My Self-Publishing Journey
Join me as I navigate the world of self-publishing from beginning to end, idea to published work.
Now that we know what we are doing we need a plan of action. If you missed last week’s post about our self-publishing goals in 2017, you might want to go back and check it out.
Step two is to outline how next year is going to go. It can be as loose as a month by month goal or as detailed as a daily planner. However, we do need definitive deadlines. A concrete deadline makes it easier to visualize how much time we actually have left and gives us a goal to shoot for. I started by planning a very loose monthly guideline that looks like this:
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Like many others, I believed the stigma that self-publishing was second rate. That it was for books that traditional publishers wouldn't publish. I believed that it was not as good as being published traditionally because isn't that the goal of most every writer? For someone to read your book and validate your hard work and lovable characters?
But if that is the goal then self-publishing can fulfill that goal and put you more in control of your dream of being a published author. I'm coming to terms with the fact that self-publishing does not mean failure. You can be very successful as a self-published author, but you will only be as successful as you want to be. I have decided that 2017 is the year I stop holding back. The year I finally publish something. In 2017 I want to: This week's writing prompt is inspired by a new addition to my small family. My husband and I recently attended a wedding reception for one of my college roommates. She works at a pet store and had betta fish for her centerpieces. She found them all new homes, so don't worry about the fishies being dumped once the wedding was over. They all went to good homes. Including one gorgeous deep blue one we named Rodolfo. He's named after a character in Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza Series who is a magician and sort of mysterious. I always think of bettas as being mysterious and enchanting so it seemed perfect. We've been spoiling him all week and I'm kind of obsessed right now. I've been trolling Pinterest for anything safe for him that I can make myself and have a lot of great ideas. Including this week's writing prompt. Pick an animal, it can be a pet, but it doesn't have to be. Then write a story either about them or from their point of view. This prompt is pretty wide open. Pretty much the only guideline is that you must include an animal (mammal or otherwise). Please feel free to post anything you write in the comments or anything related to this post. I'd love to hear from you. Keep on Creating, K. A. Jairl People are often confused when I tell them I have no control over my characters. Inevitably they say something like, "But you made them up..." I really did not make them up. They come to me wanting friendship or someone to tell their story or both. So here is my advice for the week:
Don't try to control your characters. If they rebel, let them, the story will be way more interesting. This one is especially hard for planners who like to have detailed outlines. Deviation may seem hard but I'm telling you the characters know better. Keep on Creating, K. A. Jairl Prompt from Idea Bank at Kludgy Mom: If you could live your biggest dream, no roadblocks, no holds barred, what would that dream consist of? I'm the type of person who likes to have her cake and eat it too. I try and have everything and if I can't have it all, I stress because I want it. I come up with crazy elaborate plans just I can have it all. But what worries me is that I really might not be able to have everything I dream of having. Granted I'm not sure I want everything I dream of, but a while ago when I was in high school, I had a dream. Your writing prompt for this week is to find a picture of a place that inspires you. It can be a painting, a drawing, or a photograph. If you need some suggestions you can click on the picture above or below for my Pinterest board that is FULL of pictures like these.
Feel free to post an excerpt of your writing in the comments section below. I'd love to hear from you guys. Keep on Creating, K. A. Jairl There is a really great book series that I have read countless times. I have probably read this series more than the Harry Potter series and that is saying something. It's the Stravaganza Series by Mary Hoffman. They actually have a few things in common with the Harry Potter series. They were originally printed in the United Kingdom and have magical elements to them. In this YA series, teenagers living in Barnsbury, England are chosen by these talismans that if they fall asleep holding them, will transport them through time and space to a country called Talia in the 16th Century. Talia is actually based on 16th century Italy but in this alternate universe, Remus defeated Romulus and the capital of Talia is therefore Remora instead of Rome. If you know anything about the Medici family in 16th century Italy, you will see their parallels in the Chimici family of Talia. Both of these families are interesting in their own right so if you know nothing about the Medici you are in for a treat. Google them and see what you can learn about them. They were a fearsome family politically but they were also patrons to the arts because the 16th century was also the time of the Renaissance. As you can see in the image above, the writing prompt for this week is "You and he agreed on three meeting places in the event of a disaster. You're about to enter the last one." I found this on Pinterest and the image of the prompt says it is from mandywallace.com.
I hope this prompt has given you some ideas. If it has I want you to answer these questions in the comments below. 1. What are the three meeting places? Describe them or describe the last meeting place in depth. 2. What is the disaster that caused the meeting places to be necessary? 3. What genre of story does this prompt? Also feel free to post whatever you write in the comments section as well. Hopefully this sparks your imagination like it sparked mine. Keep on Creating, K. A. Jairl |
K. A. JairlMy name is Kim and I'm glad you stopped by. This is where I post my triumphs and my downfalls as I fight the good fight of being a writer mom everyday. Archives
March 2019
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