Hello World It's Me

 

I'm going to make some assumptions here. One is that everything has gone successfully with your publication. I assume you are sitting with a few hard copies in a box just waiting for someone to read. Also, I assume you are hoping for you and your book to become household names, or at least to be in a few households.

So now it's time for you to to introduce yourself to all those readers out there, looking for something new.

I'm now going to dash one of your own assumptions. That is the presumption that everyone you know, your friends and family are going to queue up at your door begging for copies of your book.

Sadly that isn't always the case. A few family and close friends will buy your book in the first few days of publication, and it feels pretty good. But after a short time you realize that in order to get this thing moving, you are going to have to get out of your comfort zone and slog it out in the trenches. (Excuse the cliche). By that, I mean do everything you can to get out there and make yourself known. 

I'm still a bit of a noob, but here are some of the suggestions I have picked up along the way.

Join writer's groups. There are lots out there (several on Facebook). Some are just online connections, and some have regular sessions to support each other and critique each others work. The more input you have the better.

Start your own website or create a blog. Make sure you post regularly.

Even if you aren't a fan of social media, bite the bullet and go on as many as possible. Push your book in your posts. It's not boasting, it's called promoting.

If you have an Amazon's Authors Page, use it, fill it up. Update it as much as possible.

If your area has book festivals, go. Pay the fee to set up a booth, and let people see you and your book in person.

Try to get interviewed. There's a UK internet radio station that will interview you. Contact chatandspin radio.com. Very nice people.

Contact any talk radio or cable televisions in your area and ask to be interviewed. Send them a copy of your baby.

When I worked in talk radio I received dozens of author interview requests every year. Needless to say we didn't do them all, but if something looked interesting, we had the author in for an interview.

The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Again, when you connect with other authors, they will suggest things you haven't thought of. It is a lot of work, but you didn't come this far to let your book be lost in the forest of books that are released every day. Your readers are out there. They just haven't found you yet. That's your job.

And one more thing:

Once you start posting you are going to find offers from everywhere from people who say they will promote your book for a fee. Some are good, some maybe not so. If you choose to go that route, just be sure to do your homework before you sign up. Hint: if there are four spelling errors in their first message, you might want to give them a pass.

And yet another thing:

Have fun with it, It's kind of fun.

Let's Wrap This Baby Up

                                                                 

I don't want to see you get too cocky, but you can surely enjoy this moment. Your MS is complete. To be clear that means you've edited it until you are sick and tired of looking at the thing. 

You've found someone to format your work and get it ready to publish.

You've found a reputable publisher who will put your book out there.

For the eBooks, you'll likely go with Amazon, but there are others out there. Again, your formatter will help you with that.

Yup, it's a pretty good view from up here.

Before you submit for publication you will need an ISBN number. That's non negotiable. It's also easy. Just go into the government site and follow the instructions.

DON'T FALL FOR THOSE SITES THAT SAY THEY WILL GET YOU AN ISBN NUMBER FOR A SMALL CHARGE!!!!!

There is no fee for getting an ISBN number if you get it from the government site:

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services/isbn-canada/Pages/isbn-canada.aspx/

You'll need to pass the ISBN number on to your formatter. It'll give you that cool looking barcode which makes you know you are a legit author.

Once you get your copies of the book and the covers, and are pretty comfortable sending it off for publication, then you're ready for the big step. 

Most publishers have a simple process of guiding you through the submission. They will walk you through it. As each one is slightly different, I won't go into that. 

Make sure you order an author's copy first, so you can check out everything before you order more copies. Yes this is important, on my second book they somehow failed to put in the table of contents on the first run. Thankfully I caught it before I ordered more.

Now as I said, stand back and savour the view. You are about to dive into the ocean of promotions. 

Your almost there so relax.

                                                                                     

                                                                           

You've been slogging at this for ages, but finally you see something solid and real in front of you. Unless it's on your screen of course and then it's virtual. The fact is, you've done it. YOu've completed your masterpiece and now it's almost ready to make you famous and rich, or both. 

ALmost. this is where decisions need to be made. Editor or no editor? Formatter or no formatter? find a publisher who is interested, or self publish? HOw will you design a cover that leaps up and says, "read me i'm interesting?"

