Jade Varden Official Blog

What's the difference between an author and a book writer? One HuffPo blogger opines that if you're self-published, you certainly aren't the former. In a post titled "Are Self-published Authors Really Authors or Even Published?" he explores the relative merit of not the books themselves, but the scribblers who create them. Getting Real Dr. Jim Taylor (University of San Francisco adjunct faculty) says that self-publishing allows " anyone with a computer and a small amount of money to call themselves authors." The sentiment isn't far from wrong, but Taylor is certainly wrong when he says "despite their warts" the publishing industry is "an initial arbiter of literary quality," and points to different quality standards in the traditional publishing industry, as compared to indies. And I pretty much disagree. I've read atrocious books that were traditionally published, stuff that's riddled with grammatical a...

It's not your typical horror story, but Lord of the Flies scared the bejesus out of me when I read it. The story was even more horrifying as a movie. If you can't figure out what's scary about a group of young boys marooned together in a remote location, you've never had brothers...and you've also never read this book. It's time to familiarize yourself with this terrifying dystopian tale. The Book William Golding published Lord of the Flies in 1954. He was waaayyy ahead of the current dystopian trend.  It was his first novel, it was adapted into a movie and it's still read in schools all over the world. It's so controversial, people are still fighting it's use as a teaching tool today. To me, this book always meant one thing: get a group of guys together, and the wheels just fall off the cart. But actually, Lord has a lot of deep symbolism and important meaning (so they say).   Here's how it goes down: there's a nucle...

You can't fall into a Goodreads group without finding a thread that discusses books and their opening lines. The first line if the hook, and that's why so many people consider it to be so important. That first line is truly the most important of the book. So...do you know how to sharpen your hook?  Reeling Them In I don't always read blurbs, and I'm not always interested in covers. When an author or an agent sends me a review request, I only really need one thing from them: the Amazon link. With this, I go straight to the book's sample...and I read the first line . If I don't like it, that's it.  This is how a lot of readers make their decision about books. That's unfortunate for authors, because books have tens of thousands of words in them...and most of the time, you're getting judged on the first 7 you write. This creates an enormous amount of pressure to start the book off really strong. You want to be funny, touching, compelling, e...

I wrote a post about the importance of humor in books, making your audience laugh , but tears can be just as moving as amusement. In fact, the books that make us cry can be as powerful as the books that make us laugh. Do you know how to make your readers cry?  A Series of Unfortunate Events Tragedy happens in life, and books that contain tragedy will feel authentic if it's written well. Tragic events are the best way to make your readers cry, but you have to walk a very fine line.  Death is a common tragic event in books, and it can inspire tears...but it can also fall flat. It's all about the character who dies. You have to be part writer and part scientist to create the perfect destined-to-die character.  First, don't make them too obviously good. I read a book, once, where I was absolutely certain the sister was going to die because she was being painted as some sort of perfect saint. Then she died, and I didn't care because I knew all along she wa...

Editing is an essential part of writing, and any author will tell you the same. But don't get bogged down in the details of grammar and punctuation and forget to look at the bigger picture. When you're editing, you always have to check for gaps in the story.  Plot Holes and Other Errors You're the author, so you know how the story ends. You know who the characters are and what's going to happen. And when you're writing, it's common to be focused on getting to the end. It's only natural for gaps to appear in any first draft. But you've got to fill in those gaps when you go back and do the editing . Remember that the reader doesn't understand the characters the way you do, and they don't know how the story is supposed to end. You have to fill in the blanks for them. If your heroine is supposed to be brave and confident, write a scene that shows her acting this way. If the reader is supposed to care about a friendship between two people...

Which comes first: the cover or the final draft? When I write, sometimes I'll start thinking pretty far ahead -- not just about this story, but maybe even about the next story I'm going to write. I've learned that lots of other authors do the same thing. And like me, they have to stop it from happening. Getting ahead of yourself can be harmful to your writing.   Fast Track Don't get too far ahead of yourself when you're writing a book, because it gets overwhelming. If you start thinking about the cover and the marketing and the blurb while you're still writing the first draft, you're doing too much. Focus on the story itself, and get that perfected first. Take it one chapter, one page, one paragraph at a time -- don't start thinking about the cover and all of that until the first draft is finished. Because if you start getting too far ahead of yourself, you may start to feel pressured. You may start to rush the story, because you're alr...

If your book sales took a dive over the summer months, not to worry: this is often the case with indie authors. Now that the weather is edging ever-so-slowly toward fall, you should see a rise in your profits.  Summer Reading People read less in the summer, particularly children (this makes things difficult for YA and children's book authors). Everyone's getting outside and going on vacation, enjoying the interesting summer TV programming and working on their tan lines. It leaves little time for reading.  Books have natural peak times and slow times, and it's common for sales to become a little lethargic during the summer months . But the holiday season will soon be upon us, and that's the best time to sell books. So use this slow period to work on your marketing strategy, and make up for it.

We're entering the month of fear and fright, chills and thrills. What better way to celebrate it than with a scary book? But be careful if you choose to explore the world of Sphere -- the movie adaptation is scary in all the worst ways. The Book Michael Crichton published Sphere in 1987, but it's still terrifying today. The book begins with psychologist Norman Johnson, who is just beginning to get a little grumpy as he edges into the outskirts of old age. He's being flown to a classified location by the Navy, and so far they aren't telling him anything. When he reaches a full-scale military operation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and he's told they've discovered an alien spacecraft...well, Norman pretty much wishes they had decided not to tell him anything at all. The spacecraft has been there for a while. Judging by the coral, it's been in place for over 300 years. Norman is only one part of an elite task force that has been assembled t...