Sharon Kizziah-Holmes came to the meeting of Springfield Writer's Guild and talked to us about self-publishing. She runs PaperBack Press which is a self-publishing company along with a few other ventures. I thought about self-publishing before; Xlibris sends me emails still from when I got my friend to publish through them. They're hoping to get me too. I alway thought self-publishing was too expensive and I wanted the thrill of an editor saying I was the best thing since white bread. :)
Anyway, I'm thinking about self-publishing when I finish Earth. Everyone talks about the rejections they got and you don't get that with self-publishing. Of course you don't get advances either!
The royalties are higher with self-publishing as well.
I don't know which way I really want to go. Both have cons and pros that make them attractive. So I'll just have to finish my book and maybe I'll try both ways. Go the traditional and if that don't work try self-publishing or maybe I'll self-publish my first book and do the traditional with my second. I have 4 in the series after all. Not all plotted out completely but fleshed out enough to say I got the general ideas down. Anyway, Sharon got me thinking about self-publishing and it seemed affordable for someone on a limited budget like me.
However, I need to get my story done and editted before I think about even self-publishing, although Sharon has the Manuscript editted before she does anything else with it. I need a couple of beta readers to go behind me and clean up my mess. I edit myself as I go but I don't know all the rules and spelling was never my strong point. Thank god for spell check.
More and more I'm thinking about self-publishing, but I'm still wanting that acknowledgement from Editors that says I'm great. I think we all want that. We put our heart and soul into our work and we want that acknowledgement from people other than our family and friends who might be bias, whether they are or aren't. We want the public to read our book and gush. And buy our next book, of course!
Whether you go for self-publishing or the traditional route, once your book is out there, you can say you're a published author. And that is what we all want; to be published. To have bragging rights. :)
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Saturday, October 19, 2013
My own version of NaNoWriMo
As I said on my previous blog, people have been talking about JANO, but some have been talking about NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, where you write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. I think I'll do my own version of NaNoWriMo to get me ready for Jano.
My Earth series has 4 books to it so far. At least that's all I've thought about; the four elements thus four books. I plan to do either the second or third book for Jano, but I decided I'll work on book 1 Earth during November as if I was doing NaNoWriMo and see if I can get it done. I have a vague outline for the book, but it is very, very vague. I'm a panster, I'm afraid. I get a idea, write it down, then get scenes from different parts of the book, and have to figure out how to mesh them all together. Other times, I have a dream and I make a book around that dream. My subconscious is a weird place if my dreams are anything to go by.
Does anyone have tips on NaNo and JANO? Since I've never done them before and the only thing I know about them is that 50,000 words is the goal, at least 1667 words a day, I'd like some tips. I usually just sit down with music playing and write for an hour or two. Sometimes, I don't get anything written because my mind won't settle. I wish I had a separate office where I could spread things out, put things on the wall, leave my papers out. As you can tell I get distracted easily. ADD strikes again!
Chapt 4 of Book 1 Earth is coming along. I got stuck on names and got distracted by what I wanted to happen in the next chapter. As I said I'm a panster so I only work a chapter ahead, and forget what I want to happen in the one I'm working on! Not really but I get distracted and don't get as much as I wanted to done.
I'm trying to think of names for my books. So far: Earth Reader, Fire Walker, and Wind Talker, but I'm stuck on Water. Any Ideas?
Well, I've rambled enough for now. I need to work some more on Earth, and maybe finish chapter 4 today or tomorrow. Maybe I'll have chapt 5 done before NaNoWriMo.
My Earth series has 4 books to it so far. At least that's all I've thought about; the four elements thus four books. I plan to do either the second or third book for Jano, but I decided I'll work on book 1 Earth during November as if I was doing NaNoWriMo and see if I can get it done. I have a vague outline for the book, but it is very, very vague. I'm a panster, I'm afraid. I get a idea, write it down, then get scenes from different parts of the book, and have to figure out how to mesh them all together. Other times, I have a dream and I make a book around that dream. My subconscious is a weird place if my dreams are anything to go by.
Does anyone have tips on NaNo and JANO? Since I've never done them before and the only thing I know about them is that 50,000 words is the goal, at least 1667 words a day, I'd like some tips. I usually just sit down with music playing and write for an hour or two. Sometimes, I don't get anything written because my mind won't settle. I wish I had a separate office where I could spread things out, put things on the wall, leave my papers out. As you can tell I get distracted easily. ADD strikes again!
