WHY READERS DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR BOOK, AND HOW TO FIX IT 📚 writing tips, become a better writer 

My WIP is about my grandmother born in 1900 in central Texas. It is based upon her real life events but fictionalized to develop story. It is really giving me an opportunity to get to know her and her family in a totally different way. I loved all of her stories growing up that she always told me and before she died she recorded them all for me on Cassette which I have transferred to MP3s.

I read a book once that had SO MANY errors that I got angry reading it. Not only were there typos, grammatical errors and formatting errors, but a ton of obvious developmental errors that shows the author didn't do any research, like calling a 15 year old horse old, having citrus fruit but being in a cold, northern, landlocked city in a medieval type world, a poor farmer owning very expensive gems that was never explained, the dialogue style for every character was the same-like peasants having the same vocabulary as a queen- and so much more that was just so obvious there was no research done whatsoever. I couldn't get past the first 1/4 of the book. It felt like the author didn't have ANYONE look it over and it was rushed to publication. No matter what, have someone else look over it. Even just having Beta Readers can help so so much - and my suggestion is not to have friends or family be your Betas. They will tend to love your story no matter what, especially parents, and won't point out any errors. Friends may be afraid of making you angry if they say they don't like it, especially if they are not writers or big readers.

“A good story is spell binding”. I love that. That’s what I named my channel after. The feeling of being absolutely enthralled my a story. I really enjoyed this video and all the info you have to share! Thanks

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! YES!

I feel like the one thing that always bothers me with stories is when...I'm not even sure what you call it, but I think everyone knows what a backstory is. Like a character's background, like where they grew up and where they earned their degree and what their astronomical sign is and whatnot. But a LOT of times, stories will miss out on a chracter's I guess 'front story.' Like where they are now and what they're into. Like do they go rock climbing? Do they like to bake cookies on the weekend? Or go antiquing? To me it's these little details that can come out and REALLY take your story to the next level. I think a LOT of people will get into (someimes an overwrite) of what kind of tree is in the forest or is it a dirt road or a cobblestone road? (These can be interesting things to know too, to a point). I just...I'm a big character person. I LOVE dialogue and ANYTHING that can go the way of character interactions, I'm all in! (Very informative video BTW). 😊

Yes to the character development video, please. I always struggle with my characters.

Yes, the way you describe things!!! That's how i feel about reading books. I love when books can take you on an adventure, especially when you're having a hard time in reality, perfect time to pick up a book and leave for a couple hours. Thank you for this video :)

This was so helpful! I would love a video on character development! It is something i struggle with and trying to get better at. I am a world builder at heart.

A video on character development would be great! My ideas often appear as pictures and places that don't carry a lot of goals and motivations - so I often struggle with figuring that part out.

This was good. I’m working through a first draft and I knew there was something off. Now I know what it was. Character personality. Lol. Lots of editing to come. Just need to make it all the way through the draft then I can re-work it. Thanks Natalia! Your videos are always helpful.

Thank you! Yes, I would appreciate a comprehensive video about how my character can carry the entire novel on their shoulders. Please.

Damn this came at a perfect time (I’m editing)!

Great advice Natalia! Super applicable to my WIP right now. :) Also I signed up to be an ARC reviewer! Looking forward to it! Good luck with the launch!!!

So many great tips! Especially about the typos and errors, there have been a few books that were sooo filled with errors and formatting mistakes that I honestly barely remember the story itself, I just remember what a mess it was.

Just pre ordered Pistol Daisy. Cant wait to read it. 😁

The title character in Robinson Caruso, the day after escaping from the sinking ship, returned, stark naked, and took supplies from the wreckage, stuffing them into his pockets.

This was seriously so helpful! Thank you :) Just ordered Pistol Daisy, cant wait to read it!

Thank you! This was very helpful. :)

Yes! Character development vid, please!

Wonderful points. Thank you. :)

At least one lesson I learned in creative writing class is that "the reason is" is the same as "because." For example, "the reason I go skating is because I like a certain guy who frequents the place." Correctly, it should read, "the reason I go skating is that I like a certain guy . . .

