self-publishing

Amazon Celebrates Indie Authors! #poweredbyindie

October 5, 2016 by admin

In the month of October, Amazon is celebrating indie authors through its “Powered by Indie” promotion, and I am proud to be one of them. If you’re an author who wants to participate in this month’s activities, there’s also a Facebook page for you to visit.

From time to time my traditionally published friends will ask me: why indie? Why not find a “real” publisher?

Many years ago I wrote When a Grandchild Dies: What to Do, What to Say, How to Cope. For a year I queried publishers but found no one, other than a vanity press, who wanted to take on the project. Why? In part, there weren’t other books to compare it to. At the time I found just one book on grandparents’ grief, and it was out of print. Publishers like it when there are other books to compare with. I can’t blame them. Publishing is a tough business, and I understand and appreciate the need to make good business decisions.

That said, I wanted grandparents’ grief to be recognized and appreciated. As I interviewed grandparents, the complexity of the topic surprised me. For some, it was the first time someone had really taken the time to hear their grief and pain.

Indie publishing allowed me to bring a much-needed topic out into the world to the people who needed it in a timely manner, and the letters I received from grateful grandparents and their families made it all worthwhile.

Switching to fiction has been more challenging. It’s not easy to find readers when so many people are doing what I’m doing. It’s hard to get heard above the noise, and I’m not comfortable making noise. However, indie publishing allows me to play with blending genres and to write exactly what I want. Yes, I work with an editor, and I try to produce quality work…but it may not be deemed “marketable” by traditional publishers.

I have nothing against traditional publishing, and as they say, never say never. However, as long as indie publishing feels fulfilling and enjoyable, I’m proud to be an indie author!

Nadine Galinsky Feldman is the author of contemporary (and soon historical) women’s fiction novels. Her debut novel, The Foreign Language of Friends, was a 2012 finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards and a 2011 Gold Medal Winner in the eLit Book Awards. What She Knew, released in 2016, has received numerous favorable industry reviews and was named a finalist in the 2016 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

Gratitude Continues After Thanksgiving

December 3, 2014 by admin

Mason is ready for his Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love picking up the turkey from a local farm that grew it for us. I love making the menu and trying new recipes. I love the smells wafting from the kitchen. I love the relaxed feeling after enjoying a hearty meal. I really love the leftovers.

I make a full Thanksgiving dinner, even when it’s just the two of us. Fortunately, though, we had company: my stepdaughter Sarah, her fiance Neil, and Mason the dog. Mason, a Maltese/Shih Tzu mix, is a rescue dog who, just over a year ago, didn’t know how to play or walk on a leash. Now he’s flying cross-country.

We had some snow over the holiday, which is unusual for us. On Sunday we drove out to the Olympic National Park, which was a true winter wonderland, and enjoyed a pleasant, though chilly, hike in the woods. I’m grateful to live in such a beautiful place.

Lake Crescent area, Olympic National Park

This week, the opportunities for gratitude continue to pile up. Some are small — I am back on Weight Watchers and lost weight, even on Thanksgiving week. More important, I feel better and more empowered now that I’m back on the program.

When a Grandchild Dies is almost ready to return to print, thanks to on demand publishing. I am checking the proof and making some final changes, and it should be available in a few more days.

Tomorrow I will turn 56 years old, but I am in good enough shape that when I use the book Eight Weeks to a Younger Body by Joan Pagano, I can use the weight program for the 35-44 age range, and the flexibility program for 26-35. I am grateful to be strong and healthy.Bazaar Girls Yarn and Fibre Emporium

This week, our local playhouse, Bazaar Girls Yarn and Fibre EmporiumKey City Public Theatre, is presenting Cinderella. KCPT offers fine productions, and I am proud to be a co-sponsor this year as “Nadine Feldman, Author.” It’s my way of starting to come out more as an author while supporting a fine organization. Henry participates from time to time as both an actor and playwright, and I am grateful for the relationships we are building there, especially with Denise Winter, KCPT’s artistic director. I am sharing sponsorship with my good friends at Bazaar Girls Yarn and Fibre Emporium.

And finally, yesterday, with a swipe of a pen, a judge ended a lawsuit against us. I am cautious about getting too excited about this, because we didn’t “win.” The plaintiffs withdrew the suit without prejudice, so they could re-file the lawsuit. However, for now, at least, a two-year legal battle has ended. We can go back to enjoying life in paradise.

What are you grateful for?

One more Mason photo to add joy to your day!

A Writer’s Labor and Birth

June 24, 2011 by admin

While 50 pages of my novel sit at the agent’s office, waiting to be read, I am busily doing one more spit and polish on the manuscript. My editor had made recommendations, which I followed, but I want to make sure that all my latest changes make sense…either in case the agent wants the rest of the story, or I decide to query other agents, or I decide to self-publish again.

As I get closer to the end, though, I feel a familiar sensation, one that hits me every time I finish a project. That is, a fear of death emerges. Now, I hesitate to some degree to talk about this, but a few years ago I learned that I’m not the only writer to feel that way, so I might as well tell the truth. It’s not as bad as it used to be– it’s one of the main reasons I didn’t start writing until I was 39. These days I just say, “Yep, here it is again.”

