I'm taking you with me as I look for a publisher

 Good evening folks. I've decided because I've run into so many issues and unexpected problems as I look for a publisher, I thought this would be good information. You many never know when you will one day, decide to write a book. It happened to me and that's what this is about.

So for starters I have backed out of using publishing services  twice now. This most recent time is now. Today, I received an agreement to be published from a company I hadn't really researched and didn't know of their reputation. So today I looked up it's reviews and they were nearly all bad. So I replied to the agreement that was sent to me by saying no to the offer that was made. Meaning beside the money I would be paying, I will not be published a year from now.

I lose but I win. Now I'm on the look out for another publisher. At the same time I'm setting up an ebook to be published on Amazon. Step by step I'm designing the cover, front and back. Then there are a couple of pages that I have to write that go in the front of the inside book right after the cover.

Don't quite know about that because right now I'm working on the cover design using Canva a free graphic design app. Have to be careful with it though because it's easy to slip over into things that cost. So paying attention to not using stuff that will cause a bill at the end of the project. I have a friend who has published several novels free so I know it can be done.

The cover design is coming along really nicely and I think what I've got going right now is really attractive and eye catching. Did run into an issue of layering. Somehow I managed to put a layer on the back cover which covers up the copy I wrote and so I may have to start over on that because I can't seem to isolate the copy so that I can use it on a different design. If I have to rewrite it's ok. Sometimes the second writing is better anyway. I'm gonna try to put a picture of the cover design I'm talking about here. 

Anyway, this is it and I'm Judy in my cottage writing on my new blog. Would love to read a comment if you want to write one.  Thanks for reading...

Something to talk about

 I decided after looking at the reports on visitors to my blog that I have to make some changes. I'm checking in to how to make my blog look interesting and how to get it in front of folks that would to read and comment. People who will get something out of their time spent on my page.

Then there's the matter of subject and purpose for putting what I want to say on the web. Of course with the consideration of who is my target audience. So, I've got some research to do and then make the changes real and applicable to my reason for having a blog.

If you want to go with me in this I will tell you what I'm doing and finding out along the way. Discovery can be interesting and really good. So, I'm heading out to accomplish my tasks to get this blog read and commented on.

In the mean time I'm currently waiting for a phone call about the manuscript. Didn't find out anything yesterday and was deferred to 10am today. So, I'm waiting.

Until next time...I'm Judy in the cottage, cool and comfy, away from the Texas heat.

A New Week with Great Anticipations

 Hello, anybody out there? All the reports I get...statistical reports looks like I am being read but still no comments. I will be checking on that to see if there is a setting I need to fix further. So, glad you are here and that you've found my blog. I hope you enjoy the reading of it and will check in to see whats going on with my endeavors.

Today, here in a few moments I will talk with another publisher and hopefully get to send the manuscript to them for review and consideration. Of course there is already one in the wing of whom I will hear from tomorrow. Both self publishers. Though once not thought well of, self publishing has moved up in those opinions. There are two types of self publishers as I understand and seem to be the best way for an unknown writer to get started publishing manuscripts. 

I have a couple of friends who self publish and they keep writing and keep publishing and their books are selling. So, I'm hopeful for good reports on the manuscript.

Over this weekend I did look into books on the subject of gossip and was able to read several synopsis' and though they sound good there is a good distance between their direction and mine so I'm hoping that will make mine publishable. Though a couple of them went into the harm gossip does, as far as I can tell, none address gossip toward the Body of Christ when Jesus comes back.

So my work takes the reader through today, personally as well as the effect it has in the church as we prepare for the return of Jesus. Did I mention that I have another project in the works? Just started the outline over the weekend. Hopefully it will be larger maybe above 200K, but we'll see about that. My thinking is if the writing I've sent for approval is accepted and they like the way I say things, then I'm good to go for another book.

Got about 5 min. before the call I'm waiting for so, I'll be back after to report.

Had a great conversation. The rep from this publisher has the manuscript to read and she will report back when she has read it and give her opinion on the writing style if there is one and lots of other things she sees as she reads.. I'm excited about that. So today is the day I find out if the publisher I sent the manuscript to has decided whether or not they want to publish.  Waiting on pins and needles....Suspense LOL

Later, this is Judy in the Cottage with Milo.

Step by Step

 The manuscript is ready for a publisher. I'll probably be sending it in a few minutes for their first look-over. This is when they decide to work with me to get it published. This is one publisher. The other's I've talked to don't want to see it until I send money with it.  So this publisher is first. First rattle out of the box this morning I took three hard copies to Fedex to be bound with a black plastic spine. I should get them back by the end of the day if not sooner. One of them I will keep, one will be given to a possible source of funding and the third will be for others that I want to read.

Did I say I'm expectant? Well I am. Don't know what I'm expecting but it'l be something and it will be soon. The publisher I'm sending to, will let me know something within 5-7 days, and that will be whether they want to publish my work. So, I'm trying not to get silly about this, but...

