Rebecca Graf's Blog - Posts Tagged "publishing"
The End of May
The end of May is just a week away. That week will fly by. It always does especially when there is so much to be done between now and then.
I have a virtual book tour today on my website for Demon Vampire. I have another one in six days for Saving Mary. Then I have to prepare for 9 virtual book tours in June. Wow! That means reading 9 books and getting my website prepared for it along with writing the reviews and getting the interviews done.
On top of that, I'm going to spend a few weeks with my mother who lives almost 1000 miles away. She doesn't have internet access! That means driving into town everyday and getting my work done. That will be most of June.
This is also the month my first novel will be 'finished'. I'll begin the final editing and formatting for publication in July. I'll also begin the editing process of the sequel to Deep Connections.
As if I needed more on my plate :), I've joined with two friends to start a publishing company called Silver Tongue Press. We officially will launch on June 1st with a call to all writers. We're pulling together an anthology of children's stories for Halloween and Christmas.
The month of June is not only busy but life changing. So much to do. So little time. So much fun!
I have a virtual book tour today on my website for Demon Vampire. I have another one in six days for Saving Mary. Then I have to prepare for 9 virtual book tours in June. Wow! That means reading 9 books and getting my website prepared for it along with writing the reviews and getting the interviews done.
On top of that, I'm going to spend a few weeks with my mother who lives almost 1000 miles away. She doesn't have internet access! That means driving into town everyday and getting my work done. That will be most of June.
This is also the month my first novel will be 'finished'. I'll begin the final editing and formatting for publication in July. I'll also begin the editing process of the sequel to Deep Connections.
As if I needed more on my plate :), I've joined with two friends to start a publishing company called Silver Tongue Press. We officially will launch on June 1st with a call to all writers. We're pulling together an anthology of children's stories for Halloween and Christmas.
The month of June is not only busy but life changing. So much to do. So little time. So much fun!
Precious Support
When you strike out into the unknown to discover a dream, support from those around you is very precious. Sadly, it is rare to find and can take time to develop.
Striking out on my writing career, I had from the beginning a small amount of support from my husband. He knew that I was one who pushed aside dreams to do what society deemed the right thing. In the process, he saw me becoming miserable. As my love of writing developed, he was there to suggest focusing on it. He was there to say I could quit my job. He was there telling me we would make it.
When times got tough (and they still do), he refused to hear of me going back to work full time. I did take a seasonal tax preparation job but nothing more. Yet I'll be honest in that fact the support was not exactly what I needed.
I needed my family to read my material.
You heard right. No one really read my stuff including my husband. Part of this is because he is not a big reader. In fact, I think I can count on both hands the number of books he has read in his life. He read excerpts of my pieces only.
No one beyond that read my material until I published A Gift for a Mouse. Still no support when it came to promoting my work. I rarely saw family or friends like and share my work on the social networks I used.
I have since found out that some read my work but never said anything. Though I am grateful they took the time to read it, not saying anything was not helpful. I still needed the support and encouragement to write.
Within the last few months, I've found it. My husband has read a few chapters of my latest and is willing to do anything to see it published. He said to spend whatever to get it done. He said to not get a job and focus on writing. He said I had to get it published soon. My heart sang with those words.
From there I began to think a deep freeze had occurred in a remote region below the earth's surface as I began to hear similar sentiments from a few other family and friends. To hear the words of support from my mother-in-law's lips was like sweet nectar to me. Why? Because I felt like she was accepting me as a writer. By doing that she was accepting more of me. If only the rest of my family would feel the same....
The only other family member I know of that has read any of my current material is my cousin who is creating the cover of Deep Connections. Sadly, no one else has read it.
Of my friends, I have my muses that give me the most support. I wouldn't be writing the books I am without Lisa, Sara, and Courtney. But I had to do a happy dance when another old friend read the first seven chapters of Deep Connections and begged for more! Her words sent me into writer's heaven. A few days later another friend on facebook did the same thing. That was what I needed.
Support for those around you is precious because it is not always easy to obtain and can take time. But when you get it, you will appreciate it so much more. By writing this, I'm not complaining about people. I'm pointing out to you how important it is to support the writers in your family or circle of friends. It doesn't take much to like or share their material. Retweet a post. Ask them how their writing is going. Show you care and you'll see a writer soaring through the sky creating works of literary art.