NOw  here is where i put in my disclaimer. THe road i took to publishing is my road. You are welcome to join me on it, but you don't have to. There are many routes to getting your work in print, and you can google to your hearts content to find out about them. THis is just my way. It may not be better or worse than other routes, but it was the route i took, and if it helps you then that is gratifying.

first the editor part. for "the quick and the quirky" I chose not to have a professional editor. THe main reason was simple. Many of my stories were done in the vernacular of a certain age, region or period of time. AN editor is going to have trouble wading through the speech to find errors or replacements. If you are doing a non fiction book, i encourage an editor but if it is fiction, then you'll have to choose. That means though, that at this point you probably need to read over your manuscript a few more times, with acute attention to catch those pesky errors you missed the first several edits. Please don't skip this step, it will make a huge difference to the professionalism of the final product.

an editor will cost you though. I did hire one for my first book and it was about 500 dollars. BUt if you feel you need it, please don't let cost deter you. Mortgage your dog if you have to, but pay an editor.

the next step is getting the book ready for publication. I strongly suggest a professional formatter. the formatter will make sure the print fits, the pages are lined up properly. the font suits the work and if you want illustrations, they suit your story. THey can design your cover, format the liner notes, the biography, table of contents, acknowledgements etc. In short they can turn your manuscript into a book that is worthy of sitting on the shelves in the book shop or library. hard copy and ebook format are very different and your friendly formatter will handle that too. they may even recommend a good publisher and will sometimes do the uploading for you. 

trust me this is a worthwhile investment. no point in writing a masterpiece, only to have it ignored because it looks like something a fourth grade would write at home. You can find formatters online, but don't just leap into it. Do your homework.. I was lucky to have a connection who turned me on to a wonderful lady who i have worked with ever since. 

for your cover and inside illustrations if you are using such, you can find wonderful images on the internet, which  you may use if they are free domain. I used deposit photos. Wonderful selection. I paid for a month's use, about eight dollars. i sent the photos, bio, liner notes etc. to my formatter and she turned it into a cover i was completely happy with.

if you choose to do everything on your own, there are ways to do it, but i honestly didn't want to go there, and so i know not how to do so. i'd happy to hear your story though.

if you find the right people they will walk you through this more easily than you think.

I can't afford a professional editor.

 

You've read over your draft a dozen times, made enough changes to make you wonder if it's the same story you started. And now it's time to start the dreaded edit. 

First of all, let's put the record straight, editing can be fun. You aren't correcting high school essays written by kids with no interest in the topic. You are editing your own work. This is your labour of love, and you are so close to having it ready for prime time. So have fun. Make it a challenge. Can you find everything that needs a bit of a tweak, or touch up? 

Let me mention this right off the bat, unless you hire a professional editor, then you are going to be on this stage for awhile. Even if you contract out you'll likely give one more perfunctory edit just to prove you aren't totally incompetent. Like my mum used to give the house the once over before the cleaning lady came.

So here is a list of my personal guidelines and observations about editing. 

Try to relax in the knowledge that no matter who you are, and who your publisher is, when that book gets out on the market, there will be a half dozen miscues the editors failed to catch. You'll see that in novels on the New York Times best seller list. 

Don't want to do this alone. Even if you cant afford a professional, get some trusted advice. 

Do NOT rely on spellcheck, and "Word" to fix your blunders. When an automatic correction is made, or that annoying red line appears, read over the whole section meticulously. Does the correction fit your meaning and intent? Read it out loud, maybe you meant for a comma to be there, maybe not.

Again relax, this won't go to publishing until you are positive it's ready. No one is going publish your work when you aren't looking. Depending on your own personal goals, you can take as long as you want to get it right. If that means a dozen edits so be it. 

There may come a point where you look over something and you feel it isn't working. No problem, you can change it anytime you want. But don't be a changeaholic, only make the adjustment if you are sure it makes your story better, or gives it more clarity. 

To be clear, this editing thing is not a one off. Once you're finished the first edit, take a break, clear your head and then dive back in. Come up for air and go down again and again, until there is nothing left to find. 

                                         

Half baked but looking pretty good

 

This is a big moment. Seriously. Look at what you've done.  You've finally written that story, and from what you can see it's pretty good. Bravo. Kudos. Your story is now half baked. But as anyone who has ever been served undercooked bread knows, there is still a way to go. Yes the "E" word is now rearing it's head. The big Edit is on deck. Before we do that though, I encourage, nay, implore you to read over your masterpiece a few more times. Are there things you would like to change, gratuitous lines you can delete? What about those troublesome words that don't quite fit. This is the time. Before you start the mechanics of editing, try to make sure you story is pretty much where you want it to be. No sense editing words you are going to cut, or fixing grammar in sentences that are going to get chopped. 