Chapt 4 of Book 1 Earth is coming along. I got stuck on names and got distracted by what I wanted to happen in the next chapter. As I said I'm a panster so I only work a chapter ahead, and forget what I want to happen in the one I'm working on! Not really but I get distracted and don't get as much as I wanted to done.
I'm trying to think of names for my books. So far: Earth Reader, Fire Walker, and Wind Talker, but I'm stuck on Water. Any Ideas?
Well, I've rambled enough for now. I need to work some more on Earth, and maybe finish chapter 4 today or tomorrow. Maybe I'll have chapt 5 done before NaNoWriMo.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Thinking about Jano
People have been talking about JANO, the writing event where you try to write a 50,000 word book in the 31 days of January. Without editing. THAT would be hard for me, but I'm thinking about trying it Jan 2014.
However, not with the two books I'm working on now, but with the second book in the Earth series or the third depending on which way I decide. Fire or Water are the two contenders. They both have the FBI vampire and the earth reader in them, but the suspect kills either with burning or drowning respectively. Earth has over 3 chapters but only 12,000 words so I don't know if I could make it to 50,000 since I'm a 1/3 of the way through already. I'm not a flowery writer; I get to the point when I write fiction, though I ramble when I talk. I think I'll try rambling when I do JANO. Maybe I'll make more than 50,000 that way!
How are the rest of you planning JANO? Got your ideas stirring?
I plan to finish Earth within the next five months since, when I started working on it last month again, I told myself I'd have it done in six months. JANO's going to be hard for me that's for sure. 50,000 words in a MONTH!
To make the 50,000 words in 31 days, one has to write at least 1,613 words a day or a little over six 250-word pages a day. Sounds doable, don't it? Unless you write like me which means a page or two a day at the most because you write something then edit it before moving on. As I said JANO's going to be hard for me, but I need to learn to write flow-of-consciousness style so I can actually finish something and say it's finished without editting myself out of a finished manuscript.
A friend and I did something similar to JANO ten years ago. He and I said that we would meet at a certain time for twenty days and write on a book. I started a new book while he worked on one he had already started,but we stuck to it for only 15 days. I made it to 88 pages and he did only 63, but we only did two hours a day so I think that was good. For JANO, I think I'm going to have to set aside more than two hours of writting time a day and some good writting music to keep RL(Real Life) at bay.
I've rambled again. I think I'll stop here and maybe get some "real" writing done. HA! More like editting again since I can't seem to stop myself.
However, not with the two books I'm working on now, but with the second book in the Earth series or the third depending on which way I decide. Fire or Water are the two contenders. They both have the FBI vampire and the earth reader in them, but the suspect kills either with burning or drowning respectively. Earth has over 3 chapters but only 12,000 words so I don't know if I could make it to 50,000 since I'm a 1/3 of the way through already. I'm not a flowery writer; I get to the point when I write fiction, though I ramble when I talk. I think I'll try rambling when I do JANO. Maybe I'll make more than 50,000 that way!
How are the rest of you planning JANO? Got your ideas stirring?
I plan to finish Earth within the next five months since, when I started working on it last month again, I told myself I'd have it done in six months. JANO's going to be hard for me that's for sure. 50,000 words in a MONTH!
To make the 50,000 words in 31 days, one has to write at least 1,613 words a day or a little over six 250-word pages a day. Sounds doable, don't it? Unless you write like me which means a page or two a day at the most because you write something then edit it before moving on. As I said JANO's going to be hard for me, but I need to learn to write flow-of-consciousness style so I can actually finish something and say it's finished without editting myself out of a finished manuscript.
A friend and I did something similar to JANO ten years ago. He and I said that we would meet at a certain time for twenty days and write on a book. I started a new book while he worked on one he had already started,but we stuck to it for only 15 days. I made it to 88 pages and he did only 63, but we only did two hours a day so I think that was good. For JANO, I think I'm going to have to set aside more than two hours of writting time a day and some good writting music to keep RL(Real Life) at bay.
