Lulu Helix Review - Book Genome project

The good people at Lulu were offering a book review at a massive discount (40% off). I was very pleased with their detailed analysis of Archer compared to other young adult novels (specifically Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials"). If anyone knows of another YA book that Archer most resembles, I'd be pleased to hear it.

Anyway the stats went something like this:

	Archer	YA	HDM	RA	Range
Motion	61	59	61	68	46-72
Density	40	26	27	47	10-42
Dialog	68	65	74	60	51-79
Description	34	35	41	38	21-49

 HDM is His Dark Materials, RA is the Rangers Apprentice series by John Flanagan - apparently Archer's scores most closely match 4 of this series of books. Not one I'd come across, but guess what I'll be looking for to read next?

Just to explain the metrics: 

Motion is the description of physical motion in a scene, for YA books this ranges from 46 to 72% of the book (average 59%). Archer scores well on this.

Density is a language complexity measure (sentence structure, vocab breadth etc) - Archer is right at the top end for YA making it a challenging read.

Dialogue does not include internal monolgue - Archer is on the high side for this (no kidding! - it comes from my being an Air sign - we lurve to talk).

Description needs no explanation - I'm pleased to see Archer is just below average - my eyes glaze over when there is too much, I figure many YA readers are the same.

The analysis also included some stats about word/sentence/paragraph and book length compared to averages for YA and all books. I'm happy to say that Archer generally comes smack bang in between the two, backing up a number of comments from people (see next post).

	YA	Archer	Adult
Book length	49,296	54,813	82,112
Paragraph	38	54	72
Sentence	13	17	17
Word	4.2	4.3	4.5
Unique Vocab	4,853	6,060	7,555

The DNA analysis suggested the major themes were: Medieval Weapons & Armor, Strategic Planning / Conflict Management, Crowds/Audience, Horses, Music/Performance, Expressions of Emotion and School/College environment. I'd agree with these, but was surprised there was no mention of ancient festivals/enchantment or wood-working/crafts.

The other thing they did was to create a highly skewed frequency density chart (Wordle to most of us) for the most unique words in Archer compared to other books on the market. Here is their version:

I was surprised by a number of their choices (instant, despite, boy, rest, girl, start, break, point, round) these did not feel at all unique, but it gave me an idea. I've been playing with one or two Wordle look-alikes - watch this space.

The upshot is, I would recommend this analysis - even at the full price of £34.99 (approx $50) this is pretty good value and gives some good marketing ideas as well. They also do a lite version at £19.99 (approx $30) with no DNA or comparible titles analysis, but well worth getting if it's all you can afford. You can find it here:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/helix-review/service/product-helixreview.html

Good Luck

The Best Holiday Evah - Bar none!

Apologies for the dodgy puns, but it is who I am. Yep, that really was me snuggling under a duvet in the first class cabin, sipping champagne and feeling grimier by the second as the harrowing tale of Les Mis unfolded.
I reckon everyone should travel first class once in their lives if they can - a huge thank you to Sam and Barry for making it possible. And here's what else they gave us :

Yep, Barbados really was a perfect piece of Paradise - and a virtually private beach with a mill-pool sea 500 yards on from fun filled body-surfing breakers. All one needed was a Pina Colada or the best Rum Punch on the island - oh the lengths we went to on the quest of that little gem! Sheer Bliss!

Spooky Stuff

I'm sitting here listening to the Planet Rock presenters devote the whole day to scary rock tracks (you gotta love their devotion on this last day of Rocktober (groan). Stuff like Ghost (Slash), Creatures Of The Night (Kiss), The Number Of The Beast (Iron Maiden), Witchy Woman (Eagles), Welcome To My Nightmare (Alice Cooper) and even Break On Through (To The Other Side) - (Doors).

I thought it was a good excuse to montage some of my "face" pictures - can you spot them? They are from photos I took in Avebury, Wales and Barbados  - just rocks, roots and water.

Ok, the last one (bottom right) is a bit of a cheat because I reflected the picture (the edge of a rock on the pony path up to Cadair Idris) - but it really wasn't as obvious when it was only half a face. Can't decide if it's animal or human, what do you think?

Happy Halloween, Blessed Samhain or  Joyous All Souls. Whatever you call it, light a candle, eat something made from apples.
 
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ADDENDUM: Imagine my surprise when I learnt that it's not just me who "sees" faces in nature. There's even a posh name for it "simulacra." If you think I'm making it up, check out this guy:  http://www.palden.co.uk/simulacra.html.
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One wondeful week in wet windy Wales

Okay, so it wasn't all total slog. August saw a welcome return to the caravan with both daughters, hubby and even the dog. It did rain a lot - made the waterfalls even more vociferous than normal, and we finally took the Talyllyn steam train all the way to Tywyn. (pix to folllow). For me, much of it was spent doing the most exciting writing thing I've ever done - but I'm not gonna give it up yet. That deserves a post of its own, sometime soon.

Exhausted, Moi?

Ok, so the last 8 months have been the toughest for a while in terms of the pulls on my time. The trouble with full time working is you don't get time to play. At least I don't, because no matter how I try, the job I get paid for always seems to eat up all of my leisure time. My fault, I know - I always spend too much time creating Rolls Royce solutions when they only asked for a mini - I just can't help being creative.

The very best part was reading over 50 YA and MG books - I have discovered a raft of authors who have taught me so much about the type of books I love to read and write. There are way too many to mention, but the ones that moved me most were Patrick Ness (A Monster Calls), Cornelia Funke (Reckless/Fearless) and Michelle Paver (anything and everything - I will be stalking!).

In a week or so, I'll get some of my life back and hopefully be able to put my energies into writing - there has been one exciting little project which I hope to share soon.
Cheers
   Jacky

It's official ...

Archer has made the grade!
He IS Worthy!

I am so excited that my book has received this prestigious Seal of Approval from a bunch of guys who really know their stuff.

If you are an independently published author, I strongly recommend you check out their website with the wonderfully witty tagline
"Don't judge a book by its publisher."

Their aim is to provide One Voice for Self-Published Authors

so we can have the same weight of authority that the Author's Guild provides for Authors published by conventional publishing houses.Their purpose is to establish standards and promote independent Authors. Their efforts are entirely voluntary, so please, have a look and support them in any way you can, particularly by spreading the word so this community can grow.

Nice one Guys.

J

Awesome Interview

I'm so excited. After interviewing an author or two myself, I'm privileged to have been interviewed by a complete master - read the full interview by clicking here.

Ia Uaro is an extremely talented author whose work has been translated into other languages. You can find out more about her latest creation Sydney's Song - "a young girl's courageous journey to adulthood and a love story grounded in the suburban settings of Sydney and Boston where heartbreaks are juxtaposed with humour" by clicking here. Please check out her book trailer - this one is a winner, and as soon as my every waking moment isn't filled with Wimpy Kids, Tracy Beaker, Mr Gum and the Twits, I will be reading and reviewing it and hopefully returning the compliment.

Cheers
   Jacky