The Adventures of a first time author

A possibility

2011-05-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note. I found this website when I was searching for Christian outlets. It seems like it has a lot of possibilities. You might want to check it out if you're a Christian writer.

http://www.christianmanuscriptsubmissions.com/

I'm not quite sure my books are a good fit for this one or Christian market in general because they are not overtly Christian. I myself do not see them as "Christian" books, but books with Christianity mentioned in them as an integral part of the story. In Kwangsook's case, it's part of Korean history, so if I'm going to write about that period, it's going to have to be a part of it.

So, I'm still searching, but I'm now thinking I might go through a last, before it gets published kind of editing/cleaning of the manuscript and send it straight to Kindle. People who have read it tell me that it's quite a compelling story which they haven't been exposed to before. I guess I have options, but it's still difficult to give up on your dream of going through the traditional route.

Happy writing to you all.

A New Direction

2011-05-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the long absence. It's very hard to be motivated and keeping at something when nothing seems to work. But the thing is...if I give up, here and now, then I'm beaten. There is no hope. But I always believe there is hope, always. The glass is always half full. So, here I am, after licking my wounds and taking time off, I'm back with a new plan.

I'm a Christian. Sometimes irreverent. Sometimes heretical in my thinking. Always questioning and seeking. But I do believe in God and that God is love. I didn't pursue the Christian agents/publisher route 1) because my books aren't overtly Christian and 2)I wasn't sure I wanted to be known as a "Christian" writer (whatever that might mean...). I now realize that I'm penalizing myself by not looking into that option for both of my books.

One of the reviewers of my book on Goodreads.com complained about my "Hallmark" ending for Waiting for Appa. I like "Hallmark" endings and I like the ending on Waiting for Appa. I hope a new segment of publishing industry might be willing to look at my work more favorably.

Update on the second book which I'll call by the main character's name from this point on - Kwangsook (means Virtuous Light in Korean). Two agents have read more substantial amount of the manuscript and both have rejected it for several reasons, but the frustrating thing is that both have told me that I'm a good storyteller. I don't know if I need to go back and rework the manuscript or keep trying to find someone who will like it the way it is.

My husband, that wonderful man, says I'm too hard on myself. I'm a busy mom with two young kids who has her hands full all the time. I'm going to take his advice and just try to enjoy my life as it is, agonizing wait time for agents/publishing opportunity and all.

A New Hope

2011-03-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

I can be very stubborn and tenacious, if I want to be, but I also give up easily if and when I decide that it's not worth the effort. Well, once I decided, last summer, that I was going back to work (which hasn't quite worked out, yet because I don't want to travel too much), I gave up trying to schedule book talks/book signings, etc. What I should have done was to look more into other options. I didn't look into Kindle because iUniverse had offered my book in ebook format, but it's not offered on any other websites besides iUniverse.

iUniverse, which published my book in paperback, also offers the ebook option on their website. So, I didn't think much about the ebook option until yesterday when my brother forwarded me a link to an article about an author, Amanda Hocking, who had found success on Amazon/Barnes and Noble selling her ebooks. I think she sold 100,000 ebooks a month! She does sell these books for $0.99 to $2.99 per ebook (their lengths suggest that they may be shorter stories). When you can keep 70% of that, that's a lot of money. I only get $0.75/book for royalties and my book sells for $14.95/book, supposedly.

iUniverse has not lock me into anything. I have all my publishing rights. So, I'm currently working on Waiting for Appa so that I may publish it for Kindle and Nook readers. You may want to consider this option also.

Because I already had a book on Amazon and I was already on www.authorcentral.com, it was really easy for me to take a look at what I need for Kindle publication. I don't know what a new author without a published book needs to do, but it can't be that difficult (because Amazon wants to make money). So, take a look. I'm going to take a chance. What do I have to lose?

REVIEWS:

No one likes reading negative reviews (less than 3 star rating, I guess), but I have to admit that those negative reviews provide a wealth of information on what I can do better next time (unless of course, it just says you suck). Now that I have an opportunity to work on the Kindle version of Waiting for Appa, I'm actually in the process of writing some additional material. So, please, don't feel bad about writing negative reviews. I'm always ready and willing to take my reader's advice to make my book better anytime.

