November Blog Chain

I'm participating in my first ever blog chain through Absolute Writers and I'm nervous, nervous, nervous!  The assignment this month: a drabble, which is a piece of fiction of exactly 100 words.  For the sake of NaNoWriMo, we were allowed to go +/- 5 words.  (I'm over by 2)

So why the nervousness?  One hundred words doesn't seem that hard, right?  Well, I've decided to put up one hundred words of my YA WIP, Finding My Escape for my fellow writers to see and comment on.  It had to happen some time, letting professionals view my work.  Enough procrastinating, here it is:

I walked through the door.  It was dark…almost pitch black, and I had this uneasy feeling.  Everything was wrong somehow.  It was so quiet.  I shut the door slowly and started into the living room, tripping over something that shouldn’t be there.  My hand fell into something sticky. 

I heard a sound in the kitchen.

“Mom?” I called barely able to breathe.

“Don’t come in here honey, RUN!”

The sound of a voice being muffled, a struggle, a crash, one feeble whimper and then…           

My eyes began to adjust to the dark and I found myself staring into my father’s dead eyes.

(Feedback solicited and appreciated!)

My chain partners
Bettedra http://bettedra.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/bus_ride/
FreshHell http://freshhell.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/dribs-and-drabbles/
CScottMorris http://cscottmorrisbooks.com/2010/11/03/november-blog-chain-nanowrimo-tribute/
AuburnAssasin http://clairegillian.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/november-blog-chain-drabbling/
Ahelia http://thewriteaholicblog.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/aw-blog-chain-drabble-edition/#comment-2439
Bibbo http://blakemp.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/quickfic-inter-office-memos/
hilaryjacques http://hillaryjacques.blogspot.com/2010/11/aw-blog-chain-dear-john-letter.html
Orion_mk3 http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/from-deep-daybreak-by-john-sullivan/
Proach http://desstories.blogspot.com/2010/11/aw-november-blog-chain-to-be-maria.html
jonbon.benjamin http://jonbonbenjamin.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-dabble.html
rmgil04 http://writersinprogresswip.blogspot.com/2010/11/aw-blog-chain-drabble-into-light.html
PASeasholtz http://paseasholtz.com/?p=1253
Regypsy http://regypsy.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/november-blog-chain-drabble/

NaNoWriMo

Good luck to all of you writers finishing up NaNoWriMo this month!  I've checked out many of your blogs and I am amazed to see many of you still blogging while writing 1667 words a day.  That's dedication and deserves to be recognized.

May your books all go Best Seller!  My (pen) cap is off to you!

Review: Smart-Self Publishing: Becoming and Indie Author

Note:  I realize not that self-publishing is not for everyone.  If you are considering self-publishing, read on:

I just read the absolute 100% number one BEST book on Indie/Self-publishing ever written.  (Can you tell I liked the book?)


If you are new to the idea of self-publishing, thinking about self-publishing or ebook publishing, remotely curious about ebook publishing, then go online to Amazon or Barnes and Noble and buy Zoe's book.  I've spent weeks researching the Internet for epublishing info and didn't come up with a third of what Zoe gave me in one book.

Let's cut to the chase - here's why I think the book is so good.

1. It's thorough.  Extremely thorough.   The book covers everything from writing to marketing to editing to setting up a business plan.  It even explains in simple layman's terms (and I get giddy here just thinking about it) how to format your book for Smashwords, Kindle, and Nook.  That alone makes it worth the buy.
2. It's written in easy-to-read, conversational style, plain English.  I sat down and read it in a couple of hours - all 334 pages.  I could format a book right now...seriously.  (Not that my book is ready for that...yet.)
3. It includes many hints for troubleshooting the entire process.  Zoe is very generous with her trial and error mistakes and does not mind explaining what not to do and why.
4. It's cheap.  At $2.99 it is a steal. 

I can't wait to start putting her suggestions into practice.  I just wish I'd found the book two months ago!  If you buy it, come back and tell me what you think!

So what do you think about the idea of epublishing?  Would you do it?

Excuses, Excuses

Have you ever made plans only to have to change them due to unforseen circumstances?  Well, for me, this past week has been one long unforseen circumstance. 

