New Year... New Mission - Self Publish Mental Pause!

This image courtesy of suphakit73 at freedigitalphotos.net

What a wonderful day yesterday with family gathered together reminiscing about 2012 and talking about what's in store for 2013. The next generation of my family are just the type of young adults who are going to change the world! Really... I'm not biased... they're brilliant! Okay, maybe just a little but I'm allowed to be a proud auntie, especially since I don't have children of my own.

Anyway... During the past year, I had some great projects to work on, including assisting in the launch of the corporate division of 'embers of the world' as well as working with the Dubai office of DBM as they merged with Lee Hecht Harrison (as of January they will be LHH Gulf).

I also started on my journey to find an agent for my for my first novel, Mental Pause and it's been a year now. I've had a little interest, many asking for the first few chapters and one NY agent who actually asked to see the full manuscript... three months ago. My follow up seems to have fallen on deaf ears. I do have several more on a spreadsheet that I've targeted but I had an epiphany the other day and decided that I would publish it myself. I've been studying the options for about two years now and tested the Kindle Direct Publishing process with a simple e-book so I've decided to take the plunge (with lots of encouragement from family and friends who have already read, and enjoyed, my first attempt at fiction). I will do both electronic and print versions and will use Create Space.

So, I've taken the following steps so far:

1. Hired a designer to start working on cover (Graham Booth at Creation Booth who also designed the covers for @Home in Dubai and 10 Steps to a Successful PR Campaign for me. He has done many fiction covers too so I expect great things from him)... :) As soon as it's ready, I'll share it here.

2. Have asked yet another professional writer to edit it. This is critical! Even though I've been writing professionally for years, you can NEVER edit your own work.

And...

3. Chosen a launch date, which means the editing will have to end soon as I've targeted March 8th - International Women's Day... thanks to my friend Alison Delory (a fellow author and blogger) who made that suggestion as sometimes I just can't see the forest for the trees. I thought it was perfect. Thanks Alison!

Stay tuned as the launch plan comes together!

Adverbs & Cliches in a Nutshell - Guest Post by Jessica Bell

Too many adverbs and clichés in your writing? I've got just the fix for you. by Jessica Bell Writers constantly have rules thrown at them left, right, and center. Show, don’t tell! Stop using so many dialogue tags! More sensory detail! More tension! Speed up the pace! Yada yada yada ... it can become overwhelming, yes? I used to feel overwhelmed by it all too. In fact, I still do sometimes. It’s hard enough to get the words on the page, let alone consider how to put them there. In Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird , she says that in order not to be overwhelmed, a writer needs to focus on short assignments. She refers to the one-inch picture frame on her desk and how that little picture frame reminds her to focus on bite-sized pieces of the whole story. Basically, if you focus on one small thing at a time, the story will eventually come together to create a whole. I believe the same applies to learning the craft of writing. If writers focus on one aspect of the craft at a time, t...

The Author-Preneur – Are you Ready for it? Book review: APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch

“Starting your book is only the first five miles of a twenty-six mile marathon that’s one-third of a triathlon.” APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur If you’re a self-published author or are contemplating taking the plunge (for whatever reason), be prepared for the demand of being an ‘Author-Preneur.’ Actually, it’s not a bad idea to do it even if you’re traditionally published. Start switching your mind-set from, ‘I’ve got to sit down and get a chapter done today’ to ‘I’ve got to sit down and write a chapter today AND post a tweet about my progress, share a sneak preview on Facebook, take that tutorial on how to convert to ebooks, and review the cover design proposals that are sitting in my in-box.’ There are plenty of books, blogs, websites, newsletters and videos out there on how to do it all... some helpful and others not so much. One that I would highly recommend is Guy Kawasaki’s and Shawn Welch’s APE: Author, Publisher,Entrepreneur . It takes you through the entire...

Virtual Book Tour for The Healing Begins April 23

As we approach launch day for Lynda Faye Schmidt's novel, The Healing , a women's fiction/family drama based on the author's life, we're excited to announce the blog tour schedule and introduce you to the bloggers and book reviewers who have joined the tour. The tour begins on launch day, April 23rd. Take a look, follow these bloggers and make sure you visit on the tour dates indicated (check back regularly for updates): Pre-Tour - March 2 - Thrive Global - pre-launch announcement April 16 - Fit for Joy - pre-launch podcast interview with Lynda April 23 - IndieView - author Q&A with Lynda April 24 - Canadian Bookworm - featuring a guest blog by Lynda, "What Inspired Me" April 26 - Dartmouth Book Exchange - author spotlight April 29 - Storybook Reviews - review May 4 - Help Me Sara - podcast interview May 13 - My Question Life - review and author interview June 30 - Reader's Favorite - review As new bloggers come on board we will u...

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