I've rambled again. I think I'll stop here and maybe get some "real" writing done. HA! More like editting again since I can't seem to stop myself.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Books I'm working on
My first post looked lonely so I decided to give it a companion. Actually I wanted some feedback on my stories so another post was inevitable. Besides writers like to write or we wouldn't be writers, right? Also I don't know the rules to these blogs, how long does one wait before doing another blog anyway?
As I stated in my first blog, I'm working on two books. Both I concider fantasy, though the one could be concidered paranormal suspense as another writer told me since it has vampires and shaman/witches.
The main one I'm working on is temporarily titled Earth since one of the main characters can 'read' the earth.
She puts her hand on the ground and either hears a voice telling her what happen on that piece of land or she gets a burst of emotions/thoughts. Sort of like a shaman/druid gets feelings/directions from nature, only in this story shamen have all four elements of nature(fire, earth, water, air) while she only has earth. For the last ten years she has been a consultant for the sheriff's department and helped him find bodies and missing persons. The FBI have come to town because two bodies were found by the sheriff that matched a few that were found in two other states, and the sheriff calls on her to check the area out to ensure there are no more bodies. One of the FBI agents is a vampire, though these vampires are not your typical vamps. For one they've been living openly beside humans for over a hundred years and physically you can't tell the difference between a vamp and a human. Also they are not immortal, though they live a long time, and most are born vampires. The earth reader and the vampire work together to solve the murders. There's some romance thrown in as well.
My second story is a dragon book, though you don't see the dragon for awhile. The society is sort of Greekish/Romaneque Sword and sorcery. There are four types of people in this world, the Denea who are brutish and muscular, Aiken who are blond and slim, the old race who are dark-haired and stout, and the Dragons who are secretative and can appear as anything they like. Two slaves, one Aiken, one old race, escape from their master and become servants to a Dragon. The Denean master tries to get them back since he promised the Aiken who was the son of the fall Aiken king to a Aiken militant, but fails. So the Aiken militant tries and also fails, but he doesn't give up. He keeps trying and angers the Dragon who then appears as the Aiken king.
I have three chapters done on the first book and working on the fourth. The second story only has one chapter done and part of the second as I only work on it if I get stuck on something in the first book until I can fix the stuck part. I have at least thirty books started, twenty of which are in my computer at this time, but these are the ones I'm concentrating on right now until I get them done. There's another one that I started this year that I get flashes of, but I don't know if I should make it my stuck story and leave the dragon book for another time or continue, or work on three books and see which one gets done first.
See my ADD again!
The third book is SCIFI. It has nanites, living computers, a collective mind, and alien species. An alien alliance against the human government who thinks humans are superior. A lone human on the side of the aliens with the protection of said aliens. What do you think?
Anyway, I think I'll end here and see if anyone responds or looks at my ramblings.
As I stated in my first blog, I'm working on two books. Both I concider fantasy, though the one could be concidered paranormal suspense as another writer told me since it has vampires and shaman/witches.
The main one I'm working on is temporarily titled Earth since one of the main characters can 'read' the earth.
She puts her hand on the ground and either hears a voice telling her what happen on that piece of land or she gets a burst of emotions/thoughts. Sort of like a shaman/druid gets feelings/directions from nature, only in this story shamen have all four elements of nature(fire, earth, water, air) while she only has earth. For the last ten years she has been a consultant for the sheriff's department and helped him find bodies and missing persons. The FBI have come to town because two bodies were found by the sheriff that matched a few that were found in two other states, and the sheriff calls on her to check the area out to ensure there are no more bodies. One of the FBI agents is a vampire, though these vampires are not your typical vamps. For one they've been living openly beside humans for over a hundred years and physically you can't tell the difference between a vamp and a human. Also they are not immortal, though they live a long time, and most are born vampires. The earth reader and the vampire work together to solve the murders. There's some romance thrown in as well.
My second story is a dragon book, though you don't see the dragon for awhile. The society is sort of Greekish/Romaneque Sword and sorcery. There are four types of people in this world, the Denea who are brutish and muscular, Aiken who are blond and slim, the old race who are dark-haired and stout, and the Dragons who are secretative and can appear as anything they like. Two slaves, one Aiken, one old race, escape from their master and become servants to a Dragon. The Denean master tries to get them back since he promised the Aiken who was the son of the fall Aiken king to a Aiken militant, but fails. So the Aiken militant tries and also fails, but he doesn't give up. He keeps trying and angers the Dragon who then appears as the Aiken king.
