[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by Spectrum

Well, I have no rational argument for this, but it annoys me to no end when people pronounce my names wrong.

This may sound like I'm trying to be unpleasant, but it's actually kindly meant. Get used to it. It will happen -- unless you want to give your aliens names like Joe or Bob or Mike -- and Mike may be stretching it. If you don't learn to accept that this kind of thing is going to happen, you have a lot of frustration ahead of you once your book is published.

Another way to help with this problem might be to have a footnote with the pronunciation rules whenever a name is used for the first time. What do you think about that?

I think an agent or an editor would stop reading the first time you did that. If not the first time, surely the second. That footnote wouldn't be there for the sake of the reader's understanding, it would be there to spare you annoyance. And even then, many readers skip footnotes.

One thing you need to realize when you start publishing your work: you are opening your heart to the world and inviting your readers to step in. If your heart isn't big enough and generous enough to accept a few of their foibles, expect it to get bruised ... a lot.

"Ilcas Northstar was tall, with scales of cobalt blue. He pronounced ridges above both eyes, but the right one was chipped - evidently a scar from a past batle."

This describes Ilcas Northstar as an individual.

And it is a very good way to begin describing his species. A few more such descriptions of individuals, and readers will have a very clear idea of what that species looks like. And it will stick much better that way than an entry in a glossary.

Similarly, a "dax" and a "sphyle" is a male and a female Scatha, respectively. But since everyone in the story knows this, I want just use the words without introduction and let the reader look them up.

You can convey this information through the context. Your description of Ilcas shows that you have an eye for the kind of details that tell so much in so few words.

Also, you're not talking about "letting the reader look them up" you would be requiring readers to look it up. Many wouldn't want to, and you would lose those readers very quickly.

I could also use the glossary to describe the appearance of the main characters. This could spare me the trouble of having to covertly work it into the narrative.

You wouldn't be saving yourself trouble, you would be creating it. What you would be doing is saving yourself the effort; good writing involves effort.