Ebook publishing note - Amanda Hocking signed a four-book, $2 million plus deal with St. Martin's Press. This is something to inspire me and aspire to.

Good luck everyone!

Lessons Learned: Making sense of rejections

2011-02-19T12:26:00.000-08:00

I used to work at a high tech firm in the Silicon Valley. I had 8 direct reports and some of my direct reports had direct reports. The thing about hiring people is that black and white qualifications might get you in the door, but it doesn't get you hired. I used to get a stack of resumes and I had less than a minute to spend on each of them. At this point, I'm looking for the qualifications on paper. But after an interview, I'm looking for that spark, that chemistry, that indefinable quality I can't put down on paper to justify why I'm hiring this person over another person who was just as qualified. It's the gut feeling that tells me that this person will make a good team member.

I recently received a rejection letter from an agent who wrote that she didn't feel the spark, the indefinable quality with my manuscript. I wrote back, asking if there was anything I could do differently to improve my synopsis (which I absolutely hate writing) or my manuscript. She replied that there wasn't. If she thinks of something later, she said she would let me know.

Of course, I was frustrated. I wish she had told me my grammar sucked or plot was weak or something. Something concrete that I could work on. But there was nothing. Nothing for me to work on to make myself feel I'm actually doing something constructive to better my chances next time.

Well, after a day of fussing over it, it finally occurred to me that I know exactly what this agent is talking about. She's not being difficult or vague. She just didn't feel the Chemistry. So, since that revelation, I've redoubled my efforts to send out more query letter to different agents who might see a spark or feel some chemistry with my book.

Lessons Learned: Queries 2

2011-01-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

Since the first material an agent will ever see of your book is a query, I'm very interested in anything that will peak the agent's interest, and I think I found a great article from an agent's website. It's called the Perfect Pitch from Sarah Jane Freymann's website. It's really interesting, and it's packed with good ideas. The thing about the perfect pitch is that whenever I go to a bookstore or library to talk to someone about scheduling a book talk or book signing event, they always ask me what the book is about. And the perfect pitch really helped me hone mine down. So please, take a look at the Perfect Pitch.

Another thing, comparing your book to the current bestsellers is not the best idea, but on the other hand, there are a few agents who ask for that info. For instance, one of the early readers for my current book told me that my book reminded her of the book Gone with the Wind. She and I would talk about the book, referring to it as the Gone with Wind, Korean style. But I didn't mention that at all in my query letter. It's not that I didn't agree with the reader. I did. There were many similarities, but I didn't want to come across as pretentious. However, I've done something like this before. "My readers would also enjoy readying xxx, xxx, xxx, and xxx." Trying to give the agent some idea as to how I see my book being marketed, but ultimately, I stopped doing that for the same reasons. I didn't want to come across pretentious, arrogant, or worse yet, clueless. So, beware.

As far as bio section in the query, I write about my writing credits, such as an essay contest I've won, a short story that got published, and self-publishing Waiting for Appa. I don't include much else because I'm not sure if it'll be helpful. It could also be that since engineers are not known for writing emotionally moving prose, I just keep that to myself. However, there are agents who specifically ask for 1 page bio, so have that on hand and be ready to submit that.

At the end, I end with the basic ending of "I look forward to hearing from you soon," along with included SASE. I know. This could be boring, but I like hitting the basics. When I was a manager at a high tech company, I would receive 500+ page stack of resumes for one or two openings I had in my organization. All I cared about was finding the relevant information as quickly as possible. I spent matter of seconds on a resume. All the other stuff that people did to make their resumes supposedly "interesting" only irritated me, and I would quickly pass on those. So, that's what I'm going for here.

If and when I'm lucky enough to get an agent, I'll post my "winning" query letter and the query letters of my past for your comparison.

Lessons Learned: Queries1

2011-01-24T13:39:00.000-08:00

As I was researching online to see which agent would be most suitable for my genre, I came across a very curious thing. A lot of the agents would list their email addresses in a very weird way, I thought. Like submissions at literaryagency dot com or something like this. When I saw something like this, the agent in question explained that he/she didn't want a writer to just cut and paste their email address and send out a massive mailings.

