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Recording the adventure of being an indie authour. |
| Still trying to get my book into paperback. The person I hired for the formatting failed miserably. So, learning how to format it myself. Lesson learned. Never use anyone on Fivver who isn't a Level 1 or 2. |
| Just ordered 15 of my books to sell in person. Was reading that one authour goes to coffee shops and restaurants to work. While there, he sets several books out on the table and makes some sales. I'm gonna give it a shot. :) The busiest restaurant we have is McDonald's, so as soon as my books come, that's where I'm heading. |
| Yesterday, I finally got the extra ghost stories put in a PDF and made it available on my FB page. Before I went to bed, I gave it another read, and realised it still needs a lot of work. So, this morning will be all about a second edit. I'll probably end up copying it into OpenOffice and formatting it from there. The problem I'm finding with my beloved Scrivener is not being able to edit page by page. When I made my PDF through it last night, I found the formatting a nightmare. It took nearly 9 attempts to get it tolerable. So, today I'll spare myself the drama and just go for it on OpenOffice. One day - I shall master the process. :) |
| This morning, my goal is to get my free PDF of extra ghost stories completed and then find a place to put it so folks can download it. They're a couple of extra stories I never shared in my book, "UFO and Paranormal Activities on the Old Titus Dairy Farm." I never included them because they took place out of the area (GA, SC, Nelsonville, Ohio). They are also incredibly wild and because of that, I was afraid to even mention them. But, a friend of mine said to do it, so I am. I'm also changing my approach to how I'm writing them. I want to get people thinking more deeply about what they've read. To encourage them to think of what it must feel like to see things others can't who are standing right beside you. What it feels like to have someone bring a haunted item home, become possessed by it, and threaten your life as the battle within that person rages on. What would it feel like to be trying to tell the person you're threatening what's happening, but the entity is stopping you? That's what happened to my roommate. |
| This is a toughie. I love both programs. Each has its plus side. So, here's a list of the pros and cons of each. yWriter Pro's: 1. Free 2. Easy format 3. Virtually no learning curve 4. Reads your doc to you at the click of a button 5. Lots of goodies to help you meet your word counts. 6. Storyboard timeline 7. Let's you set each scene according to POV. 8. Let's you add which characters will be in the scene, so you can track them. 9. Each scene has a goal section where you write your goal, the conflict and outcome. 10. You can put quick notes at the bottom while working on a scene. 11. Create multiple chapters and scenes at the click of a button. Cons: 1. Doesn't allow you to convert your doc to a PDF. 2. I've run into major errors in reading a scene in yBook. 3. This last time I lost all my formatting when I saved it as an RTF file. 4. Font size is really small and hard on the eyes. Scrivener Pro's: 1. Awesome layout 2. Split screen so you can see your index cards and read what each scene should be. 3. You can add notes at the drop of a hat. No extra clicking. 4. You can save all your research in one spot. 5. You get a long list of formats to convert your doc into, including PDF. 6. Provides templates for various types of writing: fiction, non-fiction, short story, script, comic book 7. When you set a scene as 1st edit, those words will appear on your index cards, so one look and you know where you are while editing. 8. You can use it for 30 days for free. Those 30 days are only counted when you open the program. So, let's say you open it one day, and don't touch it again for a month. You will still have 29 days left to try it out. 9. There's a lot of YouTube videos to help you over the learning curve. Cons: 1. Not free 2. Huge learning curve. In fact, the learning curve turns a lot of people off. So, if you're the impatient sort - don't try it. That's pretty much the skinny on the two programs. Each one does a whole lot more, but that's the gist of it all. Right now, I'm back to using Scrivener again as I do the second edit on my second book. I'm finding it a bit easier, and I do love that it does PDFs. |
| This past week at our Writers’ Guild meet-up I was asked how many books I’ve sold. I was a bit embarrassed by my answer, but then I went on to explain that I hadn’t actually marketed my book. I never created an authour platform. In other words, I didn’t plan this book to be a business. “UFO’s and Paranormal Activity on the Old Titus Dairy Farm” was simply written as a memoir of what it was like growing up on a haunted farm. I wanted to record the events for future generations in our family to read, because someday the farm won’t be there, and I want them to know the crazy things that happened. It will give them something to wonder about and laugh. Some will most likely think I’m lying my head off. Others will wish they could experience it for themselves. While I was writing the book, I began to wish others would record the paranormal experiences they’ve had or stories they’ve been told. Record them first for their families and then share them with the rest of the world. Amazon makes that possible! We all have a story to tell! Share those stories with the world! |
| Someone in one of our writing groups on FB asked if her topic was too controversial. I said it was an oxymoron. It immediately received anger emojis. I stared in disbelief. We have a rule in our group - everyone is entitled to their opinion and you don't attack. An anger emoji is actually a passive way to attack. But, it's what liberals are good at. