Tag Archives: Publishing

Authors, Pen names, Writing

Pen Names

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2013-03-08 10.07.35

 

How many of us as writers have pen names?  A fellow writer friend who has done rather well for herself with her ebooks has several, one for each series she writes. As I am starting to get some of my work out there I wonder about the pros and cons to having a different name. Researching this online I came across the basic good and bad points from other authors.

Pros

-If your name is hard to spell

-You are shy and it is a way to hide behind a new name

-You are trying a different genre that is outside of your comfort zone thus giving you freedom

-Privacy

-You can write about any topic

Cons

-No one will know it is you

-You can get lost in the shuffle between social medias of your pen name versus your real name

-Less credibility as an author

-Confusion between the pen name and your name for family and friends. Especially if you have more than one.

These seemed to be the main reasons to have or not have a pen name.  When I approached one of my writing groups about it one of them said it plainly.

“You are just starting out. No one knows you or your work yet.”

But now that I think on it that could be in the pro list. As I go about the edits and book covers I realized though once they are released I would either have to inform people it is me through the social platform I have in place or start from scratch. But in doing that I might lose the contacts I have made over the last two years.  I am truly not sure what I am going to do. The thought of a pen name excites me it’s just so cool in my mind. I have even played around with what names I would use if it ever came to that.

I will have to think hard on this for I am honestly not sure at the moment.

Author, Blogs, Book, Creative Writing, Editing, Jasper, Kindness, Manuscript, Social Media

My Online Platform

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Writer’s Digest is a magazine I inhale. About a year and a half ago I was reading this article where the writer in her following credits listed her twitter name. The article was on online platform and how one can use it to further one’s works. That one little name got me started on establishing my presence.

A lot of people have told me well I don’t have a book out we should wait. That is the opposite of what you should do. No matter what magazine you read that is on writing or webinar you have seen the topic of online platform is bound to be talked about.

This is a tool that indie writers use to promote their works. But it is not just for indie writers, traditional houses are now following suit.

When you are a new author you need all the help you can get in promoting your works. This is done in a variety of ways from Twitter, FB, Goodreads and other forms of publicity.

In March of 2011 I made the move to getting my name out there. What I had to my credit was a number of complete books, short stories and my soon to be 2011 NaNo book but nothing in print. But that was okay. You want to start ahead before you release a book. You want people to know who you are and what you are about.

Doing it when you have a book out and then shouting, “ Hey hey look at me! I wrote a book come check it out” will get you some looks but not as much if you had planned ahead and started working on your platform.

By doing this in advance I have gotten a lot of positive feed back. One major woohoo was a small indie publishing company wanting to include two of my short stories in their anthology e-book. Something I am still pretty proud of for now I can say I been published. From that I met my current editor who is a dream and worth her weight in gold. It continues to meeting a publisher who helped me with my query letter that got my MS to being read by a few publishing houses. This all done before I had one single book out in print or in e-book format.

Pretty cool right? By doing all this people are starting to know me and what kind of stuff I write about. When I have up and down days they are there to help me with encouragement, suggestions and tips to help me along the way. I have a circle of publishers, editors, authors and bloggers to turn to in time of need. To say they are incredible is a gross understatement. These are people who are well established but take the time to help me out. Why? Because they know me from the various mediums we belong too. People who are making it in the business that I am attempting to break into. They are there for me because they have come to known me. I am no longer the new kid on the block. That is something that I can not put a price on.

Because of the people I have met my book is getting a second look at by a publisher. Something I can not say would have happened if I had done this alone. It would be a lonely walk if I had waited until my first book came out whether it was self publish or in print.  If the publisher decides to publish my book it would partly due to the people I have met through my online platform. And that would be freaken amazing.  Over the next few weeks I will dedicate one post a week to the various social medias I use in hopes of passing along to others what I have learned over the last year and a half.

Cassandra's Roadhouse, Editing, Jasper, Life

MIA: Chapter 2

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My editor in email: I found a minor loop-hole in the MS.

OK don’t panic was my first thought. I was still in Maine when I received the email. She is mistaken, I know that the part she mentioned was covered in one of the earlier chapters. Don’t freak out I will look at it when I get back.

A few days later after getting home I checked out her edited copy of my MS and began to read. I scan down to the part she mentioned had the loop-hole. She probably just missed it as she was editing. Scrolling back to the beginning I reread my book. I finished and reread it again.

Where in the hell was chapter 2? OK I probably sent the wrong file. Looking over my entire computer I found file after file of the revised chapters but the one I needed. It had to be here. The first time I revise anything by computer instead of long hand and this is what happens. Great just freaken great. How in the world did I lose a whole chapter?

Going over my computer one more time I looked and crossed fingers to no avail. My husband being ever so helpful asked, “Well where did you file it?”

Really hon? He followed that up with, “Well what is the name of the file you can do a search.” Again really? If I knew where I filed it or remembered the name I would have done so. I know I know he was trying to help me but this was not working. An hour later he suggested I checked my laptop but I pish poshed that away for I had used my desktop.

In June my step dad died and we went up. It now being August I made another trip back to see how my mom was doing. In the week to leaving I had to rearrange my doctor appointments, physical therapy, and meetings. I had to pack, make sure my medication was refilled and pay my bills and to get others to be paid while gone. My five bird cages had to be clean and prepped and ready for my son to take over while I was away. And of course the gabillion things that need to be done prior to a trip. Where I was going there would be limited access to the internet.

In between all of this I was revising my MS to send to my editor before I left so she could go over it while I was gone. The infamous MS that was turned down by a publisher but who had told me where it needed fixing. Asking him if I revised it would he look at it again he had said yes. So the week before leaving was a mess.

My thought on my missing chapter was I had copied over it. There was no other explanation. I am paranoid when it comes to saving my writings. I save them on my computer and two external hard drives- each chapter each revision each MS.

I would have to rewrite this chapter. While I could recall what was in it this didn’t thrill me. Coming back from a trip usually means a few days of getting caught up at the homestead. My poor editor just listened to me vent, fuss and complained as she patiently said it is okay you can do this.  Bless her heart

Four hours later

Totally frustrated with the prospect of what had to be done I sat down on the couch to watch tv as I picked up my laptop to search for this and that. As the screen lite up I saw the file ants.odt. Could it be?

The missing chapter was about ants. Trying to not get over excited I opened it up and shazam my MIA opened before my very eyes. Immediately I hugged my poor husband and turned back to the file. Here it was. I have no recollection of working on this machine while I was busy revising the MS. But here it was waving hello to me with a smirk.

The time this fiasco started was 840am and the end time was 435pm. Yeah someone told me I should have listened to my husband. But at that point I was already in frenzy mode and there  was no derailing that train. The MIA chapter has been sent to my editor and upon completion the new revised MS will be sent to the publisher.

I can breath again… for now.