Interested in being self published?
This blog will help your writing be better and will also provide you with everything involving the self-publishing industry. So whether your ideas are big or small, have no fear, because Your Publishing Pal is here.
When I started out at Sheridan, I already had a mentality and plan of attack in mind.
I wasn’t here to make friends, I was here to get an education.
Now before you think too much into this, you should know that before coming to Sheridan, I had a year off after being kicked out of McMaster University.
It was a hard year and as much as I loved my friends from there, they were a distraction and I wanted to hang out and have fun and didn’t worry too much about my grades, which ended up making me suffer.
I remember the first day of class so clearly.
Outside, I was waiting with Brittany and Catarina, but I didn’t remember this.
This is a memory that Cat gave me, which I sort of remember but not really.
When we got into class, I went and sat by myself, telling myself I wasn’t going to make friends and I would just do my work.
That first day, Kellen Jackson walked into the room and took a seat at my table.
He was friendly, he was kind and even when Paul joined our group and completely ignored me, he kept pushing to make me feel included, even though I was very short with him and pushed him away.
That same week on Thursday, I did what I told myself I wouldn’t do.
I made a friend.
It wasn’t Kellen, even though he sat with me in other classes even though I was so rude, but it was Brittany.
I sat alone in Kevin’s class and she offered me to sit with her and Florenta, and I did and in that moment, I knew that my mentality was stupid because having no friends only works in a university lecture hall with hundreds of students where you could go completely unnoticed.
But this was college, and things were different.
I had actually visited Sheridan before because my best friend was a student there already in the Textiles program and I knew how close she was with her classmates, who she had always had funny and hilarious stories to share with me.
That was actually partially why I chose Sheridan over Mohawk, because I knew how happy this school had made her.
Over the past two years, I learned all there is to know about journalism, which I think is pretty obvious.
I learned that I’m not that great a writer, only fictionally (or so I like to claim) but I wouldn’t give up.
I learned that I enjoy the more creative aspect for the industry, even though I know I suck at that too.
This is what I’ve learned from the friends I’ve made:
Kellen Jackson — I learned that it was okay to not be okay and that no matter what, I had a friend close to home who’s door was always open to me. I learned just how open minded he was to anything and how willing he was to do anything for his friends and his loved ones and it inspired me to be more like him.
Brittany McAuley — I learned about the world of Pinterest and I learned just how helpful and kind and caring of a person she is. But definitely not someone to mess with. She showed me how to be strong, but not rude (although I somehow end up always being both anyway) and was always there to calm me down when I got worked up or upset. When I felt alone and forgotten, Brittany was there to hold my hand (figuratively) and remind me that I was not alone.
Spencer Luyben — He became my brother from another mother. He was one of the most intelligent people that I had met, but his curiosity and wonder always made me want to share new things with him, as well as anything humourous because if anyone would laugh, it was always him. His reactions to pretty much anything is something that everyone always looked forward to.
Stephanie Alba — From Steph, I learned the secrets of Cineplex and I learned to be more honest with myself. Her outgoing and open attitude was infectious and definitely makes her someone that no one would soon forget, as well as someone who will go very far in this world. Steph isn’t a quitter and she isn’t afraid to share her problems with others as well as offer as much advice and insight to issues as she can. She’s also very good with taking selfies.
Catarina Muia — When my best friend left for NSCAD, I didn’t think I could fill the hole in my heart that she had left behind. Cat and I didn’t get closer until our second year, but she was there for me as much as anyone else could be. She was always there for me, whether it was to drive me places or to be the shoulder I cried on (it was one time) and I’ve always wanted a pet cat but my parents refused. I pretend Cat is my cat instead. It’s just as better (plus she doesn’t attack me or knock things over for fun). I love you, Cat.
Mike Rodrigues — I didn’t get closer to him until my second year, after a game of 20 questions (which I think ended up being more, but neither of us could remember which one we were on). He never hid how he was feeling and he would always push you to talk if you needed to and constantly checked up on his friends to see how they were doing, because he knew something was wrong and he didn’t want them to feel alone. He’s got great dancing skills and I remember going to Pub Night and how he never left my side and made sure that I was having a good time. He treats everyone equally and the same. He also looks like Andrew Garfield.
