The Journey to Become a Published Author

I am suddenly inspired to post on my blog again after many years.  Having recently finished a new novel--the first of a series--I wanted to journal my experiences trying to get it published.  Let me backtrack a bit.  After some research, I decided to write an erotic paranormal thriller.  That's where the men are alpha males and the women are alpha females; and while fangs, claws, and hot sex are S.O.P., they all live happily ever after.  I read quite a few books in the paranormal romance category before I began to write.  That may be wise or not.  Anyway, I finished my novel, using WriteItNow as a software program.  I knew I needed better organization tools than Word and Excel, especially for a series.  How to keep track of all the events and characters?  I revised my manuscript about 50 times and then began the process of writing a query letter and a synopsis to send to literary agents.  Did I mention that I hate writing a synopsis?  To distill 93,000 words into what will fit on two pages is a skill I lack.  I should note that I had joined B.A.R.N. (Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network) for their jewelry, glass, and writers studios.  The writers studio lead found someone--thanks Carol--who read my synopsis and made suggestions.  Finally, I developed a list of agents who accept paranormal romance novels.  So far, I have contacted 37 agents and received 16 rejections.  Most of the rejections are form letters but at least the agencies had the courtesy to respond.  And, maybe I am deluding myself, but I thought that a few of the rejections were not form letters.  Several agents actually paid me a compliment while noting that the project was not for them at this time.  I still have quite a few agents to contact, but I have paused for a bit because I am going to attend a Field's End workshop on Book Basics for Writers:  A Day Dedicated to Your Publishing Success with Alice B. Acheson.  The pause has allowed me the time to go back into my paranormal romance novel and edit one more time.  Perhaps, I am writing on my blog again because today I am procrastinating.  The pause also allowed me to rethink sending the manuscript to agents at this time.  Perhaps, I should wait until book two of the series is complete also.  I have observed that series romances seem to be published rather rapidly one after another.
As an aside, the B.A.R.N is a great experience.  Meeting fellow aspiring writers is like a shot of adrenalin.  They keep me going; they keep me inspired; they keep me on my toes. We recently held a First Responders group meeting where I reviewed the plot of book two in my series.  The First Responders then speculated on where the book was going and other aspects of the plot.  It was a very beneficial meeting.

Orts, Bits, and Fragments

Today I finished getting my book, Affection for Crime, into its last eBook format.  I began with iBook and used one of their recommended aggregators--Smashwords.  They are free and relatively easy to use.  I had to reformat my Word document.  That was fun.  For those of you who don't know me, that means it was not fun.  I certainly wish I had known what I was doing earlier.  While Smashwords is easy to use, they did have to keep sending my book to various electronic sites repeatedly--Apple, Barnes and Noble, and others.  Eventually, Affection for Crime was up-and-running on the  Smashwords retailer sites.  Then, I had to ePub separately through Amazon to get my book into Kindle.  That was a little trickier.  Finally, I did Google because Eagle Harbor Book Co. on Bainbridge uses Google Play for eBooks.  That was an experience.  Their instructions and partner (i.e., publishing) site are confusing.  Fortunately, they respond rapidly to emails and tell you what you are doing wrong.  Apparently, English is not my strong suit because I kept misunderstanding the online directions. I hate it when you receive a polite email explaining in multiple detailed steps what you are doing wrong.  I could hear them laughing.  
Four months later, Affection for Crime is out there--somewhere.  Like Pontius Pilate I am washing my hands of this novel and moving on to the next in the series.  For those of you who liked Maggie Hall, you may now stand and cheer.  For those of you who do not like her--I can hear you booing.  As it may, I am in the midst of writing the second book of the series.  And, yes, when I am finished and have once again maneuvered the tricky turns of self-publishing, I will ask you to buy this novel also.
I don't want to deceive you into thinking that I sat in my uncomfortable chair at my computer and worked endlessly for four months to publish my novel.  Prepare for the orts, bits, and fragments of my life.  Everyday after school, I see my grand daughters.  We do homework (a task which will never get me Grandmother-of-the-year status with them), go to dance or theatre, or have multiple snacks.  Kate, with slicked-back, gelled hair and a black leotard with tights will soon be in a recital.  Zoe just had two performances of Chicken Little in which she was Cocky Locky, the peacock with attitude.  It was type casting.  Recently, Luis Anthony, oldest grandson and graduate of West Point, was assigned to Fort Lewis-McCord.  He visits on weekends.  Having come back from a year in South Korea, he is anxious to find something more dangerous than the base in Washington.  I would like to see him take up knitting, which is deceptively dangerous, but he would rather go to Ranger training.  Now that I think of it, his friend and fellow graduate, Adam, does origami but will soon go to Afghanistan.  I suppose knitting and origami won't keep them out of harm's way.  In addition to all this, I try to find time to work on fused glass projects in my studio.  Lately, I have had a few disastrous projects. That takes up time because I have to smash the glass, clean the studio, wring my hands for hours, and sometimes drink or take pills to forget.
Having been so busy and retired, I did not write a blog for some time.  My long-time friend--after I badgered her once more to buy my book--reminded me that I had not written a blog since March.  I felt guilty and lazy; hence, this rambling blog.  I know she doesn't read my blogs.  She just looks at the dates.  So, I think this new one will make us all happy.  Since she is having a birthday this month--and we are getting up there in years--I am surprised that she remembers that I have a blog.  Happy birthday Crystal, Penny, and Kathleen.

