Monday, February 27, 2017
Now comes the fun part...
I'm being completely facetious...
In thinking like a publisher, I have to set publication dates and then make sure I hit all the deadlines leading up to being able to hit the "publish" button.
What that means is that I have to know how long it takes to get things done. Most things, I'll do myself, but there are things, namely cover art and content/copy editing that I'll hire people to do. I'm not worried about cover art. I have enough leads on cover artists, that that's not an issue.
But...content/copy editing is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. While my editor always tells me my manuscripts are clean as far as spelling, grammar, and punctuation goes, and I feel that I could get away with not hiring that out, I do rely on her for the content editing portion. At this point, I don't feel like I'm ready to forgo having someone read for missing plot threads or confusing plot points or what have you.
So I need to know how far in advance of my target publication date I need to get my books to her--which in turn will drive how far in advance I need to revise them, write them, plot and plan them.
While this isn't not fun, it's a bit daunting...and crazy. I mean, I know enough authors published by Harlequin. I know that for whatever book they're currently writing and turning in to their editors, it's a year to eighteen months to two years before that book shows up on the bookshelves.
And now that publisher is me and until I get into a rhythm and figure out how long it takes me to write a book from planning to completion, I may be in for either a lot of late nights or early mornings of writing to meet shorter deadlines or longer deadlines which means longer wait times between books. That's not always plus in the romance novel industry. Not unless you're Nora. :)
I've asked my editor how far in advance she thinks she needs a book, so we'll see what she says. I have a feeling that, right now, I'm slightly behind the time curve, but...since book five is already written and I'm working on revisions now, and my brain has just about enough information to start writing book six, I think I'll be able to publish on schedule.
In other "think like a publisher" news, I filed my assumed name last Friday. I'll reveal my publisher name later this week.
Hope you had a super weekend.
Friday, February 24, 2017
So who'd have thunk...
...that at any point in my life, especially my mom, I'd love raw onions? Only red ones, to be honest, but I eat them almost every day on anything that seems logical to put them on.
Other things that surprise even me...
Me running around in shorts in 58* weather at five o'clock in the morning on a day late in February. Yeah, I still get cold a lot, despite the change creeping up on me, but I think all my exercising and consistent snacking have raised my metabolism and my body temperature, so sometimes it takes a little longer to get cold. Weird. Me running around in shorts, not the why/how...
How about me just going to the gym in general? Not such a stretch, maybe, but at the butt crack of dawn??
Jen launching a publishing company/writing career at the age of forty-eight almost forty-nine years old? Not me for sure. But here I am.
It's been an adventure, that's for sure. But so far so good...I'm having fun, and I guess life should be fun at this stage of the game.
So Happy Friday, y'all.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Bye Bye Carbohydrates...
It's been coming. I've know it and have been resisting for a while now, because I LOVE LOVE LOVE my carbs.
I have pretzels and tortillas pretty much every day as part of my regimented meal plan. Oftentimes I have pretzels as a snack before bed too. Any carbs I get from veggies or beans or what have you are bonus. And I don't mean that in a good way. Well, the stuff in veggie and beans are the good carbs, pretzels and tortillas are refined carbs...
So I've Google-searched "losing belly fat" because that's pretty much all I've got left aside from general toning. Each site I visited prescribed six to twelve things to help get rid of the nasty stuff.
I felt a bit discouraged because I've done quite a few of them...
...stop consuming non-natural sugars, especially soda (gave those up years ago)
...exercise (well I've been talking about my trips to the gym since August, so, yeah)
...eat more protein (eggs, cheese, tuna everyday; fish and chicken with green veggies mostly for dinner
...eat more fiber (see green veggies with dinner, but I've been thinking about daily salads)
...keep a regular sleep schedule even on weekends (I can't sleep in to save my life)
...reduce stress (only so much I can do, but I do what I can)
...a spoonful of apple cider vinegar a day (I have some at home, the good stuff with the "mother" even, so starting that tomorrow...)
So what's left...?
You guessed it--reduce refined carb intake. >>SOB<<
I've replaced the tortillas with some sort of wrap with half the calories. Not total elimination, but it's a start--I need some bulk to make me full. I'll also start having one of my daily tuna wraps in some sort of leafy green veggie, this week it's green leaf lettuce, but I like romaine and kale too. Red cabbage, maybe, we'll see how it goes.
DH also suggested a before-bed snack of beef jerky because the body has to work hard to break it down so it provides the right kind of energy overnight.
I've added yoga to my repertoire on days I don't go to the gym. I find that I have less energy those days too, plus it's good to alternate workouts--keep the body guessing, which is probably also contributing to this plateau.
Any other helpful hints??
Monday, February 20, 2017
What's next on the agenda...?
Many, many things, to be honest...
Sometime this week, I'll finally be able to get down to the courthouse and file my assumed name. I'm super excited about that. And once I have that, I can create my accounts with the various e-book distributors around the Internet. I'll be two steps closer to publication. :)
In my research of various things, namely pricing and book covers, I've come to suspect I might be carving out my own little niche. From the look of a cover, you can generally tell a few things about the book; tone, feel, and genre or sub-genre being the relevant ones for this point. Like I said, this isn't empirical research. It's merely an observation from looking at a lot of book covers (had to see them when researching pricing too).
This series I've been working on doesn't appear to be much like anything else that's out there right now. A few are similar, I think. But, of course, no one's going to write exactly like me, so I've got that. I'm looking forward to seeing if those who are wishing for books like mine actually find them. I think the offerings in this sub-genre seem fairly small (compared to other romance sub-genres) since I saw the same books from retailer to retailer with not a lot of pages of offerings. I have a feeling a new author on the scene is going to be noticeable/findable in a short amount of time. *fingers crossed*
I also heard from a fellow chapter mate that she'd heard of my cover designer and thought her work really good. Just the fact that someone else had heard of her was nice. I mean, I think she does nice work, but it's nice to know others have heard of her and agree.
Well, time to get the week started...see you Wednesday. :0)
Friday, February 17, 2017
TGIF My Friends...
I hope your week has been a good one. Mine has been pretty productive. I have no complaints. That being said, I'm glad it's Friday. Tomorrow is writers group day and I'm looking forward to spending a day with my peeps.
On a completely unrelated topic, let's celebrate today being Friday by talking about HOCKEY! Specifically, the greatest hockey player in the world right now. The Pittsburgh Penguins own Sidney Crosby. Last night, Sid scored his 1000th career point. That's what they celebrate in hockey--points. Players earn points by scoring goals or by assisting others in scoring goals.
A couple of pics...
Sid acknowledging the fans after he assisted a
teammate with a goal to earn that 1000th point.
teammate with a goal to earn that 1000th point.
Sid with the puck that went in...
And that's it folks. Have a super weekend. See you Monday.
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