This got me thinking...why would anyone want to do that? First and foremost, a query, whether it's on a snail mail or email, is a business letter. Or a resume. No self-respecting job seeker would or should send massive emails out in one shot.

Last week, I've queried six agents, all via email. I wrote a query letter for each one, with appropriate business addresses, personalization, etc. It took a long time to write your book. Take the extra time to make sure that one of the last steps of this important process is completed to the best of your ability. Don't short change your efforts by doing a shabby job or cutting corners. This is what my husband told me after he read my first attempt at writing a synopsis. Needless to say, I've learned my lesson. I mean, how much time do you actually save by mass emailing a query?

I think I write a pretty decent query, and I stick to the basics. I don't try to be cute or gimmicky. At the end, the cuteness and gimmicks just become unnessary distractions and irritations to the material you want the agents to read.

Waiting for Appa update:

I had hoped to schedule some book talks/signings at the local Barnes and Noble stores, but when I went to the biggest one in the are where I already had an event, I was told that 1)they don't usually hold two events for one book, and 2) that since my book came out in 2009, it's old. They wouldn't schedule any events for the book unless some school or organization asked for it.

I'm thinking that's $300 down the drain for renewing the returnability with iUNIVERSE when it seems like there's very little hope of me scheduling an event this way. Mind you, it's only been one store. I need to drive around to more stores, but with synopsis, manuscript, and job search in the way, it's rather difficult.

Some news

2011-01-24T00:07:00.000-08:00

Sorry about being gone for so long. This is supposed to be a definite no-no for bloggers who are trying to build a following. All I can say is that I needed this time off to enjoy the holidays with my family, concentrate on finish editing my new book, and take care of a sick dog. We enjoyed the holidays, my book is finished, and the dog is still languishing with lung cancer. We're doing the best we can to make him comfortable.

After I finished my book, I started querying last week, and I've got some good news. An agent has requested my full manuscript. So, since last week, I've been busy getting that package ready. What she requested are a synopsis and the full manuscript. Now, my manuscript is ready to go, but my synopsis isn't.

I hate writing a synopsis. I hate it so much that in 2004, I've only queried the agents who didn't list synopsis as a part of the submission requirement. I thought I was doing that again this year when an agent who requested the full manuscript asked for a synopsis when it hadn't been listed on her website. Yikes!

Well, I've moaned and groaned but got down to writing a synopsis. My first one sucked. After my husband read it, and frame my effort to write the synopsis with what's at stake, I've thrown away the 1st effort and then started anew. My second one was much better, and I'm currently working on my 3rd effort. I'm hoping to make this one a keeper.

I'm not alone in hating synopsis'. I mean think about it. Trying to squeeze the "essence" of the book (my happens to be 460+ pages) on 1, 3, or 5 page synopsis seems like an awesome task, but I've done it in 7, trying to cut it down to 5.

In my desperation to do a better job after my 1st attempt missed the mark so spectacularly, I went online to check out some examples out there. The best advice I got was the one that said to write a synopsis IMMEDIATELY after finishing a book and BEFORE querying agents. Also, incorporate some of your material from the novel in the body of the synopsis. I wish I had read this article before I queried this time around, too. The only consolation I have is that the agent who asked for the full manuscript is probably too busy to keep tabs on how long it's taking me to send it to her.

So, please, write you synopsis before rather than later.

About querying agents, I like to shoot for the stars. If I fail, I'll fail spectacularly, but if I succeed, I'll succeed beyond my wildest dreams. So, I chose the best of what I could find for my genre. Do the same for yours. Why not?

I was initially going to write about lessons learned about agents this year, but I think I'm going to blog about my real time experience of trying to find an agent for my new book. In the next blog, I'll start with writing a query.

A very tough loss

2010-11-28T15:58:00.000-08:00

On 11/11/10, I've blogged about a young woman who suffered an aneurysm and died. She left twin girls age of two and a grieving husband. On the same day, my long time friend, a fellow book club member, and a book lover, Don Eric Mitchell, died. He was 48 years old, and he was biking his way back home from work ~5:30 pm at night in Napa. His death stunned me, and I'm not sure I'm quite over the shock, yet.

