Tag: work

Laziness, busyiness or burnout

I have been doing the publishing stuff since 2010. For my own personal stuff, then I started with Fae Corps in 2019.

I struggle with depression, PTSD, Migraines, and a whole bunch of other health issues. Which is why I don’t do more than I do. Fae Corps does limited books because I don’t have the ability to do anything more.

I use several platforms to publish the books, with a few routines to make the work easier for me to accomplish. And I always leave plenty of time on the deadline so I don’t ever get pressured for time. Hence why we are starting to take the children’s book submissions for the kids week books now.

One of the places that I have used for publishing is draft2digital.com and I will continue to for the ebooks. Their print option however is awful. I stopped using them when we were getting reports of the cover for the books being delivered cockeyed.

Now I do the same place as they did separately. Better quality. The trick for their ebook set up is to prevent them from messing with the layout. So the only way to do that is to provide an epub file… which means I have learned how to make that.

That was in 2020 that I stopped using them for print. I really don’t know what I have been thinking. Someone pointed out that the print was wrong for Through the Sunshine… so I checked. I care about the quality of our books. So I will always check. Yes it is something that I can fix. Something that I should have already done.

Now, I am asking myself. Is the 17 books that I still have to port over a sign of laziness? Or that I have been doing too much? And should I even get upset with myself over the whole thing?

Honestly I think that I am just going to get it done and write it off as a learning experience. If I beat myself up over it, well it will just be longer for me to get it done.

The 17 books are a mix of the early Anthologies for Fae Corps Publishing and some of my poetry volumes. In order to get it fixed I will have to take it off sale on the one place and put it back up on the other two. So I am going to be doing this one book at a time. It should only have each book down for around a week in print only.

I will get each of them updated on their books2read.com links. I plan on posting on fae corps publishing as I have each book updated. This is a ridiculous amount of work and I am probably still going to be dealing with this well into the next year.

So, it’s Saturday

I know that I missed all last week.

I have been struggling with files for four anthologies. Trying to get it all to shine. I have been fighting my own self doubt. I have been working on trying not to feel like I have to do it all.

That is probably the worst thing about me, that feeling like I have to do it all, like I can’t lean on anyone else or I will burden them. Because I am, in my own mind, never good enough. I work extra hard to attempt to be seen as even half of the capable as the others around me. And then I end up intimidating the ones that I admire. Intimidating and hurting, because they end up feeling that they cannot possibly do as much as I do. While I am feeling that I am a screw up because I am dropping balls that I should have never tried to carry at all.

Balls bounce, and I can often grab them in rebound, but the hurt… I regret that. I try to be a good person. I try to do everything right… Even though I often do not have a clue what right actually is. So sometimes all that I can do is see the balls drop, and apologize for causing the hurt.

I read somewhere that the truest apology was changed behavior. This is where I truly fail. I try. But in some ways it is like an addiction. I have to put myself in that mess. I have to try to be the one that is doing the overwhelming of myself. It is my toxic trait.

Because I want to be seen as amazing… And there is the voice in the back of my head that is always going to tell me I am not.

That voice we all have. It’s mean. It bullies us into believing the lie… AND it is a lie. I am not worthless. I am talented and I am loved. I have been improving at art, writing, cover design, and publishing. I have been improving with all of my skills that have been a struggle… Except for dealing with interpersonal relationships.

I am sorry for those who I hurt when I am dropping the balls. I am sorry for the heartache that I cause in those who love me. I am not going to say that I will try to do better, because I should not lie, even to myself. However I will say that when I am struggling with the mental gremlins, and fighting for the strength to share the load… I am so very grateful that I have you all in my life.

You are amazing. You all keep me going. And I only hope that my own stubborn nature will not end up pushing you away.

Book covers and ambitious ideas

Ok. April is likely to be a very busy time. National poetry month usually sees me posting poetry posts on here daily as I do the P. A. D. Challenge. I also plan on doing a daily prompt for the Fae corps Blog. It is also going to be when we are starting a call for submissions on two different anthologies. Fae Dreams… Poetry, art, and short stories with a theme of goals, plans, and dreams. (We recieved one too many submissions for Through the Sunshine and offered a guaranteed spot in this to the author). And Nightmare Whispers, a group of horror stories. This one is a tribute to where we started.

I am working on editing the stories submitted for Through the Sunshine, and compilation of Birchwood Grove Gazette. We are doing the basic edits… Then we give the author time to do their own edits. After we recieve the polished story we finalize the formatting of the final anthology. We have to get it all ready by the middle of May for release in June.

My partner and I discussed delaying Fae Dreams. We may still. I have to see how things go. I don’t know yet how ambitious we are going to be. We have ideas for a thriller themed anthology as well, though the title and cover have not been forthcoming from our muses so far.

I am proud to claim that the above covers are my creations. I think that I am really getting better at this. Keep an eye on the Fae Corps Blog, as that is where any official announcement will be. This is mostly me doing mental meandering.

Indie Friday

So… There is so much to being an indie author/publisher that you really don’t end up finding out until you have made mistakes in doing it. To start with as the author you are responsible for every part of the process. That means the writing, the editing, the layout, the cover design, the title, picking the places the book will be available, setting everything for sale, and marketing. Now some of this you can and probably should hire someone else to do.

Personally I always hire an editor. While I am capable of editing, I find that it is better to get a second set of eyes on my work. It makes the chance of unnoticed errors less. I have two that I personally use. One is Kelly at Xterraweb and I also use Deedra Nichole Editing. Both are excellent. Both will not try to change your voice. In your story your voice is what makes your story unique.

After the editor finishes you have to give your story to beta readers. This is a group of people who you trust to read, and give you feedback. This feedback can be anything from suggestions for grammar mistakes that got missed in the editing process (if any) to title ideas or plot holes.

Many people hire someone else to do their covers. I do all of my own covers, and I am always willing to discuss doing covers for other authors. My price would be reasonable.

Now, as for places to publish your book… Everyone has heard about Amazon. That is the basic place for indie publishing. They have a program for Windows and Mac called Kindle Create. This helps with layout. Amazon is the best place for doing paperbacks. The other place I use to distribute my Ebooks is Draft2Digital. They also have audiobook distribution. (Which I am working on.)

Marketing is an area that I am still working with. It is something that I personally not great at.

I am always willing to help new authors, or even discuss the process with those who are already in the know. This is something that I am truly interested in. So, feel free to ask any questions or to just strike up a conversation!