Look what the cat dragged in . . . Robin is back!

Tags

editing, self-publishing, traditional publishing, writers, writing

Hello, dear blogging friends! I have had a full plate with no time to blog or read blogs for some time now. I won’t make excuses, whine, or pretend that I am busier than the rest of you. Goodness knows, we are all busy.

With all good intentions, I stepped back from my blog to focus on finishing my novel. Here is what I did about that thing called my manuscript. Squat. Zilch. Nada. Zippo.

But here are a few of the things I did manage to accomplish:

1. Fixed the crisis in the Mideast. I got the nicest thank you note from the president.
2. Solved the world hunger problem by whipping up several batches of my famous beef stroganoff. That stuff sticks to your ribs.
3. Figured out why the Kardashians are popular. Oh, wait. That question will never be answered.

With all those heady issues resolved, I am happy to report that I am writing/editing again.

My novel was all but finished so why the heck wasn’t I taking it to the finish line? Why work so hard on telling the story and then leave it moldering, languishing, and mildewing in a file on my laptop? (Do computer files mildew?)

So, I dusted off my manuscript and with a fresh eye and renewed spirit, set about finishing what I started so long ago. I did a read-through and was thrilled to find out I didn’t hate it and want to throw the mildewed bather in the trash.

With the help of a dear friend, who has a keen eye for holes in the story and incongruity, I polished the sentences, added depth where the story was thin, and deleted stuff that just didn’t make literary magic. I am forever in her debt

Now the burning question is how to get the damn thing published. Agent? Self-publish? Assisted self-publishing? Running off mimeo copies of it and passing it out on the street corner? The whole process of getting published makes the writing part look easy.

Plagiarizing my own blog, I wrote this a long time ago:

“The discussions on self-publishing vs. traditional publishing and the changing industry are robust with good information. Just when I think “Ah ha! I have a game plan,” I read something else counseling that Game Plan B is better. Then I read another article with the advice that the sure-fire way to go is Game Plan C. And on and on it goes. Without sounding like I am whining (well maybe a little), I’d like to be adopted by someone who says, “Here honey, I’ll handle it for you.” Since being adopted is unlikely at my age, I’ll forge ahead on my own for now.”

Like in Mel Brooks movie, Young Frankenstein, I wish someone would hand me this:

Anyhoo, for those of you who have navigated the rocky road of publication, any advise for moi? If no advise, please stop by this blog for a cup of tea and a chat. I do miss you all.

Steinbeck Revisited

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John Steinbeck, Stanford University, Tortilla Flats, traditional publishing, writers, writing

I forgot to mention something in my post yesterday about John Steinbeck. He went to Stanford University off and on for five years but never graduated. I wonder why. Sources say he started out studying English but when switched to marine biology. Do you suppose Mr. Steinbeck flunked English? That would have been cruel irony. According to the San Jose State University Center for Steinbeck studies:

“To please his parents he enrolled at Stanford University in 1919; to please himself he signed on only for those courses that interested him: classical and British literature, writing courses, and a smattering of science. The President of the English Club said that Steinbeck, who regularly attended meetings to read his stories aloud, “had no other interests or talents that I could make out. He was a writer, but he was that and nothing else.”

Steinbeck left college to write and worked odd jobs to support myself. He had three unsuccessful books before gaining critical acclaim for his l935 Tortilla Flats, some ten years after he dropped out of Stanford. My point here? If you are a writer you must have patience. Even if you are the next John Steinbeck.

I’ll leave you with a Steinbeck quote I love.

“It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.”

Publishing “World In Which We Live In”

Tags

literary agent, self-publishing, traditional publishing

As we all know, the publishing industry is changing faster than Lady Gaga’s hairstyle. I don’t yet know which way to go. As the lyrics of the song “Live and Let Die” by Wings say – “this ever changing world in which we live in . . .” (Really Sir Paul? Horrible grammar. Ending your sentence in a preposition?).

My novel is finished and is in the hands of a few people whose opinion I respect and trust. While I’m waiting for their feedback, I am researching whether I should self-publish or attempt to find an agent and go the traditional route.

Information abounds about both options on the Internet. In fact, there is too much information. Some tout the wonders of self-publishing and others argue that with right query letter, I could be on the next flight for my book-signing tour. And yet others stand tightrope-walk the fence, explain the merits of both, and then simply say it is up to me.  Such advice leaves me scratching my head in an unbecoming manner.

At this moment, I am leaning toward finding an agent and indulge myself in daydreams about mobs of fans throwing themselves at my feet at Barnes and Nobles.

And now, back to my research. Wish me luck.