HEALING LAUGHTER 4

It’s been awhile since I blogged!  I guess summer has taken over my thoughts.  In this blog, I want to talk about something else besides books!  Is that ok?  Good.  I love summertime.  I love the Oregon weather.  Most of the time it isn’t too hot in the Willamette Valley.  We are barely above sea level and are bordered on each side by mountain ranges.  So, our valley is a bit of paradise.

Because our temps are moderate, we are able to grow lots of wonderful fruits and veggies!.  My favorites are berries of all kinds!  Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, and the likes.  It’s amazing what there is to do with these wonderful fruits.  We also grow melons of all kinds!  I love watermelon!! I’m pretty excited when prices come down and we can buy one.  As far as veggies go, I’m not sure there is any veggies we can’t grow here if we try.  My favorites are tomatoes, carrots, and of course, lettuce.  Summers are amazing times of eating such fresh fruit that I am spoiled to have to use canned, unless I  don’t have a choice.

Another thing about summer is the ability to get out and enjoy life.  We have quite a  lot of wet weather during the year and not too many months of dry weather.  I love getting out and walking in our neighborhood.  There is a beautiful park that surrounds wetlands and birds are abundant.  Waking up to sunshine is so exhilarating! The days are longer and gives us more time to play.  My kids used to love summertime for that very reason.

We live an hour away from the ocean!  That is a wonderful thing.  We can spend days over there and come home at night.  We get to watch whales migrating north and south.  We have several ports of call along our coastline.  There are lots of fishing boats at work and that is pretty awesome to see.  The coastline in Oregon is almost totally accessible the entire length of our beautiful state.  There are some cliffs that don’t allow access, but the views are breathtaking. We have sand castle contests and there are Dory Days.  It’s an amazing place.

We live about an hour from a mountains as well.  Not just hills, I am talking mountains where people ski and enjoy nature. Bend, Oregon is one of the go to places for skiing, as well as, Mt. Hood.  There are several ski slopes in our state.

So, now you see why I love the Willamette Valley.  I’m sure I haven’t listed a lot of things that are great about my valley, but you get the picture, right?

This is  my blog for now.  I needed to take a break and enjoy the days of summer.

Connie

A CRAZY NOTION 3

I promised we would begin talking about self-publishing.  There a few things you should remember before you decide to publish your work.  I wish I had understood the importance of these before I made my decision.

1. Self-published books do not carry the same weight as books published by mainstream publishing companies.  Stores look for that information and if it isn’t there, they often will refuse to carry your work.

2.Self-published books carry a risk for any store or library who chooses to carry them.  Books published by mainstream publishers may be returned and a credit or check will be issued.  Books can be bought on “approval”  This means that all books not used or sold can be returned for a refund.  Self-published books are not returnable.  These books are either sold by the author or a website that prints each book as it is purchased.

3. Self-published books will not be carried by some stores if author has had that book  made into an E-book through Kindle. I don’t have the reason why, but I did find that to be the case when trying to get my book into a “grassroots” type bookstore. They did not want any book that was through either Amazon or Kindle.  You will lose an option  either way.

4. Even though the author feels his/her book is as important and necessary as the next book, not all places will agree.  At times, depending on size, one person in a library will make the decision to carry  or not carry a book according to their viewpoint.

So, now that is out of the way, we  can talk about the actual journey of self-publishing.  If you are serious about doing this, I would encourage you to shop around.  There are several self-publishing companies out there.  They each offer a great deal of assistance, some more than others.  These companies are located everywhere and that may need to be a consideration.  I chose one on the east coast and I live on the west coast.  If I were to do this again, I might do more research and see what is closer to home so I would have the opportunity to visit the place I have chosen.  I have since learned of one of these companies within 50 miles of my home that another author friend uses and is very happy.

If you are an author that is also versed in grammar, syntax, and all things involved with putting a book together so it will be saleable, you are already several steps ahead.  While I was an English minor, it was over 30 years ago and I was a bit reticent to try to do it on my own.  Beware of hiring someone online to edit your book.  I spent money doing this on a site like Fiverr or Thumbtack.  My mistake.  I assumed that this person had done a great job and didn’t pay much attention until I started  looking at the final draft.  My jaw dropped when I began to see all the items that should have been changed that had not.  So, do your homework.  I would hire someone that is a professional close to home next time that I could meet and get a background from them.

After your book is edited, you may hire someone to do what is called the lay-out.  This is someone who puts your book together page by page.  They insert the pictures your have given them and work with you until it is the way YOU want it.  They don’t want it to be their way.  It is your book and needs to reflect you.  The person I hired was a whiz. She kept in touch with me and held my hand all the way through.  Her patience was amazing. She also corrected some of the grammar and syntax problems.  When it is all done, your person will mail the final copy  to you for your approval.  This is BIG.  It’s important to spend time going over each word, paragraph, page, picture, punctuation, etc..  Don’t skim because when the book it printed it will look like what you see in front of you now.