In the mean time, what ever that means... I'm working on an outline for a second book. You know what? I'm not even sure the first is going to go anywhere and here I am with a second one already in my head. What's that about. This is also Christian and not a novel so that means it's non-fiction. It is not a behavior and thought process that needs to be identified and changed as in the one that is yet to be accepted for publishing. Is this normal?

Anyway, the second is more of an explanation  of often misunderstood words used in scripture by the current day Christian community. I'm going to try to start out with an outline with chapter content identified and even know the ending. How 'bout that?!

How about this, if you are in your 30's and you are reading this, you probably think I'm old at 79. but...here's the thing about aging, at least for me and many of my friends. From about 65 upwards, we seniors work at living with aches and pains, surgeries and medication, learning to walk with a cane, walker, rolling in a wheel chair, gray hair, no hair, wrinkles, dentures, partials, etc., etc., etc.. And, that takes unrealized courage and boldness.

We have, those of who choose to do so, decided to "live until we die" as fully as we possibly can. So, we keep on keepin' on thinking, doing, imagining, considering and willing to take a leap outside our comfort zone. And, it's a blast!

That's it for today. May God bless you and keep you. I'm Judy in the cottage on a hot Texas Summer day of 103 degrees.

I'm kinda excited...

 I found an old blog and it's with "blogger".  I'm trying to figure if I can link it or add it's posts (77 of them). Anyway...

I've started several over 17 years and I didn't know how to preserve them. I'm on the hunt now for the others. They would be fun but probably more so for me.  I'll keep you posted on that!

Still editing and managed to get some of the corrections on the 'puter. There's way more and one copy is still out.  Whew!  I end up rewriting when I'm the one doing the editing. That's a good thing about those who are looking it over for me and fixing punctuation...they don't rewrite. 

I've been watching stuff on You Tube about writing and some of the folks I've come across are well known best selling authors and one is a professor. It's all quite interesting. Never thought I'd say something like that much less think it!  No matter how old you are or aren't, it's true that it's never to late to learn and even be interested in learning. This is amazing this trip I'm on.  I'm thinking if I, no wait, change that to when I get published I might just do a series of books. Kind of like this one and link them together somehow so that they can be called a series.

I heard one person (author) say that series writing is good for sales, that is the popularity of the books, because people get involved  and want to continue reading about the same characters. So, I might see if I can do that, if it will work since I'm not writing novels. That would be interesting. 

Well, I just wanted to give this update. It's Saturday evening and it's moving down from only 88 degrees today...that's here just south of the panhandle of Texas. Was 100 yesterday and 107 on Thursday!

Thanks for stopping in and reading. Hope the rest of your weekend is restful and just plain nice. I'm Judy in my cottage with Milo.  He's relaxed!!!

He's just a little guy, weighs about 10lbs and looks all prancie when we walk, ears sticking up straight and all!

Well,OK I'll include a little bit of the book today....

 Yes, I'm going to give just a small excerpt from my book. I'm still editing and editing and still expecting to be ready for the publisher by the end of the month.  I took about 2 days off to just recoup some sleep time and take a breath. 

I'm back to it today. Starting with this post. After this I will get busy on making the edits on the document. I gave the manuscript to a couple of friends, I think I mentioned that and I've received them back and have made the changes on my laptop but there's lots more to do. Oh, and I did my own editing as well.  In addition to writing and editing I've been researching the ways and means of how to do self publishing, fund raising and other things about "how to write". The last one I should'a looked into that before I started.  It's one of those things about me that pops up once in a while, like not reading instructions, impulse creating and more...eeek!  

Well, at 79 I've gotten pretty good at all those things so now I do sometimes read instructions but it's because I want to now. It's like putting the cart before the horse all through out my life. Really funny to look back an see how many times I really did that. Sometimes it worked but sometimes it hasn't and certainly, I've learned all  along the way.

So here's an excerpt from the beginning of the book. I placed it on the front but I don't know that it will stay there, so here it is:

Title(s): Do No Harm....or...The Church, The Bride of Christ, The Dress We Wear

"Gossip is the default setting of  man kinds’ mode of conversation. This writing addresses the impact of  conversation that does harm through gossip directly on  the dress we, the Church, will be wearing when Jesus comes back for us!  If you’ve accepted the only begotten Son of God as your Lord, then it’s your dress. The default setting can be changed, it’s up to us."

I'm still not really sure how I'm going to get this book published. It is 300,497 words which amounts to about 100 pages. That means the book will be one step up from a pamphlet. So, not a big book and not hardbound. I will get ebook world wide distribution, a website for sales purposes and the book will be available from retailers by order, not off their shelves. The self publishers vary on how the book would be available.

The lowest upfront cost is $2000 with a $575 first payment to get the book started. That's with a well known publisher. My issue is the fundraising. There is a self publisher that will do it with no money down but takes 50% of the royalties for 5 years. So, I still have a lot to think over on how this is going to get published but, like I said, I'm working for the end of July to get this thing going.

