I have been on this journey to self publishing for some time now. I have learned so much however I am reminded of some of my fundamental understandings of how to deal with painting which I think do apply here.
For instance, when you paint, you need to be aware when it is time to walk away. It could be said that graphic design and creating covers and content isn't like that since there are no freehand strokes of a brush or smudging or smearing when you are setting up the margins of a book. I think however for my own sanity, I need to take a broader approach and get a grasp of what it is that is involved in this learning process. What is important, and what is secondary since I think, if I don't, I could feel like I am slugging through water up to my knees! So, when you paint, you learn what your tools will do. This includes what brushes, paints and canvas do and what putting these tools together will produce. You learn the rules and then learn to break them. This is when you start to find your own style. It is the life-force of the artist! I mentioned to my son recently about doing book covers, that I can understand why they have accepted certain standards of what a book "should" look like because the way that is considered most professional, actually is the least amount of work! I mentioned this to my son, and his response was,"mom, since when has that ever stopped you?". Point taken! lol! I do understand now, as I do more and more of these covers that I don't want to make great works of art. I just want to make creative, beautiful and simple covers. That's it. At the same time however, as I learn about the English language and the different types of grammar, I simply want to scream! There is no rhyme or reason as to why a rule is broken, it just is! So what is important and what can I let go of sometimes? That is the question I ask myself as I do each project. Well, one thing I am notorious for is my spelling and the fact that getting it right, can be a challenge. I did a promo ad and spelled "porm" instead of "promo". Now some could say I did that to get folks attention (sure!) however the truth is, there is so much, it can be downright over whelming! Indeed, is over whelming one word or two or hyphenated?...and yes, this is a terrible sentence! And I can tell you from experience, (don't start sentence with and, it is a joiner!), that there are so many grammar checkers out there THAT ARE NOT FOOL PROOF! And I do mean FOOL! Every time I use these checks something is always overlooked!!! I have decided to not sweat the small stuff. Mistakes are going to be made and somethings are going to work and some things aren't. I think I have to remind myself first and foremost I am now making my main priority to be a writer so that is where I cannot allow slip-ups and mistakes. Even though I know these blogs are not perfect and my books are not perfect no matter how many proofs I get, (which hopefully won't be put out for distribution without my knowing!), I am going to make that my main priority. At the same time, I need to remind myself that when I first started painting, my paintings matched my level of experience and expertise with the tools and mediums I was using. So, why do I think my books are all going to start out perfect? How can they? I give myself credit though, because I AM learning, and so are you. That is what is the most important thing on this journey, I feel, to remember. Awkward sentence that could use work but what the hell! lol! As an Indie publisher we are creating the content, we are formatting everything, we are being an illustrator, writer, graphic artist, marketer and so on. We have to be our own proof reader also in many cases because as I said, these programs such as Grammarly do not really work as good as they say they do and I for one, don't believe all that they claim. I have seen some HUGE mistakes!!!! When it is all said and done, I think all Indie publishers should give themselves a pat on the back! We are taking back the written word and not leaving it at the mercy of other people. Over and over I have heard horror stories where authors have been conned out of money for their work by greedy publishers. Indeed now, the online scams are endless and you cannot trust much of anyone. At least we are doing our best to share our ideas and experiences and expertise with others and we are doing it in the way that feels most empowered to us. We may have the odd typo here and there and maybe the graphics isn't the same as some big publishing house, but you know what? I for one and doing this because I love to do it. I don't know if my work will be well received, I can't work with that intent. I work because I feel this is a path I can sink my teeth into and even if I feel over-whelmed sometimes and I misspell a work because it is hyphenated in CAD English and US English, I don't care! I am doing my best, and that is all any of us can do.
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June 2024
AuthorArtist, Buddhist, Educator, Traveller, Cabinet Maker, kayaker, etc and now writer! |