Most of you are probably new (welcome!) so we wanted to give you a place where you could talk about your projects and find readers. Don't be shy: chat about your books and what kind of feedback you're looking for. Good luck!

Nevena 

BC coordinator

--edited by Nevena Georgieva on 6/26/2013, 12:47 PM--

The first book in a trilogy, Families are Forever: Communication, (www.TheFamilyForever.com ) should be printed and being available as an EBook 1 September 2013.

I would love to talk about the demanding experience I have had with the two Indi publishing companies, one for the paperback and one for the EBook. I would love to hear about others experiences with Indie Publishing.

My book is a self-improvement book on matters facing parents who have adult children, about 90 million Americans. I have chosen to use traditional narrative and voice-over narrative (five characters) in dialogue. I also have another character, Squire Bin Forever, who speaks to the books contents. (www.SquireBinForever.com) I think they absolutely make the book. Others just want it straight narrative. Is there anyone else out there combining the two?

Hey, Dr. D! Really glad you announced your book here. We're so excited to have nonfiction on the site. And to have you here as well!

Lucy Silag

Book Country Community and Engagement Manager

Hey again, Dr. D.!

I went over to your page and noticed that you haven't posted FAMILIES ARE FOREVER here on Book Country.  This discussion board/thread is actually meant to announce your Book Country projects to other members so that they can find your book and give you feedback. Book launches can be announced on the "Member News & Announcements" board here.

I am sorry I didn't tell you that before, and also if the wording on this thread heading wasn't clear enough. I am going to revise the wording now.

Will you go ahead and post this announcement in the "Member News & Announcements" board, so that I can delete this one? I think more members will see it if it's on the board where we have announcements about other book launches.

Thank you, and email me if you want to discuss further!

lucy AT bookcountry DOT com

Lucy Silag

Book Country Community and Engagement Manager

Hi,

I've just signed up, and am unsure which forum is appropriate. I've written a Narrative non-fiction. At least that is one of the many titles I've heard kicked about for this sort of book. Using the third voice, my book covers a six year period that did, in fact, happen to me. It's factual, but uses third person narrative to cover, for instance, thoughts other characters may have had. Most of the characters were given pseudonyms, and the character who is actually me is called by a name other than my own. I chose this form, because I find memoirs interesting, but too limited for the scope of the book I decided to write. I've gone through 6 drafts, the last two under the guidance of a professional editor and author.  The resulting book was submitted to 4 agents. From their comments, it's obvious that though they may have read as many as 10 pages, and perhaps, flipped through the book, none of them were interested enough to read more than that. It is true that all four agents read my book after it was strongly recommended by persons they knew and respected. There was an element of doing a favor which may have caused some of these agents to tiredly "do the favor." I'm colossally, horrendously, terribly afraid of submitting my book on my own. Meanwhile I've started a second book and am a bit stuck, probably because I'm discouraged.

90%labor

Nevena, I am working a short story that is fast becoming a more than short. It is a fiction, but the basis of it is in reality. I haven't posted it to this site. So, let me give you a synopsis of it.

The U.S. has a rampant crime rate as we all know. In fact, many murders go unsolved every year in this country. The U.S. system of jurisprudence is designed to allow a group peers to adjudge an accused person of a crime, by a process of deliberation. What occurred to me after thinking about these 2 well-known facts is it is possible that an undiscovered murderer could actually serve on a jury!

In fact, it might have occurred many times in the past. So, I've created a fiction about a child-molester killer (who has not been caught) that, 12 years after his heinous crime,  is chosen to be a juror on a murder case. What will he do? Will he vote guilty to assuage his own conscience? Or will he vote not guilty feeling a kindred spirit? As you can see this is fertile ground for all manner of plots and sub-plots and thematic exploration. As I said previously I'm working on it. But is this inappropriate for this forum?

I am reluctant to upload what I've written so far, because this is such a bombshell issue. I am trying thru fiction to lodge a complaint about American jurisprudence. Not to mention, it might be mistaken that I'm a pedophile, you see my point? If a guy writes about terrorism in America with a protagonist as the terrorist, it is possible this implies the writer is in fact a terrorist. Oddly enough after showing my story to my adult daughter see expressed the idea of it reflecting upon as me as possibility, though she finds the story thus far, riveting. But, the possibility scares me.  Of course your own kid would think your works are stellar.

 What do you think? Of the idea of this novel I mean, not the previous sentences.

The conclusion of this work would be in effect, an indictment of the American system of criminal justice. In that sense, it's using fiction to make a non-fictional point. And that's true, no matter how it concludes, the point would be a negative about our code of justice.

--edited by Robleh on 9/11/2013, 3:03 PM--

Well, this section of the forum seems to be.. not so lively. 

I've found over the years that there are MANY people that are told by others in their lives that they should write down all of their experiences in a book. I think this comes mainly from people that never leave home. I come from a really small town, and it's true that most never leave town except for work or the occasional sporting event. I, on the other hand, have traveled the world. So I'm not so sure that I'd ever really consider publishing, but maybe look into an independent source. I'm not the best writer out there so I'm constantly looking up how to write or reading famous works to see how those authors wrote/write. I guess though that my story really isn't a story that's been told before. There are a lot of stories about soldiers in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but not so many on contractors. And, that's what I've been doing for the last 6 years or so of my life. I've been working on and off with different ideas and versions over the years. I think though that until now I wasn't ready to really dig into it. It's taken me many years to get over some very difficult times in my life all happening during this time period: alcohol, death of friends, ex-wife adding to stress of living in a war zone, and the animosity/hatred between soldiers and their contractor counterparts. Just to name a few. Overall, I think it's a hidden chapter in American history, that only in today's world of acceptance are books about contractors during Vietnam even coming out. There are just a lot of questions that I don't have answers to as far as moving on with this massive undertaking that I'm not really sure where to ask or sometimes even how to ask. So, what the hell. I have the internet, and what better place than a community of authors? 

