[stylist] A Writer's Wormhole: Novelist to Publisher in 3EasyNervous Breakdowns

Mon Mar 25 19:41:39 UTC 2013

Oh, Donna, your experiences give me a headache!
I cannot even imagine doing this - you are amazing.

I was beginning to think of doing a book project that would go in tandem 
with a major solo exhibition - in about five years.  The show would be a 
retrospective, and I have thought of doing a chronological show catalogue - 
photos of my work, with commentaries - over a 40 year period of my work.  I 
saw one done by a friend, Fran Schantz, a painter. It was done by BLURB. com 
and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this company. I did 
visit that site and it looks promising for my purposes.  I loved the book 
that my friend produced - a retrospective of his drawings and the art works, 
with his writings about them. I loved the size of it most of all - it is 7 
inches x 7 inches - such a beautiful size for showing art works - so 
personal and the square format is exciting to me - very artsy. I know the 
book was written by an art critic, not by my friend.

When my book, Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage was published by Kota' 
Press, I just sent them the pages of my poems, and pages of the drawings for 
illustrations, and the editor there did all the work - I hold the copyright 
to all my writings and art, and he holds the copyright to all the layout and 
publishing of the book.
This book was a part of my tenure project for my promotion at the college - 
a six year project that involved writing the book;  establishing and 
supervision a national traveling art exhibition from coast to coast; and 
writing my tenure manuscript - a three part tenure project. It was very 
intensive - those 6 years - besides teaching full time, traveling a couple 
times a year taking students on trips for work/study; and doing conferences 
and publishing other works through my conference presentations and contacts. 
Looking back on it, I am delighted to be RETIRED these days.

Lynda

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 3:08 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] A Writer's Wormhole: Novelist to Publisher in 
3EasyNervous Breakdowns

