Writers, You CAN Publish your Book

Publishing has never been easier. The common writer who deserves to be read can rejoice. It is well within your grasp to see your work in print with an elegant cover. Self-publishing options run from using a long distance computer/printer for just a few dollars to hiring a POD (Print on Demand) publisher to do the layout and print your book. The writer will want to study carefully what these publishers offer–editing and proof-reading are often extra and distribution may be limited, depending on the “package” you buy. Meanwhile, don’t forget the independent presses and traditional publishing. These are responding to the new publishing scene with new vigor.

The challenge today is how not to publish unprofessional material for public sale. Of course, if you want to publish a memoir for limited distribution among family and friends, you’d want it to be nice (no typos or misspelled words), but you might not need professional editing. However, if you want to reach a wider public, editing before POD publishing is a must. Your book should be organized in a way that is clear to the reader. The grammar, punctuation, and phrasing should communicate what you want to say. And there should be no typing mistakes or misspellings. Have a literate friend or professional editor read your manuscript and mark what doesn’t make sense, any time sequence that doesn’t work, plot confusions, inadvertent change of names of characters or of their appearance and habits. Correct your manuscript thoroughly. Then find out what formatting is required for the publishing option you choose.

You will find that most of your effort goes into creating a print ready file, usually PDF (portable document format) Your computer skills will be challenged and will go up! Once you have a proof in your hands, check it yourself and have someone read the book–a detail person who will notice errors. It’s worth being careful. After all, if you put one unprofessional book out onto the market, your credibility is compromised.

With these cautions, it’s a great age for writers and publishers! Roll with it and have fun!

Trish

http://redhensdaughters.wordpress.com/
http://hippiesincommunity.wordpress.com/
https://triciajean.wordpress.com/
http://fictionforfamilies.wordpress.com/

A Child’s World

Chanan had finished his dinner and, like most toddlers, wanted to be active. He decided to stand up on his chair. Of course his father told him to sit down. “Son, we sit on chairs!” He sat down and gave the matter some thought. He said, “We sit on chairs. We stand on floors!” This last was spoken triumphantly, with the emphasis older people might give to solving a difficult math problem. The realities of daily life are often unknowns to our children. They are not automatic givens. The names of the objects in their lives, the ways things are done, what is considered correct and what is frowned upon–these are all the subject of intense learning, joyful or painful, depending on how we parents respond to our children. The children are not the only ones learning, joyfully or painfully. We are watching and studying how best to help them. The more accurate our observations, the more joy we experience.

Helping

I got a Teddy Bear for Christmas. I named her Emily, ebear for short, since she cheers my work. She’s cuddly. Holding her reminds me of my grandkids, and, not so long ago, of holding my babies.

My grandson had a bear he called Baby. He often wanted to hold baby and tend baby and feed baby. One of my sons had a doll to whom he fed whatever snacks he was eating. “Here, Baby, figs!” He pronounced the word “pigs.”

The impulse to nurture those younger than ourselves is universal, as is the impulse to “help” when we are still young and throughout life. You could say that mutual help is the grease that creates society. No one can survive alone. Tribal leaders who had to contend with winter knew they needed a crew. If the group got too small, they joined another group–or they perished.

There is something in us that knows this. My bear is just some bluish-gray fibers sewn into cloth stuffed with acrylic. Still, shaped like she is with two black eyes and a little black nose, a belly, arms, legs–well, she’s one of us. She’s adorable. She calls to the nurturer, the helper, the social person in us.

She reminds me of why I write: to help and entertain others. Entertainment is another form of help–and cuddling a pretend baby is a warm, fun activity!

Help and fun are a common theme in my writing: helping people understand and enjoy their lives, helping others be strong, and encouraging other writers.

Women, Are you Serious About Writing and Publishing?

The Summer Writers Conference of the International Women’s Writing Guild is a nourishing scene for women writers and a place where many of us have developed publishable work. I’m grateful to Hannalore Hahn and her daughter Elizabeth Julia Stouman and the Guild’s Conference crew for providing a safe place where magic happens routinely.

This year I attended Pat Carr’s class. I usually do. I like the way she guides writers and listens to their work. Pat will say, “Ah! Yes!” And she will pause to allow time for the images and dialogue, created by one precious student, to hang in the magical air.

If you know Pat, you know her Rule #1, as we fondly refer to it:

Do not write from inside the mind
of someone you have not been!

I’m writing a novel with a twelve year old boy as a main character. As soon as I wrote this line, I thought of Pat’s rule:

Gideon watched his mother’s tongue and teeth, thinking of bees, of the buzzing of bees, as her tongue flicked words through her teeth.

