Imogene: Innocense Lost

So yesterday was the start of NaNo (for those who haven't heard this before it is National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo or NaNo for short) and I decided instead of trying to pump out Imogene's story over the course of the 10 weeks as previously stated using the BIW method that I would attempt to write most of her story this month.  Grant it, I do have one event scheduled for the middle of the month - 2 days but it's fairly local and if I can work on Imogene during that event, I'll be okay.  Anyway, the month is just getting started and the goal is to write 1667 words a day for the next 30 days.  I'm hoping that I can write more than that on Saturdays and nonwork days.  I did fall a little short yesterday at only 1320 words written but have hopes of making that up and then some tomorrow.  I have my widget on the side bar if you are interested in following my word counts for the month.  I'm also going to put the regional widgets up so you can see where all the regions in South Carolina are faring.  I could participate in two of the seven regions but my home region is Greenville, sorry Clemson/Anderson (really this is more a Clemson region than it is Anderson as they meet mostly in Clemson and the members are mostly students at Clemson University).  Looking forward to finally getting Imogene's story written - see you all in the postings - E :)

Book-in-a-Week

I just hooked back up with a friend online (we had been regular chatters for a while and then lost contact when she had her kids) and she has directed me to the monthly challenge of book-in-a-week. Many of you are familiar with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month which is through the month of November) and know that I've participated in that challenge mostly as a cheerleader for my friends who write and participate or as a mentor for Mr. Hughes' class. Grant it, the 50,000 words in 30 days seems daunting but it really does help produce the beginning of novels or at least several short stories and it does get you writing for a whole month. You know that becomes a habit if you actually write every day since it takes 30 days to make a habit and 30 days to break it.

So what's so special about book-in-a-week? Reading over their FAQs, I'm more inclined to write consistently during the week having to be accountable for pages and not not word counts. The minimum challenge is to write 10 pages (that's 250-word pages) in the 7 days, which technically comes out to 2500 words in a week and if you did that every week, yes it would take you longer to write a novel but you would get it done and it wouldn't be at a frenzied pace like NaNo is (averaging 1667 words/day can be overwhelming depending on what is going on in your life and we all know November is full of holiday prepping and time away from your desk for whatever reasons, so sometimes the goal isn't being met or can't be met due to outside influences and circumstances).

Even though I won't participate in the BIW challenge this month (it starts next week), I will do so on my own, setting a goal to write 10-20 pages a week on Imogene and hopefully by the end of November I will have her story finished so in the first part of the year I can revise and shoot for publication next summer or fall. I want to get back to Imogene's story, so this may be the perfect challenge for me to do.

GOALS: 10 WEEKS, 20 PAGES A WEEK, Starting Sunday September 9, 2012, ending Saturday November 17, 2012 (by my calculations, that is 50,000 words - hopefully the story will be longer than that - I'm shooting for between 75,000 and 100,000 for this one but it may not need that much to be completed; the challenge is on).

If you would like more information about book-in-a-week, how to join, et cetera, you can go here and kind of amble around checking things out.

So, even though unofficially I won't participate this month, I'm going to start the challenge next week and work on Imogene for 2 months - with a goal to have Imogene completed before Thanksgiving. Will post my weekly counts on my Sunday This and That column so my week will actually start on Sunday and end on Saturday (as opposed to starting on Monday at 8 AM and ending the following Monday at 8 AM). Good luck to me and see you all in the postings - E :)

This and That

Updates for the week include no sales of any of the ebooks this past week. A teacher on my friends' list on plurk contacted me after I left a response on her posting regarding some ideas to get a student reading and setting commitments for his IEP (individualized education program). I made several suggestions including my state books; she has requested an order form, so now it is a matter of waiting to see what she does. I also sent her the file of one of the books so she can decide whether or not the class would benfit from the books or not. I hope she does as this might be incentive for me start working on the state stories again. I really need to concentrate on those for a bit, with the hopes of getting three written and whenever Heather is ready to work on them she can just do her thing and they will be ready for her. Of course, once they are written, I also have to get my editor back on track with editing as she has pretty much given up on her writing career and has been busy with other things. But it will happen.

