I entered my first book “The Crystal Crux – Betrayal” in the “Judge, 24^th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards.”

I recently received their assessment of my book.  I did not win.  It is the first book I have ever published.  I had high hopes but did not win.  Anyway, I did receive a positive evaluation of the book and I will share some of it here.

Using a scale of 1-5 (1-needs improvement, 5-outstanding),
here are my grades in each category.

Structure, Organization, and Pacing: 4 

Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar: 5

Production Quality and Cover Design: 4 

Plot and Story Appeal: 4

Character Appeal and Development: 4 

Voice and Writing Style: 4

The judge’s commentary stated that I did a “fabulous job of combining truth and fantasy, blurring the lines to the point where readers don’t know what is real and what isn’t.”

The judge’s commentary believed the cover was well-designed but thought I could have made better use of some of the space on the back of the book, perhaps put an author’s bio on it.

The judge’s commentary thought my writing style was “intelligent, with well-drawn characters and vibrant scenes.”  There were also no glaring grammar, spelling or punctuation errors.  That was nice to hear since I have no editor.

The judge’s commentary thought that the book could be taken from good to great if I learn to stop “telling” the story after I already shown it.  The judge pointed directly to the word “felt” and said it would be better if I showed through action and dialogue, how the person felt.

For me, I’m pleased with the evaluation.  It was my first book and hopefully I will continue to get better as I go.

The judge’s final commentary?

“Overall, the writing is good. After reading The Crystal Crux, fans are sure to want more.”

Cool.  I plan on writing more.  The second book in the series, Blue Grotto, is already on the shelves.  I’m working on a YA edition.  I am actually cleaning up mistakes I found in the YA edition of Betrayal and will put it together with the YA edition of Blue Grotto, making one YA edition, tentatively titled “The First Three Days.”  I’ll keep you up-to-date on this project as it progresses.

This past weekend, I went back and repaired a Home Assembly booklet I had published earlier this year.  I am a Christian, and my wife and I have a Sacred Name Home Assembly.  I know that is not everyone’s cup of tea which is fine but I do have a FACEBOOK page for this that currently has 95 followers.  Believe me, no one is more surprised by this than me.  Lol.  (Facebook Sacred Name Home Assembly)

The booklet “Little Chamber Shorts” is just ten short bible studies based on our Home Assembly teachings.  The Kindle version is only .99 cents for anyone interested.  As of this writing, Kindle was processing the cover art and it should be ready in the next 24 hours.

Anyway, this is my author’s page, so I will update any information on my writings here.

Be sure to steer friends and family this way.  Tell them to follow the site for continuing updates.  I’m hoping to have the YA edition released before the holiday season.

Remember, books make great gifts!  Especially epic fantasy series written by AM Werner.