Oh look! A post :3
Shyly asked: Do you recommend self-publishing? I’ve
heard good things and bad things about it and was wondering what your opinion
was.
This is a really great question but one I feel I am not
qualified to answer. I self-publish because people have expressed interest in
my writing and this is the best way to share it with them. I do some marketing
to get my name out there, but also in no way to I expect to become what would
be considered a successful author through it. I feel, for me, self-publishing
is a step toward traditional when I actually write something marketable to a “real”
publisher.
That said, I know people (such as Leah Good who I
interviewed on Monday) who have done enough research and work to make
self-publishing worthwhile. And, while I too have heard a lot of bad things
about it, it seems like it works well for some people.
The thing to do, if you are considering publishing and
wondering what avenue to take, would be to research which option would be best
for you. Both take a tremendous amount of effort, but can also both be very
profitable. Take a look at your expectations toward your book and ask yourself
what you would consider success. For me, having people read it and like it is
enough. Do I make a ton of money? Nope, not really. But, at the moment, that’s
okay with me. For some writers, that’s not what they’re looking for. That doesn’t
mean self-publishing isn’t for them, it just means the way I go about
slef-publishing isn’t for them.
So, take a look at what you want, what you would have to do
if you took either route, and then decide which will bring you the results you’re
looking for.
Sorry I don’t have more of an answer than that. If you have
more in-depth questions about self-publishing, I would be happy to answer those,
either as Candor Fridays questions or a private email.
Danielle Sauer asked:
What are you working on for NaNoWriMo
Yay!! Someone asked!! :D :D
Okay, first of all, if you are not familiar with NaNoWriMo,
it’s short for National Novel Writing Month, which happens to be November.
NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit organization that helps writers write a 50,000 word
novel during the month of November. They also have a young writers program
where you can personalize and set a more manageable word count for younger
writers. More info at:
www.nanowrimo.org
All right! That said, let’s start talking about the novel I
am working on:
This month I am writing a fairy tale retelling mashup.
Basically, it’s like fairy tale stew. I threw a whole bunch a fairy tales into
a pot, stirred them up, and am now writing a book about the results.
Or, something like that.
Seriously, my story is about Jack, from Jack and the Beanstalk. Only, his name is Jack Robin. At the
beginning of the book, he teams up with Rapunzel, who happens to also be one of
the twelve dancing princesses. She wants Jack Robin’s help rescuing the other eleven
princesses- who are also all characters from other fairy tales- from their respective
fairy tale fates.
At the moment, I am currently using elements of 20 different
fairy tales (which include a couple Greek and Roman myths), with another twenty
or so briefly mentioned in passing. I’m having a lot of fun figuring out how to
put a spin on all the fairy tales and finding ways to throwing them on their
ear. I’m really excited about someone of my twists and turns and can’t wait to
finish it so I can start sharing it with people.
Or, actually, I’ll be really brave and give you all a tiny
glimpse of my unedited version. Below is a tiny little excerpt from the opening
chapter of my book. This is how the book starts (and, please be warned this is unedited.
So, I apologize in advance it there is stuff that doesn’t make sense :P)
The view from the top
of the beanstalk would take the average person’s breath away.
It stretched out for
miles, which would surprise the viewer, considering that the top rested up
beyond the clouds. By all rights, they should not be seeing what they were
seeing. The farms and villages that lay below, the valleys and rivers and mountains.
Breathtaking was not a strong enough word for so stunning a view.
But, Jack Robin was
uninterested in the view. After climbing that monstrous plant, he had reached
the top only to discover a tower waiting for him.
In his seventeen years
of living, he had learned one thing- people kept the good stuff in towers. And,
if the giants had a tower, at the top of a beanstalk so difficult to climb,
then there was something more than just the good stuff in there. There had to
be treasures of insurmountable wealth waiting inside.
There were more legends
then Jack Robin could count about giants’ treasure. They had no need for human
gold, and therefore had stores upon stores of it hoarded from their
altercations with mankind.
He wondered if he
should have brought a larger satchel. If the rumors were true, he would have to
make more than one trip with the bag he had brought. And making that climb
again was not something he looked forward to.
His hands were covered
in bloody marks where the thorns had pierced through his gloves. His face too
had suffered from their sharp points when he had been forced to dance cheek to
cheek with the overgrown plant in time with the wind’s mournful melody.
It had taken him nigh
on a good couple of hours, he guessed, to reach the top. He only hoped it were
worth it.
There was a river
between him and the tower, a huge, rushing river that flowed with white, foamy
water. There were rumors too about giants and their poisons and Jack Robin had
no way of knowing if the foam were some such substance or simply rapids.
Of course, he did
still have the healing salve his mother had packed when he had first left home.
She had insisted he take it, even though he protested. Just a dab of that and-
No!
He could not go there.
He would not. If he allowed himself this slip in standard this once, there
would be no end to the compromise. In which case, he might as well have just
stayed home.
He could do this
alone. He did not need a healing cream infused with dark magic. He had seen
what use of such things did to a person’s soul. And, he would like to keep his
soul intact as long as he could.
No, it was much safer
to steal, and then buy what you wanted with the spoils.
Although a magic
bridge to get him across that river-
No, we’re not going there. Not now, not ever.
He had left home not
long before this and was beginning to realize how much his mother had ingrained
in his mind. He could not go five minutes without wishing for a magical item.
That needed to stop.
He would survive by
his wits, just as he had told his mother he could. She had laughed and told him
he was welcome home when he failed. But he would not fail. If for no other
reason than to show her that.
He needed to focus on
the matter at hand- a way to get across the river. Whether poison was at work
here or not, swimming was not an option. Not with the way the water churned and
pulsed. He would have to find another way.
So, that’s that! Make sure you send in your burning
questions for next week. Can’t wait to see what you all ask.
And, in the meantime, How
to Properly Deface a Book – Kit Parker Book Two releases on Monday!!!! So excited!
So, be sure to come back on Monday for the official release post and the info
on how you can get a copy!! :D :D