The only thing I have to say about Don is that he lived his life the way he wanted to live it. He traveled widely. He was an avid outdoors man who enjoyed life, along with whole lot of books. His death taught me even more strongly to pursue my dream of making a living as a writer. I want to die doing what I love. The consolation I have is that he died bicycling, something he loved little less than reading (I could be wrong here). May he rest in peace.

Since I made the decision to return to work, I haven't been very active in trying to schedule book signings, book talks, etc. It's not the most comfortable thing to do, standing in middle of the bookstore prominently chatting up to people you've just met. I also have a fear of scheduling a book talk and no one showing up. Yes. It did happen to me in my hometown library. Besides, I'm not a natural self-promoter. I'm an engineer/writer at heart (both of which don't bode very well for self-promotion). There are moms at my children's school whom I talk to all the time, but know nothing about my book or the fact that I'm an author. I've learned that unless you're a tireless self-promoter, self-publishing probably isn't really for you. I'm not planning to self-publish any other books anytime soon. I need to digest and analyze all the lessons learned data. BUT Don's death has made me even more determined to put the time I need to put in to see my next book succeed in the traditional publisher setting.

So, in memory of Don, I'm going to blog about Lessons Learned: Agents in the upcoming blogs. One of my life's goal is not to make same mistake twice. You'd be amazed at how many different mistakes I can make....

An important digression

2010-11-11T20:11:00.000-08:00

I heard from a good friend today that a 29 year old woman who is a mother of 2 year old twin girls is pretty much brain dead from an aneurysm. It made my heart sick to hear something like this.

Does any one of us live each day as if it could be our last? I certainly don't. I'm not sure how many of us really do. The saddest thing about this is that the last words she exchanged with her husband were words of anger because he had come home a little late and she was running late to her professional choral group rehearsal. Now, they'll never have a chance to change that.

Have you told your husband/boyfriend/girlfriend you loved him/her today? Have you told your children how precious they are to you? How they make you happy just by existing in this world? That they make everything better in your life?

This beautiful, talented woman was a loving mother to her gorgeous twin girls, a wonderful wife to a loving husband, and a precious daughter to parents who loved her dearly. Now, her husband is left to raise their twin daughters and the daughters will grow up having no real memory, that they can recall, of their mother. It makes me feel so sorry for this family. I hope the family finds the strength, in God, in friends, in extended family, in whatever they have, to get through these terrible days.

So, I'm going to hug my children, tell my husband how much I love and appreciate him, and try to live as if every minute really matters.

What a difference a few words make....

2010-11-06T21:42:00.001-07:00

I have another book giveaway going on Goodreads.com and I've decided to check on it yesterday. I was surprised to find a new text review posted on my book. I think it was by one of the previous winners.

fantastic novel. i have really enjoyed it. Can't wait to read future readings by this author

These few words have made my day. That's the life of a self-published author who is still trying to figure out how to get the word out and sometimes, not often, but still often enough, lose hope in seeing this work widely read, even with a measure of good feedback I get from various channels.

I truly appreciate this feedback because book reviews are incredibly difficult to come by, even by your good friends. Maybe because they don't want to feel bad about writing an unflattering one, but I'm not looking for a falsely good review. I'm looking for an honest review. I want my book to stand on it's two feet. I, for one, get a little suspicious if a self-published book is just loaded with 5 star reviews with no real substantive details in the review. This makes me wonder if this reviewer has read the book at all. Having said that, of course, I appreciate a good review. It makes my day and keeps my hope alive for awhile longer.

My next book update:

It's highly unlikely that a mother would find her own child ugly, even if the truth is staring at her face. Well, I'm going through some thorough editing on my 1st draft and I still find my own book fascinating, which makes me wonder if I'm only seeing what I want to see.... Two of my good friends have read the first two sections and they tell me this book is very interesting. So, I'm hoping that they are good enough friends to tell me honestly, before I send out query letters and partial scripts to agents, if something sucks or doesn't work.

A couple of months ago, I've editing first 20 pages for a friend of mine and I was very honest, with a lot of comments, because I knew that's what I'd want from someone reading my manuscript. I think she appreciated my efforts.