One of my son's friends who is basically homeless but staying here for the most part (he stays at other friends' houses on the weekends and sometimes during the week but they all have school so hard to stay elsewhere) is in debt to me, so I told him he could work off his debt by doing some research for my wip - Imogene: Innocense Lost. Maybe he will have that research done by the end of May or middle of June so I can get back to writing that story as I really would like to get it published sometime the first of next year. I know, I know, we've all been told get the story written fist and then do research but there is a problem with writing this story that way. It is a dated story. By that I mean that there are key dates in the story and I have to make sure I don't write something that didn't exist or wouldn't be realistic for that time period (i.e., the story starts in June of 1980, the real story starts in 1970 and the backstory starts in June of 1945/September 1945). Obviously in 1980, I can't talk about booking flights to China via online methods (we were still typing on Selectric typewriters in 1980 and word processors were the new wave of technology then; cell phones were big and bulky and kept in cars mostly because they were too heavy to carry around, not like today's cell phones that fit in your pocket; computers existed but not in the form of laptops, netbooks, et cetera; Sony Walkmans were the thing of the day back then not iPods or MP3 players or whatever is out there today; we still listened to cassettes and even a few 8-track tapes still existed in 1980 as well as soem reel-to-reel tapes. In other words, a lot has changed from 1980 to 2012 and I want this story to have as realistic feel to it as possible.) I have several scenes or parts of scenes written as well as the first three pages. Once I have the research notes, I think I will have to sit down and do an outline and then start writing the story, which is something I've not done before with my writing simply because I write short stories. Most of time the stories were written for contests and there wasn't time to outline anything. When I wrote Finally Home, it was actually a total rewrite of a story and was written as a NaNo challenge for me (National Novel Writing Month which is from November 1 through November 30 with the object being to write 50,000 words of a novel, or a complete novel, in 30 days. These days, 50,000 words is considered a novella or a good start to a novel. Finally Home topped out at 56,000 words, and really wasn't written during the November 1 to November 30 timeframe; rather, I started about November 14 or 15 and ended December 14 or 15, so I did write it during a 30-day period and hit the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days, it didn't count for NaNo officially. I have a feeling that Immogene's story will end up being much longer than that and thus will need the outlining. I'll probably challenge myself to write it in 30 days again and shoot for about 75,000 to 90,000 words on that story, so we will see what comes of it once the research is done.

For my earth day bookworm giveaways, I sent 2 to Australia, 1 to England, 2 to Kuwait via Germany (these were purchases), and 12 out across the United States with 1 person refusing to accept her bookworm and 1 person winning 3 different times so in lieu of sending her 2 more of the same bookworms and the fact that she was purchasing 5 total, she got her choice of 3 bookworms and purchased 2 for Christmas presents (she had one a previous time for a different bookworm giveaway and had refused saying she was going to buy some anyway, so that is where the 3 of her choice came in). Overall, I think the giveaways worked because I wasn't just giving bookworms to commenters of this blog but on the Writers on the Move blog also. My birthday is coming up in just over a month and there will many giveaways during the 50 days from June 5 (my birthday) and August 2 (no giveaways on Sundays or holidays, although I may do a special one for the 4th of July but haven't decided yet since that date falls on a Wednesday this year) to include bookworms, chances for the red, white, blue afghan drawing to be held December 1, and maybe even books and other prizes. Watch for the announcement May 31 with the first giveaway occurring on June 5.

Coming up tomorrow is a posting on self-imposed deadlines (probably why I talked about writing Imogene on today's posting) and WWYWWQ. I haven't planned out Thursday's posting yet so not sure what the topic will be. See you all in the postings - E :)

Skype visit for NaNoWriMo

Today, I had a Skype visit with some 5th and 6th graders in Washington State. They are all writing stories for NaNo and I got to share my experiences as being a published author and how Finally Home came about from a NaNo writing challenge (although it was started the middle of November and ended the middle of December, it was written in 30 days and accomplished the goal of 56,000 words). As the challenge is to write your stories in November, I didn't get recognized with a "winner's certificate" from NaNo but I got the satisfaction of writing something over 10,000 words story wise. I'm not sure I have any more novels in me but I'm thankful for the one I do have and to get it out.