That's it for this one. Writing on my Acer with Milo curled up on his pillow near my feet and we are...in the Cottage in the heat of the day staying cool. I'm "Judy" and I write.

maybe next month I'll set up an email for this site

 

It's nearly ready!

     It's true. I'm still working, no editing the book. The title has changed a few times but unless the publisher comes up with a better idea it will stick. Not quite ready to reveal it here but I'm thinking pretty soon. The book will be around 100 pages and it's a non-fiction with some fiction added for interest. The genre is Religion/Christian and the subject is gossip.

    The idea is not new but the content is different than what I can find already published. I'm doing it in the Hybrid manner which is self publishing because I put money up front. That's another issue...the money part.  I'm working on it now but I may have to do letters and other methods to raise the funds to get the book published. I believe in it's message and hope I can get it out in the hands of people. It's a message really to all of us humans which is to do no harm to the people that seem to be the subject of our conversation when they aren't part of the group or other person we are talking with.

    I've heard that some authors put segments of their writing in their blog so I might do that. First I need to do some research. It's all new to me. I've been writing all my life but never seriously considered trying to write a real book for publication. My writing has been in personal journals and I've written about my life for my children and grandchildren. I've had other blogs and I intend to see if they are still out there and if so see if I can transfer them to this blog. Not sure if they are still out there somewhere among the stars somewhere and retrievable but I'll find out soon.

    That's it for now. I just wanted to keep posting so I don't forget which I've done in the past. I want to keep this one going. I don't think I've finished setting this one up because it doesn't look like anyone is seeing it. So, gotta check in to all that stuff. But, right now, It's getting late and my pup Milo keeps looking at me like, when are we gonna to bed?

Good night out there, it's really dark out here where no one sees me but it's ok. I'm thinking the best and still in the cottage, nice and comfy. Until next time, hope all is well with you and yours.

Judy and Milo inside our little cottage.

PS...I just reviewed my other posts and I see that I have been repetitious here so please just ignore what you already know from what I've said before. I've been editing all day it seems like so I'm just tired. I'll be better about that sort of thing next time. Thanks, you're swell!

    I

This Imagination...

 Imagination, it's a powerful thing and I'm not even sure what that means. I mentioned in my first post that I am writing a book. I've done this before but not quite like this time. The manuscript is nearly finished. I've given it to another personal friend to edit as she can. She has the first 6 chapters. I'll be giving her the next in about a week for the rest of the story to edit.

I am taking this whole thing one word at a time not really sure of anything except I can't seem to put it aside. I just keep plugging in words...rather typing word after word. Not too far from 30k total number of words. I can't seem to imagine how I've even done that. The book does have a purpose and is non-fiction. Not sure if I said that in the first post. I know, I can look back but I'm busy writing right now.

I'm learning alot as I go about what I was suppose to do before I actually started the writing part. So in the back of my head I remember there is a novel I started last year and then got lost in all the characters and their relationships with each other and didn't even know where the story was suppose to go or the final outcome. Now, I know I should have had that laid out before I started writing. If this book I'm writing now actually....I mean actually gets published, then I'm going to revisit this other story I'm telling you about and see if I can get it into a reason for being.

This is kinda fun, actually.  I really don't have a lot of other things to do... Oh that's so not true. What I mean is, all the other things I do are busy stuff. Creative, artsy stuff I've been doing all my life. But writing a book??? That's a bit different. A whole lot of bit!

Back to the book I'm on now...finding a way to get it published is different.  Not like going to the grocery store for fresh fruit and picking and choosing the right pieces. This is complicated. I'm having to look up words being used I've never heard of just to figure out what the advertising says.

You know what. I was not a good student in high school. I nearly flunked English, getting by just by a minute. I truly don't know the description of what a verb or a noun or an adjective is. I have to look it up. And the descriptive words used for how to build a good sentence is outside my thinking. The funny/odd thing to me now is that I don't mind at all learning what I should have learned at 16. I find it interesting and "useful"! 

Never to late to learn or to old either.  If this current manuscript actually gets published, what a kick in the head it will be. I will truly be amazed. But that kind of thinking and talk is way up ahead yet. Actually, I might find out if it, the manuscript, is accepted within as little as 4 weeks. Wowzer! Just think, a month ago I had to look up what fiction vs nonfiction meant. It was always confusing. I know what it means now!

Honestly, I have never really been interested in just reading. I read out of necessity and a very few times for pleasure. My oldest daughter amazes me because she is an avid reader and has always been. When she was young, I had to force her to go outside and play, my fear being that she wouldn't know about the reality of life experiences, but only through a book. You know, how to play with others, how to make friends, have a friend, be a friend.

Wait now, don't let this last paragraph cause you to think I'm suddenly going to be in love with books and start reading all the time.  I don't see that happening. Basically I'm a doer not a reader. It's the part about me writing a book that I find so out of sight...

Well, it's not published-yet!  We'll see... but this is so fun!

I'm here, in the cottage until next time. Say...do something different!

Thanks for reading my writing, and check back in a week or two...This is Judy and I'm writing a book!