Category: Writing

The proofreading is finished! It was a grueling and worthwhile task. My team of 3 (my editor, my eagle-eyed friend, Barbara, and myself) have combed proof copies of Immigrant Soldier. My editor used a time honored method for checking a final proof of material seen too often—she read it backward. My friend read it for the…

From the very beginning, I was fascinated by the stories my uncle told of his experiences during WWII. But, as I began to write Immigrant Soldier, I wanted the book to be more than just a war story. I wanted to write about the forces, both political and personal, that changed him from a frustrated teenager…

What a journey this has been! More than 15 years gestation and birth is just around the corner. It has been an exciting two weeks as my editor, my designers, and I send a flurry of emails back and forth. But we have accomplished our goal. Immigrant Soldier was uploaded to the publication arm of Amazon (CreateSpace)…

When I sent what I believed to be a clean, mistake-free copy of my manuscript to a Ritchie Boy who had promised to write me a review, I was amazed when he found not only some German language that needed correction, but a few other small errors. I conveyed my distress to my editor, and…

When you open a book and look inside, there are certain things a reader expects— title page, copyright page, maybe a dedication, and a table of contents, especially for nonfiction. A self-publishing author determines the content of these pages, but it could be a steep learning curve for a writer to get everything laid out…

It may be true about people that ”you can’t tell a book by its cover,” but when it comes to actual books, the cover is an important selling tool.  Certainly, this advice is emphasized in every source about self-publication.  When I stroll down the aisles of a library or bookstore, or click through lists on…

Every writer knows that at some point you have to take your “baby” (the manuscript) into the wider world. It is said the work of writing a book is a solitary endeavor, but to get a manuscript to its best, it needs to be exposed to others. The fresh eyes every author needs are those…

Writers know that the work has only started when the first draft is complete. Details, additional plot twists, and character development will be added to help the story hang together. That kind of editing is fun. But, for me, the tightening and condensing of my prose is more difficult. How can I close the door…

In the spring of 2013, after more than a year of sending out my manuscript to agents and the few publishers who accept un-agented work, I began to get weary. I want my book to be available to readers while I am still around to feel the satisfaction of a job completed. All around me…