Charlene Mattson's Blog - Posts Tagged "publishing"
Well... Guess I'm Here!
I've been accepted as a Goodreads Author which is pretty cool and a nice way to reach out to more people! It's a nice note to add to my journey from a freelance writer with many unseen manuscripts to a freelance writer with one published book (and hopefully more to come!) I guess the whole journey...
Oh but wait, you may not know the whole journey! Well, it's not exciting, but it'll be quick.
For four years now, I've taken part in National Novel Writing Month as a way to kickstart my butt back to writing fiction in the wake of the birth of my son and running my own freelancing business (you can see why I needed to CARVE time out to write fiction!) The first two manuscripts didn't go anywhere (and the first one went missing), but the third one... ah, the third one became special. Borne from a panicked moment on about October 29 when I realized I had no ideas and I was watching my son play with his Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser and written in a month, I didn't expect much from it either, but I hoped.
In May of 2013, I was looking for work through Elance when I came across a job posting. A new publishing house was (and is currently! check out www.kellanpublishing.com) looking for authors. I took a deep breath, cleaned up the first three chapters of my novel and sent it off for review. Believe you me, I was shaking and the fact that I kept goofing up the Captcha seemed to me an ill omen.
But success! In early June, I heard back from the publishing house. They accepted my manuscript! In a frenzied six weeks (ye gods), I edited, cleaned up, patched and dragged a good friend in to edit the completed thing and sent it away. The result? The Curious Case of Prince Charming which is now tied to my name!
Back to what I was saying. Becoming a Goodreads Author is a nice tip of the hat towards this whole journey. It's not the end, but it's a great beginning and I hope that many others will follow with me! After a certain point, whether you want to write, draw, paint, do music, go to university/college, get a new job, get into a relationship (or out of one) or any other life change, you just have to take the plunge and do it! It's scary, believe me, and it won't always work out the way you thought, but it's better than doing nothing at all.
So much for words of wisdom. Here's an update on current and future projects:
-The Curious Case can be found in a variety of e-formats. No print yet-it takes the time and it costs more-but it should be out in a few weeks.
-Been working on The Glass Slipper Conspiracy which is the second book. It was done for NaNoWriMo 2013 and it needs a LOT of work, but slowly and surely, it will get there. Someday, there will be TWO books by my name.
-My mom read The Curious Case which freaks me out. I have a great deal of respect for my mother and my father-they are great writers, great readers and know very much what they like and are vocal about it (particularly my dad so I'm even more terrified of him reading it). My mom at least really liked it and our conversation clearing up a few points and adding to it has been inspirational for tweaking the plot of Book 3 and a book in the future. So thanks Mom!
I don't know what else to write here, so I guess... what would you readers like to see? Let me know!
Oh but wait, you may not know the whole journey! Well, it's not exciting, but it'll be quick.
For four years now, I've taken part in National Novel Writing Month as a way to kickstart my butt back to writing fiction in the wake of the birth of my son and running my own freelancing business (you can see why I needed to CARVE time out to write fiction!) The first two manuscripts didn't go anywhere (and the first one went missing), but the third one... ah, the third one became special. Borne from a panicked moment on about October 29 when I realized I had no ideas and I was watching my son play with his Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser and written in a month, I didn't expect much from it either, but I hoped.
In May of 2013, I was looking for work through Elance when I came across a job posting. A new publishing house was (and is currently! check out www.kellanpublishing.com) looking for authors. I took a deep breath, cleaned up the first three chapters of my novel and sent it off for review. Believe you me, I was shaking and the fact that I kept goofing up the Captcha seemed to me an ill omen.
But success! In early June, I heard back from the publishing house. They accepted my manuscript! In a frenzied six weeks (ye gods), I edited, cleaned up, patched and dragged a good friend in to edit the completed thing and sent it away. The result? The Curious Case of Prince Charming which is now tied to my name!
Back to what I was saying. Becoming a Goodreads Author is a nice tip of the hat towards this whole journey. It's not the end, but it's a great beginning and I hope that many others will follow with me! After a certain point, whether you want to write, draw, paint, do music, go to university/college, get a new job, get into a relationship (or out of one) or any other life change, you just have to take the plunge and do it! It's scary, believe me, and it won't always work out the way you thought, but it's better than doing nothing at all.
So much for words of wisdom. Here's an update on current and future projects:
-The Curious Case can be found in a variety of e-formats. No print yet-it takes the time and it costs more-but it should be out in a few weeks.
-Been working on The Glass Slipper Conspiracy which is the second book. It was done for NaNoWriMo 2013 and it needs a LOT of work, but slowly and surely, it will get there. Someday, there will be TWO books by my name.
-My mom read The Curious Case which freaks me out. I have a great deal of respect for my mother and my father-they are great writers, great readers and know very much what they like and are vocal about it (particularly my dad so I'm even more terrified of him reading it). My mom at least really liked it and our conversation clearing up a few points and adding to it has been inspirational for tweaking the plot of Book 3 and a book in the future. So thanks Mom!
I don't know what else to write here, so I guess... what would you readers like to see? Let me know!
