» On 10/06/2018 10:00:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Life By Misadventure by John Kingery. 

I completed a freelance editing job in early July, and enjoyed it enormously. This is the third novel I've edited for John Kingery, and they've all been delightful to work on.

Usually, there's not much you can do with a novel. The writing is normally so bad that it needs a total rewrite, not just an edit. And the writer doesn't want to pay for a rewrite. So you plod through, wasting your time correcting the grammar in idiotic sentences that go nowhere, and you collect your fee, feeling like a fraud.

But John is different. He actually knows what he's doing! Yaay! And his manuscripts are always 98% *there*, so I can use a scalpel on the remaining 2%, rather than a machete. Nice. Satisfying. It feels like I actually help him get closer to his goal.

"Life By Misadventure" was just published earlier this week, and I highly recommend it. It could easily become this generation's Catcher in the Rye.

 
» On 10/06/2018 09:55:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Easy path to an Author Page. 

Have you always wanted an Amazon Author Page, but lacked the ambition to actually write a book? Then write a 100-word story (or a 50-word poem) about Wrath and submit it here:

http://pureslush.com/submissions/current-submissions

After your gem is published, you can add the Wrath anthology to your Amazon Author Page:

http://snzltr.blogspot.com/2011/08/#3962270589305161619

They recently published two of my gems:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1925536548

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1925536645

, and if I can do it, you certainly can! Submissions for the Wrath anthology close November 30.

 
» On 10/01/2018 12:30:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Google knowledge panels for authors. 

Try visiting google.com and searching for your name. You might want to stake a claim on that "knowledge panel" over on the right, before somebody else does. (I'm in the process of claiming mine.) I assume this is a new Google feature, and they haven't got a clue about providing security.

LATER: More info, from those crafty Dutch.

STILL LATER: Google finally inserted my photo, but they left out the other 2 books I requested: http://google.com/search?q=Alan+C.+Baird

EVEN LATER: Just when I give up on Google, they fix something I requested many days ago. Be patient. If you're still having trouble, this form should help. Pro Tip: make sure your Gmail account has the Web & App Activity turned on.

LATEST: The Knowledge Panel no longer shows up in a search for my name. Google sayeth, "Knowledge Panels automatically appear when they have information that is highly relevant to a user's query. Over time, Google Search may determine that a specific query should trigger a KP, but that happens organically and is not something we can or would influence." In other words, they got tired of posting my updates. However, my KP is still visible at this direct URL: https://g.co/kgs/8nykeP

UPDATE: My KP is back - http://google.com/search?q=Alan+C.+Baird

UPDATE 2: If Google, in its infinite wisdom, doesn't think your Knowledge Panel is sufficiently interesting to display in the initial results page, it may belch out a "Complementary Results" box instead. This box displays a link that says "See results about _____ (Author) (Main Book)." When you click the link, you finally get a search results page that contains your KP. Anikó's KP is currently hidden by this two-step process (but her status may change by the time you get there): initial results and direct URL for her KP.

UPDATE 3: This is Google's "f*ck you, relax and enjoy it" message: "We’ve reviewed your feedback, and unfortunately, the change you want to make isn't supported at the moment. There are parts of Google Search that can't be edited or removed, such as content that is found on publicly available websites, unless that information is inaccurate. If the information about your knowledge panel is still inaccurate, please submit feedback again with more detail. Make sure to link to publicly accessible and authoritative webpages that confirm or support your feedback." Once you get this message from the all-knowing and all-powerful Google, you've reached the dead end, even if you submit more "publicly accessible and authoritative webpages."

UPDATE 4: Setting up author pages at Amazon's international sites.

UPDATE 5: Goodreads, LibraryThing, Medium, Google and Amazon.

Labels: kp