I created this blog to write about a number of things.
(Hence the description “A blog about writing, motherhood, love, and life in general.”) I’ve
reviewed some of my more recent posts and I realized I had a few rants in there
(Family, Fundraising, and Four Years of Lies). There are also posts about
motherhood, (Things I’ve Learned) and little bit about love. (Matrimony 2.0.)
However, I haven’t written much lately about writing. And then I realized I
haven’t been doing as much writing for myself because I have been doing a lot
of writing for school. (Damn those pesky professors who want me to write essays
like they grow on trees! Kidding – their guidance and feedback have been
invaluable.) I have also been doing a fair amount of ghostwriting, which
provides a modicum of income and tons of practice regarding the actual craft of
writing. But ultimately I want to write for ME -- not some corporation or business
that needs help with managing their blogs or website content.
I think about writing all the time. (Ok, I’ll be honest. I
obsess over writing. I’m constantly thinking about the novel I’m working on,
along with the short stories etc). I troll the Interweb looking for writing
blogs, I connect with other writers via Twitter and the FB and I belong to a
writers group. However, all that isn’t worth shit if I’m not actually writing.
Then there’s the publishing aspect of the whole process. As
a writer, I am super curious as to how the publishing world works. I know traditional publishing is hard to break into. To be honest, I haven’t even tried. I want to, and when I
finish my novel I will definitely query some agents to see if I can spark their
interest and maybe get some attention from a traditional publisher. But in the
meantime, I’m going to try my hand at e-publishing. I’m putting together a
small anthology of short stories that I’ve written and I might submit them to
one of the smaller e-book publishers. I know some people who have published
this way and they seem happy with their experiences. Seems like a good idea for
a newbie.
Another avenue I’m interested in is self-publishing. That
means I do all of the work -- formatting, cover art, blah blah blah…. but I
also clear almost all of the profit. I’m not the most computer literate person
in the world, but I have a friend or two who said they were willing to help me
through the process of publishing for e-readers such as Kindles and Nooks and
iPads and the list goes on – I’ve made my point. For this venture I will be
writing in a specific genre and using a pen name.
The world of publishing is changing, it seems as if on a
daily basis. I’d like to be part of that change. So that means sitting my butt
in my chair and writing, and hopefully writing something that people might
actually buy. I am a writer – and although at the moment I am unpublished, I am
going to work hard to make sure that 2012 is the year I turn into a (insert
trumpets, drumroll, etc. here) PUBLISHED AUTHOR! Who knows…maybe in a few short
months you’ll be downloading one (or more) of my books on your handy dandy
e-reader?
