Short Stories - Spherical Scriptings

On December 21st my story goes to e-press at / Mystic Moon Press / I am quite excited and invite you all to check out the site, and if you happen to be interested in a tale of Magic and an unlikely Apprentice, please feel free to have a read. Peace n Love all! Happy Holidays. : { )}

Click here Finally, this little paperbook (300+) pages, is available for release. My first book. A self published collection of life – yours, theirs, his, hers, yesterdays and tomorrows. A collection of short stories and poetry. I hope it finds a place in your hands and in your heart. Thank you xx

Sparked by a comment I read about Self Publishing. I was going to comment but realised it was better to make my view as a journal entry, although I think I’ve said this before some where. Eoin Purcell has a blog about the ins and outs of the publishing industry as he knows it. Within his blog, he discussed the pros and cons of self publishing a while back. Through bloggers such as Eoin and Miss Snark, I was able to research the option of selfpublishing my stories and have come to see the pro for self publishing has the possiblity of success. Take a look at Matthew O’Reilly and Christopher Paolini, both were self published before they were picked up by mainstream publishers. Before they were picked up, they were selling books and retaining a majourity of profits. Places such as Lulu and Createspace.com make it easier for the undiscovered writer to have their work in print. You have control over all aspects of the story and its promotion and this ensures you retain more profits in your pocket. However, the con is that it does take a lot of time, drive and your money to get the books out there to begin with; promotion and knowing where to promote is the key: parting with a chunk of your cash to “get your book really out there” and “a household item” . Making valuable connections is another key. Even if you have the greatest following with your story, it seems to be more than luck and being in the “right place – right time” to have your book signed up with a corporate publisher. Having said that, it’s still possible. You could pitch to a publisher but that too takes time, drive and money plus the emotional rollercoaster of receiving rejections. I’ve received close to 100 rejections to date and getting to the point where I’m running out of places to submit too – lol. If you get that one, it could be a gold mine and great glory for you so I feel the traditional submission process is worth the pursuit. There’s also pitching to an agent who should be able to offer mainstream industry connections: from publishers to promoters, lawers and reviewers and even the ability to handle film/movie rights or know an agency that does. They should be doing the leg work for you and all they can to get your book to sell otherwise they don’t get paid. I’ve found a lot of mainstream publishers will only take unsolicited manuscripts from authors with agents. Publish America and Poetry.com are places that serve as a good warning for writers. There’s a site called Predators & Editors that used to tell you which publishers were dodgy. Duotrope.com is a good site for finding short story – novella publishers. There are a few published writers on Red Bubble. Amanda Cole is one, Melinda Kerr another, Kate Smith, Gayla Drummond... The list goes on. I hope to flush out more published members and expose them in the next WMG blogazine…. muwhahahaha.

I’ve just discovered how to use Skype and have been on with my best mate in England … webcam and headphones … brilliant stuff !!! I was able to chat with him face to face … absolutely fantastic as though he was in the room next to me … wowowowowowowowow If any of you have never used Skype, its free to download and chat to friends anywhere around the world … it is simply great … it would be cool if some RB folk started communicaing that way … its far better and realistic … it would help people get to know each other better accross continents and discuss their art and creativity (projects, etc) ... please go and investigate it for yourslf … you will find it amazing … really !!! ... but RB is great too … don’t get me wrong! SNAPPYDAVE x