Self-Publishing thoughts

Tea: Toasted Maple Green
Music: Squirrel of Possibility - Punch Brothers

I keep flip flopping between these two thoughts:

"I definitely want to go the traditional publishing route. Working with an agent and a publisher would be so much fun!"

and

"I am definitely going to self-publish because it's such a viable option now and I could have control over every part of the process. It would be exciting to do it all myself."

Right now I'm on the second part of the flip flop. What changed my mind?

I was making a writing schedule for the next two years to plan out when my book(s) would be finished and when I could reasonably expect them to be ready for publication if I put myself on deadlines. This is something I'm always doing and redoing. It's a way to procrastinate from writing, actually. Even though it usually ends up getting me to think "Oh wow. I better get to it, then."

When I got to the part where I submit my finished and polished and edited novel to an agent, I started writing up all kinds of schedules for when to start writing my next book and when I would do each round of submissions. And then I hit a problem. I couldn't determine with any certainty when, or if ever, I would land an agent and a publishing deal. And it made me stop to think about all the rejection letters I've gotten on my previous project, and what that whole thing felt like.

I was never very disappointed with any particular rejection letter that I can recall. I expected to get at least some rejections. That wasn't what made me stop and cringe at the idea of going through the process again. It was the idea that I would put lots and lots of work into seeking out a traditional publishing route, and not be guaranteed any results. For my last project, I spent hundreds of hours writing and tweaking queries, personalizing them after researching each agent I was submitting to. I felt really good about having done everything I could to put my best foot forward, including writing a really good novel. But it just never worked out.

Now I am a mom of a toddler, with another one on the way, and I can see my writing time slipping away as I make writing schedules and have to completely block off two months because of giving birth and recovering. So the thought of putting the precious hours I manage to carve out for writing towards marketing and the fact that they may not even pay off makes me kind of sick to my stomach. And not because of the pregnancy either.

Part of the reason I wanted an agent so badly is because I am obsessed with the business side of writing. I think I would actually enjoy being an agent much more than being a writer. (But there's no way for me to get an internship with an agency while living in Minnesota. Grrrr.) So I really wanted to work closely with one, see them in action, be fascinated by all the wonderful strings they pull and things they do to make writer's dreams come true.

Well, if I can't become a literary agent, what better way to satisfy my desire to get in on the nitty gritty of publishing than to self-publish? Plus, in the end, I am guaranteed a result of being published. No promises on how well the book will sell or how many road blocks I will come up against that I will have to solve on my own. But even with traditional publishing, there are no promises.

So that's where I'm headed, as of today. There may be something along the line in the next few months that makes me want to go back to traditional publishing. Maybe I spot a new agent who is directly looking for what I am writing. Or I start to doubt myself and my abilities to get my own work out there. Or the thought of writing a query letter and sending it off to lots of agents suddenly sounds appealing again.

I know I said I don't have much time to write. Who does with kids? And that may prove to be the deciding factor since self-publishing takes a lot more time on the author's part than traditional publishing (or so I've been told). But...I still think I can do it. I would rather put in three times the amount of hours than it takes to go the traditional publishing route and know I'll have something to show for it than put in less time and have nothing.

If anyone has any ideas on how someone from Minnesota could become a literary agent, I'm all ears. Why are there no agencies in Minnesota and why are they all still in New York (and other major cities not near me) when we have such a thing as telecommuting?
(The obvious answer is that one can become a literary agent simply by saying "I am a literary agent" and putting together a website and then waiting for clients. But the thought of doing that scares me because...I would be in charge of people's dreams and I know what it's like to be the writer with a dream, hoping they put their trust in the right person. I'm pretty sure I would need an internship or some equivalent to be able to do it right.)

Community

Tea: Jasmine Green

Music: Sonata No. 2 in A Minor by Bach


"I’m giving myself permission to post whatever the hell I want, so I can just get past the internal gatekeeper slash critic who prevents me from using the one space on the Internet that is entirely mine." - Will Wheaton


From his blog which you can find here.


I have started many blogs and they have fallen by the wayside because I either tried to follow what seemed like good advice about being a niche voice, or I was trying too hard to come up with brilliant posts.


And I forgot that this place on the internet is entirely mine.


Rather, I hope that it is entirely ours.