Striking out on my writing career, I had from the beginning a small amount of support from my husband. He knew that I was one who pushed aside dreams to do what society deemed the right thing. In the process, he saw me becoming miserable. As my love of writing developed, he was there to suggest focusing on it. He was there to say I could quit my job. He was there telling me we would make it.
When times got tough (and they still do), he refused to hear of me going back to work full time. I did take a seasonal tax preparation job but nothing more. Yet I'll be honest in that fact the support was not exactly what I needed.
I needed my family to read my material.
You heard right. No one really read my stuff including my husband. Part of this is because he is not a big reader. In fact, I think I can count on both hands the number of books he has read in his life. He read excerpts of my pieces only.
No one beyond that read my material until I published A Gift for a Mouse. Still no support when it came to promoting my work. I rarely saw family or friends like and share my work on the social networks I used.
I have since found out that some read my work but never said anything. Though I am grateful they took the time to read it, not saying anything was not helpful. I still needed the support and encouragement to write.
Within the last few months, I've found it. My husband has read a few chapters of my latest and is willing to do anything to see it published. He said to spend whatever to get it done. He said to not get a job and focus on writing. He said I had to get it published soon. My heart sang with those words.
From there I began to think a deep freeze had occurred in a remote region below the earth's surface as I began to hear similar sentiments from a few other family and friends. To hear the words of support from my mother-in-law's lips was like sweet nectar to me. Why? Because I felt like she was accepting me as a writer. By doing that she was accepting more of me. If only the rest of my family would feel the same....
The only other family member I know of that has read any of my current material is my cousin who is creating the cover of Deep Connections. Sadly, no one else has read it.
Of my friends, I have my muses that give me the most support. I wouldn't be writing the books I am without Lisa, Sara, and Courtney. But I had to do a happy dance when another old friend read the first seven chapters of Deep Connections and begged for more! Her words sent me into writer's heaven. A few days later another friend on facebook did the same thing. That was what I needed.
Support for those around you is precious because it is not always easy to obtain and can take time. But when you get it, you will appreciate it so much more. By writing this, I'm not complaining about people. I'm pointing out to you how important it is to support the writers in your family or circle of friends. It doesn't take much to like or share their material. Retweet a post. Ask them how their writing is going. Show you care and you'll see a writer soaring through the sky creating works of literary art.
Disappointment in the Big Publishers
I'm an avid reader. Have been since I was a very small child. When it came to those big publishers, I put all my faith. I don't expect perfection, but from them I nearly wanted it. They have the resources. They have the money to pay for those resources. Back then, they lived up to it. Now....
I have picked up books published by the big publishing houses only to find the same number of mistakes one would find in an independently published book. Indie books will have more mistakes because they don't have the money to support a deep edit and proofread. Yes, as a reader I want them edited and proofed. But as an author, I understand that not everyone has a few thousand to spend for every book they publish.
Books from the big publishers should not be full of mistakes. I find grammar mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and even plot mistakes. What's up with that? Again, I don't expect perfection. There will be a missing comma every now and then. Yet if you want to be above those indie authors who are stealing some of the book sales, you need to produce a better product or help those authors out as well.
Why am I writing about this? Only because I expect more from the big houses. They push to win over the indie's, but in doing so they publish inferior work. I am disappointed. I see them bigger than life. Maybe they aren't.
For more on this topic: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Poor...
I have picked up books published by the big publishing houses only to find the same number of mistakes one would find in an independently published book. Indie books will have more mistakes because they don't have the money to support a deep edit and proofread. Yes, as a reader I want them edited and proofed. But as an author, I understand that not everyone has a few thousand to spend for every book they publish.
Books from the big publishers should not be full of mistakes. I find grammar mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and even plot mistakes. What's up with that? Again, I don't expect perfection. There will be a missing comma every now and then. Yet if you want to be above those indie authors who are stealing some of the book sales, you need to produce a better product or help those authors out as well.
Why am I writing about this? Only because I expect more from the big houses. They push to win over the indie's, but in doing so they publish inferior work. I am disappointed. I see them bigger than life. Maybe they aren't.
For more on this topic: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Poor...