I was told that after the visit, the students wrote like crazy on their stories and one student actually exceeded his 3000 word goal, so yay!! - I inspired them to write and to meet and exceed their own personal goals.

Thank you, Mrs. N, for allowing me to be a part of your NaNo class time - see you in the postings - E :)

Finally Home, a YA paranormal mystery

I've not talked much about this story but I think it's time to bring it out of the closet and get it published. This is the story I wrote for NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) in 2008, although I didn't really write it during the month of November (I started late, about the middle of November and wrote through the middle of December, so it was still in that 30-day period that I wrote over 50,000 words on a novel; Finally Home came in at about 56,000 words.). I've already done some behind the scenes things like sending it out to several readers to get some feedback, and supplying Heather with info for cover and layout (although the ms is not in final draft yet). I also sent a copy of the document to my kindle to make notes and do some basic editing as well. So far I've received one person's comments back. Jess, who helps me sometimes during the summer with events, is reading but with her starting school this coming week, I'm afraid she won't have time to finish editing it. She did verbally give me some feedback this weekend, so I hope to at least get a partial back from her so that I can use the info to edit the story. Heather is working on a cover for Finally Home as we speak, but she too will be starting college soon and so I know her time will be limited as far as being able to work on my stories and all. I'm anxiously awaiting the cover so I can share with all of you. For more info on other stories previously published or in the works, please visit my website. I will be self-publishing and the book will be available in print via amazon, createspace and directly from me, as well as an ebook through smashwords, Kindle and Nook. I'm looking for a publication date of about the middle of October so that I will have copies on hand for events in November, namely the Savannah Children's book festival.

Stay tuned for some upcoming contests and giveaways with the release of Finally Home.

Come find out what type of writer you are

Come visit me on Robert Medak's blog for an article about writing by outlining or by the seat of your pants, written in honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNo) which is just around the corner. Come check it out and see you all in the postings - E :)

From NaNo to published - A Gift From Above -

Heather Paye is my guest today. Let's find out how she went from a 30-day novel challenge to published. (Of note, Heather refers to NaNo as a contest, but it really is a challenge of oneself to prove you can write 50,000 words in 30 days. I've participated in NaNo as a cheerleader for my friends and actually did write a YA novel a couple of Novembers ago, which I'm hoping to edit and publish one of these days, but working on my 50-state stories is my main objective for the time being.)

So Heather, please tell us about your experience with NaNoWriMo that led to you becoming a published author:


When I heard of this contest called "NaNoWriMo" I decided to participate and write a 50,000 word novel in one month's time. After all, how hard could it be? I wrote a novel before, so writing another one wouldn't be too hard. Well, I found out it was no walk in the park, you'd be surprised at how often life hits you, and you spend every waking moment working on producing words that make sense. Anyways, I emerged victorious. At the beginning it was understood there were no prizes, just a little printable certificate and your rough draft for your novel. It turns out that the year that I participated each person who managed to write 50,000 words or more were to receive a free proof copy if they decided to self-publish their book. I had nothing to lose, so I went for it. I had six months to get this all done (there was an expiration date on the free proof copy coupon), so I worked away, and four months later we welcomed "A Gift From Above" to stores, a self-published gem. Today, the first novel that I wrote "The Jewel of Onsolot" is being prepared for publication at a traditional publisher. So you can see, I'm not so one-sided when it comes to publishers. Age has never really been an issue for me when it comes to publishing, as long as you're serious and you maintain a professional tone publishers will - and do - take you seriously.

I think that the publishing process is the same for both traditional and self-publishing, at least up to a certain point in the game anyways. Write the book, edit until your eyes fall out, put them back in, and edit some more. After that, you should search for publishers, either traditional or self-publishers, beware of vanity presses though, not that they're bad, but they require that you pay money (usually thousands) to get your book published. After deciding on a publisher then things take two different points. For traditional publishing, you just read the submission guidelines, gather everything you need, edit EVERYTHING, and then send it in. Traditional publishing takes patience and you should be a team player, even if you're not. For self-publishing, it's not quite so mellow, being the editors, illustrator, layout and design, marketer, it's all very time consuming. Never a dull moment though with so much to do. Either route you choose be sure to have a great marketing plan, in this economy, you'll need it. Get out a calendar and mark on each day what you'll do to promote your book, it does help.

