Dani Bowman, an 18-year-old girl on the autism spectrum

I recently received an email from Autism Speaks.  It was about Dani Bowman and the business she has started.  Dani is an 18 year old girl on the autism spectrum.

Here's a link to her site.  It's worth checking out.  http://www.powerlight-studios.com/

Blessings,
Win

Keeping Up With Win

As I mentioned before I have a book, "Jeremiah's Journey", coming out soon.  The process has taken longer than I expected.  There are so many steps to a finished product.  I am currently editing the final draft and should be finished with it by weeks end.

My first impression was my book would be ready for publishment early this year.  Due to the lengthy process of editing and cover design it's taken much longer.  While I don't have a date set in stone, it should be published by July. 

Waiting has been the hardest part of the process.  A close second is the editing process.  As many times that I read and re-read my manuscript there were many corrections to be made.  Thank heavens for editors.  I'd be embarassed of the final product if it had not been edited.  While the professional editor did her job well I am still finding duplicate entries, an extra to or and here and there, and rewording a sentence so it makes sense.

I have my book's draft in hand and love the work that was done on the front and back cover.  As many words as I had written, the book is much smaller than I thought it would be.  That won't be a mistake I'll make on my next book.

I have started an Amish romance novel and fiction book based upon a real family.  Naturally names and places will be changed.  I also have been writing short stories along the same theme that I hoped to get published as a compilation. 

I'm trying a different approach to my next projects.  I've started with an outline to use as a guide in my writing process.  I know I'll probably stray from the outline but expect the bunny trails to enrich the charaters and plot.

I'll be posting again soon...hopefully annoucing "Jeremiah's Journey" website and other sites it will be available for sale.

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."  Will Rogers

I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November. I'm changing genre's from memoir to romance and will be writing an Amish romance novel in one month. I have spent the last four months doing research, have started an outline and am ready to write that first sentence and more. I will commit four hours per day to writing and leave the editing for December and January. It's said that the best way to complete a project is by letting others know of your plans. What better way than by announcing it on my blog and my author facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Win-Quier-Author/240055379451054.

It's in the process!!!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012, I signed my contract with Tate Publishing from Mustang, OK, my book was accepted and the publishing process has begun!  As expected, I am very excited about this process and hope the 6-7 month process will go swiftly.

So far I've reformatted my manuscript to their requirements and am waiting for the person writing my Introduction to finish his piece.  He is my therapist and needed to check with staff to ensure he wouldn't be overstepping his boundaries of our relationship of patient/therapist.  He has been with me during the hardest steps in the book and his input would gladly be accepted.  I'm hoping for a positive outcome.

Without revealing actual costs (this is a self-published company) I'd like to tell everyone not to take any self-publishing company's original price as the final say.  I think every one of them will work with you either with a payment schedule or a reduced price.  Don't be afraid to ask...it won't hurt and you might come away with a better deal.

I'll keep you updated as I go through this process.  My prayer is that things will go smoothly and we'll come away with a money making book in the end.  I'll keep being realistic and realize that most books, unless they hit the New York Best Seller's List, aren't going to make you a lot of money.  All I want is to help with our retirement since my husband and I are reaching that stage in our life.

If it's successful then you'll be seeing my next book, an Amish romance novel.  I'm in the research and outline stage of my new book now and it's taking a lot of reading to delve into their customs and lifestyle.  After being told that they (publishers) can't get enough Amish romance novels, I thought it would be the best place to start with my second book.

In the meantime I am submitting query letters to magazines on two different articles I have written.  This may not turn out to be fruitful, but having the right to say I have a book in the publishing process will carry more weight in my query letter.  I've done my reseach well and only have submitted the query letters to magazines that might be interested in my articles topics.

Join me in the joy of reaching this stage as an author.  Getting your book published is like giving birth (almost) and it's only 6-7 months long instead of 9!  lol

The Publishing Process - Step Two

Step One was submitting my book for publication and now we are on to Step Two, the acceptance email and phone call.

I received an email last Friday...my book has been accepted for publication by Tate Publishing!  My original email from them said it would take weeks to hear from them was correct, but not as long as I had anticipated. The email said the contacts in the mail and little else except for the fact that my book, "Jeremiah's Journey", had been accepted.

I received a phone call yesterday while I was at the dentist, and the message that Eric, my Acquisitions Editor, left was positive, upbeat and helpful.  He called to follow-up the email and to offer support and the next step in the publishing process. Since this is my first book I have a lot of questions and will call Eric today to ask some of them.

I've read some of the books published by Tate and was pleased with their covers and inside details and professionalism.  It's my hope that my book will turn out just as good or better.  One thing they said was that they receive approximately 15,000-16,000 submissions each year and only accept between 4% and 6% for publication. An impressive number to be a part of and I hope it wasn't just to make me feel better about choosing their company to publish my book.

It's my understanding that they (Tate) will set up book signings at local book stores, and put together a notice for the newspaper.  While my book was written in Oklahoma and will be published by an Oklahoman publishing company I hope that it will not limit us to this state.  It will be available on Amazon in book and e-book formats so I'm hoping for a broader audience.

I'll keep you posted on the publishing process.  I'm sure there will be some editing as Eric put it "I think your material has a lot of potential..." which translates to me...editing.  I look forward to the next steps and sharing my journey with you.

Well, I've taken the next step...that is with my manuscript of course.  I've submitted it to Tate Publishing and am now in the waiting stage.  To date I've received an email and a phone call, both which I take as positive steps in the publishing process.  I was told it could take weeks before I hear from them next and that's the toughest part...the waiting.

My book, Jeremiah's Journey, Gaining Our Autistic Son by Losing Him to the System, was a heart wrenching book to write.  Having to relive some of the difficult parts of our lives wasn't easy, but necessary. To make the book "real" I had to include the mistakes we made and the results from the mistakes, the depression that can come from raising a difficult and sometimes violent Autistic child, and the pressures that can be made on your marriage.  We were fortunate and despite the marital stresses our faith in each other kept us close and working as a team.  All too often divorce is a result and one parent is left with the bulk of responsibilities.  During our rough patches we both looked at that aspect and decided it wasn't fair to the other partner and worked on coming closer rather than letting it cause a rift.  Having a close relationship with The Creator helped most during those rough spots.

I'll keep you posted on this exciting process of getting my manuscript into book form.  Celebrate with me as I take each step in the process.  Tate may turn out not to be the right publisher but it's a starting point.  I'm learning as I go and enjoying the experience.  It'll help me with my next two projects, a children's book and a romance novel.  It's fun to branch out and experience the different genres.

Healing From Surgery

The surgery is done and I'm in the healing process which should be short.  They were able to do the surgery from inside my mouth because my jaw was loose once I was put to sleep.  No damage to the titanium plates had been done and they couldn't find anything wrong.  So that means we are back to ground zero.  I am still in pain, other than from the surgery, and they think it is caused from some muscular damage.  So I need a referral to a specialist that can help with the muscles, possibly have to wear a mouth piece at night to stop grinding and determine what is acutually wrong.  I've reached a point of frustration and I'm hungry for something more than soup, mashed potatoes and cream of wheat cereal.  It'll be nice to be on the healthy side once again and I'm hoping my pain management doctor isn't going to change my medications due to the surgery result.  What he has me on is the best working medications I've been on so far.    All I want right now is to get heathy and pain free.