Well, this blog has gone on for awhile and I don’t want to bore you. We will continue our  journey into self-publishing next week.  If you have questions, please send them.

Thanks,

Connie

A CRAZY NOTION #2

Onward and upward

As I have begun this blog, I have noticed how much “stuff” I skip over or have actually forgotten.  I blame it on “Chemo brain”.  There are definite holes in my memory and I am still missing some  memories.  I hope that as I write this blog something will jog my memory and I will get some memories back.

I am a breast cancer survivor of 6 years and am so grateful to be alive.  I don’t take my time here on earth for granted.  I cherish each breath because I’ve lost two sisters to cancer.  Brenda had breast cancer and Sharon had ovarian cancer.  My mom has buried two daughters and I am so happy that she didn’t have to bury a third. When I finally made it through the long journey or cancer surgery and treatment and reconstruction I felt like I needed to make my journey count for something.

It was a hard thing and I wanted to be able to encourage other women and let them know that they weren’t alone.  I also wanted to encourage them to choose joy.  That is where the idea of a book took root.  I knew a friend of mine was holding a workshop for breast cancer survivors so we could tell our stories.  It cost me all I had, but my husband and I decided I needed to go. What an experience.  It was a time of intense  learning and writing.  I spent all my free time trying to form something that made sense. In the middle of it, God spoke to me and said that I was going about it wrong.  Make it simple, talk about what you know and I’ll do the rest.  The title for my book became Healing Laughter, a dance for breast cancer survivors.  I knew that was right.  That was where my heart was.

One evening while at the workshop I quickly finished dinner, found a quiet spot, and rewrote my book!  Wow!  What an experience. That was the easiest part of my book.  As you’ll find, more challenging times were ahead and caused me to wonder what I had gotten myself into!

If you are an aspiring author, the next several blogs talk about the experience of getting a book ready for publishing and choosing how to get it published.  So many things, and I was such a novice.  My family supported my efforts and kept me going when I was ready to pack it in.  Until next time,

Connie

A CRAZY NOTION

My first blog will my introduction  to you, the reader. Blogging is a new adventure and I will find my way and I hope you’ll come along.

I didn’t even think about writing a book before last spring.  I had been keeping busy trying to get the breast cancer over and done with.  While the cancer was caught early,  I did lose both breasts.  It took a year for me to decide to have reconstruction.   I was so hospital weary that I wasn’t totally convinced I would go through with it.  I had not decided if it would be worth having major surgery, again, at age 60.

So, as I said, writing a book was not at the top of my list at anytime during this whole experience.  As you get to know me and I get to know you, I will share more of my reconstruction nightmare.

I am married to a wonderful man who has taken such good care of me even at my most difficult time.  We have been married 38 years and have 2 beautiful daughters.   From them we have 5 perfect grandchildren.  We are also parents to 2 mini-doxies.  Life is good and I am grateful for each and every day that I am healthy .

A CRAZY NOTION #1

I am using the title of “A CRAZY NOTION” because often the most wonderful and interesting things come from a crazy notion.  Over the past 6 or 7 years I have had several crazy notions.  My blog is about those notions and the outcomes, so far, of some of my notions.

You might think that notions, or ideas, only count if something is born from them.. In the whole scheme of things, you might be right.  I think, however, that it is easy to forget that timing is everything.  Have you ever heard that said?  The proof of a successful notion can be years in the making and we don’t want to get caught up in the microwave version of results.  Our society has become one of instant results, instant gratification,instant action, etc.  We run on instant cereals, coffees, ATMs, test results and the likes.  Waiting has become almost impossible.

Notions are instant!  Results are not always quite so instant.  Take, for example, Alexander Graham Bell or Thomas Edison.  Their inventions didn’t come to perfection the first time they tried it.  Notions that become action takes time.  It is time-consuming to make an idea become a reality that is perfect in our eyes.  The reality of something that we created, whether public or private, as I said, can be a heady experience.

I had “delusions of grandeur” when the idea of writing a book first took root in  my mind. In my dreams I could see my name in lights, speaking tours, book-signings, and the such.  Those dreams were what kept me going: however, reality can be a real downer!  In my case, I found that “Indie Books” are not widely accepted or trusted by much of the nation.  An  Indie Book is a book that uses the author as the publisher.  We don’t get money from a publisher to write the book, we self-fund our book and then sell it.  This method can be costly and not as rewarding as hoped.

My first crazy notion was that “I would write a book, and EVERYBODY would be clamouring to buy one”!  Truth:  I am a small blip on a big screen…Oh, well, I have to start somewhere!

Next blog:  Onward and Upward!

Connie