November 12, 2008
The Interview
So many people have asked me how I published my book, wondering how they could do it, too. Phil Weslow of Feedback Secrets interviewed me about my book and the publishing process. You can read the full interview, entitled A Self-Publishing Dream Come True, here.
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October 22, 2008
Today two great things happened.
- My book signing materials arrived, but better:
- I got my first book review, on Amazon.com:
One of the best ‘first books’ I have ever read….
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October 19, 2008
Today after handing out 7-8 book business cards, I realized that, Hey! I’m actually going through these puppies! Handing them out, giving them to people….. I’m gratified that the people I give them to are happy to receive them.
I also mailed out about 50 postcards ~ if you received one, hooray! You’re on my personal “real address” mailing list. I promise not to bombard you any more than I have already over the years. 
The next thing I’m expecting to receive is the book signing kit, which will be just in time. I’ve got a book signing scheduled for November 14, at my former workplace site where there is a craft fair that day, and I was invited to come there to sign and sell books. Of course I’ll do it! Delighted to oblige!
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September 28, 2008
* Marketing Kit completed, returned for sending to the design team ~ check!
* Book Signing Kit completed, returned for sending to the design team ~ check!
* BOOK AVAILABLE FOR SALE ~ CHECK!!!
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September 12, 2008
The book has gone to the printer, Hooray!!!!!
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September 9, 2008
Things are picking up and happening fast now. I signed off on the galleys earlier this week.
- Cover: done!
- Inside: done!
Now the publisher looks over one last time, and then…. it goes to the printer, yay!!!
Today I got a press release questionnaire to fill out ~ sent that back (the press release will go to regional newspapers, radios, TV stations…. This is for real, people!)
We’re right on schedule, if not a little bit ahead. Assuming no problems, the book will indeed be available for sale by mid-October. Hooray!!!
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August 22, 2008
The second set of galleys arrived the other day, and late last night I faxed the modifications in again. I’m sad to say more were needed, but I was glad that none were my errors.
Confession: I did find one error of my own, but I had to decide…. do I pay to have that one tiny thing corrected, or just go on? I HATE finding typos in published writing, and I have an editing service! I’m quite obsessive about having things perfect. So it was really something that had me thinking long and hard. To pay for the correction ~ one punctuation mark ~ would cost more than the book itself. What to do…?
What do you think I did?
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August 8, 2008
It was disturbing and yet I’m very glad…. I found 11 errors in the book galley (9 were mine, 2 were the publisher’s), and several more on the back cover text (and one of the publisher’s on the front cover). But after reading through everything three times, I believe I found them all. Also, I moved one chapter up, and deleted another one altogether.
I faxed the corrections back to the publisher about 30 minutes ago, and am back to waiting. Now I’m nervous. Waiting is the hard part. And what if, “gasp!” I find MORE errors in the second set of galleys? Gah, that will drive me nuts but that’s the point of the galleys, and I’d so rather find typos and other errors now than after the book is published. THAT would really bite. I complain all the time about errors in books ~ so I don’t want to be one of those I complain about. On the other hand, going through this process is giving me more compassion for all editors, be they professional or the authors themselves, like I am. A little lesson in humility….
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August 1, 2008
I’ve signed up for the National Novel Writers Month (NaNoWriMo, to those in the know), which is every November. From November 1-30, writing. Lots and lots of writing. No editing, just cranking out the words and writing. I’l be writing the novel I’ve had on my desktop screen, moved from one computer to another, for the last ten years. This year, in November, I Will Write It.
Don’t be alarmed if, in November, you hear nothing from me. Do send chocolate, coffee, perhaps a fifth of whiskey. That novel, while not a fun book of short stories like my Fish Tree Tales, was also born of Japan. It’s all connected ~ but, gulp, a novel. The title was set long ago, and although it may change, I doubt it. The title of my novel is Daghas.
Just thought you might like a newsy little tidbit while we wait for the galley pages of this book.
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July 24, 2008
The conference call with the publisher and design team went very well. A few changes on the cover, a few changes inside, and next come the galley pages. So exciting! It will be about three weeks for the galley pages to be ready, which I will check to make sure everything is perfect. Then I’ll send those back. If there are no changes, I can sign off on them, and my book should be ready 3-4 weeks after that. Wow!!
I tried to be careful, making sure there were no typos or spelling errors anywhere before I sent my manuscript to the publisher, but of course I will still scour those galley pages to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Typos in books annoy me greatly, and ~ well, how could I bear to go on if there were any errors at all in my OWN published book? I will work very hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.
So, I can expect to get the galley pages by the middle of August. Things are right on schedule (and if there are no corrections from here on, we are even ahead of schedule, woo-hoo!)
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July 21, 2008
Got an email from the publisher confirming our conference call on the 24th. Very exciting ~ I think after the call, things may start to move quickly. I hope so! Meanwhile, I’ve got a 2-page and growing list of email addresses from people who want to be included in the mailing I will send out when Fish Tree Tales is available to buy. I’m also very happy, because in the last few days, people have started conversations with me about the book, rather than me introducing the topic. How cool is that!
My new mantra: even Mark Twain had a first book.
