Monday, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Progress
Well, the book is going really well. Just sent off my 2nd draft of chapter 6 last night. We're more than half way now. I thought we might be finished by the end of May, beginning of June. But at the rate we're going, we could be finished by April. Wouldn't that be a treat?
This photo (L) is a picture of me and Aliki Flodine yesterday. (www.aliki.com.au)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Publishing progress
Just an update on the progress. Chapter 1-4 have been through (hopefully) their final draft. Chapter 5 in the 2nd draft is on its way to my editor. Once I get my 2nd draft back and make the changes, I will send it to her for a final check through. Then we will be officially half way!! It is getting exciting, and my editor seems to think we can make the May/Jun deadline. I want to send my manuscript to Ark House before I go away to Russia. Wouldn't it be a nice birthday present to discover they decided to publish it? The awards last year were less than 2 weeks after my 23rd birthday, and so winning the award was sort of a birthday present. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to see everyone at this year's awards and tell them the book has been picked up by Ark House? That would be such an awesome birthday present!!
Early morning ramblings
Just some early morning reflections...
It seems as if all I am doing is writing at the moment. Essays, editing, MTQ, Christian woman... all completely different styles of writing. Essays are academic writing, editing (a new experience) is mostly about grammar and sentence structure (very useful for all areas of writing), MTQ is journalism style (something I have never done before), and Christian Woman is motivational. It is all good stuff, but I have never written so much at one time. If I don't come out of this period a better writer, then something is wrong! I never really thought of myself as a writer until recently, when I started to write a whole lot more. I have really had to change my thinking, by seeing this as a ministry, rather than just something that I do because God told me to do it. I kind of shake my head at the thought :)
It seems as if all I am doing is writing at the moment. Essays, editing, MTQ, Christian woman... all completely different styles of writing. Essays are academic writing, editing (a new experience) is mostly about grammar and sentence structure (very useful for all areas of writing), MTQ is journalism style (something I have never done before), and Christian Woman is motivational. It is all good stuff, but I have never written so much at one time. If I don't come out of this period a better writer, then something is wrong! I never really thought of myself as a writer until recently, when I started to write a whole lot more. I have really had to change my thinking, by seeing this as a ministry, rather than just something that I do because God told me to do it. I kind of shake my head at the thought :)
Procrastination
I really don't feel like doing my essay. But it has to be done.
You know, sometimes we have trouble trying to get ourselves motivated to do things. I know that when assignments are looming, students always find housework a lot more appetising. But procrastination is the worst tool ever, because afterwards you are constantly playing catchup. So word of advice... do it when you're supposed to!
You know, sometimes we have trouble trying to get ourselves motivated to do things. I know that when assignments are looming, students always find housework a lot more appetising. But procrastination is the worst tool ever, because afterwards you are constantly playing catchup. So word of advice... do it when you're supposed to!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Publishing
I have been looking into possible publishers following the final editing. As my current one is a small company with a limited market, they recommended I look for someone with a wider market. At the recommendation of an author friend of mine to look at another publisher. I mentioned this to my current publisher, who wasn't sure at first, but then he realised his misgivings were actually a mistake because he was thinking of a completely different company. So I approached the other publishing house the other day, and heard back from them pretty quickly.
I had a very warm welcome by the "Titles Manager", she was willing to personally look at the manuscript (a thought that blew me away). It's a pretty big step, because its very hard to get anyone to look at a manuscript these days, let alone the head of a publishing division. I discovered that the company also publishes one of the magazines that I will be writing for at the end of the year. On that point, this publisher was very pleased that I was already being published by one of their companies, and I think that has given me the upper hand in bypassing a few steps.
A few days later, I heard some more from them. Looks like I will be able to bypass the traditional method of manuscript submission and go straight to the top. I don't need to go through official channels. I don't even need to send in the manuscript submission form like I normally would. Seeing as I have been in contact with the company, and will be writing for one of their magazines, we already have some common ground. I was told by the Title Manager that I can just email her a copy once it is done, and just as a courtesy I will probably send her a hard copy. She said that as we have already been in contact, she would remember our previous conversations, and there isn't really a need to send in the form. In this, it means that I am skipping a few steps in the publishing process. Normally it takes years for people to even get as far as writing the book, let alone getting somebody to look at their manuscript, and what's more, to get it published.
To get that far in publishing these days, with the amount of people sending in manuscripts, its extremely hard for anyone to get published. The publisher gets hundreds of manuscripts each year, and as a result only about 2% of the people that send manuscripts actually get published. In other companies, the situation for unpublished writers is even harder. Companies like Zondervan won't even look at an unpublished/unestablished author! You have to know somebody to even get anywhere at all! You probably have an idea how hard it is to even get anyone to look at a manuscript without going through an agent! There are so many writers out there just sending manuscripts and getting rejections left right and centre. I have already had one from Bethany House Publishers. But I wasn't worried about that one, because I knew it probably wasn't God's timing.
It is only by God's favour that I have gotten this far, and its also quite daunting to think that this time next year I could be a published author.
So far, this company appears to be exactly what I might be looking for in a publisher. I wanted somebody who was an Australian company, but with overseas connections, because those kinds of companies get much better exposure for their authors. I wanted the profits to go first of all, to an Australian company and not an overseas company. But I didn't want a company that dealt strictly with an Australian market, as that limits the potential impact of the book.
All is well. It is going suprisingly quick!
I had a very warm welcome by the "Titles Manager", she was willing to personally look at the manuscript (a thought that blew me away). It's a pretty big step, because its very hard to get anyone to look at a manuscript these days, let alone the head of a publishing division. I discovered that the company also publishes one of the magazines that I will be writing for at the end of the year. On that point, this publisher was very pleased that I was already being published by one of their companies, and I think that has given me the upper hand in bypassing a few steps.
A few days later, I heard some more from them. Looks like I will be able to bypass the traditional method of manuscript submission and go straight to the top. I don't need to go through official channels. I don't even need to send in the manuscript submission form like I normally would. Seeing as I have been in contact with the company, and will be writing for one of their magazines, we already have some common ground. I was told by the Title Manager that I can just email her a copy once it is done, and just as a courtesy I will probably send her a hard copy. She said that as we have already been in contact, she would remember our previous conversations, and there isn't really a need to send in the form. In this, it means that I am skipping a few steps in the publishing process. Normally it takes years for people to even get as far as writing the book, let alone getting somebody to look at their manuscript, and what's more, to get it published.
To get that far in publishing these days, with the amount of people sending in manuscripts, its extremely hard for anyone to get published. The publisher gets hundreds of manuscripts each year, and as a result only about 2% of the people that send manuscripts actually get published. In other companies, the situation for unpublished writers is even harder. Companies like Zondervan won't even look at an unpublished/unestablished author! You have to know somebody to even get anywhere at all! You probably have an idea how hard it is to even get anyone to look at a manuscript without going through an agent! There are so many writers out there just sending manuscripts and getting rejections left right and centre. I have already had one from Bethany House Publishers. But I wasn't worried about that one, because I knew it probably wasn't God's timing.
It is only by God's favour that I have gotten this far, and its also quite daunting to think that this time next year I could be a published author.
So far, this company appears to be exactly what I might be looking for in a publisher. I wanted somebody who was an Australian company, but with overseas connections, because those kinds of companies get much better exposure for their authors. I wanted the profits to go first of all, to an Australian company and not an overseas company. But I didn't want a company that dealt strictly with an Australian market, as that limits the potential impact of the book.
All is well. It is going suprisingly quick!
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