I will also give away a large swag (that’s book related merchandise) package:

Besides all of this, I get to keep up with Facebook congratulations, Twitter tweets, and other miscellaneous social media contacts of well wishes and trying to get the word out to the world that Dragon’s Future is a real book!

The problem is that besides being an author I am a wife, mom of five (three of whom are still at home), and a teacher. That means that I also have housework that needs to be done, organizing kids so they don’t run a muck, and picking up a van from the school for a leadership conference that starts tomorrow. I think I have my work cut out for me and I had better go make breakfast, wake up the kids, and get started! Thanks everyone for the support you’ve shown me so far and “may your dragon fly true!”

Birth is something that binds people together. Women especially relate to birthing stories, but even farmers tell the story of the birth of their cow, horse, sheep, pig or other animal. The beginning of life awes even the most sedate person. It is no different with a book.

In late February, I sent my manuscript, Dragon’s Future, to Booktrope to be reviewed for publishing. It was a nerve-wracking experience. I didn’t even tell my husband or any of my family members that I had done it until I heard back from Booktrope! Then when I heard, I had the two to three weeks of deciding if I wanted to follow through with this decision. I couldn’t believe it had been accepted. The mayhem of social media, blogging, editing, proofing, and cover designing has filled up the last five and a half months, but now it is finally time! The moment is upon us. The due date is only six days away. Unlike my natural births that I had, this one will happen on the day scheduled, at least for the eBook. The print copy may be more like my natural births of not sure exactly when after the due date I will get to hold the baby in my hands. I can’t wait! I am so ready and excited to see it and to know that my baby is here. However, just like my children, I will then hand my baby into the world to make its own way. I look forward to hearing your feedback–good and bad, but hopefully mostly good.

As an expectant mother, please forgive any emotional outbursts that I have in the next week or so. Expect my Twitter account to be filled with comments about the book or the Facebook party (come join, there currently is a contest for whoever invites the most people). My Facebook page may be filled with dragon related links or photos and words about the book. Believe me, the excitement will wear off, just like the newness of a baby wears off with sleepless nights. Until then, allow me to exult and rejoice in the life of a new birth.

“The best way to convince, persuade, teach and inspire is with a story.”

In my sixth grade class, I had girls in tears because of words said. I finally settled the students into their desks and I told a story of a shy, insecure sixth grade girl and how words hurt her. You could hear a pin drop in the classroom, a rarity with that group of kids. My seventh grade students were ready to start a family tree project. They could present their own family or the ‘perfect’ family, and they needed to use photos of some sort. The requirement for using clip art and other pictures from online was to site their sources. There were groans and questions of why. I told them a story, this time with pictures. I opened my file on my computer with my art. I showed them the drawings I had done, and asked how I would feel if someone else claimed those photos as their own. The story stuck; not a single person who used clip art failed to site their sources.

As I look through history, it is the storytellers who wove the morals into the fabric of society. People don’t like rules, but they love a story. So, the storyteller would create a story to give evidence to the rules. Aesop and his fables is one of the famous ones. Others line archaeology hallways. What child would listen to their parents saying, “Avoid the sneaker waves”? And yet, every one would sit and listen enthralled to the story of the beautiful Native American princess Ewanua who was warned of Seatka, the evil ocean spirit, and yet at night she wandered to play on the beach with her dog, Komax, and her cat with kittens. She did not head the warnings of her elders and was lured into the ocean. Parents then would point offshore to the princess, immortalized in stone, staring out to sea with her cat and the kittens in a basket and Komax, on low tide, sitting on shore howling to get everyone’s attention.

Legend of Face Rock

In modern times, stories still resonate with our hearts. As authors, our values, morals, and intents come across in what we write. Authors may say they have no intention of sharing any moral story or that their story isn’t an allegory; however, their beliefs color their writings. Take the two most well-known for the modern day high fantasy, Tolkien and Lewis. Tolkien did not want to create a Christian book; yet, his beliefs shone through his writing. Lewis, on the other hand, wanted to share in a story his beliefs. He succeeded to the point where many now just see the story and not the morals behind the story.

