Being an Author Is Depressing (+ I desperately need your help)

 

i want to kill myself

Who said being an author is glamorous?

Who said becoming an author would make me happy?

I’d like to know who said this, because that person flat-out LIED.

An author’s life is not filled with glamour. Rather, it’s kind of depressing, even though there are moments of excitement.

Why I think being an author is depressing

I will admit that I might be suffering from fatigue. I mean, I’ve had a  busy two months. June and July were filled with readying my book for publication and creating all of my new author pages and profiles. While the latter are actually simple tasks, they are very time-consuming when you are doing everything yourself, like I am!!! UGH!!

But what’s even worse is that my little book is only one of many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many,many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many books being sold on Amazon. Um, yeah, you’re probably thinking that I put one to “manys” in there, but, trust me, I really DIDN’T.

Here’s why.

 

(Yes, I’m ending the post here. My plea for help actually comes from my other blog. Please take a look at what I need, and why I’m so depressed… Trust me, it’s not a pretty sight at all.)

Go find out what’s going on, and see if you can help.

 

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Reading A Good Book = Going on a Vacation?

I love reading novels for many reasons, but the main reason is due to the fact that I can live vicariously through the lives of the characters.

Reading a good book is an escape from the banality of daily chores like cooking, doing laundry, and washing the dishes.

What constitutes a good book?

A good book is one that can captivate me from the get-go, one I don’t want to put down, for which I will sacrifice sleep to enjoy.

Yes, reading a book is like going on a wonderful (and inexpensive!) vacation.

Even though I’m not world-travelled, I’ve been to more places than you can think of. Yes, they are all in my imagination!

Reading books is much cheaper than spending hundreds or thousands of dollars in an effort to visit a foreign place. (Besides, I think that’s why they made Google Earth…) 😉

If a book is good enough, it will transport me to where I want to be, even if I’m sitting in front of a turned-off TV.

Words transcend places, for me. Do they do the same for you?

Share in the comments!

And don’t forget that I am available to help you edit and/or publish YOUR book or e-book!

“RISKY ISSUES” IS OUT!!! (+ I have a new site!)

 

Ebook Cover - Risky Issues by Lorraine Reguly

Yes, that’s right – my ebook, Risky Issues, is finally out!

I’m jumping with joy over here! (Okay, I’m not, literally, but I AM pretty excited!)

During the past two weeks, I’ve been busy. As it turns out, there is A LOT I hadn’t considered doing, but did.

Let’s back up a moment, shall we?

First things first…

I tried to format my book for Amazon, but ran into problems. Most of you know already that I’m a self-proclaimed non-techie, so this shouldn’t surprise you too much!

But I AM resourceful.

So what I did was this: I went on Facebook and jumped onto a group for indie authors (to which I have belonged for a while) and simply asked for a recommendation to an inexpensive formatter. After several conversations, I ultimately got help from Rich Meyer.

Who the heck is Rich Meyer?

Rich Meyer offers services at a relatively cheap rate and does a great job.

He rambles on his blog, too. 😉 But amongst all the book reviews is a golden post about formatting for free.

So, yeah, Rich is a great guy.

And yes, yes, he’s an author, too. Check out his Amazon author page! It gives you some information about him and also lists the books he’s written.

Uploading Problems

I originally uploaded my ebook to Amazon with the ISBN I was given. (Because I live in Canada, I get ISBNs for free. I just had to apply for it.) But then, I noticed that there was a minor issue when I previewed my ebook. There was no space between two words, but there should’ve been. So I had to correct it and then upload a new file. But then, in the same sentence, a space was deleted again. I know that these issues were caused as a result of the formatting, as my Word document was perfectly edited. So, I uploaded it again, after fixing the problem.

However, because the two files were technically “different,” my ISBN would not be accepted by Amazon. So I emailed the person from CISS (the Canadian ISBN Service), who explained to me that “every time there is a change in format or a change in edition, a new ISBN must be assigned.”

Great. More work. And all because one file contained “thework” and the other, “the work.”