I have three chapters done on the first book and working on the fourth. The second story only has one chapter done and part of the second as I only work on it if I get stuck on something in the first book until I can fix the stuck part. I have at least thirty books started, twenty of which are in my computer at this time, but these are the ones I'm concentrating on right now until I get them done. There's another one that I started this year that I get flashes of, but I don't know if I should make it my stuck story and leave the dragon book for another time or continue, or work on three books and see which one gets done first.
See my ADD again!
The third book is SCIFI. It has nanites, living computers, a collective mind, and alien species. An alien alliance against the human government who thinks humans are superior. A lone human on the side of the aliens with the protection of said aliens. What do you think?
Anyway, I think I'll end here and see if anyone responds or looks at my ramblings.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
First Blog
I'm not sure what I should write for my first blog so I'll probably just ramble along. I've joined the three writer's groups that are here in Springfield: Ozark Romance Authors, Sleuth's Inc, and Springfield Writer's Guild. Writing's been a dream of mine since I was a teen and I have started several books. A chapter would get done and an idea for another book would distract me. And I'd be off on another book. So I have first chapters on several books, but few second or third chapters. My ADHD kept me from being able to sit for long periods of time, and concentrating on just one thing for more than minutes at a time. Getting even a chapter done when I was a teen was a major accomplishment. As I grew older I learned to overcome that problem. I still have ADD, but I can concentrate for longer periods of time now.
I started putting my stories in my computer a few years ago. A few pages would go in and I'd correct typos as I went as well as editing sentences. I realized that I had over thirty stories started; some with outlines, others with just a few sentences explaining the story. So I decided I should pick two stories and work solely on them. Work on one until I hit a road block, then switch to the other until I can move past the road block. I picked two 'newer' stories, stories I had started in the last year. Both were from dreams I had and are vivid in my mind so I figured I would stick with them more readily. Not to mention, my older stories are all Sci-Fi fantasy, and not all in the computer yet.
Sleuth, Inc has a contest due this month that starts with the words "You tell him or I will". I wrote a paragraph, but haven't continued. I'm trying to figure it out to where it's in the 1000 word limit. When I write something with a limit it always goes over so I'm trying to work it out in my head first to pare down to the minimum I need. Hopefully, I'll get it in on time. I love mysteries with surprise endings so that's what I'm trying for.
I need to bear down and get serious with my writting. All these books in my head need to come out and get written, not linger in my subconscious and dreams. I see scenes in my mind like a movie playing in my head. A friend said that I should write my book as if it was a movie, then go back a add more if I needed to. However, when I get done with a chapter, I immediately want a critique and editing done. I start on the next chapter but the last chapter is still in my head until I get a critique. That's another reason I have few second or third chapters, I'm too busy critiquing! I think I have a touch of OCD!
Anyway, I think I should finish this blog here. I've rambled enough for today I think.
I started putting my stories in my computer a few years ago. A few pages would go in and I'd correct typos as I went as well as editing sentences. I realized that I had over thirty stories started; some with outlines, others with just a few sentences explaining the story. So I decided I should pick two stories and work solely on them. Work on one until I hit a road block, then switch to the other until I can move past the road block. I picked two 'newer' stories, stories I had started in the last year. Both were from dreams I had and are vivid in my mind so I figured I would stick with them more readily. Not to mention, my older stories are all Sci-Fi fantasy, and not all in the computer yet.
Sleuth, Inc has a contest due this month that starts with the words "You tell him or I will". I wrote a paragraph, but haven't continued. I'm trying to figure it out to where it's in the 1000 word limit. When I write something with a limit it always goes over so I'm trying to work it out in my head first to pare down to the minimum I need. Hopefully, I'll get it in on time. I love mysteries with surprise endings so that's what I'm trying for.
I need to bear down and get serious with my writting. All these books in my head need to come out and get written, not linger in my subconscious and dreams. I see scenes in my mind like a movie playing in my head. A friend said that I should write my book as if it was a movie, then go back a add more if I needed to. However, when I get done with a chapter, I immediately want a critique and editing done. I start on the next chapter but the last chapter is still in my head until I get a critique. That's another reason I have few second or third chapters, I'm too busy critiquing! I think I have a touch of OCD!
Anyway, I think I should finish this blog here. I've rambled enough for today I think.
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