I want my friends to tell me if my book child is ugly. I'm not sure I'd appreciate such comments about my human children. Did I tell you I find them fascinating to talk to? Sometimes I wonder if that's how small my world has gotten since I started staying home with them. Yikes!

Marketing your book

2010-11-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Waiting for Appa:

I am stuck. I can't seemed to find my way out of being stuck in marketing my book in a traditional way. Book signings at the bookstores. Books talks at libraries, etc.

I'm trying to find a different market for my book which could also be considered coming of age or inspirational book. I finished a draft of a letter I'm going to email to ESL classes in the surrounding community colleges and adult schools. I'm going to ask if I can send a review copy for their perusal and requesting that they consider me for a book talk in class or using Waiting for Appa for classroom material/required reading material.

People always say - think outside the box, but thinking outside the box is much easier said than done. Now, I'm looking to approach local high schools. It was a dismal failure with my alma mater in Newark, but hey, what do I have to lose? I'll try again.

I'm also thinking about approaching churches because my book is inspiration and spiritual, to some degree without being overtly religious. I'm just brainstorming here. Someone even suggested for using it to overcome grief and begin the healing process. I'll buy that there's a strong element of getting on with your life, but how would I market overcoming grief? I guess I just need to try to figure that out.

The NEXT book:

My two week hiatus is up. I have to get back to editing it seriously, with my eye toward sending it out for query process at the beginning of next year. Yikes!

This is what I learned after self-publishing Waiting for Appa. If you're going to seriously edit, then use a ruler and go down line by line, looking for errors and corrections. I know. It's going to drive you crazy. Mind you, I've read my book more than there are days in a year, I'm pretty sure. But in order to make my dreams come true, I must do it this way. There is no other way to catch everything, at least for me.

So, a ruler, a red pen, and a 2/3 stack of a manuscript await me (my two lovely ladies are reading the last 1/3 for input). They get to see how terrible it is before I start cleaning it up and I'm so grateful for their patience and generosity. Now, going back to editing...I know. I need to clean the house (which sat messy for a week, now), load the dishwasher, do laundry for kids clothes, clean bathrooms (which I hate), and the list goes on, especially when I have to edit. But this is the sad truth. I can run, but I can't hide forever.

So, here I go. A ruler and a red pen in my hands and a comfortable pillow behind my back with the manuscript on my lap. I think I'll take a nap. Did I tell you stayed up until 2:30 am writing last night?

Writing 101

2010-10-29T10:37:00.001-07:00

In the two weeks I'm taking off from looking at my current book, I've started to write Gorgoyian Chronicles #3 for my son (a young adult book). Whenever I come back to write a book for my son, I remember how much fun I had writing it the last time. I wrote books for his birthdays and Christmas. I try to keep up with that, but it's really challenging. I've discovered that although I could have a stack of books on my night stand and try to read all of them (I'm actually quite successful at jumping between books. I'm sure most of you are, too, especially one or several of them are turning out to be surprising bores), I can't seem to write two vastly different books simultaneously (it was a dismal failure last time). But just because I failed last time, that doesn't mean I'll fail this time. So, I'm going to start editing my current book and write book #3 for my son.

Going back to writing.... What's important is that you write. Period. Although I complain, sometimes quite bitterly, about editing, I think it is easier than writing fresh stuff, especially if you're experiencing a writer's block. With my son's book, I'm trying to keep a chapter relatively short (5 pages) and if I push myself to write a chapter everyday (this is pushing it), then I could possibly have a good length book (1st draft. All the books I write for him are 1st drafts. They're probably not fit for anyone else's eyes except for my son's and mine) for him on Christmas.

So, start today. Write your pages for today (you decide the length that's most comfortable and encouraging for you) and keep on writing them until you have a book. I truly believe that all of us have stories to tell.

Need of an inspiration

2010-10-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

I got whammied yesterday. I entered a self-published book contest and found out that I didn't place anywhere, which is quite discouraging, even if I knew in my heart that this was a long shot. There is a big difference between knowing and having it shoved in your face. So, I've got to get over that.

