Just looking at my desktop, a file containing the final proof of my novel is abbreviated. I mistook it for a moment to be the Turnip. Wondering if this is a sign. I happen to love turnips. I highly recommend re-exploring them if it has been awhile since you have roasted a turnip.
What is all this leading too? Why, fear of course. I work as a mentor by day and my young artist mentees are facing down a hard deadline this week. I find myself thinking/saying stupid things, like, 'you are accountable for every hour of the last 10 weeks'. Terrible thing to say.
It takes me an hour or so to write a blog and give it a once over and I definitely gotten behind. I am behind on everything. My print release is dragging along so slow, it may as well be dead in the water. Of course, this Summer has been insane. I am pulled in 5 different direction every day. Self care is out the window. I am struggling just to eat consistently and stay cool headed. But when I look back over the last three months... and hold myself accountable for every hour.
Yuk. It makes me feel like a failure. That is not a primer for creativity, or incentive for productivity. More like grounds for self mutilation... no. nope. no good.
Fear is always there. It is always holding its hand up to me. Every day it says 'Stop'. And most days I do. Well, I rarely stop, I just keep running circles around the projects that I care most about. The projects that make me vulnerable. I fear the stuff I make. So, I usually spend most of my time making stuff for other people, or helping them make their stuff.
So... I am a mentor. Its true. For young people. I help motivate them every day, with words like, 'Your work is valuable. Go further. You are really growing as an artist. Push past the point of comfort! Fear is the Mindkiller. ' Those feel pretty good.
Though, I dont have any turnips in my house, I am gonna water my garden, then make some pasta. Then sleep peacefully knowing tonight, I discovered the title of the next great American novel.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Bootstraps and International Strangers
Well, it is time to pull myself up by my bootstraps and get crackin. I may be the patron saint of over extending myself, but I am so damn close to having a print edition of this book, it is time to pull out the stops. As anybody who is going it alone knows, with work, family, projects, and holidays, the first thing to go on the shelf is the luxury of writing.
I am not sure if I am going squeeze in a trip to the east coast, but at the very least, I think I can arrange another reading here locally, for the print release. I paid the create space team for a final sweep from a professional editor and I have been sitting on the word doc for almost two months. The next steps are going through the manuscript to review changes, then format the manuscript to the create space print format. I will be using InDesign for the formatting.
Of course, I will release a 1.1 version of the ebook, with the changes and this fall, continue working on the audiobook, with the help of Mr. Sexytime (My vocal talent alter-ego). I also think I can send the book out to a few espresso book machine sites. The closet thing to Omaha is Kansas City. I think this is a groovy model though, and I am looking forward to figuring out how to get my book into those lovely indie book stores across America.
So yeah, independent publishing is officially a very low paying part time job. I am still selling a few ebooks a month, but things are petering off, to say the least. Time to re-engage and breathe some life into this project. My goal has been to achieve as much as I can in the first 12 months of publication. Best case scenario is securing a strong backlist position on Amazon.
Gotta believe and keep the momentum alive. Very grateful for my patron Abby, who works for Facebook and has been funding advertising for the FB page. So if you are a stranger out in the UK or Canada who is reading this blog for the first time, then welcome aboard:) There is a sample avialable for my novel. If you like sex and self-cannibilization, hallucinations and meditation, this might just be something you'll enjoy!
More soon. Perhaps naughty vignette? -Thom
I am not sure if I am going squeeze in a trip to the east coast, but at the very least, I think I can arrange another reading here locally, for the print release. I paid the create space team for a final sweep from a professional editor and I have been sitting on the word doc for almost two months. The next steps are going through the manuscript to review changes, then format the manuscript to the create space print format. I will be using InDesign for the formatting.
Of course, I will release a 1.1 version of the ebook, with the changes and this fall, continue working on the audiobook, with the help of Mr. Sexytime (My vocal talent alter-ego). I also think I can send the book out to a few espresso book machine sites. The closet thing to Omaha is Kansas City. I think this is a groovy model though, and I am looking forward to figuring out how to get my book into those lovely indie book stores across America.
So yeah, independent publishing is officially a very low paying part time job. I am still selling a few ebooks a month, but things are petering off, to say the least. Time to re-engage and breathe some life into this project. My goal has been to achieve as much as I can in the first 12 months of publication. Best case scenario is securing a strong backlist position on Amazon.
Gotta believe and keep the momentum alive. Very grateful for my patron Abby, who works for Facebook and has been funding advertising for the FB page. So if you are a stranger out in the UK or Canada who is reading this blog for the first time, then welcome aboard:) There is a sample avialable for my novel. If you like sex and self-cannibilization, hallucinations and meditation, this might just be something you'll enjoy!
More soon. Perhaps naughty vignette? -Thom
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