WHAT'S NEW EVERYONE?

Working on a Supernatural Thriller titled, "Father Time". Just started a first draft yesterday and it's going really well.

Also the dark comedy, Serial Me, is coming along very well. I'm still in first draft stage and I hope to finish and have everything  published by late January 2013.

Also you Diary of A Sick Chick Fans, the sequel is coming soon February 2013. Diary of A Sick Chick: Year Two of Chronic Illness.

"Chapter Books" on Amazon

Okay.....

What exactly is a "chapter book"?  A chapter book, my friends, is a book that costs 0.99-$1.99 USD and has a length from 25-55 pages long. It's marketed as a "series". But what you're paying for in essence is just a chapter or two.

What's wrong with this?

Nothing, I suppose. But in the reviews, I've noticed that this angers a lot of readers. Especially when unknown writers tend to do this. Why should a customer pay 0.99 for a chapter and have to continue paying in order to finish the entire series? There are plenty of books out there that are equitably priced and you get the entire story in one read.

I've read some amazing "Chapter books" out there but I'm letting you know authors, you take the risk of alienating future buyers.

If you're interested in writing a series, then do so. But give your readers more than just a few chapters at a time.

Black Girls Don't Cry

EXCERPT FROM THE TEACHER'S PET....

Black Girls Don't Cry

You don't get to show your tears.
And admit to the world all of your fears.
Girl are you still bitter after all these years?
Black girls don't cry.

Wipe those tears from your eyes.
And don't you dare forget your disguise.
Somewhere in between the truth does lie.
Haven't you learned that Black girls don't cry?

She must always remember her role.
For that Jezebel has traded in her soul.
She's the lowest being on the totem pole.
But Black girls don't cry.

Demonized by those who look like you,
Fighting stereotypes that aren't true.
You can't win no matter what you do.
But Black girls don't cry.

Seducing men to drink from her cup.
Hold your head high and just suck it up.
Do you think the world really gives a F*&^?
Black girls don't cry.

They don't know what she went through.
Her face deceives but only she holds the truth.
That her cold stony heart could break in two.
But Black girls don't cry.


(c) Sonya Dickerson 2012

The Prediction--September 2012

The Prediction

--coming soon to amazon.com! 

Suspense/Thriller

Jamie and Tyler Peterson have shared ten wonderful years of marriage together and plan to be married for many more.

One day she is practically dragged to meet a psychic by her free spirited best friend practically against her will.

During a reading she learns that in just thirty days, the life that she has will soon be over as the psychic predicts that either she or Tyler will be murdered by the other spouse's hands.

At first, Jamie thinks this is nonsense. How can the perfect marriage turn in a mere thirty days?

Moving On Up With Hannah

#1 in Criminology

#10 in Historical Fiction

 As of right now (Monday August 6, 2012 3:09PM, Hannah: A Fictional Life Account of the Youngest Child Executed in U.S. History is ranked as you see above. I think that it's reached the highest that any of my books have made it in the free store. Hopefully that number continues to decrease. Making it into the top 100 would be a dream come true for me!

I am extremely proud of my work and am currently working on three other projects. I hope to have them all complete and finished by the end of the year.

I just want to thank all the people who have supported me from day one.

Bad Writing When You're Not A Writer

You want to know the wonderful thing about self publishing?

Non-writers can now be writers! First, let me clarify.

I was browsing on the Kindle store for books that I might have been interested in when I came across a book written by an undertaker. One review that was posted gave the book one star for bad writing.

The authors tried to make an entertaining compilation of stories covering the entire mortuary process (removal through funeral), but the stories are rather dull and filled with impertinent information (e.g., long background histories of some of the writers, and extraneous details regarding the setting or unimportant background characters). I can only assume it is because the people who wrote them are not writers, they are undertakers....

She pretty much answered her own question with this one. Not everyone can be a writer, but does that mean that we silence the voices of those who aren't? I've read books from people of all walks of life. Sometimes, it's not about brilliant writing, flowing prose, and a gigantic vocabulary.

It's about the life experience that they are sharing. Reading about other people's life experiences can make your own very rich. Could some people benefit from an editor or even another writer to help the? Sure they could. But many people aren't really concerned about a few typos or a comma splice here and there.

I feel as if my life has truly been enriched by reading the stories of cancer patients, the Amish, Loyalists in the American Revolution, slaves in the Civil War, paramedics, doctors, lawyers, police officers, fireman, people with Lupus, serial killers, dentists, stockbrokers, people sold into sexual slavery, drug addicts, white supremacists, black supremacists, prisoners on Death Row, celebrities, etc.

