JustWrite

After a few unexpected delays and some procrastination on my part, my autobiography I’ll Do It Myself is at the printer! It was surprisingly difficult to send the manuscript to the printer. Despite the intensive editing and proofreading, I feared errors would still be found. It is amazing how that fear of imperfection can paralyze someone. When I realized I had written this book for readers and not for critics, it was easier to take a leap of faith and to take the next step.

Hitting the send button also meant my dream was over. For thirty years, I’ve been dreaming about and preparing for writing and publishing this book one day. Now that the book exists, I am without my dream, without my security blanket, and that is also surprisingly scary. Now what will be my guiding star? I guess it is now time for a new dream, although I have no clue at this point what it will be. But I can imagine God thinking, “Would you please hurry up and get that book printed so that I can plant this dream seed. If you thought writing your autobiography was big, you ain’t seen anything yet, girl!”

As of Tuesday, the books were printed, the covers were laminated, and they were scheduled for binding today! I will have actual books in my hand early next week! I think it will be a “fall on my knees” when the boxes arrive.

The next step is to get them out to readers so that the book can begin fulfilling its purpose. Visit my site at www.BooksbyGlenda.com to pre-order your copies. I will pop in them in the mail as soon as I receive them – just in time for Christmas giving!

I have been reading about O.J. Simpson’s new book If I Did It and I am not sure what I find more disgusting: that he (or someone) actually wrote about “the events leading up to, including, and in the aftermath of the murders”; that Regan Books is actually publishing this work; that the book deal is an unconfirmed $3.5 million; or that people will buy this book and it will, no doubt, become a bestseller. Is this why our men and women have fought in war to defend our freedoms so that “authors” may claim the freedom of speech when writing such books?

Sorry, but this story really irks me. There are so many people with inspiring, motivating, uplifting stories that go untold because they can’t find a publisher. Yet, O.J. lands a publisher and all the media coverage he can handle because of who he is….and people will eat it up. Is something wrong with our society?

Now that I have that off my chest, I can go to bed and resume the shoestring-budget promotion of my self-published autobiography I’ll Do It Myself tomorrow.

Tags: O.J. Simpson, publishing, books

After dreaming about and my book for the past thirty years and writing for the last three or four years, my autobiography I’ll Do It Myself is nearly done! I’m so close to finishing that I can almost taste it! My book is looking like an actual book.

I am doing the final proofreading, for which Dr. Kathy King, who has written ten books, offered me these words of advice:

• Take plenty of breaks so you don’t get too bleary eyed.
• Keep a great sense of humor.
• Watch out for homonyms! (Yes, they got me a few times; for example, shoot for chute. Oops!)

  Thanks Kathy. I plan on taking part of tomorrow off to celebrate my birthday – the big four-o!

A writer’s necessary tools: dictionary, thesaurus and chocolate!

Today was a self-taught, crash course in interior book design and layout. With several books opened on my desk, I designed my title and copyright pages, minus the “Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data”, which I’m still waiting to receive from Ottawa. The next step is the chapter headings. I would also like to add a dedication if my Muse is still speaking to me.

Thanks to tremendous time and effort by Debbie Fierst, the major editing is completed, and now it’s only the minor changes and final proofreading left to do. I confess that the editing hasn’t been the most enjoyable stage of this journey. However, it was an opportunity to grow as a writer.

The plan is to send my baby I’ll Do It Myself to the printer next week! Then it will be the nail-biting stage: what will people think of my baby? Will any errors be found? And countless other questions that plague writers.