As I wrote the Dragon Courage series, I had my own children in mind. I wanted them to learn some lessons, but knew that the best way to do it was as author Antonia Felix said, in a story. So, I began writing. Each book has different themes that resonate with the reader. It was with great pleasure that I read the review from Sandra Stiles stating, “There are subtle lessons and themes throughout the story about friendship, trust, courage, and abuse of power.” I had fulfilled my desires. It was even more satisfying to hear that I had done it in such a way that she “read this book much slower than [she] usually read[s] because [she] wanted to savor every word and didn’t want it to end”. That was exactly what I had wanted to do.

As you finish up this summer, take some time out to curl up in your favorite reading place, whether that is under a tree, at the creek or lake, on the beach, sitting around the dinner table, or cuddled up on the couch or in your favorite reading chair, and read a new book. Dive into a different world and see if your eyes are opened to new truths.

Back in March when I signed up with Booktrope and began the process of publishing my books, I was encouraged to have a website with a blog. That means that at least once a week I am suppose to write about something book related or at least my life related. Sometimes that gets a bit overwhelming. Coming up with ideas isn’t quiet so hard as finding the time to sit down and write! The next hurdle that I tackled was creating a Facebook author page. That was a little easier because I know how Facebook works. However, it can be time consuming because I get caught up in the lives of my friends and acquaintances and forget I am suppose to be writing blogs and other things. My book manager really had to twist my arm to get me to set up a twitter account. I had been resistant to the efforts for years. I didn’t see a need, but when Pam said I needed one, I decided to try it out. I was quite glad that I did. I have found some really amazing people on there and some wonderful authors. It is a fun way to get a good laugh and to cheer up my day. The last social media step was to create an Instagram account. I am not quite as enamored with it as I am with Twitter, but I am learning the ropes thanks to other Booktrope authors who are helping me out. Why do I need all of these social media outlets? Because people want to know what an author is up to. They want to interact with the writer and know he or she is a real person. So, every day, I am on at least one of these social media outlets trying to connect with readers and writers.

Social media isn’t the only thing an author does. Once the novel is written, then it must be edited. The editing process is different for each editor. Since I have two genres of books, I have two editors. The one takes my book, reads it and writes down all of her first impressions in a word document, then re-reads it and edits for grammar, clarity, word choice, and plot consistency. Then she sends it all back to me. I then read through the novel and accept or reject her changes and add notes to explain why I didn’t or to help clarify things. Then I send it back to her. She goes over it again and sends it back to me. This final round may take one to three passes depending on how much we differ in our opinions. My other editor sent me my manuscript in chunks with the grammar edits first. Then after reading through it that way, I then received a full manuscript with the word choice and plot consistency issues. I read back through the novel to accept or reject those changes. When it is to the editor and author’s standards, it will go to a proofreader.

However, while it is in the process of editing, the author not gets to consider cover design and blurb. What will portray the genre and the book in a single image to make the book stand out so that people want to pick it up and check it out? What words should go on the back cover to intrigue a reader to gather it to himself or herself and read it? We don’t want too many details given away and yet at the same time we want to say what the book is about. So, while editing goes on, the outside is decided on as well. Then begins the proofreading.

The proofreading process is less stressful than the editing process. In editing the author’s very words and ideas are brought into question. With a good editor, though, the author knows her best interests are at the heart of the changes. Proofreading is for format and those little things–spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word usage. Word usage is easy. It isn’t did you use the right words, but rather did you use the same word repeatedly in one section. The proofreader offers suggestions of how to change that. She or he will also work on typos. Throughout the whole proofreading process though I read through my novel at least one more time!

After proofreading, the novel is ready to be submitted for layout. To do this, the author must make sure that everything is exactly as she wants it in print. So, back to reading meticulously the novel. (Note this is at least the fourth reading after submission to the publishing company.) Once satisfied that all looks good, it is submitted to layout. Layout then puts it into a pdf file and sends it back to the author for a final proof. Again I read through my book to make sure there are no errors. I was fortunate with Dragon’s Future to not find many. I could adjust and change them without a cost to me.

