Sara

I'm fairly new to self-publishing but I'm learning. I don't know how some of these writers get so many reviews. I have very few but my book seems very popular. Its not in the top 100 yet (usually ranges in the 200 to 300 hundreds in my category)

Any ideas on how to increase the number of reviews? Because the first thing I do when I buy something is check the reviews.

Here is the link:

https://www.amazon.com/Sarisart-C-J-Boyle-ebook/dp...

Thanks!

I've self published a few books. One of them did pretty well for a while but not enough to 'make it rain' lol. People ask me why I don't get a agent.

If you have already published a book on amazon can you still send it to publishers or literary agents? Or do you need to remove it from Amazon first?

LOL. i mean, I was talking about my current book and I was so excited about it - the next thing I know, he purchased it. Not just the download, the hardcopy.

I... I dunno, feel like he may never look at me the same again when he reads it.

He's my bosses boss. Eeeek.

The girl drives me nuts. She is bullied and made fun of - She doesn't care about things like bathing or combing her hair so I have to tell her to do it. One day I told her "you can't go to school like that, people will make fun of you."

She said, "people don't make fun of me for not combing my hair. they do it for other things."

so I said, "yeah, but you don't want to give them more ammo, do you?"

So last night she says they make fun of her for wearing only crocks and say that her feet stink. She says, "I know I should be myself and not care, but you said I should give them less reasons to make fun of me."

-so, yeah, my fault.

We spend a long freakin time trying to find shoes that she would wear. She claims that they make her feel "trapped". So I buy 2 pair that aren't sneakers but she doesn't like and tell her that she needs to get used to them.

Anyone have advice?

Do you always need to know what the characters are doing? Soon, i'm going to separate them into two groups, but... for now, they are together and, of course, the 'main' characters get more attention.

I feel like if one chimes in to say something stupid, the reader will go "whoa, where did he come from?"

I've been playing with my cover and I think it looks good. I'd love some opinions though. I didn't want to post the photo here because questions can't be deleted. But I can delete the source if I want.

Here is my cover:

https://scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/1543...

Maybe I'm dense but...I can't figure it out? Are the questions undeleteable?

I have someone editing my book for me and they keep re-arranging my sentences.

Like this:

She grabbed the shotgun with a wince. (mine)

Wincing, she grabbed the shotgun. (the edit)

And I was trying to figure this one out by myself. Doesn't it work either way?

Ann and Penny screamed and O'Neil hooted excitedly.

Ann and Penny screamed and O'Neil excitedly hooted.

I'm having a bit of fun with my current novel. I'm basically taking things from every favorite show and sticking into a book with an original plot. One of my characters name is...wait for it...Ann Dorian. LOL. I'm having fun, but I hope it doesn't turn people off?

I'm a new writer - and basically I've been clued in on the fact that I write love driven sci-fi...which people hate?

Basically an example of a sci-fi with romance would be Star Wars - you can removed the love aspect and it wouldn't change the story.

But a love driven fantasy would be more like Pirates of the Caribbean because you can't remove the 'love' and end up with the same story.

I'm almost done writing a story that you can't remove the love story and still end up with a complete book.

My last book, I think you can remove the love story and still end up with a pretty decent book. But it does have romance or love.

so would you read a love driven sci-fi?

I stand up from my computer being sure that I save my work because its important to me. I stand up and flare my arms out to the sides and beacon you to come forward by waving you forward.

You seem to be a little reluctant but finally you walk forward and I pull you into a big hug and squeeze you tight.

I give you a couple of pats on your back and tell you what you want to hear the most. My voice is soft and sounds like a song and you feel comfort and love.

I'm doing research for my novel and it's sci-fi... so the research that I've done suggested that human women could technically asexually reproduce NOW and there is no evidence to the contrary that it hasn't happened before.

but my question is: If I had a baby by parthenogenesis - is it my clone? And if you tested my mom and my 'baby' would my mom be its technical mother?

I'm doing research for my newest novel. Guess what happens when you google SWAT tank and ask if it can drive through a building...you get a bunch of Grand Theft auto or video game crap. LOL.