I came to Pat’s class because I wanted to ferret out these slips into a boy’s mind. To be honest, I don’t know what boys think or how boys think.

Students argue with Pat. We are used to reading great writers who write, with seeming success, from inside the minds of persons they have not been. Check out Isabel Allende’s The House of Spirits and The Infinite Plan. Or Amy Tan. Be puzzled, as most of Pat’s students are at first. Is there anything wrong in these books? They held me enthralled.

When students ask why not write from inside the mind of someone you have not been, Pat tells them “Because it’s immoral.”

I don’t want men to write as if they know what a woman thinks. I get indignant. It’s like when a person of privilege says they know what poverty must be like. Oh, yeah?

Pat’s Rule #1 forces me to study closely the observable details, in memory or in creative imagination. This discipline makes my work stronger.  I rewrote the short passage from Gideon’s River as follows:

Gideon’s eyes narrowed and his head moved forward a notch toward his mother.  “Stop talking!” he yelled. “There’s spit on you tongue. Your teeth are crooked. You sound like bees buzzing.”

Now when I read books by authors who get inside the minds of characters they have not been, I see this as the breech of ethics it is.  I agree with Pat.

Send me your email address. I’ll send you a gift.

patricialapidus@sbcglobal.net

http://swampwalkingwoman.blogspot.com/

Parents are Heroic

When I consider the work each parent must do to keep a family in good condition physically and emotionally, I see parents as heros and heroines. It takes a lot of courage to do the essential motions of child care and earning which most parents must do daily.

Even the most courageous parents can feel confused, given the world into which we raise our children, the world that comes into the home via TV and music and other children. The only thing missing from this barage of information is the instruction booklet on how to raise healthy, happy children who become able, productive adults. That is, it was missing until a number of good resources came along. One of the best is Curiosity Based Parenting by Nicole MacKenzie. With six children and an education in child development, Nicole has plenty of experience. But her best offering doesn’t come from mainstream education. It comes from her own great spirit, her dedication to granting the child dignity no matter the behavior. For example, she handled one of her daughters in a grumpy moment by asking, “Who is this grumpy child?” and giving that personality another name, preserving for her daughter a sense of her own worth and acceptance. And humor.

In “Mom Has Fun” MacKenzie offers a lighthearted approach to thorny problems. She includes a free eBook for parents. I think she’s terrific.
Click Here!

Know Your Words

It seems fitting to write a blog in wordpress entitled “Know Your Words.” Words are the carriers of much of our communication. If you don’t know what a word means, you may be unable to receive the message of the speaker of writer.

I was not taught this in school. I was taught that you could get the meaning of words from the context. But suppose you read the sentence, “The shadow moved up the hill.” Suppose you didn’t know the meaning of the word “shadow” and thought it must be something like “widow.” From then on you try to make the idea of someone moving house fit the story–and you get way off. Hey, I used to leap to stranger conclusions! The only remedy is to look up the word “shadow.” Look at all the meanings given. Even study the derivation (the history of the word) and any idioms and notes. Become friends with a good dictionary. You will find that you soon become very literary, and this is a good thing–because being literary means being able to communicate in spoken or written language.

Communication is vital to success in any business and in life. It’s key to every marriage and friendship. Good communication makes your world brighter and more solid. Communication raises your ability to like and work well with people.

Frontier Cheer Is Here Again

On re-reading an old favorite book about frontier life, I am struck again by the good cheer, courage, and family harmony shown by people who have lots to do, who need one another, and who have not yet begun to aggravate one another unduly. Come Spring by Ben Ames Williams, was written before 1940 about the eighteenth century settlement of Sterlingtown, Maine. The main character, Mima, tells a friend she is happy that in this life of claiming the land women have as strong as role to play as men. Her statement reminded me that even with my farming parents I did not witness gender issues. They were partners and they both worked hard for a common goal. Sure there was division of labor, but it didn’t leave Mom sitting “home” while Dad went to work elsewhere. It was a matter of skills, what each was trained and tuned to do. My mother used to joke that if one of the babies cried in the night, she’d be up and tending the child before my father woke; while if a fox barked on the chicken range, Dad was out the door with his rifle before Mom knew what was the matter.

Today, on the internet, there doesn’t seem to be a great division of either skills or labor, though there may be to a slight degree where men are still more techy and women more relationship oriented. Overall, cyberspace is our frontier and I like its cheerful ways, the assumption that everyone is included and can succeed, and the relative harmony among true internet entrepreneurs. It’s a fun place to build a new civilization.

Watch for my eBook/softcover Sweet Potato Suppers for a look at another community where people worked together with strength and courage.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!