Author: dorothyhagan

Give An Inventor a Shove Day

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I log on to the computer and look at more sad news coming from conflicts across the world. And my simple mind comes to the conclusion that what this world needs is a brand-new invention. Something life-altering like railroads, electrification, moving pictures, airplanes, computers. Something that would alter the very infrastructure and commerce of society. All these deadly and futile wars are really about sources of income. What we need is a new industry. Ideas? Let’s hear them. Here is my idea. Personal flying transportation devices. Something akin to the jet packs we were promised as kids. Imagine how society-changing that would be. Imagine moving just above tree level along designated flight paths. Imagine all the positive sources of revenue this whole new industry could generate. Why not imagine it? Why not create it? Somebody smarter than me needs to get on the ball with this. Where are the inventors? You probably know one. Let’s make this, March 12, 2012, Give An Inventor a Shove Day.

Now before anyone even thinks it, reject those thoughts regarding the dangers of personal flight. Every mode of transportation can get you killed, including walking. If you move off your spot you might get killed. And if you sit on your spot you might get killed by a storm or a meteor.

Remember, my generation was promised jet packs and telephones that would show your face as you spoke. Well, with Skype, we got half that. I want my jet pack and I want it soon.

See what happens when I get a day off? Go out and see what you can discover or invent! Happy Spring Break!

A Most Special Day Indeed

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Thanks to the many people who came out to see me at Barnes & Noble on Saturday, March 3, 2012. It was my very first Big Time book signing! I visited with old friends and new friends, dearest family members and even some perfect strangers! A sweet young woman named Bethany even taught me to Tweet!

My thanks also to Chris and Laura, two great associates at Barnes & Noble for their warm welcome and hospitality. As far as I know, we started with 62 books, and I believe we sold 55! More events are in the works as I strive to get more people excited about the book.

That said, don’t forget…if you like the book (or love it!) go to http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/the-offshore-triumphs-of-karla-jean?keyword=the+offshore+triumphs+of+karla+jean&store=allproducts to write a review for Barnes & Noble, and you can copy and paste the same review to http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+offshore+triumphs+of+karla+jean&x=0&y=0 to post it on Amazon. A review doesn’t have to be very long…just a few lines to say what you liked about it. I cannot thank you enough for this additi0nal time spent on my behalf…reviews are vital to the launch of this book! Many, many thanks!

Upcoming Events

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Hi, friends! Thanks  for stopping by. Hope you check out my book and read it soon. It is a great story!

Have you finished reading The Offshore Triumphs of Karla Jean? Leave a comment and make my day!

Events Scheduled:

Book Signing: Barnes & Noble Bookstore-Pasadena
Saturday, March 3, 2012 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
5656 Fairmont Parkway
Pasadena, Texas 77505

Networking Breakfast:  In the Company of Walt, Beatrix and Benjamin: Indie Publishing Then and Now

Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 7:30 am to 9:00 am

University of Houston at Clear Lake,  ticket information coming soon

UH Clear Lake Official Book Tour Launch: Book Signing and PowerPoint Presentation

Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 6:30pm to 8:30

UHCL Garden Room and Atrium I, free event, more details to follow

Just the Facts, Ma’am

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For new visitors to the site, welcome! The Offshore Triumphs of Karla Jean is now fully live in every form except Kindle, which should be up shortly. You may purchase the book at the following online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble and my fabulous indie publisher, IUniverse. I am available on Facebook, Twitter and this blog. If you Google the title, it comes up every which way. Hope you love the book and tell your friends! Thanks for visiting.

Mounting a Square Hat on a Round Head

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“But it’s really a good story. Really!”

After seven years of thinking, plotting, writing, revising, submitting, proofing and finally publishing, that precious time comes at last when as the author you get to actually hold your printed, bound, glossy, glowing masterpiece. So you hope, anyway.

But before the euphoria is even allowed to infect your being, you know it’s also time to do what comes most unnaturally to a majority of artists: it’s time to sell your work. Only now it’s called a product. That you need to market. In the marketplace. For money. To strangers. And worse, your friends!

Publishing a book is a very long process, and one I have just recently completed for the second time in my life. It was intense, concentrated and laborious. And at its end I was forced to watch helplessly as my book became “live” electronically via my publisher’s website and online retailers around the world. I waited in anxiousness for the author’s copies to arrive so that I could physically hold my own book for the first time. There is an indelible nose print on my front window as I watched daily for a visit from UPS. (To further my angst, the books arrived on my doorstep sometime early in the morning on a wet, humid day. While stepping out to feed my stray cat, my foot landed smack on top of my delivered, moist books. Yowch.)

