LET'S TALK ABOUT IT Continues...

It's a great Saturday isn't it? For our friends on the other side of the world, we are posting early...

And as promised, it's time to introduce my very special guest blogger. I'm so excited! Everyone, please welcome:

RHONDA DOVE

Hi, Kaye. Thanks for having me here today.

A few days ago, the subject of protecting your thoughts, ideas and stories online generated some interest so I’d like to take a little bit of time to talk about some of the ways an author can protect their online content.

For many authors, the web is now a standard marketing tool to promote your stories and to maintain/grow your fan base. Whether it is stories already published or small samples of writing, just having a copyright logo placed on your site or blog will not stop a potential thief. So what tools are available for us to discourage such theft? Let’s begin by breaking down the topic of protection into two categories, those solutions that will mostly apply to websites and blogs and those that are better suited for protecting e-publications.

Websites and blogs are a composition of images and text most often displayed in an HTML framework. Within this framework, pieces of code can be placed that disable various options such as right click, copy, Save As, or prevent use of the clipboard via the Print Screen option. Many of these pieces of code are available free on the Internet or can be purchased for a small fee. What makes most of these options appealing is that very little knowledge of web design is needed and most sites that offer code will explain to you how to apply it to your website.

Tips for protecting your website or blog:

1. Use one of the free copyright services that put an electronic badge on your pages or entries. One of the perks of using such a service is the additional tools they come with. In most cases, such sites offer the ability to search the Internet looking for copies of your already protected content. This in turn gives you the author, the ability to follow up with the perpetrator and resolve the situation.

Possible sites to explore:
Copyscape.
MyFreeCopyright.com

2. Secure your website with code. Most often web pages use Javascript, to deliver all sorts of tasty treats for people browsing the web but they can also be used to deter unwanted behavior. These pieces of script each do a different function but a combination can be included on any single page for greater security. One of the best site examples I have seen is Hypergurl.com.

Hypergurl offers code to: Turn off right click for images.
Turn off right click for source code (text).
Disable copy and paste.
Give the illusion your source code doesn’t exist.

3. Include a link back requirement advertisement on your website or blog if some one decides to use your material. This will allow for greater exposure to your site while keeping things honest.

4. Use cascading style sheets to blank out content and prevent printing on your site (Web use only). This is a slightly more advanced tip, requiring that the author have control or someone who is capable of creating this feature for them on their website. What makes me include this option is its ease of creation and implementation. All you will need is a text file named ‘noprint.css’ with the following text inside:

html { height: 100%; }

body { height: 1px; width: 1px; }

.noprint { background-color: #fff; color: #fff; height: 1px; width: 1px; }

Then on each page, between the head <> tags include the following line:

link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print" href="noprint.css"/

And inside the body <> tag of each page put: class="noprint"

The page will appear unaffected until you go to File, Print Preview and you’re text will have disappeared. This will not affect images but other exclusions can be added to the style sheet to remove those as well.

Thoughts on protecting published material:

1. Adobe Acrobat Professional PDF’s . Some publishers offer their product to readers by compiling the story into a PDF, which offers a stable, easily downloadable copy viewable in Adobe’s Free Acrobat Reader. Unfortunately, by default, Acrobat Reader gives the end user the ability to print or save as copy or text. But within Adobe Professional software, many of these utilities can be turned off or disabled as well as the menu bar being hidden if necessary. This particular option may not be within the control of the author but may be a question to ask during contract negotiations.

2. What other formats are available? Currently, the Adobe PDF is the most commonplace format for electronic publications. However, some sites offer their material with executable readers (Microsoft Reader, Acrobat Reader), so that the content will only open if you have the specific required reader installed. Others, though few, offer the product through Flash files or basic HTML pages but don’t necessarily allow printing or saving but don’t always prohibit it either.

There you have it. I'll be here at around 11 am eastern time to answer questions. See you then.

Rhonda

rhondadove.blogspot.com

http://www.rhondadove.com/

If anyone has a question or needs any help later email me at:

theauthor@rhondadove.com

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If some of this sounds confusing or like a foreign language to you, it's because that's exactly what HTML coding is. But never fear, Rhonda will try to help you understand how to use this language and protect your own work.

Kaye

So Few Lines, Too Many Words

Lately I've been working on opening lines and how to hook the reader in the first paragraph, if not the first sentence of my latest story.

