Writing update

I haven’t figured out what my next book will be about. But I do have some published pieces this month. Here they are in case you missed them:

I Can’t Get Over the Friend Who Dumped Me, The Frisky, October 1, 2010

Word, The Nervous Breakdown, September 26, 2010

My Secret to Weight Loss? High Cholesterol! The Frisky, September 16, 2010

Remember last year when I was toying with the idea of self-publishing my memoir? Well, I’m toying with that idea again.

This year I queried maybe a dozen agents about my memoir.  A few very quickly rejected me, most I never heard from, and one sent a very thoughtful message with some helpful suggestions.  But the thing is I’ve edited my book so many times, I don’t know if I can do it again.  So I asked a former writing teacher about recommendations for ghost editors.  I knew it’d be pricey, but I thought it might be worth taking a shot.

My teacher got back to me immeidately, and I wrote the editor right away.   And never heard from her.  Basically, here I am offering two G’s to someone, and I hear nothing.  To me that said I couldn’t even pay an editor to read my book.

Then I saw a Facebook update from Will Entrekin, a fellow Nervous Breakdown writer, about the latest in his self-publication and marketing adventure, for his novel, Meets Girl, and I thought, Fuck this shit!  That’s what I should be doing!

Why bother waiting around to be discovered when I can take the bull by the horns myself?  It’s not like back in the day when you’d slap down major bucks to a vanity publisher.  Tools like Lulu and open source publishing programs make self-publishing cheap and easy.  Plus, nowadays, it seems only the big, best-selling authors get hefty marketing budgets from their publishers.  A lot of authors are arranging their own tours, embarking on their own marketing campaigns.  Why not go a step further and just publish the damned thing myself?

One may question the quality of the stuff that’s out there.  Sure, you get the bad with the good.  But that’s the same for published works.  I mean, for God’s sake, SNOOKI has a novel coming out.  Fucking Snooki.  ‘Nuff said.

MB just finished writing an educational book in his field, and while it’s downloadable for free, he’s also selling it on Lulu. He just ordered a copy and is having me copyedit it. That way, I can also see what a book looks like having been published by Lulu.  Then I will do the same for my book, and give it one more edit.

4 comments

  1. Hi

    I read your recent article on The Frisky “My best friend dumped me” and I wanted to read more of your work. I love it and I’ve bookmarked it! I went to San Francisco during May – no one told me it would be freezing! I had to hunt for a jacket instead of one of those hoodies you can buy at Fishermans Wharf that says “San Francisco” on it.

    Good luck with your book!

  2. Wow, the one about getting dumped by your friend really struck home.
    My best friend since elementary school ditched me in Grade 12. Just straight up stopped talking to me. Her boyfriend didn’t even know why. It really tore me up but I eventually resigned myself to hate her forever.
    A year later, I found out why she did it through a mutual friend. It for the stupidest reason ever and I was just gobsmacked. The mutual friend told me that she said she felt bad about how she handled it and all the while I was thinking- well duh.
    I hadn’t seen her in a few years but I went to a wedding a month ago and she was sitting at the table next to mine. I just ignored her the entire night and made sure I was having the time of my life. She left early.
    But that’s only because I knew her reasons behind it. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if I never knew.
    P.S. Snooki has a novel? Can she even spell?

    • G/W: yeah, it’s totally the not knowing that’s the hardest part. when “June’s” sister called that time, I was all prepared to ask her if she knew what was going on, but she didn’t even know that we hadn’t spoken for so long.

      as for Snooki – GAH! that’s all I have to say. no but seriously I imagine she’ll have some ghost writer who will attempt to write in Snooki’s “voice,” which is a scary thought.