Wednesday 16 March 2011

A Step Closer...

This morning I have moved a step closer to being published on Kindle. My script is complete - including editing - and I am "stepping away" from it for a couple of hours, the idea being that when I go back and read it through one last time before publication I will be able to see any final adjustments needed before I hit the "Publish" button.

I have been having a crisis of confidence regarding this particular short story, which I am putting down to two things. Firstly, my inability to work through a whole piece without editing as I go - not the end of the world, I know, but that one habit has extended my publishing date by over a week - and Secondly, an overall feeling of "this is too easy" which has caused me to question my own style of writing and content choice.

As far as the editing goes I have decided to play with the settings on Word 2003, as part of the issue, well, most of it actually, was caused by squiggly red and green lines appearing underneath what I was writing. Now, I have to say, I think the grammar and spelling tools available through such as Word are fantastic. When you're on your own as far as final edits go they are invaluable. However, my personal experience of "as you go" error highlighting has been a wholly negative event. For me it has been like having someone stand over me screeching "wrong" in my ear at every little error.

Automatic screening off, the annoying "wrong"s have disappeared and in their place rests the peace and tranquility needed in order for me to complete my work uninterrupted. I estimate that I can now write a 3000 word short story, from start to finish including editing, within the day. Very much food for thought...

As for the self criticism, I've opted for a more relaxed "what the hell" attitude as it has been pointed out to me that whatever I write is bound to attract criticism from some of it's readers!  Gosh - I hadn't thought of it like that before but it's true!! Proof of that, I think, is very evident in the success levels of many of the indie authors who are selling well on Kindle. Plenty of authors have produced work over the years at which agents and legacy publishers have turned up their noses; what they have read has not appealed  to them or it has been their opinion that the script would fail to be commercially viable. Agents and publishers had the first (and often the last) say as to what went on sale. No more is that the case. Now it is the reader who has the job of deciding good from bad, hence why success has been seen by authors whose books, had it not been for Kindle etc, may never have been given the chance to sell at all. "Unsaleable" novels have made good money for their authors and prompted a new wave of confidence in many who had all but given up on seeing their work go on sale.

My next update should be within the next few hours and have details of how easy it was to go live!!

Happy Days!!

MoJo xx

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