One of the reasons readers don't care about my books is that they don't know they exist despite running Amazon Ads and so on. An old advertising notion says you need to put your good or service in front of people around seven times before it even registers. Once people know what you're selling exists, you then need to provide books and services they want to buy. I suppose I've been thinking about this because I recognise, now that I've published three novels and many other books, the real problem for me is not writing my books but finding a way of getting them in front of the right readers who may want to read them. I suppose what I'm saying is that although I've done the basics of creating an author website and hiring a copy editor to edit my novels, I probably need someone who can look at all my output at a holistic level and identify a cost-effective strategy to market my writing to different audiences and identify small changes I could make that would make a real difference. You know, changes like paying for new book covers or a different theme for my website and so on. While I write novels, I also ghostwrite people's life stories. I specialise in working with people with dementia and learning disabilities who live in care homes. I publish their life stories on Amazon for their friends and family worldwide to read. I even take the unique poems I write for them that are read at their funerals and turn them into short animated videos on RU-vid. Writers like me who work in diverse niches, from life story work to writing novels, might need to hire someone who can offer a holistic analysis of what they are producing. The job of such a person would be to see what could be improved and how best to market such diverse content to different readers and audiences that may be interested in it. Does such a service even exist? You can pay someone to critique your novel, but can you pay someone to critique your marketing and branding as an author and pick up on minor tweaks you can make to improve your offering? I am okay with paying someone who could do that, but it doesn't look like anyone out there can provide that holistic service. Such a service would cost a bit of money. Still, it would probably be worth the cost to me as at least I'd know that if I took on their suggestions and did X, Y and Z, I have given it my best shot as a writer to put my books and services in front of people who may benefit from what I offer. By the way, a business writer told me I should consider charging at least £600 for ghostwriting life story books as he charges £6000 to write business books.

Thank you a lot! I am working on my novel, and it helped a lot! Wish you great Succes in the Literar world❤️

your videos are amazing

Hello Natalia... Thanks 🌎

Here is some good advice. I hate the novel who needs more then 100 pages to cover a period of five minutes in time.

Some I've already been doing but I've slipped a little on the stakes aspect. I get so busy just writing sometimes, i can forget that there's certain things i have to include. I'm writing my first fiction wip. I've written five nonfiction books. Anyway, on your vid, i have set up three sets of stakes. Don't see much active teaching from anyone in this specifically. I bet you could do it easy. I'm talking about external stakes, internal stakes, and philosophical stakes. I think a book should have all. I'm trying hard to include all three but hey, this is my first attempt. Love your vids. I'll check out your editing on your Website. Thanks for passing things frwd with your vids

Showing vs. telling is something I've been struggling with since my undergraduate days, oh my goodness! lol I know when we make arrangements for "Knights of the Wraithmaker", that's one thing I'll want your expertise with. I feel that my writing is certainly more active, I just hope it's more showy. These are all great tips!

i was talking about this to a poet the other day! we both have our poetry published but mine is in ebook form and his is a hard copy. we were saying how lucky other poets and writers support each other. i'm surprised how many people react by telling me they can connect to my poetry since it is so personal. i guess mine is more of a poetry perspective.

This is the best vid on writing you've done. At least it spoke to me. So that's probably my fault because it is what i needed. :-)

I think for me when I am looking for a book to read, the thing that bothers me is many times I feel that most books don't start in the right place, which has a tendency of causing the pacing of the book to move too slow. I'm a person who wants a book to grab me in the first couple of pages. If a book doesn't do that, I won't read it. Secondly, when reading book descriptions, if a book sounds like the same old stuff currently being written by others, I also won't bother. I always use the look in feature on amazon and when reading the first couple of pages I'll generally know if I want to buy that book and read it. Many times, I have to admit, I pass. (Good video).

PLEASE!! Ramble! This is an amazing video!

Hello Natalia, and thank you for another very informative video. I do have a question though. What if I am writing an autobiography - chronicle. I assume the rule of thumb for telling vs showing doesn't apply. Is that a correct assumption? In my case I am making my autobiography to be as entertaining as I possibly can, but of course it's a lot of telling with showing added in where i can. Am I going about this the wrong way?

If you're proofreading something for a client that you didn't edit, is it hard to overlook problems with the story or the plot?

I wish I could be a writer, just to put all these things into practice.

Natalia, I noticed that your current book takes place in 1880 Colorado, so you must have had to do copious amounts of research to get an accurate picture of the time period with setting, society, etc. One of the most daunting things for me is research. I usually write period stories, me particularly in 1930s England, and I sometimes feel that research will be so overwhelming and that I won’t portray the era as it needs to be portrayed. How did you do your research and do it to portray the era you wanted for your book? How do I research without feeling like I’m drowning in a sea of knowledge mixed along with untrue facts that lurk whenever history is concerned?

what would you say is the difference between beta and arc? ideas where to find them? any help would be great

From the title of this video, I was sure, you would talk about saving the cat. I'm kinda surprised you didn't talk about it.

Pistol Daisy grabbed me by the throat and ran tbh

You still looking for Arc reviewers?

Show don't tell is the most frequently misapplied advice.

I can't take the word Journey a hundred times. Not subscribing.