"A Gift From Above" is doing alright swimming in this economy, but it could be doing better. Some months there are plenty of purchases, while others are quieter than empty fields. These days, people just won't buy a book that costs even $5 when they could buy some essential item they need to survive, like a loaf of bread. Unless you're doing really well, and there is a lot of buzz about your book, then your book won't be seeing so much buying action. Marketing is one of the hardest parts of publishing a book, because it is the longest, it is forever on going. I have found that "A Gift From Above" sells MUCH better in the public eye. I haven't found out why this is yet, possibly just because of the convenience of having the book right there and being able to take it home right away rather than waiting for it to ship or download.

For more on Heather and to order her books, you may go to the following:

Heather's blog
Heather's fan site
Heather's Createspace store
Amazon purchase link
Amazon kindle purchase link

From NaNo to published at the age of 15!

Find out how one NaNoer (that's what participants in National Novel Writing Month are called) went from challenging herself to write a story in 30 days to publishing her novel. Visit Monday, March 8, and read Heather Paye's story on becoming a published author at a young age.

Time flies, yet again

Over a week has passed since the SCWW writer's conference in Myrtle Beach and I have yet to post anything about the conference nor other updates. So I figured I'd take a brief moment and get something posted. So here goes:

1) SCWW conference was a blast. Because of being able to lock the complete building where the silent auction items were held, most of my volunteer duties got taken away from me. I felt bad because I wasn't being used for what they paid for me to do (the SCWW covered the cost of the conference for me in exchange for working half the conference). I felt it was a successful conference and seemed to run pretty smoothly. We didn't have any incidents like last year (someone stalked one of the agents or authors by gaining entrance to their room and leaving a manuscript on their bed or some folks got a bit disorderly from drinking too much). The slushfests were fun and the workshops I attended were pretty cool too. Karen Petit and I shared a room and got to know each other better. In February, I will be staying with her when I attend the SC Book Festival (probably as an exhibitor this year since I've not heard about being a guest speaker or panelists or anything). I found out who is chairing the conference next year and I may have an in as a guest speaker/panelist with Karen. We can do panel discussions or workshops and share a room again - lol - it will be a lot of fun for us both (fingers crossed and will keep you all posted on that as things develop since nothing can really be done until after the first of the year).

2) State of Quarries is completed except for a few minor edits for Vivian. The teacher's guide is finished as well. State of Wilderness's teacher's guide is completed. I am using my NaNo month/goal to get ahead on the state stories. I can't wait to see the illustrations for the book and see it laid out (will keep you updated on that as well).

3) NaNo - November is National Novel Writing Month and the goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. I have adjusted my goal to 20,000 words in 30 days (there is a lot of family stuff going on this month, will be in a virtual book tour and have two book signings scheduled) which will basically be (hopefully) three new state stories and the teacher's guides to go with them. I will post my "excerpts" which are my updates on where I am on my goal on my NaNo site. So if you want to see if I am on track with my self-adjusted goals and getting things accomplished, check out www.nanowrimo.org and look for elysabeth42 (you can check out my profile and click on novel info to see everything I've posted).

4) Cybil award nomination: State of Wilderness and Prairie Dog Cowboy are in the running for this award in the middle grade fiction category. Trockle has been nominated for the children's picture book fiction category. Winners will be announced in February. Nominations are made from anyone (but you have to scan through a lot of posts to see if the book you want to nominate has already been nominated as they only want one nomination per title and each person can make one nomination per category - there are 9 total) between October 1 and 15. Then the group of folks decides if all nominations are valid (checking to see when the books were published to make sure they fall into this year's timeframe) and then they have to contact all the publishers and/or authors to request review copies which are not mandatory but do help the panelists. Then after receiving all the books, they have the fun job of reading and picking a winner. So here's to the three 4RV books nominated and hopefully one will take the award or maybe two (one in each category would be nice). (I'd like them to add another category to cover books that present facts with fictional characters like my state stories do but for now, I'll have to take whatever nominations and the categories I can get.) The finalists will be listed in January with the winners announced in February - so stay tuned for more updates.

That about covers all my goings on for now - see you all in the postings - E :)