I took a deep breath, and requested a new ISBN. Because I was originally assigned a “block” (a set of sequential ISBNs that are assigned to a publisher or self-publisher), this was easy to obtain.

(FYI, ISBN blocks come in different sizes. They can contain either 10, 100, 1000, 10 000, 100 000 numbers. All ISBNs found in the block start by the publisher prefix and are followed by other numbers to identify a publication and validate the ISBN. A publisher prefix identifies the publisher and the country of the publisher, and my prefix showed that I am a Canadian publisher and that I was assigned a block of 10 ISBNs.)

Because I was changing my ISBN, I decided to add a P. S. to the Special Note From The Author section of my ebook. I added my special poem, which I wrote when I was fifteen. (I would have added it to the table of contents, but I didn’t know how to format it properly!) I then uploaded my new file to Amazon with the new ISBN.

Adding Books to Goodreads

Once all that was complete, I added my book to Goodreads. Again, I had some problems with this. (Big surprise… I am a non-techie, remember?)

I ended up speaking with someone from Goodreads who explained that once books are added to their database, they cannot be removed. Apparently there are strict rules for this, too. So my book is listed twice instead of once. But really, I’m assured, it’s not a big deal. I will know for next time, though, to make sure everything is perfect and to only do it once.

Sigh.Ebook Cover - Risky Issues by Lorraine Reguly

Secondly, the things authors need to do…

Then the real work began. By “real” I mean “time-consuming” and “tedious” but necessary.

What did I do?

What a pain in the butt this all was! But kinda fun, too. 😉 However, I’m grateful they are all done.

I was interviewed, too…

It seems like things happen really fast sometimes. Shortly after Risky Issues went live, my good friend and indie author Melissa Bowersock sent me an email asking me some questions, which she turned into a blog post: Author Interview: Lorraine Reguly on Reaching a Milestone.

I’d recommend reading it if you want to pick up some tips. 😉

Then there was the birth of a new site… free of charge!

During the past year, many people told to me to snatch up a website with my name as the domain. Their urgency was unnecessary, in my opinion, as I’m the only Lorraine Reguly in this world. (Yes, it’s true!)

But now that I’m an officially published author, I figured it was about time to set up an author website.

So I did.

In fact, about 16 days ago, I purchased my domain name. With my hosting plan with Abivia, I’m allowed to have four other websites free of charge!

I also purchased a premium theme, which I had a few problems with, but which I eventually ironed out.

I installed plugins – including a new one I just found out about (and which I also installed on this site, which has worked wonders!) called Anti-Spam. This plugin is free and I highly recommend it!

My new author site is called Lorraine Reguly: Laying It Out There. I even set up a place where people can subscribe to my Author Newsletter!

Commenting on the new site is not yet available

While I was setting up my new site, I disabled the ability for people to leave comments. So far, I have published three posts, all visible from the home page.

The posts are:

They are all very short posts, so I’d encourage you to give them a read.

What’s Next?

Next I have to get my book up on Smashwords. Then I have to begin marketing it.

I’m going to be asking others to help, too, so if you are a blogger and want to help me with this, please let me know via email. You can interview me, simply feature my book on your site, whatever… I’m open to anything, and appreciate all the help I can get. 🙂

And if you want to buy Risky Issues and/or leave me a review of it, you can do that, too!

Regardless of what you choose to do, could you please share this post on your social networks? I’d love it if you did!

Thank you, and see you soon!

 

 

Lisa Jackson Sent Me An Autographed Book!

me holding a book I got from author Lisa Jackson

Lisa Jackson, one of my favorite authors of all time, recently sent me an autographed copy of one of her books! Can you believe it? (Neither can I!)

How I got an autographed copy of Tell Me:

I connected with Lisa Jackson on Twitter last year. On March 7th, 2013, I opened an email to see this:

my tweet from lisa jackson

 

I was pleasantly shocked to see that she actually replied to me.

Yes, at the time, I was new to blogging, new to social media, and a starstruck fan.

I had only had my computer for about three months at that point.

