Book #1 in Production

So, I finally finished editing Options for the three thousandth time the other night and sent it off to iUniverse, telling them I was by-passing any further editorial work. I quickly sent in my revised back cover text and bio with the hope that somewhere in Indiana (I think that's where iUniverse lives), someone is now busily preparing my book.

I love my first book. (The editorial review I got was fair and if I was to compare the review to a mark given by a teacher in school, I probably got a B, however, I'm digressing.) I love my first book, but I have read it at least twenty times (no joke) in the last three months, and every single time I read it I find errors and things to correct. I think I nailed it this time though, and hope that any mistakes left are the type that an average reader won't notice. (Although I must admit I am a SERIOUS snob when it comes to finding errors in professionally published books and I'm finding more and more of them lately.....shame on you Penguin Books and all you other large houses!)

So, sayonara Options (although I believe I get one more go around when iUniverse publishes the proof). It's been fun. It's been fourteen years. Time to send you off....

Let me sign off by saying how sick to death I am of the comma.....

p.s. any mistakes in this post are the sole responsibility of the author (I feel I must add this rider)

My iUniverse experience -- so far

I have now received editorial evaluations for both books which were very positive.

The editorial evaluation format from iUniverse is very user-friendly. The editor sends you a multi-page document containing their comments on various topics (the basics; title; marketing text; opening; basic premise and tone; point of view; structure, plot and pace; setting; characterization; dialogue; basic punctuation and grammar; and general comments about the manuscript). The evaluation finishes off with their trade mark "Editorial Rx Referral".

On each topic listed above, the editor has a series of standard questions they answer about the book (yes or needs work), and then they give a narrative answer, citing examples from the book. I found this very valuable. For both books I received lots of constructive comments which I plan on integrating into the manuscripts.

Any complaints? You betcha. And I've shared this with iUniverse. They have a program called "Editor's Choice" where editors at iUniverse identify good, solid books to get their "gold seal of approval". Both of my books were recommended by the editors for this program. However, there's a catch. You have to submit to their recommendations (i.e. have your book copy edited, or have your book line edited, etc.) and pay very big bucks to their organization to have the job done.

Don't get me wrong, I know that copy editing and proofreading are very expensive propositions (see one of my first blog entries). And they are worth every penny. iUniverse's services are not out of line with industry prices for the same type of service and I'm sure their editors are worth the money. I just wish I had several thousand dollars to pay for these services......but self-publishing is costly enough.

So, I'm going to incorporate as many of the changes as I can that were recommended by the editors and get both manuscripts re-submitted asap!

Over and out!

iUniverse....the journey continues......

Happy to report that I've have had a successful week with iUniverse!

I decided to get OPTIONS submitted first so they can get working on that, so earlier this week I went through the steps on the iUniverse website to get the book in their hands. They have a spot on their website for clients to sign-in and once you have paid your deposit, your personal space is made available to you.

You simply follow the logical steps, putting in information they need about you, blurbs about the book for your back cover, a description of what you want the covers to look like, etc., etc. As I already have artwork for both my books, I plan on sending iUniverse the original photos and the cover and see what they can do, if anything, to improve on it. Not that there's anything wrong with what Jordan has designed but the cover designers at iUniverse may have some ideas.

One of the features I get with the "package" I purchased is an editorial evaluation of the book - which I consider a HUGE bonus. I haven't had any "professionals" look at the book(s) and am looking forward to this stage. I'm told the evaluation will be ready in 2-3 weeks.....in the meantime, I received a generic email from the Editorial Team at iUniverse yesterday, describing the process and what type of reaction I might have to receiving critical advice. Basically, they're telling you that you may not like what you hear...... I say so what? -- that's LIFE. Sometimes it sucks to hear the truth! Although I'll probably be wimpering in a corner when I get the evaluation and when I get my composure back I'll likely be demanding the editor's credentials....HAHAHA!

Today I submitted the second book, ARTIFICIAL INTENTIONS.

So yours truly is happy to report that the first leg of my publishing journey with iUniverse has been relatively painless!

Stay tuned for further reports!

iUniverse and Me

Well, it's been two months since I finished writing the second book, now titled ARTIFICIAL INTENTIONS. Lots of re-reading and proofreading going on, with able assistance being provided by my team: Roxanne, Deborah and Sheila! Thank you ladies.

To get ready for publication, I contacted my printer in Victoria and got a quote and also contacted several printers here in the Ottawa area -- only one of which had the decency to get back to me and provide a quote! Their loss!!

And then I got an email......which was from iUniverse (I'm on their mailing list) www.iuniverse.com. Normally I delete them but because I was on vacation and in "vacation mode" (read: nothing to do), I actually took a minute and looked at the sales pitch. All publications were being offered half off! Which got me thinking.........

Why not try a different route this time? You see, iUniverse has it all (so they say). They help you format the book, they'll produce the covers, they'll make the book available on their website, and on the websites of such places as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc., etc. They do the printing, the shipping, collect the money, etc., etc.

And.....at 50% off the regular price, I thought, why not give them both of my books? The total cost will be a little bit more than what I would pay to the printer in Victoria to print 100 copies. And if I did the same with the second book as I did with the first book (i.e. print my own), I'd be responsible for advertising, shipping, collecting the money, etc., etc.

So, I'm hoping and crossing my fingers that this has been a good decision. I have a friend who is using iUniverse and he assures me that so far, so good. His book isn't published yet (it takes anywhere from 90 to 120 days to get it out) but he says he's had a good experience so far with them.

