In the beginning was the ‘vanity press’.  You paid to have your book printed and paid for copies which you then sold.  Now there is ‘self publishing’.  You still pay a fee but a team of experts walk you through the process assisting you with editing, cover design, interior design, listing your book with the big wholesalers such as Ingram, listing your book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, electronic editions such as Kindle and Nook, and finally marketing.  You retain 100% control and 100% of the rights of your work.  A number of authors who have published through traditional means have turned to self publishing for this control.  They have already made a name for themselves and like the idea of controlling their work.  So what is the benefit of the traditional way?  MARKETING!  The traditional publishers will do the work for you of getting your book out there and getting your name known.  They set up book signings and so forth.  I think it is much easier to make money if you go the traditional route.  However, you lose control of much of your work.  And the publishers retain the rights to your work for years.  A tough call!

Many thanks to my friend and former colleague Claude Larson.  She has a blog on quilting and suggested that I add this blog address to my ‘signature’ in my e-mails.  I did so and now every e-mail that I send will have the blog address included.  Perhaps I will make some new friends this way.  Please check out Claude’s blog at Random Acts of Piece.  You will see some examples of her truly phenomenal work!  Tell her I sent you.

Someone asked me what the mistakes in the book were and suggested that I post them on this blog.  A great idea!  My proof readers caught the missing quotation marks, misspelled words, misplaced commas, etc., but missed the fact that I called Jane’s fiance by 2 different names.  I had been toying with calling him Major Stoddard or Major Stafford.  I finally settled on Major Thomas Stafford, but in a few places in the book I typed Stoddard!  I only discovered this after it first went to print but all has now been corrected in both the paperback and the Kindle edition.  The plot is not at all affected by this but how humiliating for me!  The author never saw it even though she had read the book dozens of times! Had I been aware that I might have used the wrong name occasionally there was a simple way to check it in the word processor.  Lesson learned!  I am now working on Jane’s own particular love story (a prequel to Lord Tenbury) and Stafford he is and Stafford he shall remain!  I would not hesitate in pointing this out because the purpose of this blog (for me in any case) is to let people know about the joys and pitfalls of writing and publishing.

Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking to two senior high English classes about my experiences in writing and publishing.  As a teacher for all those years I was never nervous to stand up in front of a group of students, but this was different.  I had some notes on cards detailing how I had gotten started writing fan fiction and then moved on to regency romances.  My emphasis was on reading.  I think I learned how to write by reading and noting other authors’ style and voice.  In any case it went well and the students received me politely and even asked some questions.  And it was fun!

I just received word that the revisions to the Kindle edition of Lord Tenbury’s Dilemma have been completed.  So now the paperback and Kindle editions should be accurate.  What a relief!  Now I must get busy with the marketing aspect of the publishing business.

I would be remiss in not thanking Mary Balogh, NY Times best selling author, for allowing me to post remarks about my own writing and publishing experience on her yahoo groups forum  (marybaloghfans@yahoogroups.com).  Her fans on that site were wonderful in encouraging me and even helping me decide on the cover for this book.  I believe it was only about 2 years ago that I picked up my first MB book.  For me they were like the proverbial potato chip…I could not get enough of them.  She is a prolific and talented writer and an inspiration to me.  So thank you Mary and all your wonderful fans who were so nice to me as I wrote, edited, and published Lord Tenbury’s Dilemma.

Since this blog was intended as a sort of electronic diary about my writing and publishing experiences I thought I would say how I got started.  It began with ‘fan fiction’.  I was a huge fan of the television program Bonanza, especially eldest son Adam.  I discovered that many people were writing Bonanza stories and publishing them on the internet on sites that were devoted to this pastime.  So I wrote a few stories (they are still out there!) and received some positive feedback.  That other people actually read and enjoyed those stories was thrilling to me.  But fan fiction uses other people’s characters and when I discovered Regency romances I decided to create some of my own.  Thus Robert Rothwell and his siblings, as well as Charlotte Bishop and her nephew Will came into being.

The revisions that I had to have done on my book are now completed in the paperback.  I am waiting to hear when they will be finished in the Kindle edition.  Then I can begin with my marketing (getting people to know about and purchase the book!).  Janet posted a reply to one of my posts but it hasn’t show up yet.  Still working on this blog!

Many thanks to my sister Janet for helping me to get this blog up and running.  I can write but the technical computer stuff is something of a mystery to me.  This is a work in progress and will be better and better as we go along.  Thanks Janet!

As a newly published author I thought I would keep an electronic diary of what is going on as I write, edit, and self-publish my book.  Right now I am trying desperately to figure out how to set up this blog.  I am so technologically challenged that I will probably have to get my 6 year old grandson to give me a hand!