Jonny Ferguson & Daryll Hinves — Two of the toughest, most badass people that I have ever met. They’re strong and independent and take shit from no one. Unlike other people who are like this, who literally explode on everyone, these two were much smarter and pick and chose their battles more wisely (assuming they chose a battle at all). From Jonny I learned about all the things that he doesn’t like to eat, as well as that he lives really close to me and from Daryll I learned she had a great sense of style and also we had mutual friends that we didn’t even know about.
Rob Sgotto — Rob was the kid in the class that I thought was so smart and I never really got to know him. Once I did, I quickly learned that he balanced work and playfulness very well. He was serious, determined and a hard worker when he needed to be, but he was also goofy and silly and not afraid to show the world what he was made of and always provided a good laugh (whether he intended to or not).
Adam Johnston — I only knew him for this year and this semester had no classes with him, but man, did he ever impact my life. He was like a big brother to me and even when I was annoying and strange and got really upset or animated, he laughed at my jokes, he was open and honest with me and he didn’t make me feel like a child at all. He was always open to hearing my ideas, but was never afraid to give his own as well and doing group work with him proved to be one of the best decisions I had made. I know for a fact that he is going to do well in this industry and one day, when he’s big and famous, I can tell everyone I know that I met him and that he is truly a wonderful person. He never did bring me my Starbucks though.
There are more people who deserve credit here but these are just a few.
From the staff members, I learned so, so, much beyond just their lessons.
I know that even when I’m gone, they’ll be here for me if I should ever need them.
Now it’s all come to an end and I do hope that I can keep in touch with all the wonderful people that I’ve met because an education is nothing if you don’t have people to share it with and people to help you grow in to a better person.
TreeFrog, a new company under Ricoh Canada has shared with the public the goal and mission to create tree-free paper.
The alternative to create paper instead of trees? Sugar cane.
“Sugar cane is a very innovative approach to paper production. Trees require something in the order of decades of growth before harvesting,” said David Armstrong, VP of Marketing for Ricoh Canada.
“Contrast that with the incredibly rapid growth of sugar cane, where you have as many as two harvests per year, and you can see what a compelling idea this really is.”
TreeFrog paper is sourced from a by-product of sugar cane production, so instead of burning the sugar cane or dropping the waste into a landfill, the sugar cane husk is converted into high quality paper.
The mission to start using sugar cane to create paper is also believed to be more financially beneficial, as well as environmentally friendly.
Although things may seem slow in the world of authors and self-publishing, it is actually making quite an impact on the book world today.
According to Scott Pack, a publisher who was interviewed for an article on www.ft.com, the publishing landscape has changed.
The biggest producer of self-publishing books is Amazon and their wide selection of novels in their virtual bookstore.
According to the article, “It allows authors to publish digital and physical titles, and to record audiobooks to be distributed on its platform, Audible.”
A statistic on the article claims, “40% percent of author royalties generated by ebooks on Amazon accounted for by self-published works.”
“Amazon is using self-publishing as a bludgeon to pummel publishers,” says Mark Coker, founder of rival platform Smashwords, which has also felt the effects of competing with the technology group. “For Amazon to succeed . . . it doesn’t need to take away 100 per cent of publishers’ revenues. If it can take away 10-20 per cent, it undermines their business model.” (Quoted directly from the article.)
E. L. James' self published novel, Fifty Shades of Grey recently hit theatres on February 13 2015 after a movie deal was made for the self-published novel.
Although some places have banned the movie, it didn't change the fact that in four days, the movie made $93M and although many have claimed that James' writing is terrible, no one can deny the fact that her novel has made a lot of money and that there is hope for even those who want to self-publish to turn their books into movies.
Another example of this is Kathryn Stockett's novel The Help, which was also self-published and became a film.
Of course, self-published works aren't the only novels that have turned into a film. A lot of major feature films came from novels and have proven to draw many people to the books as well as the film.
It helps to get your writing out there, but one thing to remember is that when you're writing your novel, you're not writing for the screen, you're writing for the imagination.
