I use MS Home and Student 2016. It has every element I require. I upgraded from the very version of Word you are using and have been totally satisfied.
My choice for post-processing, so to speak, is ProWritingAid. In fact, I've found it so filled with features, I purchased a lifetime license for it. Word, either as RTF or DOCX will import nicely to/from PWA.
Bill
Doesn't work, Sol. See my profile. Apparently, the a and /a is not allowed. It would work here but not in our profiles.
Bill
I am currently in a conversation with someone at Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon) about their change. They claim they didn't change anything, but I beg to differ. They removed the methodology for following links using their "z-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/" server. It now cannot be reached even with a PING. On that server is a script that allows links to be displayed off-site. Maybe, if enough of us complain, we'll get it back.
Bill
Out of curiosity, I tried entering links to individual books via the old bookshelf method and got no results. The I tried cutting and pasting the link in my bio, but it didn't act as a link. What am I doing wrong?
Nothing. Unless you know how to insert HTML code for a URL link, people will have to Copy/Paste the reference into a browser to see your publications. I'm hoping Sol will come up with something to help us with that.
Bill
Hello, Justin. Welcome to TNBW. We have a great group of writers here.
I'm intrigued by your location. One of my favorite authors, W. E. B. Griffin, placed the action in one of his WW2 novels in Australia. A character in the book had family in Wagga Wagga. Cool coincidence.
Bill
I just now logged onto my Amazon author account and sent a trouble chit to them concerning how they've changed their method of linking to our books off-site. Have no idea if it will help, but maybe if more of us do it, someone might reconsider and change it back to the way it was.
Bill
Bummer. I'll send them a complaint and ask them why they changed.
Bill
My response is so horribly small I needed to use Chrome's magnifier -- three clicks worth -- just to see what I'm typing.
Bill
My Bookshelf publications have gone missing. I had two of them, but nothing is showing now. I tried to add one, but was told it was already in the list. One point of interest is that it is happening on Booksie as well, so it must be some change Sol, or the hosting service, made to the underlying code.
Anyone else having this problem.
Bill
Just voted. had to sign up, though. I understand the reasoning behind having to do so.
Bill
Ronin Press has just now offered Skitch-Bot, a collection of stories by authors on Booksie and some here on TNBW, for sale on Amazon. I am a contributor. Here's the URL: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1796780855/re … zCbD9BSW75
Bill
Excellent, Don! Hope it sells well for you.
Bill
It's really interesting to have this insight - people generally only share their 'i got a publisher' stories, so thanks for being so candid!! 50 rejections sounds like a good, round number to aim for before going to self-publishing. I'm going to put that as my target too!
Did you go premium with Pro Writing Aid?
I remember your cover for You Only Love Twice - it was beautiful!
The 50 rejections were counted only if I heard back from them -OR- didn't hear within 90 days.
I use ProWritingAid so extensively I opted for lifetime Premium. They had a New Years sale going and it was half-price, so I bought it. I'm also on their Beta team and have quite a rapport with the head of the development team. Wondful bunch of people. They've come out with a couple new versions that incorporated some bug fixes I suggested. The majority of "bugs" (which really aren't) is the distinction they try to make between American English and British English. SOmetimes PWA will flag it as Bristish, but it isn't, and vice-versa.
Thank you for the cover comment. My daughter was really proud of it. I think of it as being nearly the entire novel rolled into the cover. The subdued colors went well with the somewhat misty overlay.
Bill
Welcome to TNBW, Rae. Hope you have a great time.
Bill
How was your ROI when you published yourself, Bill? There are two major reasons why I'd be reluctant to go down the indie publishing route;
1. You have to invest in editors, cover artists & marketing experts but if your book doesn't do well, it could all be money down the drain. With a publisher, they'd take the hit if the book is a flop.
2. You have to invest a lot of time in learning and researching about different vendors & figuring out how to market it.
Are these valid concerns or am I wrong somewhere/overthinking things?
I'm not in it for the money. I know that sounds strange, but I published myself as an accomplishment. At my age (76), this works for me. As for ROI, I have a little royalties coming back to me, but not enough to get heady over. I make the rounds of libraries in the area, set up tables and sell a few books. This satisfies my ego enough.
As for editors, I use a couple of good pieces of software (primarily Pro Writing Aid) and they tend to point out mistakes and/or offer suggestions well enough for me. My daughter works for EA Games as an illustrator and software creator so she has a hand in making my covers. I think she did extremely well on my first book. I did the second book cover myself.
I went the self-publishing direction when I hit 50 rejections. It may take me a while, but I know when not to swim against the tide.
Bill
I have all the indicators for Indie publishing--and have done so twice.
Bill
Outstanding, Randy.
Bill
"Eyes of the River" is a very entertaining tale, Christine. I'm happy to see you aren't giving up on it.
Bill
Fortunately, NVIDIA allows full control over brightness and contrast of the screen. I've backed off slightlhy already.
Bill
Thanks, Lynn. My eye is healing faster than the doctor thought. I've graduated to simple eye drops every 4 hours now. Next week, the left eye will receive the same treatment. My right eye vision has improved a great deal.
Bill
Greetings, Josh. And welcome to our group.
Bill
Thank you so much, JP. Great song by Johnny Nash. I found it on YouTube and downloaded it. Hugely popular during my last tour in Vietnam (well, Thailand, actually, but it was still the war zone.)
Bill
It was absolutely painless for me, Christine. I was awake during the surgery. The entire process took 35 minutes. The preparation and post-op processes took longer than the surgery. What an amazing difference to my vision.
Bill
Absolutely. Had an appointment with my eye doc this morning. Before, I was able to read only the top letter of his eye chart. This time, even with the slight fuzziness of dilation, I read the fourth line down (one up from the bottom). The 'yellowness' tint to everything is gone from the right eye. he says that was the cataract causing it. The light snow on the ground was blazingly white instead of slightly tarnished 'eggshell white'. Wonderful. Can't wait for the right eye now.
Bill
Roughly 12 hours after operation, my eye is still dialated a little, but I can see almost clearly enough to read without my glasses.
Bill
