past. Little details like this make characters jump off the page and become more like real people.

And sometimes, you might have occasion to insert real people into your fiction. Suppose your character is into politics, a big-time sports fan, or loves a certain television show. Maybe they go on a date to a popular movie, or have a crush on a well-known movie star or musician. These details do great things for a book's authenticity, but they can do bad things to you as a writer.

Celebrities in Fiction

Celebrities appear in causal real-world conversations all the time, but when you put those names in print everything changes. Newspapers, television shows and people who publicly mention celebrity names do so with caution, and as a fiction writer you should, too.

But it's fiction! Isn't it okay to use the names of public figures in fiction, since you're only trying to tell a story? No, sometimes it's not.

More and more courts are recognizing that celebrities are also self-made brands, and in some legal cases the court has sided with the celebrity. In other words, if the celebrity doesn't like the way they're being portrayed even in a fiction work, they may sue and the court may side with them. Celebrities and public figures may sue if their name is used; they may sue even if their name is not used but the character in question very strongly reflects the actual celebrity. One celebrity who was accused of theft, and won't be named here, sued a highly popular TV show because her name was casually mentioned between the characters on the show. There are countless examples of fiction works and projects that had to be changed because of lawsuits. So you have to be very careful when you start dropping celebrity names even in a work of fiction.

Even when the work is complimentary, celebrities have the power to file a lawsuit because they did not give their permission for their name and likeness to be used. You may think you're safe because you have only kind things to say about the celeb in question, but you never know how that person might react. A casual reference is probably pretty safe in most circumstances, but the door to lawsuits can be opened with even the smallest mention of a real person.

Can you use celebrity names in fiction? It's your book, and no one's going to stop you -- but no one's going to help you, either, if it all goes south. If you have questions about using a celebrity name or any other brand name, you should absolutely seek legal counsel. Full disclosure: I am not a lawyer, and I have no training in the law. So don't take my word for it -- talk to your own lawyer and check it out yourself before you put yourself in any legal danger.