Now that the book is in layout, we are down to the last month or so before it is released. That means that my job is done, right? Wrong! I am now very busy on-line making friends and letting people know about my book. I am doing Facebook parties, Twitter posts, and blogs. What is a Facebook party? That was my question back in April when I first heard about them. They are a way of getting people from all over together to learn and celebrate the release of a book or other event. A Facebook event page is created, and on the day and at the time set, the party begins. Usually there are different authors set up to take over a half-hour to an hour slot. During this time, they engage the audience who has logged onto the event page. There are giveaways, fun memes, photos to comment on, and ideas shared. The theme usually relates to the author’s book or books. There can even be question and answer time for the author. It is fun when there are lots of people involved and commenting on the different photos or threads. It was at one such event that I sold my first book!

I am also busy creating advertisements for my book. I didn’t know it three months ago, but books have trailers just like movies do. So, I am learning Photoshop CS6 and other multimedia applications to create trailers, and still images with reviews and endorsements for my book. I am also looking at what is called ‘swag’. My teenage children laugh every time they hear the word. It is a teenage word to mean something is cool, radical, awesome (choose your era of word). In the book realm it means promotional giveaways such as bookmarks, coffee mugs, pens, notebooks, t-shirts, magnets, stickers, lip balm, etc. The list is as big as your imagination! These are used on those Facebook parties and at signings as ways of bringing people in to purchase your book.

One final touch happens during all of this. The cover artist receives the information on how long the book is, the final blurb, any endorsements to add to the book, and then finalizes the cover. This is the last step layout needs to be able to print the book, whether that is a Kindle or a print version.

While all of that is happening, I am also counting down the days to the release! For me, my first release will be Monday, August 10, only three weeks away! That will be when I will have a Facebook release party and celebrate the birth of my novel! Then in September, I will have my first signing.

Are you exhausted yet? There is the energy of excitement and suspense of wondering what will it be like when it is finished, and the ups and downs of technology communications, or real life happenings that cause your team to change mid-way through. These keep you on your toes and everything fresh. So, yes, being and author is more than writing. It is being a person who is active in the birthing of a book.

First off, don’t use a hashtag for everything! It makes the message unclear. Second, don’t try to write a complete novel. It won’t work. And third, don’t just talk about yourself. What do I mean? Well, many authors are on twitter and all I see is “Here’s my book, buy it.” That doesn’t work. Now, I understand the book managers that are trying to promote other people’s books. That makes sense. It’s the shameless promotion of your own book constantly. What should we do instead? Well, one author has stood out to me over the course of my time on twitter. Brian Rathbone (not to be confused with the Rathbones in the Adventure in Odyssey series by Focus on the Family) doesn’t usually promote his books. In fact, I would recognize the trilogy name, but I wouldn’t recognize the titles. So, what does he write about?

Well, I’ve learned to look for his little icon over any others that I am following because I know I will get a good laugh or at least a smile for the day. Sometimes, I’ll get several of both! Little short sayings are what he’s famous for.

Never fist pump the Hulk!
How to immediately find all errors in your tweets. Step 1: click the Tweet button.
The magic of a dragon is not always spell or fire, sometimes its friendship.
It’s not who you know, it’s how many dragons you have standing behind you.
If you fall off the horse, get right back on. If you fall off the dragon, better luck next life.
My poetic license has been revoked. Twice. <sigh>
Sometimes I tweet things in invisible ink
I never should have introduced MC Hammer and Thor. Let’s just say some gods should not wear parachute pants.
Dragons do not respond well to goading…goating on the other hand
WARNING: The dragons went out for a light lunch. Authorities are suggesting people wear dark clothing.
Never look both ways before crossing a dragon.

So, today, as I got my smile and replied back, I was surprised to find a treasure. Brian had an additional two tweets today–Two of his books are on amazon for free Kindle downloads! Well, after having gained a relationship with him and looking forward to his daily tweets, of course, I had to go check it out. So, why don’t you, too. Take a look at them at least. I just went to amazon and typed in his name and found he’s has a lot of books on there. If you love fantasy, you’ll love his writing. I, for one, am glad that he didn’t take the advice of a former colleague and quit writing fantasy.

Click here to go to the book

Click here to go find his books.