Where are the Beta Readers?

March 11, 2020

My first plan is to push out some short stories which feature some of the prominent historical figures in Mandé. I was sincerely hoping to find beta reads who would give me open and honest feedback. What good is producing a novel at the end of the year if readers don’t want to read it?

Shouldn’t be hard to find beta readers, right? WRONG. Apparently, the book reviewers are all SWAMPED (emphasis on the -ED). Yes, they have pretty menu buttons at the top of their blogs stating things like, “How to get ARCs*,” “Review Policy”, “Policy(Work With Me?)”, “Review Requests,” but when you click through to these pages, they all say they are overwhelmed with review requests and cannot or will not do them.

Not knocking any of these sites as they do all this for free, and some don’t even want to read fantasy. They probably started out thinking this would be a cool thing to offer authors, but it exploded into something they don’t have time to accommodate. I’ve included links to their pages if you want to check out their sites, but please don’t knock them for being overwhelmed. Let them know you appreciate their efforts as they read and buy books thus supporting authors. Besides, it took me six hours to find them, so something good should come of it.

Regardless, I am now on the hunt for beta readers for my soon to be ready short stories, so if you know of ANYONE that is willing to give me honest feedback that will ensure I deliver an above MVP (marginally viable product) in December of this year, please message me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. My links for these sites are to the left <– over there or if you are on a mobile device up at the top on the right there are three lines surrounded by a square box. Touch there, and you’ll see the social media icons.

Comments below are always welcomed, but for some darned reason, this WordPress template has a bug in it where I can see the comment link, but no one else can. One day I’ll figure that out, but for right now… I need to write!

Layne

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Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

March 9, 2020

My mother used to say this every once in a while when I complained about something I didn’t like. As a child, I always thought it meant to go open a lemonade stand on the corner. I tended to frown at her heavily when she said it. We lived mostly on Army bases, so this wasn’t really an option.

As an adult, I attributed it to mean an ability to turn something sour into something sweet. …but then came Country Time and Crystal Lite. The whole convenience of making lemonade without lemons sort of lost itself for a while.

In retrospect, I love sour things. SweetTarts are a favorite of mine (although my girls can top me by surviving a package of Atomic Warheads!). In elementary school, I would cut lemons, sprinkle sugar over them and just eat them like oranges until my mother told me this practice would eat the enamel off my teeth. I don’t know if it does or if she was just tired of always running out of lemons for her tea.

Regardless, I consider my writing to be just that… turning something sour into something sweet and, in this case, something new. I’m re-inventing myself… AGAIN. Out of many failures comes success!

I’m about to retire from my day job in Information Technology. I was looking forward to retiring, playing golf, enjoying the time I have left. Two years ago, I packed up and sold my home in St. Louis, Missouri and moved home to Arkansas for a bit. I wanted to regroup, reconnect and lessen my responsibilities.

I also, unfortunately, left half my paycheck in Missouri.* So now my Social Security isn’t going to be quite what I expected = No travel for me, which is the second saddest thing I’ve ever heard. (One day I may tell you about the first.)

My answer to all of this is to make lemonade. I need a supplemental income in my elderly years so I can see beautiful buildings, art, and gardens. Maybe afford Hospice if I eventually need it. I tried Photography but I had NO idea how physically hard that was going to be and all those hours and hours for so little pay. (You need to pay your photographers people!)

Writing, however, has always been a joy and something I’ve been good at since Seventh Grade English, Mrs. Schaffer (Southwood High School, Shreveport, Louisiana). She was the best!

I’ve written for newspapers, web sites, technical documents, how to’s, letters, marketing campaigns, newsletters… the list goes on and on. Now, I’m writing for joy and profit.

I’m making lemonade out of lemons, and I invite you to come along for the ride.

BTW – where did that expression come from? According to Wikipedia, Elbert Hubbard used it in an obituary he wrote for dwarf actor Marshall Pinckney Wilder. Here is the quote:

“He was a walking refutation of that dogmatic statement, Mens sana in corpore sano. His was a sound mind in an unsound body. He proved the eternal paradox of things. He cashed in on his disabilities. He picked up the lemons that Fate had sent him and started a lemonade-stand.”

Elbert Hubbard, 1915

*Thank you Tish for the use of that expression!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_life_gives_you_lemons,_make_lemonade