Thing is, every time we write a book we are reborn in some way. Maybe it’s a piece of myself that I don’t need anymore that dies, and that’s what I struggle to let go of, but finishing a book is a bit like having a baby, except you’re not dealing with diaper changes, cries, and sleepless nights.

Well, sometimes we still get the sleepless nights, but it’s not the same. Like a baby, though, the book needs nurturing even after it’s “born.” We send it around to publishers and agents, announcing that we have the cutest baby book ever. If someone says our baby is ugly, we take offense. And, we must care for it, revising, resubmitting, getting feedback, etc., to help form it into the best little citizen book we can. We don’t know what it will be when it’s grown up, or how others will perceive it.

In the meantime, though, we wring our hands and fuss over it, doing our best and wondering where the damned manual is–because for all the books that exist on the craft of writing, there is no definitive way of creating a novel. In fact, I have already learned that each novel has a life of its own. I’ve finished two and started a third, and each one takes a different path, just as each child does.

We learn, in the end, that some efforts, despite our best intentions, are stillborn. They don’t quite work, they languish unpublished, or they don’t sell. It hurts, and we grieve. Sometimes we wonder if we’ll ever be parents at all! Still, we proceed with determination, like everyone who wants to parent a child, and we keep trying. We learn that when we allow ourselves to love, whether it’s a child we have or a book we write, we may die a little in the end. We may be disappointed. But we will not be sorry that we allowed ourselves to love in the first place–for that is where life’s magic resides.

Thoughts from 2011 #WLTcon

June 15, 2011 by admin

The Writers’ League of Texas held its annual Agents and Editors conference this past weekend in Austin, Texas. I, along with a few hundred of my new best friends, made the trek to attend workshops, make new friends, and pitch to agents. This was my second conference; I attended two years ago. In those two years, a lot has changed!

Much of the focus has moved to social media as a way of branding and marketing a writer’s work. A “tweet-up” allowed attendees to tweet their questions about publishing, and I learned that many agents LOVE Twitter. I’m still not sure about it, but if the agents are using it and sharing publishing information, I’m happy to dive in. Previously, my tweets were occasional, uncertain, and inconsistent. Now, I’m in the know–at least a little bit! I’m now following several attendees, including said agents, and it’s a great way to get information about books, blogs, agents, and writing workshops.

When I attended two years ago, I was trying to decide if I wanted to publish Patchwork and Ornament traditionally or independently. I am glad I chose the latter because it allowed me to print the book before my father-in-law died, allowing him to see and feel the book, read the reviews, and watch it win an Indie Excellence award. I made a fundamental mistake, though, in not hiring a PR service to help me market the book.

When I published When a Grandchild Dies, I had a built-in audience. Between Amazon and Centering Corporation, a publisher and seller of bereavement books, my first self-publishing efforts were more successful than many, and I took it for granted that I had some PR skills. However, Patchwork has not fared as well. Now, having attended WLTcon, I have some leads on PR firms that can help me market my current project and perhaps resurrect Patchwork. These firms work specifically with authors and small publishers, so I will look into them further now that I am home.

I had my first-ever pitch session with Amy Burkhardt of Kimberley Cameron & Associates. Amy represented The Safe Food Handbook by Heli Perrett, where I learned never to eat raw sprouts–just in time to hear about the German e. coli outbreak attributed to raw sprouts. But I digress. The agency also represents women’s fiction, including Free to a Good Home by Eve Marie Mont, which I loved. Amy comes across as reserved and quiet, which helped put me at ease, or at least as at ease as was possible. The good news? She asked for a partial manuscript! Read the submission guidelines, she advised me, and I heard this message frequently throughout the weekend. Agents will not review manuscripts where the author could not be bothered to read the guidelines.

The best part of the conference, other than hanging with other writers, was the optimism of those representing the industry. Times are tough, and it’s harder to sell books these days, but a lot of dedicated people are keeping the faith and working hard. Their passion remains strong, and for that I am grateful.

Riding (or Writing) the Bike that Matters

April 6, 2011 by admin

My husband bought a hybrid bike some months ago and has recently taken it out on several long, hilly rides. After years of riding, he can move pretty fast. “You would really be something if you had a road bike,” people tell him. Well, he does, but he chooses the hybrid instead. For him, though, it’s not about how fast he can go. It’s about building strength and getting the heart rate up. I love this about him, this willingness to do what’s right for him versus what’s popular.

We have both eschewed the typical quest for success in favor of quality of life, and he’s not the only one who’s gotten questions or comments. The one I get most is, “Oh, so you’re a writer. What else do you do?”