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June 30, 2008
Today I got a call from my publisher. The conference call with the design team has been scheduled for Thursday afternoon, July 24. It’s farther out than I had hoped, but there’s no sense in being disappointed about it. I’m not their only client, and I opted out of paying to get bumped up in line. You know, I’ve waited 10 years, what’s another few weeks?
So now…. we wait. I wait, Emiko waits, you (my fans ~ thank you) wait. We wait.
June 27, 2008
Ta-dah! All the chapters and the illustrations have been uploaded and accepted. Everything’s good to go. Next step: conference call with my design team. That makes it sound so real….
Just now I tried to add the final version of the book cover to this entry, but I’m having no success with images today. Must be a Friday. Friday Gremlin, right? I did make the cover into a 75% transparent watermark to be the background on a sign-up sheet I sent around at work. People are very supportive, and I got a lot of email addresses from folks who want to know when my book is out. Very encouraging.
My next focus is mapping out the local shops that sell books (not necessarily book stores!) and the handful of independent book sellers. The plan is to map them out and then take an afternoon and drive to each of them and (hopefully) start the process of seeing if they would be willing to sell my book. Better: host a book signing!
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June 26 2008
Spoke with the publishing representative about some of the marketing techniques available and what we will use. He agreed that although the majority of authors he works with are on the coasts and along the southern states, the midwest, and Kansas in particular, is fairly empty of writers (at least, of writers who have taken the next step to getting their work published). So it’s not out of the question that media press releases will be noticeable, that this will really be a bit of news and mine won’t just be another name on a long list of this week’s new titles.
We can hope! What the local media ~ the newspapers, radio, and TV ~ do with those press releases, no one can guarantee. So I’m thinking good thoughts and am looking forward to every step in this process.
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This morning I received the last of the illustrations for Fish Tree Tales from Emiko. Her work is amazing!! She created the banner for this site, but that is one of the earliest drafts of the cover. The final product is so much more … what’s the word? … evocative of the stories inside. And beautiful!
And then there are the illustrations for five other stories. As she sent the completed products to me, I was absolutely delighted with them. Aside from only two minor detail suggestions on my part, they are all 100% Emiko’s vision of what the stories say. And they are spot-on, precisely accurate depictions, right down to the facial expressions (how does she DO that?) and the very smallest detail.
When you get the book (and I’m hoping that all of you will buy the book when it becomes available…!), at that time, check out the illustrations. At first, you get an overall impression that may elicit a “wow!”, but then you begin to notice the details. Tiny little details that add depth and humor and meaning to the images. I failed art in junior high school (darn that art teacher!) so I am amazed at Emiko’s talent.
So, a truly last and final proofing, editing, and arranging of the chapters, and I have uploaded my work to the publisher.
(gulp)
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June 24, 2008
It seemed important that I start a blog specifically for my book, Fish Tree Tales. I had this listed elsewhere, before it became something real (a soon-to-be-published-honest-to-goodness-book!) under a different name. Now that it’s a soon-to-be-published-honest-to-goodness-book, it needs it’s very own website.
So, one of my first surprises is how long it actually has become (the book). I thought I might have 20-25 pages of stories. But separating them out into proper chapters, I’ve suddenly got 64 pages of text. Add in 5 pages of full-color (gorgeous!) illustrations, and my book is 69 pages long. I’m told, this is NOT a small book. Great!
A few of the chapters are only one page long; the longest is six pages. I’ve finally put them in an order that makes sense sequentially and esthetically. Here are the titles:
- Six Schools and a Vacation
- First Impressions (illustrated)
- Raw Fish for Breakfast
- A Voice of Inspiration
- A Changed World
- Fish Tree Tales
- Where Peace Gets a Chance (illustrated)
- Not in English, but….
- Bicycle Parking Prohibited
- Flea Market Kimono
- The Man Called D
- A Novel Approach to English Instruction (illustrated)
- Lingua Franca Pax
- Cool Aunt
- What am I EATing?
- Christmas Cake (illustrated)
- One More Decision
- Medical Care a la Japan
- The Fog
- Fourth Floor Adventures (illustrated)
- Holding onto Courage
Wow, again. This is really happening. I’M VERY EXCITED!!
iChat with my Illustrator ~ we’re on board! Emiko Muto, my fantastic illustrator in Japan, and I discussed the cover and inside illustrations more in depth. She is so talented, and after making sure she understands the stories, she creates amazing illustrations that tell the story in just one frame of brilliant color.
It’s good ~ we had a difference of opinion on what the cover should look like, but the final draft is stunning. Then we talked about money. It’s hard talking about money with a friend, but if we are going to succeed, we must do it. So we negotiated and agreed on a percentage of royalties that she will earn. It was strange, though. Like a reverse bartering. I offered a percentage, and she countered lower. I lowered my offer a little and she went up a little. After we each stated why we thought the other person should take a larger share, we finally met in the middle.
September 18, 2008 at 7:16 am
Love some of the chapter titles, they are great at making one wonder what they story is about! Can’t wait to read it:)
September 18, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Yea……! I’m pretty psyched about it, too. Woot!!!