Dear Readers,
I can't believe how long ago it was since I last blogged! I have a lot to tell you, the most important thing being that I can't seem to find spell check in this new format on Blogger. Uh, oh.
First: I have submitted The Month of Zephram Mondays for publishing! I hope within the next week and a half that my e-store will be up and running on Amazon. I've been designing my author page and the real Good Manners Kids Stuff Press site along with the book store page on the Good Manners Kids Stuff site. Hopefully it will all go live at the same time in about two weeks.
Second: I approved my cover artwork and interior layout for my other book. That one will need a little more effort to push it through but it should also be available VERY soon. (It has become a template for a non-fiction manners series so the extra time it has taken to finalize was put to good use!)
Three: Okay, I'm no J.K. Rowling but I (like thousands) had the nerve to try my hand at Harry Potter fan fiction. My fan fic After the Bezoar was just published on http://www.checkmated.com/. It is a missing moment of what might have happened after Ron was poisoned in Half Blood Prince. In canon, we don't know if anything was ever said between Ron and Hermione -- we just know that they became friends again. This is about what might have happened. The reviews I've gotten say that they think it fits into canon AND answers the question -- so I'm pretty excited that people like it and think it makes sense.
Four: I went to the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) meeting and lunch last weekend. Met lots of nice people and also got the all important 'get out of the slush pile free' pass from several editors and one agent.
Five: Well, there is some stuff going on for Five but I think it's a little premature so I'll save it for next time.
Happy Reading!
Leslie
P.S. Just read The Blackstone Key by Rose Melikan. I liked it very much.
P.P. Don't forget -- for some reason, spell check isn't working. I've proofed, I swear!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Update on formatting, new logo, covers
Dear Reader,
As I write you today I am just getting over a bad case of poison ivy that I picked up when I did the weeding right after I wrote my last post to you.
I did not, however, let that interfere with the ongoing tasks associated with my publishing house and book launch. Wait - although "ongoing" is true, possibly I should also say "never ending" as that seems to be the reality.
I have been in formatting Hades (a polite substitution for H***) and I can't say with any certainty when it will be over. (This is when I repeatedly realize, Dear Reader, how lucky lucky lucky lucky published authors are who have an editorial and design and layout staff to take care of these steps.)
In spite of the frustration at having to go in and remove the double spaces (throughout over 150 pages) I habitually type after periods they way they taught us back in the dark ages, The Month of Zephram Mondays is just about there and I'm excited at how it is coming to life. (That is if the darn headers and footers aren't the death of it!)
My artist, Kecia, has formatted a logo for me that I can't wait to use. Hopefully you will see it on my next post up at the top of the page instead of where Good Manners Kids Stuff Press appears now in plain old type. (This will entail me changing - or corrupting as usually happens - the html code of my blog site. Wish me luck!)
Kecia and I also made some changes to my non-fiction children's book. Because it is about a timely topic, I hope to have final revisions within the next week so I don't completely miss the season and the relevant news cycles.
Once I have the final cover graphics and new logo I can activate my Good Manners Kids Stuff Press site and start the presses rolling, so to speak.
Oh, Dear Reader, I am almost close enough to taste it. I'm trying to be patient, I really am. Rather than twiddling my thumbs while I'm waiting for the parts over which I have no control, I started putting the second of my Zephram tales in the works so that I don't have too much of a time lag once I've launched.
Also, instead of twiddling, I sent changes to my Harry Potter Fan Fiction to my Beta at Checkmated.com last night. I hope to be able to tell you next time that it has been posted there in case you're a Harry Potter Fan and would like to read it.
(I also stopped at the library and picked up People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks and I'm looking forward to reading it.)
And that's just about it. Until my next post, I hope you enjoy some reading and writing of your own.
Your wannabe publisher and author,
Leslie
As I write you today I am just getting over a bad case of poison ivy that I picked up when I did the weeding right after I wrote my last post to you.
I did not, however, let that interfere with the ongoing tasks associated with my publishing house and book launch. Wait - although "ongoing" is true, possibly I should also say "never ending" as that seems to be the reality.
I have been in formatting Hades (a polite substitution for H***) and I can't say with any certainty when it will be over. (This is when I repeatedly realize, Dear Reader, how lucky lucky lucky lucky published authors are who have an editorial and design and layout staff to take care of these steps.)
