E-Publishing Route?

I once said for my material in my manuscripts I would most likely not try the self-publishing or e-publishing route. Not because it is wrong but because I was unfamiliar with it and to be honest a bit scared of it. Well that was until I read a few success stories. One in particular has led me to do much more research on this. Though I think going the traditional route is all good and well, unless you are a celebrity or have been published before it is so hard to break into print.

I feel as the one author in one of the articles I read, I am tired of rejections and I am willing to work hard to push my work to be the best and see it put in the hands of readers. I will have to do much more work and research but I want to say that if and when I make a decision and move forward I will post about it.

 

I am thinking maybe e-publishing will open up a way for me to someday go the traditional book publisher route as I have read has happened.

 

If it falls through and I can’t succeed that way then maybe I will think that writing is just to be my hobby and nothing else. But for now I AM NOT GIVING UP! I hope no other writers out there give up either. Stay strong and write on, brothers and sisters! :~)

Regrets, What Ifs, and my Personal Writing for Publication Struggles

I often don’t go into my struggles so publicly and often not even to those I know well but I thought why not just get it out. Maybe others feel the same but I don’t want it to seem that I think my little problems compared to some problems are more devastating or something. I know people out there are suffering and have far more problems than I but that doesn’t mean my problems or anyone else’s are any less important to me or them.

 

I have some regrets as many do about a few things. I am 26 years old but I feel I have wasted the last 6 or 7 years.

 

Back in 2007 after I graduated from High School I was going to go to Europe for a while and my parents said I should save the money I had. So I didn’t go.

 

Then late 2007 into mid 2008 there was a Breaking into Print Program that would have given me college credit, refund guarantee if not satisfied and one on one instruction. Only one third of applicants are offered enrollment and I was accepted after my writing test was evaluated. Back then the 2 year program would have cost nearly $900. The program has a good track record. Also their guarantee and promise is by time a person completes Breaking into Print program they have at least 2 manuscripts that are suitable for submission to editors, write a character sketch, and plans for 6 stories or articles, and 8 complete manuscripts.

 

Well I was incredibly happy I was offered enrollment but I had no job and my parents wanted me to save what little money I had at the time. I think as well I talked myself out of it because I was afraid to fail and it was a 2 year program I was afraid I would waste money on. So again I didn’t do it.

 

Flash forward 6 or 7 years and here I am. I have little money, no job, and live at home with my parents. I regret not taking one of those two paths but I was an adult at the time and could have. I can’t and won’t blame anyone else, I am however disappointed in my self.

Since then I have tried to get a literary agent but as it is I have been rejected more times then I will admit here. But I think as long as I am trying I am not failing. One only fails if they fail to try.

I look to these Quotes to encourage me to keep trying:

“Many of life’s failures are people who had not realized how close they were to success when they gave up.” - Thomas A Edison

“You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.”

I know the market is selective and subjective and that 99% of query emails are rejected. I get infuriated that I can’t seem to become part of the 1%. I know I shouldn’t but I often start to question my own material after a rejection.

What is worse is I feel I can’t explain this properly to those I know. I have ones in my life who think my writing will never take me anywhere and that it is a waste of time. I feel that makes me want it even more, to prove a point not only to them but to myself, that I can do it. Of course I do have those that back me and my writing.

I feel I can’t even talk about my stories or seeking representation to some without having the feeling that they don’t care and think it is a waste of time. They ask why I bother to send out more query’s after a rejection. I say even the most famous authors had dozens if not hundreds of NO (Rejections) before they got a YES! (Acceptance).

I think all the things that happened to not only me but those around me have made me a better writer. I have lived and learned what works with my writing and what doesn’t. I have learned what mistakes I have made in seeking representation. I have with what I have learned tried to help others and wish them the best. Even though I have not been published I feel I have helped others know where to go to research what it takes to try and get published or become stronger in their writing.

I think maybe sometimes that the path I am on is where I am supposed to be. Maybe all the worries and trials (both personally *which I have not gone into them all here*and with my writing), and rejections will make me stronger. When I finally do get published or not then what has occurred before will help me write even more compelling stories.

Then I wonder and start to delve into what ifs and if anyone has ever done that is sucks. I think once someone starts what if(ing) life choices it does no good but drives one insane. There is no time travel contraption to let us do, do over’s. We have done the best we could with what we had and what we knew at the time. Since time is flowing forward we can’t go back and change a thing. Even though I know that I do what if my choices. Then I wonder if I had taken any other path would I be somewhere so much different then I am now and if I had would my life and writings be different, bad or good. LOL, I think about this too much!

I know this is a lot to read and I seem to jump from point to point but I have a lot to say, LOL! As always I thank all that read my blog and find it helpful, maybe enlightening, funny, interesting, odd, crazy, cool, and etcetera. I hope this post helps others or me in some way but I hope again no one thinks I am belittling anyone else’s larger problems with my seemingly small ones.

Baby Bananas, Super Adorbs!

A month ago when at Wal Mart I saw these mini bananas. When I saw them I was like those are so cute. They look like baby bananas. I bought some and they seemed sweeter in a way than larger bananas. Also I am not a big banana eater but these were just the right size so I wasn’t forced to eat a whole banana and become annoyed with the taste. I thought they would also do well in a lunch box for a kid or even adult on the run. I hadn’t seen them before so I am not sure if they are just around at certain times or what.

 

I will put a few pictures below of the cute mini bananas. These pictures show the mini bananas in contrast to a tissue box, my hand, and on a counter with larger bananas (parent bananas, lol).

 

Technology, Too Much? Bookless Library, Too Much?

I have just recently read about the first bookless library in America. I think the library was called BiblioTech. They have just computers and tablets that can be checked out. This idea to me sounds not so great. It will totally not be long before the check out tablets get stolen. If some people don’t bring books back what makes people think they will bring a tablet back.

