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 |   Exploring the future through the present. One day at a time. |
| It's available on Amazon! I don't know for how long, though. I kept searching under my name and title, but came up with nothing, or so many hits I didn't want to search through them all. So I finally advanced searched under the ISBN number. What do you know, it popped right up! Anyway, you can purchase it at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/Reason-Hope-L-Marquardt/dp/1439216266/ Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! |
| October 31 I finalized my manuscript's submission to Booksurge. I then received an email stating my book would be available for sale on Amazon in 1-2 weeks. That was thirteen days ago, and I admit to getting a bit impatient. I want it available NOW! However, I found out a few days ago it is available now through Booksurge's website, which you can find Here . It's kinda cool seeing my book online and available for purchase, but I'll be even more excited when it shows up on Amazon. I think it's because Amazon caters to a larger customer base than Booksurge, so more will sell through them (I hope). Looks like I've given up on Nanowrimo this year. I'm stuck at 4100 words. I've instead focused on writing political entries through my Wordpress Blog. How long it will last, I have no idea. Not too long I hope, because I need to concentrate on preparing for the writer's conference in February. I have a lot to do, and not much time to do it. February is but three months away. |
| I'm either addicted to creating new webpages and tossing my opinions about, or I'm doing all I can to avoid writing my nano novel. I decided after this election I can no longer stay silent with my political views. However, I don't plan on doing that here, or my website blog. This one I intend to keep as is: mostly talking about my day-day life, writing, and my walk with God. My other blog is dedicated to writing and publishing. The one I created about a month ago through Wordpress will be dedicated to my thoughts on today's news. I know you're busy, likely sick of politics, but here's the link anyway: http://almarquardt.wordpress.com Okay, back to my novel. 3,496 words down, 46,504 to go. |
| While in school, History was not my best subject. I honestly didn't care about it, figuring it was a bunch of dates, events, and dead people that had no bearing on my life. As I grew older, I began to understand the importance of history. I could see in my minuscule little life how the present and future in many ways is determined by the past. I could see cause and effect. Knowing my own history helped me to not repeat mistakes, for one, and to use my past successes to build new ones. I not only started to gain an interest in history, but an affection for it. As a land surveyor I get to research documents that date back over a hundred years. However, I rarely get to touch the original documents. That changed today, however. North Dakota Parks and Recreation hired us to scan in original engineering drawings of two state parks. They want hard copies for a presentation, and electronic copies so they can make as many copies as they want without continuing to handle the originals. The state Historical Society has bugged them for years to give them the plans, but Parks and Rec didn't want to part with them. Now they can. I scanned in about a third of the plans today, and doing so was simultaneously exciting and unnerving. These plans were drawn by hand, mostly in pencil on thin onion paper. This paper is no thicker than the tissue paper used to wrap gifts, so they need a gentle handling. I almost wished I had a pair of cotton gloves. I also held my breath every time I fed a 24x36 sheet into the scanner. I feared every time I would feed it in wrong and the scanner would tear the plans. Luckily the scanner is well-designed, and when it senses a fold or bend in the paper it stops. I have yet to witness it tear a sheet, but the worry still exists. The best part is I get to handle a small part of North Dakota's history. These plans were drawn up from 1939 through 1941. They are true works of art as well as historical documents. I'm proud to play a small role in perpetuating that history for future generations. Change o' subject. My nano word count is a pathetic 2549. I'm not worried as I still have plenty of time to catch up. |
| Most writers tend to be introverted. No surprise there, since writing is a solitary endeavor. Because of this need to hide in the shadows, the thought of promoting ourselves and our writing can be downright terrifying. There's also the constant doubt hovering at the edge of our psyche. What if everything we write sucks. What if I'll offend people? What if . . . My own list of doubts is long and ever-growing. That makes the enjoyment of starting my website, publishing my novella, designing and purchasing promotional materials, and running a contest all the more surprising. I never thought self-promotion could be so much fun. What has helped is the number of people who have entered the contest. I'm stunned. The number stands at twenty at this moment. After only three days, I consider it a resounding success. I honestly didn't think a dozen would enter after thirty days. My thanks to all of you for entering. I can't describe well enough how much it means to me. Another surprise is how little I doubt people will enjoy the book. Ever since I decided to publish "A Reason to Hope", it felt right. Only two other times did I get that feeling: when I married my husband and when we decided we wanted children after all. I mentioned this to a friend in an email the other day as well. It's as though the moment I approved the proof, the book no longer belonged to me. I've done my part, the rest is in God's hands. Sure I have more work ahead of me as far as continuing to promote it, but in the end God will decide how it's used. I believe the book will reach the people it's meant to reach. Whether it's ten people or a thousand, I honestly don't care. I don't even think about whether or not I will earn back the money I spent. I only wanted it available for a lot of people to read and enjoy the story. Although, the more I think about it, publishing this book helped release a deep fear of mine. In this day and age of political correctness, talking about and writing publically about controversial issues is not only difficult, but scary. We take the chance of being attacked at least verbally when we take an unpopular view. I do exactly that with this book. While the fear niggles at the back of my mind, it doesn't alter my course. It's like learning how to drive. Getting behind the wheel and pulling out into a busy street for the first time can make us break out into a sweat. Yet we go anyway, because we know driving is neccessary. Publishing this book for me was neccessary. That I'm having fun at the same time is pretty cool. |
| My contest is now up and running, and I've added the back-cover blurb and an excerpt of my novella to my website. You can find all the details at http://www.almarquardt.com I'm tired and have a bit of a headache (though the Advil is working well now). I'm going to bed. G'night.  |
| After giving my USB flashdrive a good (and accidental) soaking in liquid children's vitamins, I was quite surprised it still functioned three months later. It gave it's last gasp today, so I went to Staples to purchase a new one. I use it to not only store current works as a backup, but I transfer files all the time between my home and work computer. I couldn't wait long to get a new one. As I strapped Thomas into his carseat, our next door neighbor stopped by to hand me a package UPS accidentally delivered to her house. It was my proof. I didn't open it until I got home, and even then I waited a bit. I'm actually impressed. It turned out exactly as I envisioned. If I could resubmit it without it costing me anything more, I would make one slight adjustment to the last page. The cover I thought turned out fabulous. I refuse to read through it, because if I find any grammatical or spelling errors, I would be forced to resubmit, and pay the fees. I'll retain my blissful ignorance at this point, and pray my readers will pass any errors by. That's it. One mouse click and it's ready to go on sale. Tomorrow will begin my contest, but I won't give any details until then. How's that for a way to keep you coming back here? Oh, and my new flashdrive works great. |
| A friend noticed today that she was having problems leaving comments in my other blog on my website. I spent over an hour trying to fix it - to no avail. Even the help system yielded no answers. Crap. So I decided to start over. That meant deleting my old blog. Yippee. Off I went and got it all set up. However, every time I tried to modify it, such as add new links, the changes didn't take. Grrrrr. I deleted the blog again and started over with a different platform. This time it worked, modifications and all. Though my previous entries were removed, I was smart enough to print them out into an Adobe Acrobat file. Removing the old blog also invalidated the RSS feeds. If you subscribed to the blog before, you'll have to do it again. Sorry about that. I'm so beat right now I don't have the energy to give more updates on my book. You'll have to wait until tomorrow. I wanna take a nap. |
| A few days ago I received an email from Booksurge, and the subject included my account number, the title of my book (standard for every email), but the last word caught me off guard: Imposition. Imposition? What does that mean? Considering 'imposition' normally has a negative connotation, I figured I made another serious boo-boo. Following is the email: Status Update: Your Book Has Moved to Imposition Your book has moved to the next phase of the bookmaking process, known as imposition. During this phase, we will create print files for your book and ensure those files print properly. The timeline for this process is approximately seven business days. Please contact your account manager if you have any questions regarding this or any part of the bookmaking process. Sincerely, BookSurge Oh. It's a good thing after all. Looks like the publication date is not so far off, and I admit to a certain anxiety. What if my book sucks? Will I forever tarnish my name and never be able to publish another book, traditionally or otherwise? Ain't doubt grand? I won't let it get to me though. Doubt comes with allowing others to read what we write. The trick is to scoff at it and turn a deaf ear. I've filled up my time by creating yet another blog. I now have three. This one you can find at Writer's Market . I'm enjoying this one, because so far all the members are focused on writing. I've learned a lot from reading other members' blogs and comments left in mine. I just hope I don't spend so much time there I lose my focus on what I should be doing: nanowrimo in 5 days, editing my novel, sift through existing articles and stories to submit to editors at the writing conference in February, and marketing my novella. Makes me glad my husband helps me take care of Thomas, and Thomas goes to bed at 8:30 giving me at least one hour of free time per night. It's amazing what a person can accomplish in one hour when that's all the time he or she has available. Speaking of which, I need to get going . . . Happy what's left of your Saturday, and have a wonderly Sunday. |
| I've noted before how much I love paper, pens and pencils. Writing feeds that fetish because it requires many of all of the above. For good or ill, I haven't decided yet. Taking breaks from writing by working on something completely different such as art or crafts can alleviate writer's block. Exercise helps some -- and good for you if it does, because I'm not one of those! I gave my brain a writing break by designing my own pen and bookmarks. For the pen, I went through http://www.vistaprint.com . I used them, because I could design the graphics, not just pick a standard one and change the text. I also could order as little few as one. The only disadvantage is the cost. Designing and ordering five, with shipping included, cost me $30. Subsequent orders won't cost as much since I already paid the design upload charge. That's $6 per pen. Considering I won't give away tons of them to start, the cost was worth it. They'll be used for my contest, and the higher quality the pen, the more the winners will appreciate them. If demand for pens increases, I will order cheaper pens in bulk. I also designed and ordered bookmarks. You can see the design (front and back) at http://www.almarquardt.com/PDFs/Bookmark . I must admit I thought the bookmark turned out fabulous. If you don't agree, keep it to yourself, because I can't change it. I used http://www.printplace.com to create those. For 250 bookmarks, printed on both sides, and including shipping, cost $67. To order more will again cost me less because the design is finished and uploaded. Whew! Less than $100 total which was my limit for tangible marketing tools this first time around. Even better, I now have more pens and paper to play with, and so, perhaps, will you. Best of all, I accomplished three of my goals in one week, and that's a great feeling. |
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