I like quotes that inspire, provide perspective, get me in touch with myself and express a truth in simple words.  All around my office I have little pieces of paper with quotes hanging with scotch tape on bookcases, walls, etc.  I thought I would share some of my favorite.

“Do or do not.  There is no try.”  Jedi Master Yoda

“The individual human spirit is nourished by a sense of connectedness to the whole of human awareness.” I Ching

“Don’t want to be a writer.  Be writing.”  William Faulkner

“Be careful who you let read your work.   I’m a big believer in writing programs and workshops, but you can’t listen to everybody’s voice.  You have to decide who you’re going to trust.  First yourself.”  Alice Hoffman

“To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind.  To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will.  To trust yourself, to test the limits, that is the courage to succeed.”  Bernard Edmonds

This isn’t the whole collection, but I’m sure you get the flavor.  Send me your favorite quote and I’ll write a blog on quotes that folks send in.

  

When I decided to terminate my contract with the California micro publisher I was naive about the self-publishing world I would enter.  Where does a self-publisher find resources needed to publish a novel if you want to avoid the vanity houses that have been around for years.

There are private companies now that specialize in helping self-publishers find resources for editing, printing, marketing, and distribution.  I signed a contract with one.  I turned down two proposals to content edit my manuscript.  One proposal was for $5000 and the other for $2700.  A Madison friend offered to content edit in exchange for a contribution to his favorite charity.

A Sun Prairie friend offered to design a book cover.  He didn’t want to be paid but I researched the going rates for design work and gave him a check plus paid the picture he got from the internet.

My book was ready for copyediting and proofreading.  I contacted the firm and they put me in touch with an editor in South Dakota.  That editor wanted over $3000 for the job.  I was discouraged because I don’t have that kind of money to spend on my book.

My wife recalled that we attended a seminar at a local independent bookstore in April and one of the presenters was a copyeditor.  I searched through my notes and found her contact information.  She responded to my request for a proposal the same day I sent the e-mail.  The quote was very reasonable; she could start immediately and be finished in a week. Tilt! Tilt!  The copyeditor lives in Dane County, Wisconsin.

I have been fortunate to find the resources I need to self-publish Murphy’s Troubles and all within My Own Back Yard.    

I like LinkedIn because it’s professional and has allowed me to participate in a number (read +10) discussion groups for authors.  On several occasions I have posted questions to discussion groups on a writing topic and each time received very useful, direct answers.

One hazard of belong to online discussion groups is that you become a known person.  Recently I was invited to belong to a new professional social network for writers based in Australia.  The international connection intrigued me.  It was a Beta site and I had been selected to participate in the site’s beta test.   At the time I thought it was a distinction.

Soon after I joined I was asked to add a profile and I provided the minimal information.  Then there was an avalanche of messages.  There were messages from strangers asking me to be “friends”.  There were messages from “groups” asking me to join their group.  I figured out how to respond to the invitations to groups.  The groups I joined included ‘serious writers’; ‘novelists’ and others of that type.  That of course led to a barrage of posts.  I began receiving 30-40 posts a day from this one site.

Wanting to have online etiquette, I wanted to respond to those who had asked to be friends.  I couldn’t figure it out.  Not to be outdone, I simply sent a post out asking how to respond to a “friend request.”  No friends responded.  Next, I used the contact form on the site to ask how to respond to a “friend request”.  I waited 4 days without a response.

Joining the Beta site has been too much of a good thing.  Now, I’m stuck.  I don’t know how to ‘unjoin’ the beta site and I’m swamped with too much e-mail.  I’ve paid the price.  

“The world is too much with us now . . .”  T.S. Elliot.  And so it is with me.  I am posting a day early this week so that I may leave soon on a short sojourn.  In my publication update posted last week my path contains Promethean boulders.  It has been six months since I terminated my publishing contract with the California micro-publisher and the reality of publishing this year remains uncertain.

I have been disappointed that outside my small group of local friends, those offering to help are motivated by the almighty dollar.  Recently one editor proposed both content editing and proofreading.   When I responded that my manuscript had the skills of a retired Journalism Professor for content editing she countered with “many authors have two editors review their work.”  I asked twice for a proposal for only proofreading and the editor didn’t respond.  Her fee for content editing was $54/hr. and for proofreading $42/hr.  Whose interest did she have in mind when requiring an all or nothing deal?

While the path to publication is again temporarily blocked while I search for a proofreader, I need a reprieve.  I am giving myself a week to experience another culture and will return to post about that experience next week.