In spite of the frustration at having to go in and remove the double spaces (throughout over 150 pages) I habitually type after periods they way they taught us back in the dark ages, The Month of Zephram Mondays is just about there and I'm excited at how it is coming to life. (That is if the darn headers and footers aren't the death of it!)
My artist, Kecia, has formatted a logo for me that I can't wait to use. Hopefully you will see it on my next post up at the top of the page instead of where Good Manners Kids Stuff Press appears now in plain old type. (This will entail me changing - or corrupting as usually happens - the html code of my blog site. Wish me luck!)
Kecia and I also made some changes to my non-fiction children's book. Because it is about a timely topic, I hope to have final revisions within the next week so I don't completely miss the season and the relevant news cycles.
Once I have the final cover graphics and new logo I can activate my Good Manners Kids Stuff Press site and start the presses rolling, so to speak.
Oh, Dear Reader, I am almost close enough to taste it. I'm trying to be patient, I really am. Rather than twiddling my thumbs while I'm waiting for the parts over which I have no control, I started putting the second of my Zephram tales in the works so that I don't have too much of a time lag once I've launched.
Also, instead of twiddling, I sent changes to my Harry Potter Fan Fiction to my Beta at Checkmated.com last night. I hope to be able to tell you next time that it has been posted there in case you're a Harry Potter Fan and would like to read it.
(I also stopped at the library and picked up People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks and I'm looking forward to reading it.)
And that's just about it. Until my next post, I hope you enjoy some reading and writing of your own.
Your wannabe publisher and author,
Leslie
Friday, September 4, 2009
Book publishing doesn't stop with Labor Day
Dear Reader,
Happy Friday!
As I write it is the Friday before Labor Day weekend. While I am excited to have some time off, I have a feeling that there won't be much down time. We have 2 parties/picnics and also lots of end-of-summer weeding and garage clean-out on the agenda.
I also hope to squeeze in some personal time with one of my book's format.
Let me rephrase. "Hope" is not actually the right word. "Hope" would imply something that I would be looking forward to do.
So ... I also plan to force myself to reformat the interior of my children's fiction novel, "The Month of Zephram Mondays."
When I say that weeding and garage clean-out are more appealing than frustrating myself with the reformatting -- well, that's saying a lot. Especially when you consider that I had horrible poison ivy the last time I weeded. And we can't get any of the cars in the garage because there is too much junk!
But, my book dream calls -- and my publishing empire will never launch if I don't concentrate and muddle through the hard stuff. Ugh.
As for the easy stuff: I bought several more urls to link to my website and blog in anticipation of announcing my books' publications. Eventually I will have my publishing site (with links back to Good Manners Kids Stuff) and an author's site and e-stores on Createspace and Amazon all linking together and these urls of the book titles will also send traffic. Hopefully these threads will turn out to be an integral part of my comprehensive web strategy for marketing and building a brand.
And I will look like a genius!
(Probably one with poison ivy, though!)
With best wishes to you for a nice holiday weekend,
I remain your wanna-be publisher and author,
Leslie
Happy Friday!
As I write it is the Friday before Labor Day weekend. While I am excited to have some time off, I have a feeling that there won't be much down time. We have 2 parties/picnics and also lots of end-of-summer weeding and garage clean-out on the agenda.
I also hope to squeeze in some personal time with one of my book's format.
Let me rephrase. "Hope" is not actually the right word. "Hope" would imply something that I would be looking forward to do.
So ... I also plan to force myself to reformat the interior of my children's fiction novel, "The Month of Zephram Mondays."
When I say that weeding and garage clean-out are more appealing than frustrating myself with the reformatting -- well, that's saying a lot. Especially when you consider that I had horrible poison ivy the last time I weeded. And we can't get any of the cars in the garage because there is too much junk!
But, my book dream calls -- and my publishing empire will never launch if I don't concentrate and muddle through the hard stuff. Ugh.
As for the easy stuff: I bought several more urls to link to my website and blog in anticipation of announcing my books' publications. Eventually I will have my publishing site (with links back to Good Manners Kids Stuff) and an author's site and e-stores on Createspace and Amazon all linking together and these urls of the book titles will also send traffic. Hopefully these threads will turn out to be an integral part of my comprehensive web strategy for marketing and building a brand.
And I will look like a genius!
(Probably one with poison ivy, though!)
With best wishes to you for a nice holiday weekend,
I remain your wanna-be publisher and author,
Leslie
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