> Jackie,
> I'm sorry to hear that my experiences are turning you off to
> self-publishing. Publishers and agents who accept poetry are few and far
> between, and many poets are going the self-publishing route. The 
> publishers
> are out there though, so just keept working on it.
>
> Your teacher is very wise. I wish I had stuck with Word 2003, but it 
> wasn't
> working right with my new computer. I'm still not sure what the issue 
> really
> was, but I switched to 2010.
> Donna
> One
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jacqueline
> Williams
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 12:35 PM
> To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [stylist] A Writer's Wormhole: Novelist to Publisher in 3
> EasyNervous Breakdowns
>
> Donna,
> I love your title. Your article is well-written. Unfortunately, it cured 
> me
> of wanting to self-publish. I admire you for pursuing that road, for I 
> think
> the knowledge you gained is invaluable. I thank you for sharing it.
> When I am forced to get on my new computer with up-to-date software, I 
> will
> have a tremendous learning curve.
> My poetry teacher has an archaic program of "Microsoft Publisher," and has
> done a beautiful anthology of our class work. She will not touch the new
> versions, saying they are total confusion, even though she has updated
> everything else.
> Jackie
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Donna Hill
> Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2013 4:09 PM
> To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
> Subject: [stylist] A Writer's Wormhole: Novelist to Publisher in 3
> EasyNervous Breakdowns
>
> Hi Friends,
>
> The following is the text of my latest post. It ends with the standard 
> text
> I am including about screen reader access to Word Press's comments form. 
> If
> you would like to help me, I'd really appreciate it if you went to the
> accessible form (the link is at the bottom of the article) and left a
> comment. If you have to copy and paste it, make sure you get it all -- it
> ends with the number 3. Please feel free to comment here as well.
>
> Donna
>
>
>
> Block quote
>
> A Writer's Wormhole: from novelist to publisher in 3 Easy Nervous 
> Breakdowns
>
> by Donna W. Hill
>
> Published 3/23/13
>
> DonnaWHill.com/2013/03/23/writers-wormhole-novelist-to-publisher-3-easy-nerv
> ous-breakdowns
>
>
>
> Graphic: Screech Owl in Wood Duck House by Rich Hill"
>
>
>
> Last week, a desperate quest for sanity compelled me to stand down from my
> mind-numbing routine and ask "What on Earth has happened to me?"  I was a
> writer. Somehow, however, I must have entered one of those wormholes the
> physicists talk about. While it was a route to another part of the 
> universe
> where I need to go, it was a journey of suffocating pressure.
>
>
>
> The Heart of Applebutter Hill: The Writing Process
>
>
>
> For years, I lived in Applebutter Hill, a fictional land with portholes 
> into
> mythical worlds where two shy teenagers travel in a camouflaged airship
> dubbed the Cloud Scooper. Classrooms transform into realistic
> representations of places like Westminster Abbey, and a grumpy acorn
> inspires a song with the tag line, "Mighty oak trees are nothing but 
> little
> nuts who stood their ground." This world is not entirely of my own making.
> It is inhabited by the spirits of loved ones, friends and even enemies.
>
>
>
> My theory of writing is informed by my identity as a journalist. Get the
> story and write it up; everything beyond the inquiry stage is editing. For
> fiction, inquiry occurs in the imagination.
>
>
>
> Editing a Novel
>
>
>
> Once I had it down, I picked and fussed. I combed through the novel for
> errors, phrases that could be tightened up, things that weren't clear. I
> tried to make the dialog more realistic, the narrative crisper. I 
> rearranged
> paragraphs, sentences and even single words, in a quest to present
> information in the perfect order for building and sustaining suspense.
>
>
>
> I invited others to read my novel and give feedback. Fortunately, I have
> people in my life who are willing to say something other than, "Yeah, it's
> great. I liked it." I agonized over their comments, took their advice and
> made changes. Ultimately, the manuscript cowered in fear that I would move 
> a
> comma, question an adjective or turn something else into a contraction 
> just
> to reduce the word count.
>
>
>
> Bringing a Book from Manuscript to Publication
>
>
>
> If I was distracted, forgetful or uninvolved in the everyday details of 
> life
> while writing and editing, it was nothing compared with the next stage. 
> The
> novel was done. Though I would love to continue writing, to delve into my
> notes on a sequel or work on something else entirely, I restrained myself.
> Nowadays, I am simply shepherding the work of my life through the
> publication process.
>
>
>
> At first, it wasn't complicated. I researched agents, sent out queries and
> tried not to despair of the emptiness that was my In Box. But, the clock 
> was
> ticking and my patience was wearing thin. I decided to self-publish.
>
>
>
> What company should I go with? Create Space or Lulu, Smashwords or Book
> Tango? What about the others? I made my choices (Create Space for print 
> and
> Kindle; Smashwords for the other eBook options). Did I choose wisely? I 
> have
> no idea. I suspect that any of the many options would be workable. The
> wildcard is the author's willingness and ability to press on with
> promotions.
>
>
>
> Choices, Choices, Choices!
>
>
>
> Create Space has several options for every aspect of the process. For the
> interior design, for instance, you can upload a print-ready PDF or use 
> their
> online Interior Reviewer, which does the conversion for you - both are 
> free.
> The trick is that you need to, at the very least, make a properly 
> formatted
> .doc, .docx or .rtf.
>
>
>
> You can also pay them $379 to design the interior for you. I think I truly
> entered the wormhole, when I realized that Create Space's discounts on 
> promo
> copies don't kick in until you order 5,000. Yeah, that's "five thousand."
> The savings on multiple copies is on shipping only. $379 buys a lot of
> promotional copies.
>
>
>
> The Novel's Interior Design
>
>
>
> I decided to design my novel's interior myself. Are you raising an 
> eyebrow?
> Well, get the other one up there; it's a crazier idea than it seems.
>
>
>
> Formatting your book starts with choosing a trim size. 6" x 9" is the most
> popular and the one I chose. Create Space provides guidelines on margins 
> and
> gutters, and a trip around Word's Page Set-up dialog turns your manuscript
> into something resembling a book.
>
>
>
> Then there's Styles. If you're the average Word user, just throw 
> everything
> you think you know about formatting out the window; it may look great for
> printing a manuscript, but that's not how it's done. The pros use Styles,
> not local formatting. A Style is a collection of choices about font and
> paragraph attributes and parameters (such as what Style the following
> paragraph should be) bundled together and given a name.
>
>
>
> Time for more reading. Being the prudent sort, I practiced on new 
> documents.
> I congratulated myself on how quickly I was getting the hang of it. 
> Somehow,
> however, I lost a measure of cynicism and forgot everything I had come to
> expect from Microsoft. I was, therefore, shocked to learn that Word 2010
> doesn't automatically make these new Styles available to other documents.
> They need to be imported. Also, unlike Word 2007, the Developer Tab is not
> on the ribbon.
>
>
>
> Book Design: Formatting Problems & Headaches
>
>
>
> The problems really started when I tried to import Styles. Since I am 
> blind,
> I use text-to-speech software to access the computer and the internet.
> Wonderful as this is, it has some drawbacks. Chief among them is that
> software and website developers are a baffling combination of uninformed 
> and
> uninterested, when it comes to adding the 1s and 0s that allow screen
> readers to communicate with their products.
>
>
>
> Running up against some of these stumbling blocks sent me over the edge. I
> was so close! While hovering over my computer in a state of paralysis, I
> realized what I should have known all along - I am not, nor do I want to 
> be
> a professional book designer. My novel deserves better. I conceded defeat. 
> I
> soothed my ego by assuring myself that I had - in over a hundred hours 
> that
> I will never get back - at least learned enough about the topic to be
> somewhat conversant in it. I then threw in the towel, ran up a white flag
> and spent $397.
>
>
>
> Accessibility Issues for People Using Screen Readers
>
>
>
> Screen reader users, there are significant issues with Word Press's "Leave 
> a
> Reply" form - which is labeled on this site "So, What Do You Think?" Even 
> if
> you access the edit fields and fill them out, the "Submit" button doesn't
> work most of the time. I have advised Word Press of this issue.
>
>
>
> Meanwhile, here's a "temporary" solution. Every page and post has a link
> labeled "Accessible Comment Form for Screen Reader Users." It is 
> accessible,
> but does not link directly to the automated comments system. It will be 
> sent
> to me, however, and I will forward it to Word Press to post on your 
> behalf.
> The URL is:
>
> donnawhill.com/accessible-comment-form-for-screen-reader-users-3
>
> Block quote end
>
>
>
>
> -- The Heart of Applebutter Hill, a novel on a mission:
> DonnaWHill.com
>
> Read Donna's articles on Suite 101:
> http://suite101 <http://suite101.com/donna-w-hill> .com/donna-w-hill
>
> Connect with Donna on
> Twitter:
> www.twitter.com/dewhill
> LinkedIn:
> www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
> FaceBook:
> www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill
>
> Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
> cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
>
> Apple I-Tunes
> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
>
>
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