I had every intention of finishing the first round edit of my novel, Finding My Escape, but my daughter ended up being sick all week.
(Very rough draft of cover at left.)  A trip to the doctor gave the very vague answer "proably viral" which really means no-drug-exists-to-help-her-get-better-and-the-illness-will-have-to-run-its-course.  Sigh. 

Wednesday, it looked like I was going to have some time to get to editing, but my husband was hogging the laptop, (my laptop) googling a part for his Honda.  (Apparently, the tip of his exhaust fell off and he felt an urgency to order a replacement.)

And then, there's my day job.  I own a small bookkeeping business specializing in non profits.  During the day, I try to give the clients first priority (unless, of course, I have a sick child).

Even as  I write this, I realize that my excuses don't ring true.  My husband probably spent only five hours total on the laptop this past week which left me the remaining 112 (waking) hours to edit.  And while the daughter was sick, she didn't need my undivided attention, and her illness actually gave me an excuse to cancel some other commitments.

Truthfully, I spent hours on my Nook, and not reading either.  I confess, that what I spent most of my time doing was playing Sudoku.  I didn't get as much editing done last week as I would have liked not because my daughter was sick, or because my husband hogged the laptop, or even because I was busy with clients.  I got behind on my editing because I chose to play Sudoku.

In postscript, I did spend most of Sunday editing.  I got through about thirty pages.  I might have gotten caught up today... except that I had to post on my blog.

What excuses do you use for putting off getting your writing, editing, or other work done?

Kindle vs. Nook

Since I began reading Joe Konrath's blog, my mind has been spinning with the idea of self-publishing via ebook.  According to the International Digital Publishing Forum, ebook sales have more than doubled in the past three quarters alone, so naturally, this option of publishing has been looking pretty interesting to a newbie like me.  Naturally, my research into e-publishing led me to info on e-readers.

Kindle, by Amazon, has long been the industry favorite, but the Nook, by Barnes and Noble was the #1 e-reader pick by Money Magazine.  I did a little research on both and ended up buying the Nook.  The Kindle was a great product, but I liked the touch screen offered by the Nook versus the keyboard on Kindle.  Also, the Nook allows me to upload anything in PDF format, which means I can have important documents handy, such as my daughter's school calendar (trust me as a mom, this was a HUGE consideration).

So, in the tradition of Edward vs. Jacob, I'd like to know what you think...  about the Kindle vs. the Nook (not Jacob and Edward).

Have a blessed day!






http://www.idpf.org/doc_library/industrystats.htm

(Not Quite) the Beginning

I've spent years dreaming about writing my first novel.  It would be a best seller (of course) and sell a million copies.  I spent a few more years talking about writing said novel, receiving encouragement from family and friends, but still had not put pen to paper (or in the case of the laptop, fingers t keyboard).

Several months ago, I was having lunch with a former classmate (whom I'd reconnected with on Facebook) and told her about this said dream.  Not only did she offer encouragement, she went above and beyond that and offered the one thing no other friend or loved one had offered - NAGGING.

From the moment I told her I wanted to write a book, this girl literally harassed me every time she caught me posting something.  I finally got tired of making excuses, clicked off Facebook, and put fingers to keyboard.  The result is the first draft of my very first novel.

So Trena Mooneyham, this post is dedicated to YOU!

Deciding How to Publish is Making My Head Spin!

Almost from the time I started writing my book, I've been researching the publishing industry.  Aside from the fact that traditional publishing would require a lot of time and patience (something I'm short on), it appears that very, very few authors find success publishing via the traditional route.

Enter Joe Konrath, my new favorite blogger :
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

Reading Joe's blog has given me two things:  major insight and, more importantly hope.  If you are a fledging writer reading this blog, PLEASE head over to Joe's page ASAP (after you finish reading this post of course).  Joe has recently posted regarding his sucess in the realm of e-publishing and my hope is to follow in his footsteps.

I am also looking toward hiring an editor I discovered on his blog.  More on that later.

As I examine the plethora of e-publishing options, the one that stands out for me is Pubit, Barnes and Noble's new e-publishing company, launched earlier this month.  Because it is new, my hope is that the opportunity is ripe to get in on the ground floor as they make effort to promote their new writers.  My hope is to have my book edited and launched before Christmas.  (Of course, I'll do Kindle via Amazon, too!)

I'll keep you posted on the updates!

Fran Yoakum Veal