The other thing is...I've been pretty laxed about scheduling book talks or book signings because I've been looking for a job. I don't mind talking in front of people, but I find it very difficult to stand in a bookstore chatting with people (easier) or standing alone wishing for someone to come up to me and talk to me (I don't even have to sell a book. I just don't want to stand alone). But I need to schedule more events, especially since I've already paid $300 to have my book stay "returnable" for another year.

The thing is...I've sold between four to fourteen books at a single book signing event. I've got to do a lot of these to make any kind of progress. I need to figure out a way to create demand online. If I ever figure this thing out, I'll be sure to share it. I keep thinking, I'm sure I can figure this thing out....

My next book update -

I've finished it, but I need to fix the ending and shorten the length of the book. for a first time author, the target page length is 350 pages. My current book is at ~450+. I've taken out a lot of material, but I've also had to put in a lot of historical material to "anchor" the book in the period.

This editing process looms before me and I feel quite intimidated by it. Yikes. wish me luck.

I really do wish I could have something more or better to write about on my blogs, but at this point, it's only this. Sorry.

Online Marketing

2010-10-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine asked me the other day if I knew anything about viral marketing. First I had to laugh out loud, then I answered, "If I had known anything about viral marketing, would my book be still languishing in a hair's breadth above obscurity?"

In the last week, I've gotten a couple of emails and a phone call from someone who wants to help me market my book. I've ignored the emails and he finally called me. The thing was...when I started asking him questions, he could barely answer my questions in English. He kept referring me to a website and wanting to schedule an appointment with a senior consultant. I declined because I thought if this website or whatever couldn't even find someone who spoke English fluently to talk to writers (who tend to use words well and probably love words in general), there's absolutely no hope of this thing succeeding.

So,after the phone conversation, I checked the website out and it seems like it charges money for what's readily available out there as far as marketing through a website or having your own website. It also charged money (more than iUniverse does) for mass press release emailings of your book (my previous readers will know what an utter failure this is. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY THIS WAY. If you want to see what I got for my money, go check out my previous posts. I think the title is something like...What I got for my $300 or something like that).

I don't know about viral marketing and I am trying to figure that out, but I do know of a couple of websites that I think are awesome as far as getting your free "author" page.

1. Amazon.com's author central. I think this is great because this is where the book lovers come to buy their books. If a lot of them are like me, they'd check out the author pages, too. So, I think it's definitely worth checking it out.

2. Did I tell you I LOVE goodreads.com. Besides giving authors a good "author" page, you can list your books under their giveaway section. This always draws a lot of attention. I know. I don't know how many of these convert to actual sales, but I love this site and you should check it out.

3. You could buy your web domain for pittance. I bought mine for waitingforappa.com and jenniferrkim.com. Haven't done much with it, yet, but they are mine.

4. Your name. Your book. Your image. You are a brand. You are valuable. Brand it well. Safeguard it and protect it.

5. For me, I'm not sure how effective social networks are. I don't know. Maybe I'm not that social....

I know there are many other good book sites, but I haven't had the time to check them out. I need to. Once I do it, I'll let you know. It's the full time mom thing that gets in the way of working on these more, but I'm not complaining. I just try to pick my battles or pick my low hanging fruit.

Finished!

2010-10-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hurray! The first draft of Kwangsook (the main character's name) is finished! I do have a title for this book, but it would give away too much to reveal it right now. So, I'm just going to use the main character's name which means Virtuous Light in Korean (based on Chinese characters).

This was the first book I wrote, before Waiting for Appa, but it's an epic. After getting a lot of negative feedback on the book length alone (~550 pages), I've decided to work on a shorter, more manageable book. I did have an agent for this book before and she dubbed it Gone with the Wind Korean style, but I'm not sure about that description.... Anyhow, it's also the first book of a trilogy, so I've got a lot of work ahead of me to finish off this trilogy well.

I do have a lot of problems though. I still don't like the ending very much. You see, I can forgive a mediocre book if it finishes well. No matter how slow, how boring, it is, if I got passed 100 pages, I'll most likely read on. And if the ending is good, I forget about all the other things and rejoice in the great ending. So, I want a great ending for my book. I want my reader to forgive me of a lot of flaws if I give them a great ending. I'm not sure if I'm being too tough on myself, but I want a better ending. I hope something will come to me soon.