   The biggest caveat involves being too verbose. Writer's, like speech makers, get impressed with their own words, and tend to use more than they need. In writing, despite the number of thousand page novels around, bigger is not necessarily better. Some writing coaches suggest looking at your word count and cutting 20% off the bat. I don't find those kinds of blanket statements that helpful, but the premise is pretty sound. Check for repetitions, over use of adjectives and adverbs, anything which distracts from the story and is mere self-indulgence.

   So while this isn't your last chance to make overhauls, that comes once you submit your work, this is definitely the best time. 

                                            

Yes you can polish a turd.

Are you wondering, does this guy actually practice what he preaches or is this all smoke and mirrors? 

The answer is yes and no. Yes I do follow my advice, and no i'm not just putting on a show.

This week, I had an idea for a new story. The idea came to me at the gym, on the bench press to be precise. Oddly it's where i'd say half of my "ah ha" moments come from. With nowhere to write my little notes, I prayed dementia would not take the idea away before I got home. 

Thankfully, it didn't and as soon as I got in, I took out some sticky notes and wrote down my main idea plus the half dozen other ideas which had since come to me.

Oh, this one needed some research. So I Googled what I needed, which included; Ellis Island 1920, Trans Atlantic steamers early 1900's, Cork, "Irish need not apply." Guess where I am going with this?

Once I had all the information I needed on yet another dozen sticky notes, I just wrote. I didn't stop to evaluate or make corrections. I let the words flow onto the page. Sometimes I still don't know where they come from.

Upon taking a break, I read over what I had, and you know what? I hated it. Well maybe that's too strong a work. I despised it. It was cold, academic and I had no connection with my main character.

Know what the next feeling was? Excitement. This is the ultimate challenge. Like the potter with his lump of clay. Maybe I would rework this a dozen times. Perhaps add dialogue, maybe other characters, a couple of sidebars. There will come the time I finally read it over, smile and say, "Yup this works". 

There are other times you'll have an idea you think is great fodder for a clever story. Sadly, you may find that no amount of reshaping and reworking can make it work. Don't throw it out, just put it in the file of unfinished stories. One day you may have an epiphany. 

More often though, you'll watch your fractious tale morph into something you are happy to send to the publisher. As the potter knows, the final product is in there, it just needs to be released into the world.

PS The title of this post comes from the movie "Christine."

                                                     

 

Take a Step Back and Take in the View

 

You've been at this awhile. So it's time to do a couple of things. 

First, give yourself a pat on the back for having come this far. Not too hard, there's a lot of tough sledding ahead. 

But remember, at one point you didn't think you would ever have your own writing piece staring up at you.

It's time to take a step back and see where you are. Read over what you have. Maybe a few times. 

 I suggest you don't touch anything, except perhaps in your head. Just read it over, as a critic, a teacher, a writer, a reader and see what you think. Honestly.

Now a small disclaimer, if you find out you have made a real cockup, or you see something that is way out on the continuity scale, jot it down for the next step. You will need it. But if you can avoid it, touch nothing at this point. Remember the old saying, "Do no harm"

Now at this juncture you can evaluate you've done in the logistics department. How is the grammar, spelling? Are you going to need a major overhaul or just a few "fix-its?"

Feel free to make notes on the side, but once again, resist the urge to mark up your screen.

Be honest now. How do you feel things are going in general? 

Are you ready to get down and dirty? 

Remember all those rules and guidelines I told you to ignore? Well they haven't totally gone away. They've just been standing on the sidelines trying not to interfere with your creative genius, but in the next stage you are going to have to welcome them back and decide what kind of relationship you are going to have.

Second Verse Same As The First

 

The next step is pretty easy. Just do what you just did the last time only a bit more carefully. With a bit more scrutiny. Maybe a bit more discrimination than the last time. 

You've hopefully scraped off the unwanted goop from your story. You now have the outline down. Read it over again and see if it makes sense, if it's what you want to say. If it is, then you're ready to proceed. If it doesn't make it yet, you may have to do some tweaking. It's your story so I can't make suggestions here. I repeat, it's your story. But what you are going to do next is to take that rough stone in front of you and smooth it down a bit. 