But the books did arrive, both hard and soft covers, and they look good. The website is up and progressing, blogs are rolling, Facebook and Twitter announcements are in the pipeline, events are being scheduled…there remains nothing to do except to ask, with all humility, the five hardest words coming from an artist:

“Will you buy my stuff?”

Asking this is well nigh impossible for this creator, but necessary, nonetheless. Turning an author into a marketeer is not unlike trying to pound a square peg into a round hole, or mounting a square hat on a round head, as this case may be. That said, I now humbly ask you to purchase a book, and more than that, read it and tell your friends. Because in the end and in all honesty I can say:

“But it’s really a good story. Really!”

The Baby Is Born and It’s in the Nursery

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The high hopes for a consistent blog were derailed in November but, alas, what I was building up to has come to fruition.

After twelve years away from publishing, my new novel is about to be released. The Offshore Triumphs of Karla Jean, Iuniverse, 2012, has gone live. It is in the rollout process, which I am finding quite interesting. It is currently available in softback and hardback at Iuniverse, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It will be available on Kindle and Nook quite soon. Ebooks are the last format in the rollout. Amazon has a great page on the book’s behalf where you can look at the book, examine the covers and read quite a few pages for free.

This blog will be a website quite soon. The next part of this journey will be brand new for me, and I plan to blog about the whole indie experience, which includes this new phase of marketing. I do hope you will join me.

It’s My Party…And I Don’t Have to Cry

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Interesting week on the march toward publication. Good news, bad news, more good news.

Good News: Utter elation following a visit with my former professor of Humanities and Women’s Studies. She stated “I would be honored to read your manuscript” for a possible cover endorsement. Additional elation when my beloved University of Houston at Clear Lake asked “if I would consider” doing my book launch at the university. Really? Really?! To say I was honored at the proposal would be a profound understatement. I was invited to discuss this further next week, and you can bet I will be there.

Bad News: Received my first “conventional, traditional” editorial review from my publisher. To be succinct, the reader completely missed the focus of the novel. I guess, because it begins with a helicopter crash with an unknown outcome, she considered it “an adventure story.” That couldn’t be further from the truth. That is like saying Steel Magnolias is about diabetes. Or Gone With the Wind is about civil war fashions. I politely reminded this editor (not the same one who read the book) that my story is call The Offshore Triumphs of Karla Jean. Notice the plural. Not just the one triumph. Anyway, I went round and round trying to explain a complex story about human challenges and behavior that include themes of sexism, addiction, bad theology, issues with children and above all redemption…but alas. I was told, “Well, if you want it to be marketable, it needs more peril and action.” Geesh.

But!

More Good News: I am an indie author! What this means is that I get to say “Thank you for your professional input. I will take it under consideration. Now let’s move forward with my story!” Over the last fifteen years or so, I have heard countless authors complain mightily that their publishers insisted they make wholesale changes to their story’s premise, or risk loss of publication. And that is maddening to an author. Your creative labor, tears, blood, planning and sweat get ignored because an editor you’ve never met says, “Ya know, it could use more action scenes.” But not with indie publishing. You are the editor and the final word. And that is Good News Indeed.

However, and there is always that “however.” Just because you write an amazing story, that is possibly fit for publication, it does not mean you are ready to do so. My next blog entry will talk about what it takes to prepare a manuscript for publication, and it is monumental. You can’t skip important steps. And there are many steps. Until then, in the words of my generation, keep on keepin’ on.

Indie Author Before It Was Cool

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In early 1996 I finished the first draft of a first novel then titled Brookline, Texas. For the next four years I queried, submitted, revised, ground my teeth, queried, submitted, revised, pulled out my finger nails, queried, submitted revised…oh, I failed to mention got rejected DOZENS of times. I had all but given up when something called iUniverse came to life. It offered print on demand technology, soon to be known as POD, and for about $600, a way to publish my book. Since I had easily spent far more than this on Writer’s Markets, Jeff Herman’s Guides, copies, supplies, and postage, it seemed like a no-brainer. So…in what seemed like no time my book was published, beautifully, professionally and finally. The new title became The Edge of the Grace Period and it is still quite available all over the place. I have a small but interested following, and plan to offer them more.

In just a few months from now I will be publishing again with iUniverse. The Offshore Triumphs of Karla Jean is a companion novel to the first one, however, it completely stands alone for new readers. In eleven years time the publishing world has been turned upside down. And in just the last two years “self-published” has become “indie author.” I briefly considered going the traditional publishing route. I sent out exactly one query to a nurtured contact, and got exactly zero response. So…here comes another “indie” novel from Dorothy Hagan. It is my fervent hope it is enjoyed by many readers.