I’m a little sensitive to that question. It takes time to write, to read the work of others, and to study the craft. There are days when the blank page intimidates and refuses to fill, days when the prose is boring, days, when plot problems don’t resolve. There are the works that change midstream, requiring a complete rewrite or even total destruction of what came before. Yes, often writers work day jobs out of necessity while they build their reputations, but it doesn’t come easily. After years of writing on my lunch hours while coworkers considered me antisocial, it’s nice to spend my days writing. I schedule my work as I did my previous jobs, with daily to-do lists and schedules to keep me on track. I have to limit phone calls and e-mails to avoid distractions. The good news and the bad news is that I am my own boss.

I have a lot of ideas, and I’m doing my best to get them all on to the page. As I revise Change of Plans and Blood and Loam, a new manuscript, Another Ordinary Day, has popped onto the screen and demands some attention. I manage this blog and Art of the Garden. So when I get thrown off-track from time to time, I tend to fret.

These past few days I have lived with some severe fatigue. A new gym opened up down the street, and I overdid it, I’m afraid. Some years ago I had some health problems that, while healed, still cause my body to complain from time to time, and I have to focus on sustained, consistent effort rather than the “no pain, no gain” philosophy. This last week I pushed a little too hard, and now I’m paying the price.

I used to hate these enforced periods of stillness, but now I see great value in them. I can’t just spit out pages of new prose…I can focus only on one sentence at a time. This slows down the page count, but strengthens the sentences. As I rest and stare off into space, my characters come to visit. We have a leisurely lunch at a French restaurant rather than a quick run through the McDonald’s drive-through and as a result, I get a clearer picture of their wants and needs. I let go of my idea of the story in favor of what the story wants.

Also in these moments, I ask myself the hard questions about my life. Am I living authentically? What do I want from this writing life? What matters most? I’ve discovered, to my surprise, an inner voice that wants me to continue working independently, as opposed to seeking traditional publication. Now, I want to make sure this comes from a genuine desire for independence, and not fear of rejection. So I go through the exercise of sending queries, and just this morning I signed up to meet with an agent in June at a conference. I intend to continue the process for a while to test this new information.

Part of me wants the “validation” that traditional publishing provides, even though I’ve read some awful books that make me wonder how they were ever chosen. There are people who believe that self-publishers do so because no one will have them. Yes, that’s true in many instances, but I also know several talented, though unpublished, writers. But does that matter to me?

Truth is, I write for the same reason that I breathe. I can’t live without the words any more than I can live without air. I never cared about fame or getting on the bestseller lists. It’s more about expressing myself and hoping to find some people who like to read what I write. Sharing the writing is my way of interacting with the world and building relationships. Do I need a publisher for that? Not really.

Some years ago I participated in a cognitive therapy program to help me work with anxiety issues. As part of that program, I had to keep a journal, which my therapist then reviewed and returned to me the following week. In the margins of some of my entries she wrote “WPT,” or what people think. She pointed out the many ways that I would stray from my soul’s path because I was concerned about someone else’s opinion of it. Over time, I learned that I still care what people think, but I can still choose actions based on my needs, desires, and personal truth.

I may be surprised. I may go to Austin and fall in love with the idea of getting an agent and going the traditional route. I suspect, however, that I will choose to stay independent. I think it works better for my personality and way of going through life. It’s the hybrid versus the road bike. Neither is “wrong,” but one suits us better than the other.

The Path to Wonder

February 1, 2010 by admin

The backyard calls to me. My blueberry bushes are starting to wake up, with tender new leaves starting to unfurl and reveal themselves. The proud pomegranate displays its many tiny leaves like it is bragging. A precocious lemon tree requires my persistence so that it doesn’t produce fruit too soon. I wait, impatiently at times, to see what the grapevines are starting to do. And now I have a pile of concrete half-blocks to create a raised bed where the vegetables will grow. Wednesday, the new soil arrives so I have something better to plant in besides the stubborn Texas gumbo. I am a novice gardener, taking a class through Urban Harvest, but I have always known that I love digging in the dirt…and I love creating. I am delighted every day as I get to know my plants, and from them, myself.

For many years I talked a lot about life, but didn’t do a whole lot of living it. I thought I would write a book someday, but I somehow never found the time until a long illness taught me how precious and fragile dreams are by taking from me, for a time, a God-given ability. Now, two books are out, a third one is finished and ready to query a publisher, and a fourth one, which I will publish for free online, is close to completion. My writing dreams, as well as many other more personal dreams, are coming true. What has been the difference?

One thing I know for sure: following my dreams has been scary. Each creation has brought up inner fears and doubts. I think that’s why many of us spend so many years just talking about them, and making excuses for why we don’t git ‘er done. When push comes to shove, it’s not lack of time or money that stops us–it’s fear. I haven’t yet found a project that didn’t scare me at some level, but as I study the lives of other authors, I have discovered that this is pretty normal. The difference is that fear becomes a reason to do something, not an excuse not to do it. Fear becomes excitement, because it is my signpost that I am on to something interesting. I am an explorer. The work of creation becomes its own reward, and the completed project, while rewarding, more of a byproduct.

I spent the last month focusing on a move, hence the wonderful back yard with new life developing. Now, settled in, I’m ready to work again. Ready to write more. Ready to finalize a few projects. Ready to query that novel. Ready to work, ready to be scared, ready for wonder.