Category: Wednesday Whispers

Wild Wednesday

So Jenny Elliott – Friend, Intern, all around I cannot live without her in my life type person…asked me what the list was for the anthology publication. (The To-do List that is)

I told her it is the same for each book…and I sat and thought about what that means for the anthologies, for my books, and for each book I work with.

  1. I need a front and rear cover to work with.
  2. I need a clean formatted and edited manuscript to work with.
  3. I need a blurb, and an author list.
  4. I need a Release date.

I often am the designer for the covers my company publishes. That makes having them easier. There are a couple of authors that provide their own covers but most just go with the ones I make.

The authors often just send me the written stories. I put in the formatting and edit it as I go. Many of them have the writing edited before I see it, but not all. Formatting is putting in order – Title page, a copyright page, Contents, Chapters, About the Author, About the Publisher.

Some authors write their blurbs, some expect me to write it. Either way, It is not as difficult as writing the entire story. The author list is an obvious thing…

The release date is based on how many others I have in the calendar at a time. The limitation is mostly me. I can only do so many of these at a time.

Okay I have the manuscript…now what? I use Draft2digital, Amazon, Google Play Books all for Ebooks. D2d has the best expanded Distribution. Amazon has the best reach in general. Google….well…why not? I do Not Like D2d’s Print. So for print I use Amazon and Barnes and Nobles press.

Then I have to deal with Marketing. I try to do the same type of images for every book. Do I always manage it? No, not really. I have way too much going on…and often this is where I drop balls. Ideally, I want for each book to do a cover reveal image set. I want to do 3 teaser images. I also want to share an about the author image for each book. Now the last one can be made once and often reshared for multiple books. An Author does not often change their bio. Mine has changed perhaps once a year. Mostly because I have changed where I am focused. Some authors never need to change theirs. I also like to occasionally do “Coming Soon” images…for example….

It’s simple and really only gives the link and the cover. This gives people the urge to go check it out. Then once you have them…spread those images everywhere.

So that is a peek into my world.

Wild Wednesday

So I have started working on Serena’s Gathered Bones.

I have also started working on her Heaven’s Forgotten Tales. Which is basically a gathering of stories and poetry from her that she has published in various places. Much as Apocalypse athenuem is.

I realized that I am writing more – both as Patricia and as Serena Mossgraves. That I am doing a lot more daily work than I used to. So I might actually go through the future volumes I have prepared covers for…

So I am considering doing some covers for the fun of doing the cover design. And I am wondering if I should plan a future volume for Serena as well as for me.

It ends up being a little bit of a question as to whether or not I have been playing with the poetry with her or if she should continue to write it.

Wild Wednesday

So…Harley Quinn.

Yeah she’s my favorite Batman villain. But is she really a villain? or more of an anti-hero?

It really depends much on point of view. The problem is always POV.

For Harley. She is the Main character.

For Bruce Wayne, He is.

And realistically the same is true in any story. If you pick up a book and look at it from another character’s view…that character is not going to see themselves as a secondary character. Would you? If say you were in the DC Universe and hanging around the Daily Planet…would you see yourself as a extra in the story? No! So, from your POV you are the main character.

Harley would not see herself as a villain…

She is crazy, but not entirely without a idea of right and wrong. I believe she would see herself more as an antihero or as someone with a really nasty case of bad luck.

Which opens up so many options for the character in storylines.

I think sometimes just understanding the POV helps us to understand and perhaps flesh out the characters we write better. I think it also helps us empathize better with fictional characters on a different level as well.

Wild Wednesday

I have noticed that the last few weeks weeks I have been doing a lot of talking about writing on my Wednesday posts.

I considered changing the post to Write Wednesday. Then I realized it is one of my favorite hyperfixations.

For the unaware – hyperfixations is a neurodivergent thing. It is a term for an interest that takes all of your attention. This can be a food, a song, an activity…etc. If you are not careful it can be a bad thing.