 

The other thing is this push for more technology. The push to do away with the old and center in only on the new. I get tired of all the technology all the time. I am tired of the push for e-publishing, e-reader stuff. What happened to cracking open an old fashioned book. Yeah it’s heavier but who cares. This generation coming up will have no clue about what it is like to do without technologies. I am only 26 but I didn’t have a computer or email until I was like 12 and even then I didn’t really use it very often. I didn’t have a cell phone until I was like 15.

 

Also this bookless library reminds me of an Outer Limits episode. Where people had a chip in their brains that told them everything they needed to know. Regular paper books were a thing of the past and were forbidden to be had. You must check out a chip to be put in your brain chip which will tell you the story of the book. Also the government dictated what books could be told. One guy in this world was part of a group who could not take a brain chip so he found ways to get hold of actual books. That is how he learned everything. When the world went crazy and the chips started to glitch they became unusable. So after that happens they go this man and he shows them what they must do to learn. Because none of these people knew how to really learn. Everything was given via the brain chip implant. Is this to be our future?

 

I am not the only one who thinks this. I read many comments of the bookless library article and I agreed with many of them. Will some day books be banned and in doing so just wipe out the computers, whisking away the literature of countless generations and there lessons. Think a future version of Fahrenheit 451.

 

Will people get tired of paper books and just discard them. Will we be forced to go paperless and loose a little bit of the charm that comes with it? I enjoy the smell of the pages and to see the little messages in the books from the previous owners.

 

So I wonder when will technology push to the point where we must use it or get left and lost in the past. Every month a new cell phone comes out before the old is even old. Every year countless new computers are brought on the market. I don’t think we should go back to 1799 but I don’t think we should loose a little bit of what the past gave us. To see where we came from and how we got here. Technology isn’t bad by any means but I think we push forward making new objects to be desired when we really don’t need them. I sometimes wish that I could live in a simple world. Not one that does away with all technology but just one that doesn’t swarm us with useless items.

 

People would rather sit on a computer and see their friend’s posts on facebook then call said friend up and go hang out, because they often don’t know those people in the real world. Texts are more prevalent than a phone call. People have phones shoved in their faces and don’t see the beauty of the world. People would rather sit in front of a computer than do hard labor like our ancestors. To farm land is often detestable or not interesting. To build a building is hard work. But without the hard work on our ancestor’s shoulders we wouldn’t have all the skyscrapers and beautiful architecture often found on this world.

 

So are we to snub the past and keep wanting more and more technology and technical devices. I fear the day we look up and don’t know our selves or even contemplate what happened to Earth and beyond. We are even starting to clutter space with our satellites and other garbage. One day we will look up and all we will see is an endless collection of debris around our world. The cities will get bigger and woods and forests and waters will get smaller.

 

These are just my thoughts. I don’t know what will happen but I know we will have quite a cleanup ahead of us if we continue to pollute and over crowd this world. The only world we have or ever will have. I hope anyone who reads this understands these are just my thoughts and ramblings.

 

If any one wishes to weigh in on this subject please do so in the comments section.

Snow Galore---Polar Vortex

 

We got 7 inches of snow Sunday morning and another 1 to 1 ½ inches of snow throughout the day. Below are some pictures I took from the warmth of my home, LOL. It is official I am tired of snow and winter. I want to go to Bora Bora, anyone on the same boat as me, LOL! I just got my Tahiti travel guide today and I am sold.

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture my sister sent of their backyard. They got 12 inches of snow where they live in a northern area of the same state I live in.

Highlights and Lowlights from the Year of 2013

High Points:

 

1. I Made a New Friend from the Philippines and Made Another One Locally

 

2. Continued Writing one of my Novels

 

3. Gotten My One Novel to 73,000 Words So Far, which makes it # 2 on my List of Longest Manuscripts I’ve written

 

4. Wrote a Short Story

 

5. Continued to Send out Queries to Literary Agents

 

6. District Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses was closer to Where we Live this Year

 

7. Got a New Stove after 2 years and 5 Months Without a Stove at All

 

8. Got 18 inches of my hair cut off and donated to Locks of Love

 

9. Had my Sister Lorinda, Brother-in-law Karl, and Nephew Jakob come for the first visit in 6 Years…BTW we had a BLAST!

 

10. Successfully grew 14 Blueberries and ate 7 of them

 

 

 

Low Points:

 

 

1. 2013 wasn’t that Good of a Year for Me but I won’t Stick to the Bad I will Plan for the Future and Await the Good
2. Sick Cat
3. Car Trouble and Home Air Conditioner Troubles
4. Health Concerns, Sickest Year Ever for Me
5. Still Not Published Any Novels nor gotten a Literary Agent

 

 

 

More High Points than Low Points, as it Should Be! :~)

 

 

 

Finishing Quotes for the Year of 2013:

“Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds.” - Norman Vincent Peale

“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.” - Theodore Rubin

Ask yourself this question:
"Will this matter a year from now?" Richard Carlson, writing in Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

 

 

Quotes for 2014:

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.” - B. Olatunji

Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure? - Author Unknown

 

If you can DREAM it, you can DO it. - Walt Disney

 

Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. Christopher Robin to Pooh - A. A. Milne

 

As long as we have friendship, today is beautiful.
As long as we have memories, yesterday remains.
As long as we have hope, tomorrow awaits.

 

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
- Benjamin Franklin

 

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. – Jawaharlal Nehru

 

“The Best Journeys are not always in Straight Lines.”

 

 

 

See Ya in 2014!!!! :~) :~) :~)

Think About It!

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. - George Washington

You know, there are some words I've known since I was a schoolboy: "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie, as wisdom and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today... - Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation