Monday, October 27, 2014

Size of Blog Font Does Matter, This Week on Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing, Recording of Scary Sunshine Boulevard, Giveaway


BOO!
Image courtesy of debspoons at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Hello and welcome to this Monday's edition of the J.Q. Rose blog. I bet you're getting Halloween costumes ready for the weekend trick or treating or parties. Got your pumpkins carved?

I have a treat for you today. I recorded an excerpt from my scary novella, Sunshine Boulevard, just for this frightening time of year. You can listen to the audio file by clicking the arrow on the recording at the end of the page. 
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Size of Blog Font Matters by J.Q. Rose
Image courtesy of Mister GC
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Before I share that recording, you can help me with an experiment. Last week I read an article about the size of font a writer uses on blogs/websites. The article stated the majority of people are now using mobile devices to access the Internet rather than laptops and desktops.
That means the fonts are decreased in size on the mobile devices, so if you use a small font, your blog may be unreadable on those phones and tablets. Readers won't hang around to discover all that is available on your blog or author website if they have to squint to see it
I am experimenting with different sized fonts to compare the ease of reading on the desktop and mobile devices such as phones and tablets. If you would be so kind, please leave a comment below and let me know which fonts are easiest to read. Thanks.

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This week:
Wednesday, October 29
I'm a guest on author Mary Waibel's blog, Waibel's Worldand she is a guest on the Girls Succeed blog talking about her YA fantasy/romance, Quest of the Hart. If you like fantasy with dragons and knights, you'll like this one. Stop by and say hi.

Thursday, October 30-- Southern multi-genre author, Gail Roughton, brings her own Southern flavor to the Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing series. So gather round her kitchen table to listen to her many tips on writing and enter to win the drawing for your choice of an e-book from her Amazon author page. Ya'll come now, ya' hear!
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Mysterious deaths upset
the Florida retirement community
interfering with their seasonal activities
and turning up more than dead bodies
Let me tell you, I am NOT a lover of horror movies or gory horror stories. No way. Not since I spent an entire movie hiding under the theater seat during a scary movie my older brothers took me to when I was about six years old.

You can imagine my surprise when my publisher, MuseItUp Publishing, categorized my first novella into the horror category. Say what? I knew it could be a paranormal story, but horror? I thought it was just another of one of my quirky, funny, oddball mysteries. Did you read this book? Did it scare you? I'd love to hear from you.
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SUNSHINE BOULEVARD
Back of the book:
Who or what is killing the seniors on Sunshine Boulevard?  Follow Jim and Gloria Hart, snowbirds who annually migrate to Florida for warm sunshine, fun, and games in snow-free winters. However this season, Jim Hart, a volunteer First Responder in his retirement community of Citrus Ridge, is drawn into the investigation of the mysterious deaths. 
Even in the midst of the unfortunate demise of the residents on Sunshine Boulevard, the Harts try to enjoy the winter with friends. They don't realize that their friends are getting together for their own kinds of affairs with each other. 
The neighbors are in a dither over the deaths, but perhaps more intrigued by the gossip about the affairs and why the naked lady was found lying in the geranium bed.

The e-book is available at
Amazon.com  
Bn.com 
Kobo.com

Click the arrow on the recording to listen to  an excerpt from Sunshine Boulevard read by moi. I hope it's a treat for you!!

10 comments:

Tess Grant said...

The font for the main body of the blog is good on my Iphone as are the "This Week" postings. The font on the blurb is a no-go. :)

J.Q. Rose said...

Thanks, Tess. Good to know.

Melissa said...

I struggle with font size. The default in Blogger is too small, but when I cut and paste, the formatting gives me fits. >.<

J.Q. Rose said...

Melissa, you can strip the format out of a cut and paste post by clicking on that icon that is a capital T with a red x on it. Highlight the word, sentence, paragraph you want to change and click the icon. Then you can highlight it and click on the font and size you want. I think it also removes any colored background in it too. You can change Blogger's default and increase the size by highlighting your entire post with cntrl A, then select the font, etc you want and it will change the whole post. Love that so you don't have to use the small default. Hope this helps.

emaginette said...

About the font, I'm one of the quick-look-can't-read-it-move-on readers. There are so many great posts out there and it isn't up to the reader to humor the writer/blogger.

Another issue is color on color. If a person uses a dark blog and uses deep purple (or another dark color) font, it is almost impossible to read. Again I move on without reading the post. (If I know them I will mention that I couldn't read it in the comments.)

Of course we all know this, right? :-)

Anna from Shout with Emaginette

J.Q. Rose said...

Ditto on your comments, Anna. No time to try and read an unreadable blog. Thanks for your comment.

Anonymous said...

I don't read blog posts on phones or tablets, so not sure if I can help. As for reading on the laptop, I like most of the different fonts you used. Not crazy about the one used for the book excerpt.

J.Q. Rose said...

Susanne, I prefer reading on my laptop too. That's why I was shocked when I read about 70% blogs and info are accessed by mobile devices. I'm sure laptops will be obsolete soon. Thanks for your input!

Conda Douglas said...

I read almost all my books now on my Android phone. If not there, then on my eReader tablet. I still read some things, including blogs, on my laptop, but...less and less! BTW, did you know that you can change the size of the font on your phones? Make it smaller or larger.

I love this new world!

J.Q. Rose said...

Hi Conda, yes, it's tough keeping up with the changes in technology. But so cool and fun to be in on it. Glad I'm a writer during this era of explosion in technology and e-books.

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