Imagine craving a sandwich and fixating on the idea. You find that nothing else has any flavor for you. You suddenly have no interest in eating anything else.

If you are lucky you can get the current hyperfixation and work with your brain and the quirks of the neurodivergency that is your particular flavor.

Wild Wednesday

I posted recently about evolution of poetry volumes.

I started Echoes into the void Yesterday(For me this is Sunday.)

And already the inspiration has been leaning towards a singular topic. That does not mean it will be the end theme…but that is often how it starts. I am amused by this.

And in Announcements – I have been approved to do the Poetry Marathon Half Marathon! I did it before in 2017. It is 12 poems in 12 hours. One an hour based on prompts given. I usually enjoy this sort of writing challenge. I will be posting the poems here as well. It is in September. (I have to look up the exact date again…So I will clarify more information closer to.)

Wild Wednesday

Sigh.

I Didn’t know what to talk about. In some ways it was better that way.

Recently, I sent a text to a friend.

He saw that text as an attack, and started to call me a liar. So I lashed out.

I apologized. Then I told him why I said what I did. I told him I felt like I was owed an apology as well. He said he was defending himself and would not apologize for it.

The problem is… I am seeing a six on the ground, and he is seeing a nine. Neither of us are wrong. He felt attacked. Though I was not attacking him, his feelings are valid. But in feeling attacked…He reacted. I then was hurt because he was attacking me…and I reacted. My apology was genuine. I honestly should not have said what I did. It was because he often calls me a liar – I don’t lie. He seems to think that because I am female it is a default…That I am going to always lie. I regret reacting…But I find myself questioning why I am putting myself in the position that this is even an issue.

I think I need new friends.

Because these make me cry. And I am damn tired of crying over people that don’t care.

Wild Wednesday

I want to talk about writing children’s books.

Especially writing for either self publishing or indie/small publishing firms. When you think of children’s books…the first thing that comes to mind is golden books. Trust me…that is an unrealistic view of what you will be able to publish.

Amazon has the strictest regulations here, but the others are not far from it. In order to have even a Paperback book you need 24 pages. That is not as easy as you think. For Hardcover the requirements jump to 75 pages. For a kid’s book that is nearly impossible.

This is done I am sure due to the cost of printing each book. You also need to consider the cost of each book if you were to set it up as a Hard back. That often adds a factor of almost $10 to a book. How many parents are going to be willing to buy a book from a new author at such a high cost?

Sometimes it is better to start smaller and work your way big. Paperback for an initial release if it is done right can still look nice.

Wild Wednesday

When I talk about poetry what do you think of?

Personally, I write Free Verse. My reason is simple… I hate dealing with the rules. Other forms require the poet to be aware of syllables or the syntax of the poem. Some require certain rhyme schemes.

I’m working on a volume of poetry entirely done with forms other than free verse – Xactly Poetic.

I am so frustrated with it at the moment. I am at 60 poems. I started with the idea that I was going to do 50… realized that I was being lazy because I always do 70 poems in each volume and I got mad at me.

So I am going to do 70. But it is not as easy as it is for the regular volumes. And I am irritated with myself for wanting to quit.

I have set a self imposed deadline/release date of September 15… that is a I have to get it done and published by that date. Which means I have to get it written by August 15. And I have 10 poems left to write. Ugh. Not normally a problem… so I am hoping that I can get it done.

Wild Wednesday

Today I am struggling.

I have no idea what to say, my jeep is down, has been all month just about.

I love being home, but I don’t usually have to be here if I don’t want to be.

I can’t even walk out to the store because I have an injury on my foot.

So I am feeling a little bit of cabin fever.

I will get past it.

But I don’t know what to post on the blog today because of it.

Wild Wednesday

This has been a busy year for me writing wise.

I looked at the publication list and I realized that as of August I have 9 separate books personally (with One of them being Serena’s) published this year. And I know that I will be doing at least one children’s book in December.

Some years I barely manage to get 3 books ready for publishing.

I am not sure what the productivity streak has been caused by, but I am so very happy about it.