Tag Archives: Editing
Gender Breakdown
Let’s break down the stories in my 49 ranked magazines by the author’s gender. Gender Avg Stars (5 max) # of stories Avg Wordcount Unknown 2.88 4 3,982 Male 2.79 217 4,342 Female 2.46 138 4,406 Indeterminate 2.42 6 3,667 “Unknown” means that the author used initials so I couldn’t guess at their gender, and […]
Blurb Doctor: A Ransom of Flames
Anela has asked me to look at the first draft of a blurb for her upcoming work, “A Ransom of Flames”. A deadly blight. A crownless queen. A journey to the edge of the world. A mysterious blight is destroying the world of Aeden. At the return of each full moon the Vehlek, immortal men […]
Blurb Doctor: Dimension Lapse
Nicholas Davis asked me to look at his story, Dimension Lapse, so it’s getting a full workup from the Blurb Doctor. Jeff Walker, a Martian colonist is trapped in another universe, and lands on an island on a far away planet. He is befriended by its inhabitants,the Lingworts and learns to live in peace. When […]
Blurb Doctor: Gem-Oh Line
This is the second house call by the Blurb Doctor for one of Natalie McKay‘s stories. This time it’s Gem-Oh Line, here’s the current blurb: Nyria’s life couldn’t get much worse. Not only was she now the laughing stock of the Afgadu Military, she now was sent as a form of punishment to the other […]
Blurb Doctor: Red Haven
Natalie McKay has volunteered her short stories for the first posts in my new series, the Blurb Doctor. In these posts, I’ll take apart a book or short story’s marketing blurb, and rebuild it … better … stronger … faster. [For the younger crowd, that’s a Six Million Dollar Man reference. Hmmm, inflation is making […]
Planetary Defense Command 