S. W. Blayde

NEVER MIND
          
          Problem solved. I got my answer from an Italian willing to help. Don't you love the internet? It brings us together (unless you're on Twitter).

Does anyone speak Italian and is willing to help me with something I wrote to make sure it makes sense?
          
          Thanks in advance.

I've never been active here, but I have been on the Forums, specifically the Industry Insider's club and the Improve Your Writing club. With the Forum gone, I don't really come to wattpad. I don't know what the problem was (probably bullying), but I believe it was a mistake for wattpad to do away with the Forum. I've already had a long time participant in those two clubs say goodbye to me as she won't be returning.
          
          So unless the Forum comes back, I'm probably gone as well. Which is a shame. I thought I provided useful information to writers on the publishing industry and more importantly on writing fiction. I'd say to PM me with a question about writing or publishing, but since I won't be checking my inbox that's ineffective.
          
          So for those I've helped in the past, it was my pleasure. Keep writing. And if you want to write well, keep learning how to write fiction.

Around 10 months ago, I began a short story addressing the difficulties a lesbian would have in the 1880s Old West who wanted a child but wanted it to be her own flesh and blood (no adoption). This was prior to artificial insemination.
          
          I really got into the story and over 102,000 words and 10 months later, finished it as a novel called "The Breeder." It ended up addressing LGBT in the 1880s (well LB anyway).
          
          I don't hold back when I write so when I write violence it's graphic violence and when I write sex it's graphic sex. So this novel is probably not suitable for many of you because of the graphic sex scenes.
          
          Then why am I bringing it up here? Because I found it interesting that what started as a short story ended up to be a full length novel with many more characters and sub-plots than originally planned. In fact, it's my longest novel to date.
          
          I enjoy giving advice to less experienced authors, helping them learn the craft of writing fiction and enjoy writing more. What I want to pass along are two things I learned from this story. First, if you want to keep the story short, it takes effort and commitment. And second, sometimes the story takes you on a journey you hadn't expected.

LAST KISS (the novel) is now free on Amazon for those in the Kindle Unlimited program.
          
          It's free. Give it a try. I'm sure you'll like it.

The sales of "Last Kiss" aren't what I expected, but I got a message from someone that lifted my spirits. Here's part of it:
          
          I finished reading your novel.  It's a really polished work.
          
          That was some story.  I admire the way it all fit together.  I'm not just talking about the plot.  It was also the dovetailing of so many aspects of high school life... the baseball, the college concerns, the dating, the lunchroom, the classrooms...

The 85,000 word novel version of the short story LAST KISS is published! Hooray!
          
          Note, I used the same title as the short story but a different pen name (Elliot Scharfman) for the novel.
          
          The novel is available on Amazon. The direct link to the U.S. site is: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07364SNDB
          
          If you're outside the U.S. you'll need to buy it from your local Amazon site. Don't bother searching on the title. You'll have to scroll many pages. It's better to do a search by making the category "books" and searching on "Elliot Scharfman". That should take you right to it.
          
          Use the Amazon "Look Inside" to read the first 5 or so chapters. I hope you enjoy it. I believe it's the best thing I've ever written and would love your feedback (and of course an Amazon review. 5-star of course. LOL

HELP!
          
          The novel version of my short story "Last Kiss"  is done. I intended to get a literary agent to sell it to a traditional publisher, but I don't have the patience of going through the tedious query process so I'm planning on self-publishing it.
          
          I can probably get it out as an ebook rather quickly. But a wattpad survey of the age group of my target audience, most of you, stated they read print books (not ebooks). 
          
          Here's the question:
          
          Should I spend the time required to publish it as a paperback?
          
          To do that, I will need a new cover and additional formatting. That will take considerable time.
          
          Thanks, everyone. Looking forward to your advice.  :)

I just finished the 1st draft of my novel "Last Kiss." Been writing it for well over  6 months. What a feeling to reach the end. 40 chapters. About 84,000 words. What a feeling! I just wanted to share it with everyone I know.

WOW! I just had an eye-opening experience.
          
          As I said, I'm writing a novel version of my short story "Last Kiss." Not wanting to jump through hoops with a traditional publisher, I expected to self-publish it. And I thought ebook only would be the way to go.
          
          After all, YA (Young Adult) and MG (Middle Grade) readers grew up in the electronic age so I thought they'd prefer ebooks over print. Well, someone asked wattpaders under 18 years old some questions about that (the thread is in the Cafe at #Comment_35111005)." rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.wattpad.com/forums/discussion/comment/35111005 #Comment_35111005).</a>
          
          What I'm hearing is that most don't read books digitally. They read paper books. I'm dumbfounded.