Rats With Islands

“Love is like pi -- natural, irrational, and very important.”
~ Lisa Hoffman

Here’s a good piece of advice from Jenny Crusie, stolen from Teach Me Tonight’s blog:

What's the worst that can happen? [...] at the end of your life you look back and say, "I had a dream and I fought for it, I believed in myself and my work, and I never, ever gave up.” That's a life well lived, folks, a helluva lot better than, “I had a dream but it wasn't realistic so I quit and watched television.” Do not let reality push you around, do not be sensible and kill your own dreams, and for the love of God do not let people who are only guessing about what's going to happen next tell you that you're a fool for believing in yourself and your stories.

And an interesting take on e-publishing, courtesy of Dee Tenorio:

Used to be that writers shunned ePubs because they wanted the big fish and found ePubbing detrimental to the goal. Now, though, we're all realizing that there's something to ePubbing that you can't find in endless contests and the speed of sand submission process: experience.

Want to find out what it is to be truly edited, complete with deadlines? Learn what it takes to make a book truly readable and complete instead of just hoping it is? Discover contracts and how they effect your career? Want feedback that matters in the bigger scheme of things---a buying public and reviewers? Creating a backlist and a readership before you sell to your first print only publisher? Figure out how to promote your work and take your career into your own hands instead of walking blindly into an ocean of questions? Even earn while you learn?

This is really what I hope to take away from my experiences with both Virtual Tales and Samhain Publishing. There is so much to know and learn about the business of writing, from giving wings to that very first idea to combing your way through contract language to choosing the perfect outfit for your Oprah appearance (*grin*).

E-publication may not have the glamour and prestige of print publication. It may be getting hard knocks from authors and agents and readers and writers alike. But you know what? If it’s one way for me to start swimming toward the island of my dreams, (complete with cabana boys, thank you very much), then I’m grateful for the opportunity.