Wanted: Reviewers for book about security guards

SecurityGuard

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Hi, I am seeking some book reviewers or feature writers for my self-published book, Guards Gone Wild!. It is a collection of short stories about my adventures as a security guard. The abuse and scamming described in the book, incredible as they may sound, really happened.

If you wish to know more about the lives of security guards and support a local writer at the same time, please do PM me or drop a comment here.
 

UptheToon

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Very interesting and all the best to you.

Curious, Did you have an editor with you for reading the book and correcting mistakes in the book?
 

SecurityGuard

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Very interesting and all the best to you.

Curious, Did you have an editor with you for reading the book and correcting mistakes in the book?

Hi, thanks for your interest.

To answer your question, I had 2 editors for this book.

One was a British girl I have known since the 90s and who, coincidentally, had started working as a magazine editor years before I decided to publish my book. So when I asked her to do the work, she had accumulated the right amount of experience by then.

The other editor was a business acquaintance of the British girl, now residing in Australia I think?

The manuscript went through two levels of editing. The first one was just a "surface scan" to correct grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and typos. I was going to send off the manuscript to the traditional publishers then, and since a publishing house will want to do their own editing once they accept a manuscript...

Later, I had my editors do a deeper level of editing once I made my decision to self-publish the book. The thorough editing was done mainly by the business acquaintance in Australia. She did a good job and had a professional attitude. She started doing the editing work about one month before Christmas which, as you know, is a big deal to the ang mohs. And during that period, one of her friends passed away so she had to deal with the grief as well.

BUT she did her work without complaint and turned in a clean manuscript before the deadline.

Their names are listed on the information page of my book.

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UptheToon

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I see.. The reason I asked, is because the structuring of sentences in your synopsis is abit...weird i think?

In places where usually comma is used, you used fullstop. And one example of sentences like "and perhaps my story will cause you to form a new opinion.." sounds very informal - like a Singaporean speaking - and grammatically strange. "a" new opinion? Only 1?

I'd have gone for something like "Or perhaps my story may provoke new opinions of how security guards are viewed." or a different perspective of security guards etc.

For me, the English in the synopsis is quite off-putting. Was it done on purpose for authencity? Or you have a different opinion on this?
 

SecurityGuard

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I see.. The reason I asked, is because the structuring of sentences in your synopsis is abit...weird i think?

In places where usually comma is used, you used fullstop. And one example of sentences like "and perhaps my story will cause you to form a new opinion.." sounds very informal - like a Singaporean speaking - and grammatically strange. "a" new opinion? Only 1?

I'd have gone for something like "Or perhaps my story may provoke new opinions of how security guards are viewed." or a different perspective of security guards etc.

For me, the English in the synopsis is quite off-putting. Was it done on purpose for authencity? Or you have a different opinion on this?

When I was writing the book, I was reading thrillers because I didn't want the book to actually sound like one of the many reports I filed at work.

And the author I picked was Lee Child. He uses sentence fragments in his books for effect, because Jack Reacher's supposed to be a hero with few words and a straight-to-the-point guy? I picked up on his style. Or tried to.

So you see fragments like "Bloody-minded and pompous functionaries" standing alone by themselves when any English teacher will tell you that they should be part of sentences.

As for sounding informal... That's because I am the narrator and I am a security guard. The stories in the book have an informal tone, like the security guard uncle (i.e. me) is shooting the breeze with a colleague after work hours.

I will admit that the blurb contains slightly more fragments than the stories in the book, but that's the tone I want to achieve.

My editors did point out how they would word certain scenes differently but I insisted on having my own way.
 

charred123

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What are the expectations of a book reviewer? i enjoy reading and don’t mind to have a read of your book. Feel free to PM
 

UptheToon

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Alright. I understand.

Is the book available in ebook format? Like amazon or Google books?
 

SecurityGuard

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Alright. I understand.

Is the book available in ebook format? Like amazon or Google books?

Ah sorry... I am a traditionalist when it comes to books, so I am firmly entrenched in the physical-books-are-real-books camp. I only have hard copies available.

And right now, only Kinokuniya (at Takashimaya) and localbooks.sg retail my book.

If you are unsure about my book, you can browse at Kinokuniya or at Lee Kong Chian reference library at NLB. I did give 2 copies of my book to NLB but they did not put them into circulation. Instead, they are placed at Lee Kong Chian Reference Library Level 11, Shelf 19. The call number is: English 363.289092 LOH.

The item status is listed as FOR REFERENCE ONLY so you won't be able to take the book out of the library.
 
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