Some of these stories were full of errors, but I didn't let that stop me from receiving the message. What we don't understand, we fear. What we fear, we destroy. Learning about other lives will make yours much richer.

EEEEEKKKK! NOWHERE WILL BE HITTING THE STANDS IN HOURS!

My third book and I'm so excited, I could burst. At this moment, I submitted Nowhere for publishing on Amazon. I am excited to hear what people think about it. I've been working on Nowhere longer than I worked on Sex Therapy. It was just a draft that lingered on my hard drive for months.

It is very rewarding to see it come to life and become a whole story. I am excited! So excited, I can barely sleep right now.  Hopefully the Amazon interface isn't having too many issues and it can be published soon.

Until then....I wait....patiently.

Tea of the Day: Blueberry Acai

Sex Therapy For Free Today!

It sure is fun to see your book being purchased or at least downloaded. I'm hoping that if the reviews come in, they are positive. This was taken June 18, 2012 2:37PM.

Almost Finished With Second Drafts

I am almost done with my third book, "Nowhere"and hopefully it will be available in September in this year.

One thing I would stress to new authors is this is the time to go over your book with a fine toothed comb. This is the time that you need to catch errors and grammatical issues. Don't be so in love with your words and the story that your mind will overlook the imperfections.

Your readers will take you to task over such issues. While you may not think that its a big thing, it is to your readers. There are lots of voracious readers out there and they feel cheated if you don't give it every thing you've got. They are out there spending their hard earned money on your books.

I ran across an Amazon forum one day where the authors were complaining about Amazon and how it was taking too long to update and publish their titles. It was taking 48 hours or more when normally it is 75 percent less of that time.

Many authors, including myself, would upload a manuscript, notice a mistake in it later, then try to upload a new one. Because of this glitch, people were buying the wrong book instead of the one with the errors fixed.

This led to horrible reviews of readers complaining that the book had many spelling errors and typos. My thing? GET IT FREAKING RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.

Read your book over and over again like a person looking at the book with fresh eyes. Put it down for a week and then read every single word again before you hit that PUBLISH button.

Get it right the first time and correct those errors before your readers string you up by the neck.






Tea of the day: Acai Berry and Blueberry Tea

Went Into Respiratory Failure A Few Days Ago

Haven't been doing much writing here because I went into respiratory failure on Tuesday of this week. I stopped breathing in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. It is now Thursday and I'm still here. I'm trying to write while I'm in here but the flare ups and fatigue makes it harder.

Looking for prayers and positive energy. Thanks for reading and keep writing.

Pulling Your Hair Out Is Part of The Writing Process

For some reason the picture won't show up larger than this. But if you zoom the screen out, you will see the numbers pouring in for my new debut, Sex Therapy. Just to show you how all this works with Amazon, it shows you to the right how many actual books you sold that you're going to get paid for. Or not get paid for if someone refunded your book. (Yikes)

The numbers to the left deal with your Free Promotions. Or other words, not going to get paid for. Amazon gives you the opportunity to give your book for free to garner reviews and get your name out there. Cool huh?

The numbers towards the middle (Borrows) tells you that you're going to get paid for books that others lend or read for free with the Prime program. That money is coming from Amazon itself. That's ONLY if you enroll in the KDP program. That just means you promise to exclusively publish with them. If you don't, well tough cookies...LOL!

Since this is my first fiction short story out there, I'm incredibly nervous. I have been trying to perfect the novel the best way I know how. Yeah...I guess you could say that I'm terrified of the horrible reviews. But it's the only way I'm going to know I'm good. Yes, it is true that not everyone is going to like you. You could give this book out with million dollar checks, and I would bet all the money in my bank account (you're welcome to $39.17 right now) that you will still get negative reviews. Probably because you wrote paper checks and you didn't overnight the cash you little, silly, naive author, you!!!!

Or it's just your book really sucks but they wanted to thank you for the million bucks anyway.

I just placed my book for a free promotion last night and the reviews will be coming in shortly. I'm very ill right now and can barely move without chest pain. In fact, I should be writing this in a hospital bed instead of my own bed but what are you going to do, huh? I would just ask reviewers to be fair, not name call such as garbage, or filth, rubbish for my British readers. If you didn't like the novel, just state the reasons why and move on, especially if you're just looking for the free million dollar check that comes along with the book.

Look out for that in the eight edition. ; )

Sex Therapy Is For Sale

Grab it here!

It's for sale people!!! I can't wait to hear what you guys think! This is my first debut at fiction. I've done the screenwriting thing but my novella, Sex Therapy is available for purchase on Amazon.com.

I will be offering the book for free very soon so watch for the promotion to come! Thanks everyone!