For those of you not in the know, so to speak, iUniverse (and many, many other similar companies) are Print On Demand (POD) publishers. Once all the front end "stuff" is done, and consumers want to buy the book, they place an order with iUniverse and iUniverse prints it, ships it and collects the money (and ultimately pays me a royalty).

iUniverse has a great website which takes you (the author) through many steps to getting the book published. Yesterday I managed to get the manuscript for my first book uploaded as well as completing several other tasks. The one problem so far that I've run into is not knowing how to go "back" and update things already submitted or to complete tasks that I skipped. I have an email out to iUniverse and hope to hear back shortly.

Stay tuned here to my blog as I set off on this journay. I'll do my best to keep you up to date on the process.

The Third?

My husband asked me today if I knew what the next book in the Kate Monahan series was about.

I have no idea, and that's what I told him. The third in the series has been niggling around in the back of my mind, but no ideas have bubbled up. Yet.

I'm in the throes of editing the second in the series and am anxious to get that done so I can send the book to print. My proof-readers and editor are standing-by waiting for the next draft. We still have to finalize a title and a cover too.

Lots to do.........

Summer Reading at Half Price

Have you read my book yet? If you haven't, here's an opportunity to purchase it at half-price from now until the end of July. If you're looking for a good summer read, this is a book for you.

OPTIONS is the first book in the Kate Monahan Series. Kate is a paralegal/legal secretary at TechniGroup Consulting who deals with the ups and downs of the corporate world. When her close friend dies mysteriously, Kate finds herself in the middle of a series of bizarre coincidences with her own life on the line.

The second book in the Kate Monahan Series will be released later this summer! Stay-tuned to this blog or the author's website http://www.rosemarie-damico.com/ for updates on publishing dates.

In celebration of summer, read OPTIONS for half price!

Click here http://rosemarie-damico.com/purchase.html to purchase a hard copy for $8.50!

Click here https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/2075 to purchase an e-copy for $2.00 (use coupon code SWS50 when purchasing).

I'd love to hear from you -- give me a review of OPTIONS (good, bad or indifferent - I love feedback from readers!). Follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/RoseDAmico and stay-tuned for a new Facebook page.

Happy reading!

Finis! Finito! Finished!

Note the date folks. Sunday, June 27, 2010. I finished my second book. It's a sequel to the first book -- I'm referring to it as the Second Book in the Kate Monahan Series.

I started this book FOURTEEN years ago. Yep, you read that right. Fourteen years ago. 1996. If you're familiar with the story of how my first book OPTIONS came about (if not see my website www.rosemarie-damico.com) you'll know that I wrote that book in "three months of Sundays". About twelve days of writing. Shortly after finishing that book, I started on the second one. I got about 60 pages in (about ten chapters) and stopped. 1996 was a long time ago and I cannot for life of me remember why I stopped writing at that time. I know there were other things going on in my life at that time (change of jobs, three kids, my husband and I owned our own business, busy, busy, busy). I do remember being very discouraged by all the "No thanks" rejection letters I was getting from publishers and agents for my first book so maybe that contributed to me laying down my pen at that time.

Fast forward to January/February 2009. If you've now read my story about how OPTIONS came about, you'll know that I was about to self-publish the book. I barely remembered the other book but for some reason, I decided to dig it out. That's a story in itself. We had moved houses and I had changed jobs so did I have a paper copy somewhere? Did I have a soft copy on my computer at my current job? I nervously started looking and lo and behold I found it. On my computer at work. It had been sitting on the hard drive for fourteen, lonely years.

Excitedly, I clicked on the file name in Word and lo and behold, the computer told me to enter my password to access the document. I had password protected the document and did I mention that fourteen years is a long time??? I had no idea what the password was. I spent the next two days trying to find software that I could get (cheap) that could break the password. That was two wasted days!

I called my sister in Washington. Did she have a paper copy? She didn't think so but she would ask Dan, my niece's better half who was one of my inspirations for self-publishing the first book -- but you already know that because you're up-to-date on my "story" (see above) LOL. Why Dan would have a copy I wasn't sure, because I do know he wasn't around when I started writing the second book....

While I waited to hear back from my sister/Dan, I called the document back up on my computer screen, and when it asked for a password I typed in a word, and it worked. Duh?! I'm not sure how I remembered it, but I did. I quickly removed the password and read the first 60 pages. And I liked it! I liked it alot.

About a week later I was scheduled to fly to Vancouver (about a five hour flight) and was privileged to be flying Business Class. I took my laptop with me and spent a solid five hours writing in the book in my wide, leather seat, uninterrupted. I was stoked!

I've spent a lot of hours over the last 17 months finishing this book -- way more time than it took to write the first book. My first book clearly fit in the category of "write what you know". This second book is a little of that and a TON of new, undiscovered area. I did a lot of research for this book. Many days I would sit down to write and hit a point in the story where I was asking myself all sorts of questions, so I would change direction and spend hours researching. For this book I found out a lot of information about the Food & Drug Administration in the United States, the Securities & Exchange Commission in the U.S., the New York Police Department.

Last July I took a trip to Manhattan with my son Jordan to scout locations. We had a blast touring around and because of that trip some things changed in the book.

In between writing time, our family has expanded. Our oldest daughter had twins in September so they (along with their older brother) have taken me away from writing for short spells. Is there anything more delicious than spending time with grandchildren? Recently, that same daughter broke her ankle, requiring surgery and many, many weeks on crutches, so we've spent more time with her and the babies. Sometimes my job gets in the way of writing, sometimes the garden calls me. Recently, the swimming pool has been beckoning.....

Today is Sunday, June 27, 2010. 405 pages, 112,155 words, so far untitled. I feel a serene sense of accomplishment.

Stay-tuned for updates on the next steps. Editing with my trustee sidekick, Sheila. Cover artwork photography, modelling, and design with my uber-talented son, Jordan. And my 'you-know-who' model.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!