The Big Day!

The proof came last Friday. It made for an exciting day of celebration and I was only able to post a photo to my blog.

This Friday Clouds Over Bishop Hill went LIVE on Amazon.

It's a big day nearly six years in the making. I'm wearing my 2010 NaNoWriMo winner T-shirt in the photo. I've saved it all these years for exactly this day.

The Proof Came Today!

ISBN

Clouds Over Bishop Hill now has become a real entity with its own ID number: 978-0-9906190-3-1.

It was real before. Now, it is a little more so.

We are going through the process of uploading files to CreateSpace. I wish I could say all went well and there were no glitches, but there were a few.

There had to be few “somethings.” For us it was: having pages and pages of forms to fill out, proving citizenship, having a nice Midwestern thunderstorm roll through, and losing the modem connection in the middle of uploading.

But so far there have been no total disasters. The forms were filled out and accepted. I can now personally vouch that having a cell phone that can do tethered Wi-Fi is a wonderful sanity-saving thing.

The greatest delay came from the cover spine. It had to be made larger because of a different paper choice. Cream paper is fatter than white paper? Who knew.

Which is the point. We are all learning new things here.

But annoying or not, every step gets me closer to having a real book in hand.

And closer to the time to think more seriously about marketing plans. 

There will be a book!

The New Website

My latest website took a little over four days to make. Two days to play around with the modular components and understand how they work. A half day to make a plan for the overall design of the elements I deemed important for my site. The rest to actually write some copy, capture my cover photo, and fit everything together into two columns.

I used Weebly Website Builder, a site my husband had directed me to. He hadn’t used it himself, but had heard it would be easy to use. His goal was for me to do it myself.

I was able to get it done. Pretty much on my own.

I got my columns set up. I would have preferred one column larger than the other, but couldn’t make it happen. That was probably for the best because two equal columns look really good on small screens like cell phones.

I was able to activate the links to my blog and my Facebook author page. (I had husband standing by to make sure I entered the right info.)

I needed the most assistance to get the cover photo. (I watched him do it and I sort of understood.)

Of all the websites I’ve designed, this one went the easiest and the fastest. I’m confident that my first updates will go just as smoothly.

I will find out fairly soon because I finished the last editorial review of the manuscript last night. It’s really going to happen. Clouds Over Bishop Hill will be out in the world soon and I will be out there trying to introduce it and myself to prospective readers. The new website will be an invaluable tool.

Swedish Meatballs

On many occasions, I have promised to bring meatballs to my book openings. I’ve had my Swedish mother-in-law’s recipe for some time now but hadn’t gotten around to actually making it.

My sister-in-law told me how those meatballs were a favorite treat and something she always requested for special occasions when she was growing up. They fell out of favor later in her life. Maybe when she realized what the secret ingredient was. The comment from her husband was along the line of “it’s not natural.”

I should have cooked up a batch before now, but I didn’t have all the spices and I couldn’t decide what meats to use for the actual meatball. I wanted something other than 100% beef. All this indecision and procrastination meant no meatballs … until now.

Last week I had to have something for a neighborhood party. So, now was the time for meatballs.

I do have to make a confession—I purchased frozen, ready-made Swedish meatballs. Yes, there are such things, but not as easily found as you might think. Fareway came through for me.

It was all good because I wanted to concentrate on the sauce anyway.

I gathered all the spices I would need and lined them up on my counter. It was so impressive that I had to take a photo.

All went well enough and most of my meatballs disappeared. I have made a start and have ideas of what to do next.

There will be meatballs!

Setting the Stage

I love it when a serendipitous moment comes along and I can say, “I got that right.”

                               

One of those moments came along this past week when I was sorting through emails. I gave a quick glance to an article entitled Preface your book! Bookbaby sends me stuff all the time, usually short articles pertaining to writing, publishing, and marketing. I can glean a useful tidbit every now and then.

This one really hit the spot.

According to this article:

“A preface could be an introduction. Or it could be a prologue. It is whatever you need to set the stage so that the reader can hit the ground running from Chapter 1.”

This idea of setting the stage caught my attention, because I’ve started my book out with an augmented disclaimer. You know the standard blurb found in all works of fiction that state what follows comes from the author’s imagination. The confusing part that I wanted to explain in more detail comes from using some real names: Bishop Hill, a real place I lived in for over twenty years, and Olof Krans, an historical figure and painter. Both of these are key characters that I’ve taken liberties with for the sake of my novel and mustn’t be held to the same standards as non-fiction.

As a preface I’d consider what I’ve written as an introduction and an invitation.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

                                                   

        This is a work of fiction. Bishop Hill, Illinois is a state historic site and a national historic landmark with innumerable real-life stories to tell. I chose the avenue of fiction to tell mine. I used my author’s imagination to create names, characters, businesses, organizations, and institutions wherever I could or otherwise used them fictitiously. Historical figures and events, past and present, along with geography were likewise subjected to my imagination and altered for this work of fiction. Any resemblance to real-life is wholly coincidental.

        A young Olof Krans did join the Bishop Hill Colony and later used his self-taught painting skills to document the Colony’s early prairie years. Those who want to learn more are encouraged to continue their journey by reading further or visiting the real Bishop Hill in Henry County, Illinois. There’s a wealth of information out there and many knowledgeable people to help you on your way.

The Bio

I’m not by nature a fast writer. I’m slow at picking out the right words and spend too much time rearranging them. Not a good thing for a first draft of anything. It makes editing time consuming as well. But this slowness allows me to measure when I’m improving. The one sure sign that I’ve gotten better at trying to write in some new area or style is when I notice I’m writing faster than my usual pace.

There’s only one thing that I’ll never be fast at … writing about myself.

I must have an author’s bio for the novel. So I will start out by turning to the source of info I already have: my writing resume.

I had to put one together for my application for The Great River Writer’s Retreat in 2013. It has been a valuable tool ever since.

By digging up and listing when and where I wrote feature articles and news items—I proved I had a history of writing and publishing. By listing all the organizations I’d written press releases for—I proved I could do an important step in marketing. By listing my awards—I proved that I had been recognized.

So even though I’ve moved to a new city and have been very single-minded in the pursuit of my novel, I do have a background as a writer that I can fall back on.

Having said that, I went in a different direction for this bio.

I wanted this one to be personal and a reflection on my life choices. More about family and how I got here than a list of what I did here and there along the way. 

This is what I came up with to introduce myself to the new readers of my novel:

Mary Davidsaver was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa, Iowa City. She had no choice but to attend school in Iowa City because generations of family craftsmen helped build the county courthouse, the dormitories, and the student union.

                                                 

That tradition of craftsmanship had her living in Bishop Hill, an Illinois state historic site and a national historic landmark, first as a silversmith and then as a writer, for twenty-four years. She and her husband have returned to Iowa.

I could have added a little something about crossing the Mississippi River to find better sweetcorn … but I didn’t.