I guess how I'm trying to tackle this is the way I was shown in High School, years ago, to write a large report. Typing out notes, and then moving those notes into chapters at a later stage. I did divide my chapters up into sections of my life, that I'd like to include, but I'm finding that this is more of a work-in-progress as the chapters seem to change depending on content. It's not like there is a shortage of information either, it's just a matter of formulating how to put that information in an order that makes sense. The version I'm on now is starting out in a chronological order of my life. I tried at first, not including too much about my childhood, but the story only makes sense (in my mind) to have to tell certain parts of my childhood in order to understand the present. I've found a lot of good websites as far as to help in writing style, and structure. Because as you can probably already tell, I'm not the best with punctuation and grammar usage. It always dumbfounded my teachers that I was years ahead of my peers in all areas, but when it came to English class, I was sucking hind tit. 

Another thing I'm struggling with is avoiding certain topics. How do you talk around things? That's one of the hardest blocks for me right now. As in, I'm trying to basically say lookit, XXX was from a bad time in my life, but I'm not going to dwell on that here. Or would it be best just to hit it head on and direct, while keeping things short and sweet? 

Also, when you're referring to a point in time that will come later or has come before in the book, how is this normally handled? There are some things that I just can't say without saying things that are leading into things later or things later that from previous points. I've read things where people add in lines like, "Remember when I said I'd get to this point? Well here it is, ... " Is that the most direct, and proper route?

I'm basically trying to rewire my thought process. For years, I've been the guy that can walk into a room and start talking about something, reporting, and when I'm done you won't be sure if I just answered your question or pee'd in your Cheerios. I learned from the best. I watched a friend of mine walk into a room of really intelligent people and before he was done, he had them believing that the lunar convergence on the solar flare eruptions had caused our internet outage. They all came in hot under the collar and left feeling better that it was nature and not us that caused the problem. 

Like I said though, profit isn't a motivator here. It's about putting my stories down on paper, sharing it, and walking away. So I know I can read all sorts of internet specials on how to write this way or that way, but I figured I'd give asking someone who's done it a shot. 

Robleh, 

I can't say that I'm the guy to say much, given my previous post. But from a readers' viewpoint, I've read several books about real life situations that are portrayed through fiction. I like how they usually teach the reader about the issue while the character in the story is learning about it. 

Hi Wonderdoodle,

Welcome to Book Country! Just sent you a connection request so that we can be in touch via private message. Looking forward to seeing how your writing project develops!

Please let me know if I can help show you around. If you are looking for books to read and review, please check out our Books page for some suggestions!

Happy writing!

Lucy Silag

Book Country Community and Engagement Manager

--edited by Lucy Silag on 1/31/2014, 6:20 PM--

Hello,

I'm in the midst of writing a memoir about the four years I lived in Barbados from age 10-14. I just uploaded the first quarter of the book covering the first year and a bit into the second. I'm interested to get feedback.

I started out writing a memoir by simply writing my strongest memories, but it soon became apparent that this time in my life was a meaningful, if often difficult one. I'm curious how I come across as a narrator -- interesting, appealing, sympathetic, snobbish, bossy, annoying, whiny? The narrator is my 14-year-old self at the point that we're leaving the island.

I've gone through and revised the first 22 chapters, as I wrote them out of order, so hopefully they are consistent and make sense over all. Dialogue is tricky for me, as well as creating the scene to draw the reader in. It's easier to just describe what's happening, but that would get boring quickly.

The book is called Irrepressible Spirit and is in the Non-Fiction - Memoir section.

Joanna

Hi All,

anyone interested in reading poetic prose essays/vignettes might want to read and review my new book Walkabout.  I imagine it as a spiritual/nature writing "coffee table book" with beautiful photographs.  Of course I am unable to supply the photography!  I am curious if this is something that might resonate with other people, or maybe it's just me.  

Hi all i wonder if anyone would be kind enough to review my story

http://www.bookcountry.com/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=7333

many thanks

mel

Hello,

Please permit me to introduce myself.  I am Earl R. Haith, of Greensboro, NC.  And I am completely new to Book Country, as of 8/27/15.

I have completed what I truly feel to be a very interesting non fiction work, based largely upon personal experiences concerning religious charlatans.   And I am most interested in seeking possible readers of my work.

Also, maybe you can advise me, as to how my work might be submitted.

Respectfully,

Earl R  Haith

Hello Folks,

I'm new to book country and actually this is the first time I'm on a site like this.  I'm writing my first book on nutrition, it can fall into the self-help category too. Not sure which genera this would fit in. 

Wondering if anyone else here writes books on nutrition, fitness, healthy lifestyle ?  I would love to review books in this category and would love to share mine down the line too

Thanks,

Dupi 

Hello all!

What a great community of writers this is! I not only enjoy the opportunity to read and comment on your work, but welcome and value your feedback as well.

I'm developing a creative nonfiction collection of humorous pet stories. They are funny enough in themselves, but I wanted to impose an overarching theme on the collection, something more literary and meaningful than just "Here are a bunch of funny pet stories." And I would very much appreciate your opinion of a two-part essay I recently wrote designed to do just that.

Please feel free to check out my work in progress, "Rei(g)ning Cats and Dogs," and weigh in with your evaluation of how effective these short pieces are in setting up the story and what your expectations for it would subsequently be.

Thanks in advance for your beneficial input. ~Kate Sebeny

P.S. And please let me know if you have a similar project that I can inform with feedback. That would be very instructive to me--and, hopefully, to you as well.