Thursday, March 1, 2012

Eagle's Nest

  I have to admit that throughout my life weird thoughts and idea's would appear in my head. Some I would make little stories out of. Others just found a nice little crevice and rested there. Sometimes they would come out and say, "Hey, remember me?" Either way these thoughts and little stories stayed in my head. Because that's where I thought they should remain. Deep down inside I thought there might be something wrong with me. I thought I may be a little on the crazy side. I guess I was just...confused. ------------------->


  I always liked to write. I never had a problem with English classes. (Although now I wish I would've asked more questions about the pesky comma!) I just never really put two and two together. (I was never really good at math!) I never thought to write down those supposed crazy thoughts and ideas that were going through my head. Enter Women's Fiction and Romance writer Robyn Carr. In one of her books she had a dedication that thanked her family for letting her 'escape.' She thanked them for letting her get the thoughts from her head and onto paper. 


  Finally it all came together. I wasn't the only one that had these things running through my mind. It all started to make sense. Slowly I realized that writing may be the only way those thoughts got expressed in the right way. I set out to prove to myself that I could do it. Every night I would come home from my full time job, and in no particular order...eat, play with dogs, read a little, and make sure I set an hour aside to just write. Some nights I wouldn't get that hour, but others I would get more. Finally after a year of playing around with words I finished. I proved to myself that I could get it done. 


  My first novel is a work of fiction. I have taken a couple of classes to try and better my chances of getting it published. Right now it is getting some editing done to it. That alone has me a little nervous as another opinion will make its way to me. I have a twelve year old friend (going on 28)  who begged me to let her read it. I only had to alter one chapter to make it suitable for her eyes. She loved it. That alone made me feel the time I spent on it was worth it. Now I want more. I want it all. I want this book published. 


   So far I have my first rejection under my belt. Phew. I am glad I got that out of the way! I am working on getting more writing credits, but in the mean time another thought crossed my mind. Self publishing. Hhmmm. I know that my first book will probably be my worst. I'm not saying I think it is a bad book. I'm just saying that I can already see a difference in  writing  between my first and second books. One option is to self publish. When I first started writing all I heard was how bad self publishing was. "It will be your doom!" It seemed every educational author I received emails from declared the self publishing industry the end of the world as we know it. Now, a mere year and a half later, they have changed their tunes. Every email I get now from them has something positive to say about self publishing. 


  I believe that if you could ask five different well known respected authors what they think of self publishing you would get five different answers. I think the book industry is changing so fast nobody really knows what to think. So, for me, I will continue to contemplate. I will send some more query letters out and brace myself for more rejections. Until then I am taking two classes during the month of March. One teaches how to publish your book on Kindle. For now I will continue to tell you that I wrote a book. Soon I will give you a chapter, if you want! If I self publish my first book it will be entitled 'Eagle's Nest'. If I get lucky enough to get picked up by someone I don't know what the title will be, but you'll be one of the first to know!  :o)


Do you read? Do you have an e-reader? Do you think self publishing is an acceptable form of publishing?

2 comments:

  1. I think self publishing is a great idea. It should be cost affordable and keeps your creative control - plus saves trees!!! The e-readers will continue to grow with the popularity of Tablets and iPads. Keep on that path!!

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  2. Thanks, Read On! It is definitely something to think about. The saving trees aspect intrigues me being the nature fool that I am!

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