investigations,  publishing,  quotes,  writing process

The eBook is coming soon!

August 19, 2012

It’s been a week since my last post because I just did not have the time to post.  I’d love to say it’s because I was taking advantage of our beautiful summer weather, but that’s only partly true.  It was actually due to the fact that when I wasn’t working and I was finally able to get some alone time with my computer, it was to work on my book.  The eBook has been converted and was returned to me mid-week for approval and some suggested edits.  I spent two evenings reviewing the suggestions and making changes.  It’s not that there were that many changes; it’s just that I wanted to make sure I was happy with the changes I made.  I probably could have made more changes but this book has got to move on.  It was born from my imagination, raised to the best of my ability as a new author and while I will always worry about how ready it is for the real world, I am optimistic it is a good example of what kind of story and characters I can create.

While two evenings were spent on editing, another evening was spent working on my author bio.  I don’t know about you but it is a bit difficult for me to write about myself.  You might question why I am blogging if I don’t like to write about myself.  Well, it’s not quite the same thing.  The purpose of this blog is to share with you my journey as I write, move towards publication and beyond.  An author bio is used to promote, to sell, and to make people want to buy your product.  Okay, I guess this blog helps promote, will eventually help sell and hopefully does make others want to buy my book but an author bio provides information on a much smaller scale and also has to attract interest and keep it.

Try it yourself.  If you are a writer, put together a bio and see what others think.  If you aren’t a writer, you can still try to put together a paragraph or two about who you are, what you’ve done and why others should be interested in what you are trying to sell.  Trying to sum up interesting points about yourself and providing the highlights of your life in 200 words can be a bit difficult.

Here’s my stab at an author bio:

P.J. Howell grew up in a small town in Washington State and has always called the Evergreen State her home.  She continues to reside in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons, as well as three spoiled dogs and two cats.  While writing has always been a passion, P.J.’s desire to write books transpired after years of working in a law firm as a legal assistant and then as a criminal defense investigator when she opened her own private investigative agency.  P.J.’s interests in criminal law, investigations and mysteries, combined with her desire to bring characters and stories to life, inspired her to put the stories on paper and share them with others.  ‘No Mother of Mine’ is the first in a series and will introduce you to life in a small town, characters you can relate to and what it takes to unravel the mysteries of life and crime.  While P.J. chose to use her nickname for this book series, she also uses her given name in other forums.  To learn more about her, be sure to visit her blog at www.paulajhowell.blogspot.com. 

That’s just one version of many.  Try your own and see what you come up with.

Now that the eBook has been finalized and approved, I have a short wait for the final edition of the eBook to be returned to me so I can upload it and make it available.  In the meantime, I am also working on the printed edition (what you can hold in your hands), so the printed book will be available shortly after the eBook is released.  However, in the publishing world, I think the word “shortly” is defined differently by many involved.  Let’s just say it will be available as soon as the process allows it.

Again, I confess the publishing process is difficult for someone who does not have a lot of patience.  But I found a quote which helps me when I feel my patience is wearing thin…

“I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.” 
~Margaret Thatcher~

 

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