See if there are any words that don't feel comfortable. Look for better ones, words that really are a fit for what you are writing. See if there is still excess baggage in your sentences. Are you being repetitive? Instead of loading your story with adjectives are there some good action words you can use? 

Avoid the one of the biggest pratfalls of new writers, admiring your work too much. We new writers are discovering we have a gift for the printed word, and the more words the better. So the next thing you know, instead of saying what we have to say, we start adding and embellishing, like Whitney Houston trying the find the last few notes of a song. Pretty soon our nice phrase is weighted down my byzantine language until it sounds pretentious. And if it sounds pretentious it probably is. So please, look it over and read it like an outsider, someone who has never seen your draft. What's your impression? Are there places it gets weighed down with excess verbiage. Does it sound like the writer is trying to impress himself? Economy is sometimes the way to go.

You notice i haven't mentioned rules yet. They are coming. Just not yet. 

Renovation Time

 

The first thing I need you to do before your read another word, is to go back and look at the title of this post. Yes, that's it, the one that says Renovation Time. Do you notice there is a word you don't see. Let me help you. The word is "edit". You know that tedious word that back in high school meant going through what you've written and checking the spelling, grammar, punctuation and all those annoying rules that made so many students writing class. Well good news. There will be none of that today. Today is the day to first congratulate yourself for having come this far, and second to look over what you've written and decide if it matches your original vision. That means adding anything you want that will add to your story, and slashing and burning everything that takes away or detracts. 

Sometimes this means just making a few tweaks, if you were really on a roll  when you wrote your first draft. Other times it involves being ruthless, and brutally honest. Either way, this is a huge step in turning a bunch of ideas into something people will enjoy  one day enjoy reading. 

This is one of the satisfying parts of the writing process. It's like watching that liquid mixture of egg and water magically turn into an omelet in the frying pan. Something is happening here. And pardon the cliche, but nothing is cast in stone. You will probably do this a few times, so enjoy the process.

So for now, put aside the rule book and just read over what you've done and see what works and what doesn't. Remember you are renovating, not editing.

Here is a quote that I suggest you consider, from a man who does know his way around a manuscript.

It's Go Time

 

So you're sitting there looking at your handiwork which consists of a bunch of pieces of paper with little notes jotted on them. Or perhaps staring at some Jamboard messages on your phone. 

Either way you have all this great stuff in front of you and your hands are poised, ready to take some action. Only you don't know where to start. Then i have just one word for you. Write!! Seriously, it's that simple. You've already organized your ideas into some semblance of order. You know it's a great plot. So what's the problem? You want to be a writer, so it's time to  write. Put all those little phases into sentences and get them all down. 

Here's the beautiful thing. You don't have to worry about any of those annoying grammar and spelling rules. Dangle your participles, write run on sentences, forget capitalization, don't go to spell check. Just write what you have. Ideas might come to you as you go, put them in. Thumb your nose up at your grade eight grammar teacher. You don't need them now. You are writing. It's your show, you can do what your want. Nobody is going to correct or critique. It's just you and your writing device and your own creative genius. 

And when you feel that's all you can do, simply stop. You aren't on the clock here. You'll pick it all up tomorrow. And in the meantime i guarantee something wonderful will happen. More ideas will come, for you have opened up the door to all that stored up creativity. Put a pen and paper by your bed because you may find your self waking up with a few aha moments during the night. Don't ignore any of them, no matter how silly they seem. This is when your story begins to write itself and when that happens you are on your way.

                               

Putting the Pieces Together

 

So you've been faithfully taking your ideas and putting them on sticky notes or bits of paper, and you feel it's time to do something with your ideas. This is the big leap of faith where something in you says, "i can do this, i can write something worthwhile".

The next thing you do is to assemble all these thoughts and see what you have. YEs, i am stating the obvious, but it's amazing how far that will take you. look at it as a jigsaw. You've been putting this together for awhile now, so you know that somehow, somewhere the pieces fit.

In this mess of notes is a starting place. So pick one. if it isn't where you want to start it'll fit somewhere else. pick a couple of more lines that seem to fit and write them in. Keep doing that until you have all the bits of paper sitting in a pile, and all the words written down. 

or you might just arrange them all in front of you and play around a bit until you are ready to put it all down.

What you have now is the bones of a skeleton. It may not be much to look at and even less to read, but with out the skeleton the body can never stand.