I'm hoping that you can at least get the tank inside even if it cripples it.

I know some readers frown on head hoping. I've been in ONE characters head at a time per chapter. But some writers only all readers in the head of one character throughout.

What is your preference? I'm curious.

Quick background - a tornado went through my neighborhood and the two taller than heck trees that were in my back yard ended up on my house.

So the house has been 'mostly' fixed. The money has been spent - none of it was for a cracked foundation. I'm not sure if they even checked that.

PROBLEM: water keeps seeping up through the floor in the kitchen. I know it is coming up through the floor because sometimes you can't even see any until you step on the floor - then you can see little beads of water squeeze through the seams.

This never happened before the tornado.

So I've done a ton of detective work. I have found that it is the a/c line - the condensed water pvc pipe runs under the kitchen. Somehow the pvc got broken and the foundation was cracked.

I know for a fact it is the pvc condenser pipe because I unhooked it from the pipe and have it draining into a bucket that I change twice a day. Now there is no water in the kitchen. I've ran the dishwasher - its rained really hard outside - still dry.

How do I prove it was from the tornado? Who do I call? (please don't suggest my contractor - I literally never want to see him again.)

I've been having a problem for a few months where water comes up through the floor tiles. I figured out it had to do with the a/c's exit pipe - but I thought when it rained it blocked the exit and caused the water to back up.

I did a few things to correct the problem and it worked for a few weeks and this morning the problem was back.

So I took the shop vac and attached it to the a/c and a bunch of what looked like mud came out. Not only that but when I was running water through the unit where no mud should ever be...crud kept coming out.

-- some background - a tornado hit my house back in feb and two trees ended up ontop of my house and in my house and I guess I thought the a/c was ok. So, how did crud get into the unit?

I flushed the pipes unit everything ran clear. Do I need to call an a/c repairman? Any help would be appreciated.

This is sort of a follow-up question to one I've posted already: /question/index?qid=20160...

Anyway, I did call a plumber and they charged me $45.00 just to go out there and $115.00 just to tell me that it isn't a "fresh water" leak. He basically shut the water off and looked at the meter to see if it moved. So...no real help there.

I discovered on my own what was happening but I still haven't figured out how to fix it.

My A/C exit is in the concrete slab. I looked all over for it and couldn't find it. Finally I located it buried in the dirt. Basically what I found out that when it rains really hard it blocks the A/C exit and the A/C can't drain so it ends up going into a crack somewhere. I guess the "crack" probably happened when the tree hit my house.

I had a person extend the PVC pipe out to the side and it did help - but again, when it rains really hard it covers the pipe. What do I do? Dig a trench?

What can you use - as far as household items - to neutralize it?

Would pepto do it? Or milk of mag? Or baking soda?

The stuff burns real bad and starts to liquefy you if it gets on you. (For a book I'm writing) But if you were to get a small amount on you - and you applied something quick...what would it be?

I haven't been able to find where the water is coming from. I've already checked the refrigerator. I thought it might be ice or something but it is dry near the fridge (front and back). There is no plumbing under the floor - so the leak is either coming from outside when it rains or in the wall where the sink is. It isn't traveling from under the sink so it'd have to be going under the floor from the wall and gathering in the middle.

I guess I have two questions after giving y'all the low down. 1) who do I call for this? a plumber? because what if it isn't a plumbing issue?

and 2) I had a tornado blow 2 huge (like 100 ft) trees down on my house a few months ago (feb) and I wondered if that might have cracked the foundation?

I literally have no more money from the insurance co. But they did tell me I have 2 years from the date of loss to file a new claim associated with it. My luck has been super bad this year. Seriously. It never ends.

I am doing research for a book and my characters are going to be using tear gas. The use of Tear gas is apparently banned in war yet we are ok with using it on civilians.

Also tear gas is very hard to get out of a building or house - you may as well abandon it and never use it again. The cost would be extreme. It turns into a powder that can be re-activated by heat etc.

Anyway - I was wondering what would happen if a canister of tear gas was going off and someone used a fire extinguisher at it - what would happen?