I have to fight the tendency to labor endlessly over those first few paragraphs There's always that compulsion to make those opening lines just perfect. Instinctively, as a reader-turned-writer, I know the importance of a good beginning, so I sweat over mine. And, because I've worked so hard on those first several sentences, they can be the hardest to let go of if my gut instinct is telling me they need to be cut.

Revising openings is not easy, so to warm up, find a novel you enjoyed and reread its opening. Does the first sentence grab your attention? If so, put it down and pick up another book. Great beginnings are hard to come by, so it shouldn't take you long to find a novel without one.

Once you've found a good book with a less-than-great beginning, rewrite that beginning. You might do it by cutting a few paragraphs until you come to a line that makes you feel something makes you ask a question or titillates you, or you might move the last sentence of the first paragraph into top spot. Sometimes it can be that easy. The first sentence might even simply need a few words cut out to make it shorter, punchier.

After you rewrite a few others beginnings and study some openings that caught your attention, read your beginning with that critical eye you've acquired. Would it make a reader ask a compelling question? Would it make her feel something? How many sentences into the book does she have to be in order to become captivated and need to read on?

Whether you cut a sentence or a chapter or more, know that you're doing it for your own good and the good of your book. You want the first words that an editor reads to grab her attention and make her know your book is, indeed, purchase-worthy.

Here's a great opening line from Nocturne's Aftershock by Debra Cowan:

Cass Hollister's problems began the day she died.

Now doesn't that make you want to read the story to find out what is going on? It does me. So what are some of your favorite opening lines from books you love, or even from your own work?

Kaye

PS: A big *Thank You* goes out to my friend Christina Phillips for giving me the "I Love Your Blog" award!

A NEW LOOK

So how do you like the new look of my blog?

I felt it was time to change it.

Sometimes the same old thing gets too boring!

I think I might lay in a photo in the header. So let me know--does it need anything else? Different colors? Fonts? Tell me what you think.

Kaye

Get Branded!

No, it's not what you think! Got you!

Branding means people know what to expect when they see your name.

Audrey Shaffer has some interesting points here...

When you shop for books, do you look for new authors you've never heard of? Do you really want to give your hard-earned money to someone you know nothing about? I doubt it.

Don't feel guilty. They aren't interested in buying your book either. Why? Because they don't know you.

For writers, your brand is usually your name. Unless you write something like Harry Potter. Then the series becomes your main brand, and your name is secondary.

Your platform is what you are known for. It's what you stand on, what raises you above the crowd and makes you stand out. The thing that makes you different. For most writers, your books are the platform, and your name is the brand. The stronger your platform is, the higher you (your brand) will rise above the crowd. Therefore, the biggest part of branding is creating, building, and strengthening your platform.

Building a platform takes time. But you can start immediately to build your brand. Then, when you get your platform together, you will already have something to put on it.

Stephen King, Ann Rice, Dean Koontz, Janet Evanovich, Danielle Steele, Barbara Cartland…all are writers with a strong brand and a clearly defined platform. Many of their fans will buy their new book without question. The brand is on it, it's a sale. They aren't afraid to spend their money, because they know they're going to get what they want.

If you are going to use a pen name, then that becomes your brand. And you will need to build a platform under that name. Sometimes, a brand can limit you. In that case, you usually have to create a second brand, andbuild a platform for it too. Stephen King – Richard Bachman. Nora Roberts – J. D. Robb. Once the second brand can stand on its own, then you can safely let it be let everyone know that both brands belong to you. But by keeping them separate, you make sure your readers get what they expect when they pick up your books. The last thing you want to do is disappoint your fans. That can end your career.

Who are you? That's your brand. What do you do? That's your platform.

So what is your brand and platform?

Kaye

The Witch's Cat

That's Kuda at the right--my very own witch's cat!

This is the day after Halloween,

time to celebrate the end of fall.

Some call it All Saints Day.

For me, I choose to honor

a much loved classic childhood

tale first read to me by my mother

when I was very young.

Gobbolino The Witch's Cat

by Ursula Moray Williams.

With his sparky whiskers and

magic tricks, no one could mistake

Gobbolino for a simple kitchen cat.

But that is just what this little witch's

cat longs to be...

First published in 1947, this story of

a kindhearted kitten has enchanted

generations of children of all ages.

Everyone should read Gobbolino

no matter if you're

eight, eighteen or eighty years old!

Kaye