self-publish on lulu.com

So I put together a compilation of stuff I wrote years ago that friends said I should do something with, illustrated it, slapped it all together in Publisher, and designed a cover. I’ve seriously been sitting in front of my computer sketching, organizing, and editing for at least the past twelve hours. It’s almost 100 pages. Whew!

But now I know I can do it!

Now where’s the market for nonsensical, rambling stories?

Oh, and I added the story about my recent devil dream, too, because I made an illustration that I just couldn’t resist using. :)

I finally finished that silly story I’ve been talking about finishing forever! It’s a whopping five pages long right now. Ha ha!

But anyway, I had rewritten it like a dozen times, because I kept finding typoes, and my computer crashed, so I had to retype it yet again, and things like that. Fortunately, I was smart enough to back it up, so when my computer crashed yet again, I still had it all.

Looking over my writing, I think it reads a little pretencious and self-righteous… Well, too bad. It really wasn’t intended to be. I always write my stories in character, and generally drop the narrative character from the story… so I blame it on fictional people.

I just gathered about half of my badly witten “mulya” stories from a loooong time ago, and decided to put them in a book too. I mean, why the hell not, right? So, I should be working on illustrating them, and then have them up… eventually. :P

I got to the end of my manuscript, retyping the whole thing… but that’s not saying much, since there is now a spot right in the middle with the words “REDO THIS” in size 18 font.

Oh, and the whole thing is eight pages long in 10 point font! Ha!

But, anyway, it’s been written and rewritten, and no matter how I feel about it now, as soon as I fix that “redo this” part, I’m illustrating the whole thing, and putting it on Lulu.

Is is weird for all the text to be at the bottom of each page?

I lost the origional file for my story when my computer crashed a few months back. Luckily I had a hard copy, but it is not the origional, so I’m typing the whole thing up again, and editing it in the process.

I have put this off for so long!

I finished the editing to my story – as far as I’m concerned. A couple more people are going to look it over.

I also bought a publishing program. I was so worried that the only program I could get would be InDesign, and that was just out of the question (way to expensive!) but then I discovered microsoft publisher, and it’s exactly what I needed.

I am thinking I need to buy some children’s books to see how they are done, as far as the intro, and title page and where everything goes, n’ stuff.

I found that, while Lulu will do advertising it’s not necessarily affordable, so I’m hoping that I can get people to spread the word once it’s online. I’ll be making goals for certain numbers of hits on my page.

It will soon be time to make the illustrations. (This is a hardback, not a novel)

It’s hard to say who the audience of my book is. It’s in the format of a children’s book, but there is some violence, and a death. It is a fairy tail about a very young and benevolent queen, and a big, bad, evil baddy who wants to defeat her. A lot of it is about how the queen and her kingdom came to be, but there are also elements of conflict.

One of my inspirations was a book called “The Terrible Troll Bird” that I read many times as a child, but which many children might not be allowed to read these days (because the troll bird terrorized and ate people, but it was a wonderful story with beautiful illustrations).

I wonder – is there anyone on 43 Things who would like to read my book?

Stories take so much more work when I’m writing them for others. I’m satisfied with words that don’t quite do the job, but sound good. When it’s to be published, this is not acceptable.

Things that describe to me what’s going on and how the characters feel make sense to me, because they live in my head, but leave something wanting for the audience.

Time for the second rewrite.

I finished my story!

Now to send it to the four people who said they’d help me with editing, make any corrections as seen fit from their collective reports, and decide how many pages if illustrations I want.

(This is no novel, btw, I’m doing a children’s book… sorta.)

But I’m no good at keeping my own secrets. Other peoples, yes, but my own, they just slip through my fingers like sand.

SO… I am writing a fairy tail. I promised my boyfriend and all three of my sisters that when I finish it, i will send them all copies, and after getting all of their critisizms and revising it, I will illustrate the thing. My friends and family are always demanding that I illustrate and publish my stories, so this is for them… because I have an easier time working for other people than myself.

I think it’s because my aspirations aren’t really all that high, and when I look in the mirror and say, “I’m going to get this done for you,” my reflection just looks back and shrugs. Like, whatever, take you’re time. I’m in no hurry. But, could you get me a beer?

But my sisters have all promised to collectively kick my rear end if I don’t get going on this thing, and Boyfriend is tired of hearing me whine… so here we go…