The topics you write about and the theme of your novel will draw in your readers and with enough publicity, the chance to hit the big screen is much closer and much more likely.
You could be sitting at home, at work, on public transportation or at your favourite coffee shop.
No matter where you go though, you can get yourself self-published with the help of a new app that Amazon has launched to help writers publish their work easily from their tablets.
According to www.educationworld.com, Amazon.com said educators can "easily prepare, publish, and promote eTextbooks and other educational content for students to access on a broad range of devices, including Fire tablets, iPad, iPhone, Android smartphones and tablets, Mac, and PC," according to a press release.
The app also allows writings to use other functions such as dictionaries, notebooks, flashcards and more.
No matter what field you're in or what work you do, your success is ultimately based and influenced on the money you spend.
As a self-published author, it's difficult to get the hard copy book that you want at a price that's affordable for you as well as the people who want to buy your book.
Although many people aren't necessarily all for e-books because it's not a physical copy of a story they can hold, mark up and never have to worry about a dying battery, it's actually the most cost effective and simple way to share your story.
www.writerscircle.com offers the pros and cons of self-publishing your book as an e-book.
For example, a pro and con for an e-book would be with photos.
As a writer, sometimes photos tell the story just as well as words do and sometimes you need photos to enhance your story.
With an e-book, it won't cost you all that much to have them included in your work whereas in print, you have to worry about the cost of paying for a photo and debating on whether or not to pay that little extra more to have it in colour.
You could very well have your novel available electronically and in print, but if you had to choose one over the other and money was an issue, an e-book might be something worth looking into.
Then you planned it out and let the creative bug bite you and influence you as you scribbled down every single word that flew through you into the pen into your hand, bleeding the words onto the paper that lay before you.
Once all was said and down, you sat down and looked at your work and thought, "hey, this is pretty good. I could publish this."
Of course, you could wait to be discovered, hope that a larger company will take notice and publish your novel, but your best bet to get into the world is to self-publish.
Now the question is, how much do you charge per book? Enough to cover costs to make your books and ship them out to willing buyers? Enough to make a profit?
Writerscircle.com offers a list of suggestions on how to price your work on Amazon.
From things such as "start low and experiment from there" to "consider paper vs. e-book," there's plenty to take note of before you push your work out into the world.
After considering the notes mentioned on Writer's Circle, be sure that whatever you set as your price (although it may just be temporary) is right for you.
Ontario Writers' Conference is starting on April 24 2015.
As a writer, one of the many goals that they aim for is to improve their writing skills.
Now, this is not always easy and more often than not, words tend to fail you, especially when you need them most but have no fear, because there are ways to help you improve.
In April, Ontario will be hosting the 2015 Ontario Writers' Conference. During this conference, there will be many lectures and workshops provided by people who are writers themselves and authors will be in attendance to help share the knowledge about writing.
According to the conference website, the conference is in its seventh year and "is an annual event that brings writers of all abilities and genres together. On April 24 & 25, 2015, delegates will enjoy educational, challenging and interactive workshops led by industry professionals and an impressive range of speakers on the art and skill of writing and related industry topics."
Feedback about last year's conference is provided here by student attendees.
The breakdown of how the two-day event will go is provided here.
Registration is now open and anyone can sign up to take part in the conference.
Self-publishing is a thing of the present and it will also be a thing of the future.
With those who have the writing bug and are eager to share their work with the world, it is often difficult to get into a big company to get your novel published.
Today, things are much different. Yes, some people are still focusing on trying to be a part of a bigger company, but more and more people are turning to self-publishing.
www.cnet.com has published an article that goes over 25 things that people need to know about self-publishing.
Some of the things mentioned in the article is that Digital books are easier to publish than print books, but that both are simple to use, nonetheless.
There are also websites mentioned that are useful for getting yourself published, such as:
www.lulu.com
www.createspace.com
www.booksurge.com
So don't hesitate to really put yourself out there and yes, it might seem scary and yes, your chances of having your work be well-known are slim in comparison to getting them published by big companies, but with the tips, advice and helpful writing techniques, your writing will grow and so will your muse so don't give up and spread your wings and share your words.