The Self-publishing Experience So Far

I am new to the self-publishing industry.  I tried to find an agent for my new novel, Affection for Crime, but I was unsuccessful.  I will admit that I was not very good with the process of looking for an agent.  First, I had to research the agents and agencies to see if their interests matched my interests.  That grew boring quickly which, all in all, means that I would quit for long periods of time.   When I returned to my research, I found I had forgotten much of what I had already researched.  I should have made notecards as I did in graduate school, but I had left that life behind and was determined not to relive it.  Then, I had to put the novel and query letter into each agency's format for submission.  Would I need to email the query letter or send it by snail mail? Did it need to be an attachment or part of the body of the email?   Did the agency want the first three chapters, the first fifty pages, a synopsis, a brief description, or my first-born child?  I decided to create a spreadsheet so that I could keep track of who wanted what.  In short, I began to feel like a bookkeeper--not one of my better skills.  I will admit that after going through all of this and, then, receiving rejection letters, I became discouraged.  Who wouldn't?  I expected them to accept my book simply because I had maneuvered my way around their obstacles.  By the way, most agencies do not respond at all.  Some are kinder.   "I love your main character, Maggie Hall, but we are not publishing this type of book now." I next decided it would be easier to self-publish.  I have an iPad and use iBooks; so, my first choice was with iBooks.  In exploring that route, I found that Smashwords would do the necessary conversions at no cost.  I am retired; so, "at no cost" means a lot to me.  Obviously, they take a percentage of sales.  That's assuming someone buys my book.  I found Mark Coker's style guide easy to follow and clearly written.  The conversion worked, and my book was accepted into Smashwords' Premium Catalog.  From there it was distributed to iBooks, Sony, Barnes and Noble, and more.  The Smashwords site is easy to navigate and to monitor sales and distribution.  So far, I am quite satisfied.  Since some of my friends have Kindles, I decided to get my book into Amazon's Kindle Book.  That process was fast, from conversion to inclusion.  It was, however, a bit more confusing to find information on how to do it.  If I had not done Smashwords first, I doubt I could have managed.  Now I was getting brave, and an expert by my standards.  My standards are low.  I decided to try Google's Books Partner Program.  I'm still confused.  I think my book will be on their site in about two weeks.  Actually, I have four books in my account being processed.  They are, of course, all the same book.  Don't ask how that happened.  I'm still not clear.  So far so good.  Next, I decided to find out how to market my book.  Mark Coker's Book Marketing Guide is helpful as is http://www.spacejock.com.au/MarketingYourBookOnline.html and http://www.essortment.com/market-promote-book-34433.html.  Now that I am trying to be a responsible author, I have had to create a website and a blog.  I might, according to these sources, also have to make friends on Facebook.  Is this the world I wanted?  I am reminded of a business venture about twenty years ago.  Two friends (you know who you are) and I decided to decorate t-shirts to match glitzy, cheap earrings we found.  I am, in all modesty, telling you that the t-shirts looked great.  Unfortunately, we had three artists and no marketers.  I think I still have some of those shirts and earrings in my closet.  Anyway, enough about t-shirts and cheap earrings, have you tried to self-publish?  What have your experiences been like?  Also, please take the poll on best experiences located near the bottom of this page.