Back in July of 2016, I got a new job at a place that highly values community and I was like "Ok, sure. Community is good. But I'm here to do a job." I very quickly learned just how important community is and the difference it could make. It's not just a good thing for a blog or an author or readers. It's THE thing. It is exactly what I want for this blog.


So please join me here in this space, and know that you are welcome to feel at home here. I hope to foster a little pocket of community where we can explore and get excited about many things, have fun, educate one another, etc.


I'll admit I don't really know how to do that yet, but I'm going to be thinking about it a lot in the next few weeks. If you have any suggestions on ways to make this space more welcoming and more community oriented, I would love to hear from you.


Excited to build this space together.

Why Scrivener?

Tea: Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls
Music: none

There are two things you should know about me: the first is that I love Scrivener and the second is that I participate in NaNoWriMo almost every year. (Though not in 2017, because I'm having a baby. Although, I might go crazy and do it anyway if I'm feeling up to it. I've heard of moms participating and even giving birth mid-November and still winning. Crazy people.)

I love using Scrivener above all else to write. For one, it feels like it's made with me in mind. But also because I was able to get it cheap. If you participate in NaNoWriMo and win, you get a code for like, half off.

I'm sure you'll hear me talk more about NaNoWriMo closer to November, so instead of telling you about it, you can just follow the link to read more.

Now about Scrivener...it's just so easy to get at writing and have everything else jump out of the way, but still be there when I need to find it. The biggest strength of Scrivener is the binder system. It collects all your single documents on the left in an easy to find place, and keeps them in order. With the power of the binder, I could write an epic fantasy series with 40+ characters and 15+ books and tons of backstory and short stories and notes and research, and be able to navigate the entire thing easily.

As I've been thinking about it, the binder system is a no-brainer and really quite simple. And sure, you could set up your own kind of binder system in a different program or in some folder system on your computer as long as you stay organized. But Scrivener helps mightily and is made for this.

Here's an example screen shot of my work to show you what I mean:

This is from a book series that I've written, submitted for publication, and ultimately had a lot of fun with but don't think the market is right for it. Maybe someday if Steampunk becomes more popular or if I get impatient and decide to self-publish. (Note: The text shown is a very early first draft and a part that I eventually cut from the final draft. So...basically my apologies for the bad writing. You don't have to read it.)

On the left, is the almighty binder. As you can see, I have folders for every draft from first to sixth, and other folders to hold a ton of other odds and ends.
The split screen is another one of my favorite features. It lets me look at the text I'm writing while looking at a character profile for reference, or an older draft, or any other notes. The pop-out screen is a picture of a devices I had planned to incorporate into the story, and having the visual right there was helpful when I needed to describe what part the main character was working on fixing. There's also a full screen feature

Wow. Looking back on this project, I remember just how much fun I had writing this. Ok, enough nostalgia.

Hopefully this gives you some insight into what Scrivener is like and how it can be used. And yes, you can export all your stuff to Word or PDF if you wish. For instance, if an agent asks you for your full manuscript in Word format, you can do that quickly without even needing Word (though I always like to double check how it looks before sending).

You'll hear more from me about Scrivener and some of its wonderful features in detail, I'm sure. I just love it and am passionate about sharing this wonderful tool with other writers.

If you have any questions about Scrivener, I'd be happy to try to answer them. Or if you just want to gush about it in the comments, I'd enjoy that too. :)

A little about me

Tea: Lychee black
Music: Fragile - Hauschka

Hi there,
I'm an administrator by day and a writer by ...well any hour I can squeeze in, not just at night but the wee hours of the morning, too. Usually from 5-7am which is when my toddler wakes up.

There's not much more to say in a first post so I hope you like it here. I have plans for this blog. Interests you're likely to see on here:

• Writing
• Reading
• Mom stuff (yes, I'm a mom but this is not exclusively a "mom blog", as much as I love a good mom blog)
• Science fiction
• Fantasy
• Gaming (board and video)
• Pottery
• Origami
• Crafts
• House stuff
• Tea - I'm serious about tea
• Tech stuff
• More reading...lots about the wonderful art of reading
• More writing stuff
• Hopefully someday publishing stuff :)

I invite you to make this blog one of your online communities and would love to hear comments from you. Thanks for reading!

Reesha