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Getting a Manuscript Ready for Publishing

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When you finally land that book contract, you have to deliver the final manuscript. I recently signed a contract with my publisher, Shanti Arts, for my manuscript, Dread and Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Earth.  It was more complicated than my two previous poetry collections for two reasons. The paintings and poems were a collaboration between myself and the Norwegian artist, Irene Christensen. Also, we got two offers for publication, Shanti Arts and the publisher of my previous collection, Finishing Line Press. 

It took several weeks to talk with both publishers and figure out, with my collaborator, which publisher was the right fit. I had a good relationship with Finishing Line Press and its publisher, Leah Maines. I had published my last book with them, and had a good experience with it. Finishing Line offered a higher royalty rate and I knew they were more proactive about promoting their new titles than most publishers. But they offered the contract to me and not my collaborator, Irene Christensen. We collaborated together from the beginning on the project. Shanti Arts is an arts publisher who offered us both a contract, but is not known for new book promotion. Irene and I decided to go with Shanti Arts.

Now I am in the process of preparing the manuscript for publication. As a poet, I want to put my best work into the published product. I have been workshopping my poems from the manuscript in my writing groups, relying on my fellow writers to help me edit and rewrite. I then have to pass them by my collaborator, Irene, who supplies the paintings that I responded to in poetry. Finally, I have to get it to my publisher, Christine Brooks Cote. Irene has to have the artwork ready as well.

After Christine receives the manuscript, it takes her a year to publish, with much going back and forth. Since there is a full-color painting with every poem, it takes longer to publish.

I will keep you posted here on the upcoming process, from contract to published book, and beyond. Follow me here on Thursdays.

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On Blogging

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A blog is a website where you can share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences with the world.

You canuse a blog to promote your business, connect with like-minded people, and make money. I’m a writer and I use it to promote writing: other writers and my own.A blog is a website where people can post their thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics. A blog is an online journal where you can share your expertise and ideas. 

Blogs started out as diaries, but they have evolved into much as most bloggers are now earning a full-time income from their blogs. I don’t aspire to making money with my blog, but some people do. I like to blog about the writing process and that’s the subject of this blog: the process, publishing, promoting.

I use WordPress here and more than 70 million posts are published each month by WordPress users. That’s a lot of blogs. I focus on the literary ones, but you can look for all kinds of topics and write one yourself if you’re interested. Blogs have been rated as the fifth most trustworthy source for gathering online information. More than 75 percent of internet users read blogs. That’s a lot of blog readers.

If you’re interested, you can start a blog on WordPress for free. When you publish a book, many publishers will want the link to your blog as a writer. Blog posts are written in a more informal way when compared to traditional academic articles. If you’re a writer, it’s easy to blog. Just sign up for a free blog site and start writing about what you’re doing as a writer. Blogs have an informal approach.

Blogs are organized in reverse chronological order, with the newest blog post appearing at the top. Websites can have a variety of structures, depending on their purpose.
A blog often has a conversational tone, whereas most websites use a formal writing tone. They are interactive as they allow reader engagement, such as commenting, social sharing buttons, etc., which websites do not. Also, a blog is updated continuously, a website may or may not be updated.

If you are interested in blogging, and many writers and artists are, by all means get started with a free carrier like WordPress. I will be blogging here on Thursdays. Follow me.