Choices

This is my first blog.  "What's the topic?" you ask.  I answer, "Retirement, fused glass, being a mother and grandmother, education, writing, and topics I have yet to pursue.

First, let me say how I came to my career because that will eventually lead to my choice of topics.  My parents could not afford to pay for college; so, I earned a small scholarship.  Still, two years was what could be managed financially.  I enrolled in a two-year business school program at a small state college.  Long ago that meant I was on track to be a secretary.  I was ill-fitted for this program.  My mind would wander in my business classes making my shorthand unreadable and my typing equally bad.  In order to keep my scholarship I had to promise the college I would get out of the business program.  Where could I go, though?  I should mention that I was fired from a temporary job at a company where my mother worked.  It was summer, I was in high school, and I insisted on correcting my boss's misspelled words.  I was also fired from a job later as a long distance PBX operator after I pulled out the plugs on my board.  A man on the phone had been quite rude to me.  Then, I was hired to stock shelves at a Woolco store and quit on my way out at the end of the day.  I was bored.  My employment history did not show a promising future.  I think my parents were worried.

About the same time I promised the college I would drop my business major, my freshman English teacher paid me a compliment.  He said, "You should make English your major."  I was giddy with joy.  Some department wanted me.  Besides that, I liked to read.  My parents and I were puzzled, though.  What do you do with an English major?  The short of it is--I became an English teacher.  After teaching for several years, I took the advise of my principal.  By the way, he said, "Why don't you become an administrator?  You would be good at it."  Once again, a compliment drove my career choice.  I should have, perhaps, considered that I was shallow, but fortunately I did not.  And, as with Frost's "The Road Not Taken" that "has made all the difference."  I loved being a principal.  I was never bored, I saw great teaching daily, I made a difference in lives, and as a bonus some thought I was good at my job.  It was also a plus for teachers of English everywhere that I became an administrator instead of remaining one of them.

Thirty-four years after my stumbling into education, I decided it was time to retire.  Friends and colleagues can be quite frightening when one decides to retire.  What would I do with my time?  After all, I not only worked nine- to fourteen-hour days but I enjoyed doing so.

Here's the short version.  They were wrong.  I love my retirement as much as I loved my career.  Why?  I have thought about this question frequently.  I decided the answer is "choices."  When I was pursuing my career, I made one choice--education. Once I chose education and the longer I stayed in that profession, I could no longer be a famous actress, a renowned anthropologist, a marine biologist, or an award-winning war correspondent. I thought about Grammy-winning singer, but I cannot carry a tune.  Now that I am pursuing retirement--yes, "pursuing"--I am making many choices.  I am a mother, a grandmother, a fused glass artist, a novelist, a poet, a writer of children's stories, a landscaper, an interior decorator, a technology geek, a traveller, a volunteer and consultant for schools, and whatever I decide to become tomorrow. 

So, the subject of my blog is "the road not taken."  I have retraced my steps and begun walking this road.  I will write about fused glass, authoring a book, education, motherhood and grandmotherhood, retirement, and whatever I may decide tomorrow. 

Check out my website at http://smithtm.weebly.com/