I'm getting excited for the New Jersey Romance Writers' conference this weekend. It'll be the first conference I've been to in over four years. I'm looking forward to the PAN (Published Authors Network) retreat which will start with a kick-off speech by
Mary Jo Putney, a long-time favorite author of mine. I'm looking forward to several workshops on self-publishing. But I'm especially looking forward to seeing friends again, including Riskies Janet and Megan.
Since it's a special occasion, I decided to treat myself to something new. While my daughters and I enjoy doing each others' nails, I've never had a professional manucure or pedicure. I tried it for the first time yesterday. The manicure was nice but the pedicure...let's say I am hooked.
Another new project I've been trying is preparing a Print-on-demand version of
Lady Dearing's Masquerade. I've gone back to
Hot Damn Designs for a wraparound cover and I've put a lot of work into formatting the text.
It's so different from e-book formatting! Since individual readers can change fonts on their e-readers, you give up a lot of control over how the book will look. With POD, it's just the opposite. I've been happily immersed in typography. This may be boring to some, but I'm finding it quite absorbing to figure out how to lay out the text so it is readable, attractive and conveys some of the feel of the book.
I don't expect the POD version to do as well as the e-book, but it will be nice to have the paperback available for readers who prefer it, and also to have copies for giveaways, etc... More on that soon, I hope!
In the meantime, what new things have you tried lately?
And before you go, please check Gail Eastwood's
post to see if you won a Kindle or Nook edition of
The Lady From Spain!
Elena
I'm thrilled you will be doing a print version! I love my e-version, but a print book means I might be able to get you to sign it at a conference one day. And my print books are my Sunday piled up on the couch with the dogs reads.
ReplyDeleteThe only new thing I am trying lately is meditation. My work is more than stressful and will be through the holidays. I hope daily meditation will help! So far I think I am a bit more relaxed. Time will tell!
That's so sweet of you, Louisa! I would love to sign a copy for you at conference but mostly because I'd get to see you again!
ReplyDeleteI try to meditate every day. My day always goes better when I do. If I'm in a bad mood, sometimes the family tells me to go meditate!
I'm thinking about trying to plot my next book ahead of time..at least more than I plot now.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I'm thinking about trying something really new--imposing more structure on lots of things I do!!
But maybe a pedicure would be easier.
Diane, at NJRW (which was wonderful!) some of us talked about changing writing process now and then. I've decided to abandon the outline for the final third of the balloonist story. Of course, if that doesn't work out I will go back and replot. That's the nice thing about writing--we can always rewrite.
ReplyDeleteNo reason you can't plot while having a pedicure!