Over a year later, I sent her another Tweet. Of course, this is after connecting with her on Goodreads (as friends), and after commenting on and “liking” several of her Facebook posts.

I sent her this Tweet because I wanted to see what would happen.

I honestly wasn’t sure she would reply. But she did. Positively.

lisa jackson tweets on april 30

 

As it turned out, we began Direct Messaging one another.

And a month later, I had an autographed copy of one of her latest novels in my hands!

Naturally, I was ecstatic! While I don’t want to say that this book is my most prized possession, I have to admit that I am “old-school” and think that having an autographed copy of one of Lisa Jackson’s book is “groovy,” “cool,” “the bees knees,” “simply right on,” “awesome,” and “fabulous!”

I love my book so much that I actually didn’t even want to read it and ruin it’s value. (Ahem, it’s in mint condition!)

So I posted this on Twitter:

screenshot of a tweet to lisa jackson

Yep. I bought a digital version of Tell Me.

I’m reading it now, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it – so far.

I’ll be posting a review of it when I’m finished reading it.

Of course, I have a couple of other book reviews to post, too, but you’ll hear/read about them when the time comes (on Featured Fridays).

For now, I just had to brag a bit at my good fortune. 😉

Call me starstruck. I really don’t care.

I love Lisa Jackson. Well, her writing, anyway…

And now I’m following her on Pinterest, too, as she recently joined this site. 🙂

I love authors

I love learning from other authors, whether traditionally published or self-published.

I think all authors should support one another, even if you don’t particularly like their genre, and to prove this point, I have a special sci-fi author being featured this coming Friday! (I don’t like science fiction; never have, never will…)

But I do like suspense novels and murder mysteries.

And now I have an autographed copy of a book written by one of my favourite authors.

Do you???

Share a story about YOUR most prized possession in the comments please!

(FYI, the other two authors who comprise my top 3 faves of all time are Lisa Gardner and James Patterson – and if either of you care to do what the lovely Lisa Jackson did, I’d gladly hold up my end of the deal of Autographed Copies in Exchange for Reviews? Yes! Yes! Yes!)

 

My Short Story “Firs and Angels” Won the Contest I Entered!

short story winner of december 2013 proofa

My short story, Firs and Angels, was the winner of the December 2013’s Short Story competition I entered via LinkedIn! Today I’ll share it with you, too. 🙂 Soon it will be a part of Aspiring Writers Short Story Competition Anthology 2014, which will be sold on Amazon.

Each month a short story contest is open to group participants. The Group I belong to is 810 members strong (as of this writing) and is called Aspiring Writers Short Story Competitions and Discussions. It is a subgroup of Aspiring Writers, to which I also belong.

In mid-January, I made sure to check the weekly notifications from this group. I was shocked and surprised to see that my short story submission won! Thanks, Ronnie Dauber, for choosing me! I particularly liked how you mentioned that it was “obviously edited for grammar and spelling errors,” too! This proves that I made a good choice to offer my editing services to others. 😉

Short Story to be part of Anthology

The really wonderful news is that my short story will be included in an anthology!

Hooray!

This reminds me of my other recent announcement of having a True Tale of mine included in an anthology!

For this, one, however, here is what was told to me in the group:

“All first, second and third place winners will have their stories included in “The Aspiring Writers Short Story Competition” yearly anthology published in soft cover and e-book format, and will be available at Amazon.com, Lebrary.com and Smashwords.”

Update: The Anthology Has Been Published

 

Aspiring Writers 2013 Anthology book cover

The Aspiring Writers 2013 Anthology is available now from Amazon and CreateSpace.

Firs and Angels: A Short Story

Since I retain all rights to this original work, which was written in accordance with the rules, I’m able to share my short story with you.

The rules for this particular short story competition are included below, in addition to the fact that the story was supposed to be about cutting down a Christmas tree. For each short story competition, a specific prompt is provided, to ensure that the stories are newly-written and original. For those of you who know what flash fiction is, you’ll understand this concept. For those who don’t, I think you get the idea of it now. 😉

The short story rules are as follows:

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