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but only if you're a liberal. Liberals have fought hard to censor anyone who disagrees with them. FB, Instagram, Twitter, they fight continually to shut down conservative values and opinions. All it took for me was to suggest the topic at hand was an oxymoron. I highly doubt they know what the word means. Oxymoron means something is self-contradictory - like liberalism. It claims to accept everyone - everyone so long as you agree with them. One of the most common forms of oxymoron is the religious person whose life is the total antithesis of what their religion teaches. G-d says "NO" to adultery, and the pastor is making whoopie with various women in the congregation. G-d says various things are wrong, and the person purposefully practises those things, and then claims to be devout. In liberal thought - there's nothing wrong with that, because there are no absolutes - not even what G-d has said. What happens when the absolute of what G-d has said is removed? We become another Rome. Rome became so depraved that humans were fed to lions in stadiums while people cheered. "Oh my gosh! We'll never be like that!" some cry. Really? NY just approved the murder of babies, and what happened? People cheered. Tell me again how we are not the new Rome. Ohio is the leading State in human trafficking and sex offense. Why? Because without rules for living (as in the 7 Noachide laws) man can do as he pleases. When man does as he pleases chaos ensues. It's Sodom and Gomorrah all over again. What happened to them and Rome? G-d destroyed them. Rome is nothing more than a tourist attraction. But I digress. The liberals of this sad and pathetic age can try as they please to silence those who are conservative, but we are a voice that cannot and will not be stopped. Rabbi Chanina said one of the reasons for the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) was because we saw our fellow man committing averot (sins) and we hid our heads in the sand and pretended it wasn't happening. If conservatives allow themselves to be silenced - we are doing the same. It's not going to happen. |
| I was just checking out what's happening in one of the writer's groups I'm in. It was sad to see someone slam Scrivener and refer to it as junk and a waste of money. Apparently, the individual was impatient and never actually used the software. I admit - it has a learning curve and a half. But, once you take the time to understand it, it becomes priceless. If the individual would have been more patient, they would have discovered how great it is to split the screen and see the index cards you're working on. One look at the cards and you know without any additional clicking what stage that card is in. In other words, is it still part of the outline, draft, or first edit. It's written across the card. For me, that's incredibly handy. I don't have to click out of the scene I'm working on to know the status of other scenes. It's all right there on the split. Trust me, when you're editing that's incredibly helpful. I also love being able to write a quick note without any additional clicking in the note section in the lower right. I can write thoughts on the scene or something totally unrelated to writing. It's just a quick way of getting it out of your head so you can work on the scene at hand. Scrivener also holds all your research in the research notebook. Brilliant! It's a time saver and a half. I'm not trying to remember where the heck I put my research notes. Yes, I could use Evernote to store them, but that's another piece of software to load onto my laptop. Ah, but you don't need to do that, right? You can go straight on the net and get it. That's fine, but I don't always have internet access. So, Scrivener to the rescue. :) Something else I found annoying was the claim that they paid around $100 for Scrivener. Rubbish. It's $45, and worth every penny. Ok, rant over. :) |
| This morning I've been hanging out on the riverfront, watching the gulls, listening to the geese, and mistaking a log for the Ohio River Ness Monster. :) I've also been working on the first edit of the latest Pickles and Piper mystery. I'd originally planned to publish it on Amazon May 1, but most likely it'll be out the end of March. If it is, then the second book in the series could be published May 1. :) The series is a collection of short books, between 10,000 - 12,000 words. I'm finding with my strokey brain that I can't handle higher word counts, at least not right now. So! It's the short book series for me. :) |
| This past week I was working on my short story about Fink the Mink and Falloden. It was droning on and on, but I was determined to stick to my outline - which was now boring. I finally got so frustrated that I decided to go for a long walk through the field. Less than 10 minutes into the walk, I had written my way out of my boring story. When I got back to my writing cave (van), I took an ax to over 2,000 words. The story was finally short. It was funny! It was fun! It wasn't easy to let go of my original plot. I really wanted to keep the cave and all the traps, disasters, and monsters in it. But, chopping it down to the essentials made it a much better story. |
| Today was an awesome, and scary, learning experience. I went to one of the local libraries and asked if they did anything special for local authours. They didn't know what I meant. I told them about Bossard in Gallipolis who has authour books sales. They thought that was an awesome idea. She suggested I talk to a guy who was busy at the counter with someone else, and suggested I leave my business card. I panicked. I don't have a business card. I don't have any extra money right now to order them. I began to shrink. She then told me that they love it when authours come in and donate an autographed copy. I was rescued. I quickly bent down and pulled out my book. She handed me a pen. I autographed it and she was excited that it was going in the system. Some libraries work out book signings for authours. Perhaps this one might have if I would have followed through with the other guy, but again the thought scared the crap out of me. One, I'm broke at the moment and can't afford to order books. If the job I applied for doesn't come through - it'll be quite a while before I can order more than 5 at a time. Another thought that shot through my mind was sitting at the table with my little pile of books and no one wanting one. Just me. Sitting there bored out of my mind and feeling like a fool. I thought of an authour I saw at a bookstore in Columbia, SC. He was bored. And he looked like no one had bought a single book all day. He kept checking his watch. I thought of other authours who sat all alone at their table with no one stopping by. Then, I remembered my college days. The only way you were allowed to graduate was to give a public speech. I knew when they said that that I would be sunk. I knew my room would be empty and I'd be standing there like an idiot. When the day arrived - it was exactly that. The professor had to go out in the hall and beg people to come in. It was pathetic. I gave a good talk and everyone really enjoyed it, but the whole experience made me want to crawl under a rock and die. So, today I had to face my demons again, and they pretty much won. But! I stepped up to the plate, and despite being shy, I mustered up all my confidence, believing fully in my book, and now it's in the library! My book is there with the greats, and not so greats! Generations of authours whose books line the shelves, and I'm in with them! :) As for the money issue, and my fear of looking like an idiot - the money issue will soon be solved, and with more experience of putting myself out there, I'll get over the not wanting to look like an idiot. :) For now, I'm celebrating! :) |
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