my writing – Norma J. Hill

Oh my! The last post about my “Summerland Stories book” journey was written on November 2 – that’s 2 ½ weeks ago. Are you wondering if I have given up on this project or have become distracted or have been procrastinating? I definitely haven’t given up … And I really haven’t been procrastinating … But yes, I have been distracted somewhat: house renovations (electrical, plumbing, etc.) will do that. Plus sort out some mortgage renewal issues. Oh, and I felt the need of a brain break and creativity break, so I crocheted a large basket … and put the garden to bed for the winter … and emptied and reorganized the shed and got rid of a lot of stuff 😊

Still, I have been keeping busy with the book project at the same time. What have I been doing? Let’s see:

Digging into the whole marketing thing: I’ve been doing a lot of research, reading both online articles and also marketing books – and taking notes – and organizing those notes into a document that I can easily refer to (if you want a copy, let me know and I’ll send you a PDF)
I have completed my 4^th draft (remembering that I started working on these stories back in 2009 or so … and then started pulling them together on October 9 and completed the first draft on October 22 … which means I’ve completed 3 more drafts in the past 4 weeks, so that’s pretty good, actually!
In the past few days, I have gone through dozens and dozens of old photos, choosing the ones that I think would be most suited for the book’s stories and placed them in appropriate places in the manuscript …
I have contacted a designer who will help me (after beta readers) with setting up the book, choosing which of those photos are worth using and putting them properly into place, getting ISBN number, etc. (I’m still deciding if I’ll have her help me with the actual self-pub stuff – online and printer copies – or if I’ll take the plunge and learn to do that myself …)
I have a list of a half dozen or so wonderful people who have volunteered to do beta reads (I’ll get the manuscript out to them in the next week or two). And I have created a list of possible questions for the beta readers to consider.
I’ve met with a couple of writer friends to discuss “next steps” … and start making plans for book launches, etc. when the book is ready. Might even have a location organized!
Set up a schedule with deadlines: beta read deadlines, book to the designer, self-publishing deadline date (yes, I’ve decided to self-publish, although I’ve checked out possible trad publishers), book launch, etc.)
Research Amazon categories and BISAC codes, and list what I think are the best possibilities.
Organized the book and created a table of contents.

And then another to-do and to-think-about list:

Write an author note/preface/introduction (A preface tells readers how and why the book came into being, and introduction introduces the main topics; a foreword is written by someone other than the author and tells readers why they should read the book—I probably won’t include a foreword … unless someone out there would really like to volunteer to do that, LOL!). I have points jotted down for the author note; just need to get it put together (maybe today or tomorrow!)
Write a dedication/thank you to helpers and inspirers
Marketing: start talking to local bookstores, libraries, tourist sites and events, etc.
After the beta reads are done, work on draft #5 (early in the new year)
Check out potential printers

WOW! I was feeling like I haven’t been doing enough on this project … but now that I wrote this all down, I’m feeling much better about it all. 😊 I’ve also been attending our local OWL (Okanagan-South Writers League) writers’ group meetings where there has been ongoing discussions on writing and publishing, and that’s been motivating and helpful, too. Thanks for everyone for ideas and encouragement! 😊

Norma J. Hill

a pen and paper mama site

Category: my writing

Yes! I’m still doing my “Summerland Stories” project!

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