I've decided not to work on this book for two weeks. My dear friend will read the third section (she's read the first two sections already) and give me feedback. I don't know how long that will take, but I'm giving myself two weeks away so that I can look at the book with some fresh eyes. I get too familiar with the material and I can't catch anything. So, in the two weeks I've decided to take a break, I'm going to work on the 3rd book of the Gorgoyian Chronicles for my son. Hopefully, I'd have enough written to have it done by Christmas for him. My son told me to work on this series before anything because it'd surely bring me success which had eluded me so far. I have an uncanny feeling that he's going to be right and he's going to spend the rest of his life reminding me of that. That would be really funny.

Things I need to do for Waiting for Appa:

1. I really need to schedule some books signings soon. It's just that I haven't been too motivated for several reasons....

2. Need to craft a letter/email to community colleges/adult schools for book talk/book signing opportunities.

3. Continue looking into contact person for the community colleges/adult schools book talk/book signing opportunities.

4. Work on branding ideas for Waiting for Appa as well as Jennifer R. Kim as whole. What immediate message do I want to send?

5. Work on website layout and web content ideas.

Did I mention that I'm a full-time mom with two young kids who is looking for a job currently? I'm not sure how I'm going to find the time to do everything, but I will eventually.... It's all a matter of setting priorities, I guess.

Late night/early morning inspirations

2010-10-13T22:01:00.000-07:00

I wonder if most writers are insomniacs.... I certainly am and what's worse, I'm also a light sleeper. So, I have a lot of sleep related issues. Last night was one of those nights when I woke up for no apparent reason and couldn't go back to sleep. By the time I decided to come down to the living room, an hour had passed already.

I came down, sat with my laptop trying to solve my ending dilemma. I'm struggling with the last chapter (or possibly last two chapters) of my new book. It's just not strong enough. OR as strong as I want it to be and I was completely lost as to how to fix that problem. Well, last night, an idea finally came to me to fix the problem at ~5:20 am in the morning! I quickly jot it down in my notebook and tried to get some sleep. I'm a stay-at-home mom who needs to be functional in the morning. This is why the idea still needs to be written into the book.

The problem is this. My book is about lives of women, with historical events anchoring the book. At the end of the book, I'm dealing with the Korean War and the more I learn about it, the more fascinating it gets. Anyhow, the whole Korean War is in effect derailing my book. It's taking the story away from the women and I want a more elegant way of weaving the men's stories from the Korean War and the women's stories from home. I just need time to write the final couple of chapters (and it's the most precious commodity).

I wonder if it's like that for most of the writers...the best ideas come at the most inconvenient moments of the day. Well, at least I've got my fix.

Waiting for Appa update:

I had a great talk at the New Haven Unified School District's Adult School class on Monday. I was very excited to be there. I sent the instructor a review copy of my book and she had used it to teach her class spelling, vocabulary, and grammar. The instructor was gracious and the students were attentive. They had a lot of good questions for me and what overwhelmed me was the fact that every single people there put in a whole day's of work before coming to school that evening. What an honor to be there!

I was inspired by them. I have so much respect for them. They reminded me of my parents who had a great work ethic and a tremendous drive to make something of themselves. They laid the foundation for me to pursue my dreams. I need to do more of these talks....

Love of words and battle scenes

2010-09-26T21:21:00.001-07:00

I guess it seems natural that an avid reader and writer would love words. I do. Not only that, but I want to understand where these words come from and how they all connect to one another.

Many scholars have studied the connections between Sanskrit and languages of the western world (Latin, English, Spanish, etc.), but what I find fascinating is the connections from all over the world.

Here are my examples:

Appa in Korean means daddy, but not in a childish sense. It's a more intimate way of saying dad. I still call my dad "appa."

Abba in Hebrew, from what I understand, is like the Korean use of appa.

Baba in Chinese is the same.

Appa has the same meaning in Hindi as in Korean (my neighbor told me).

Oppa in Dutch means...grandfather.

Oppa in Korean means older brother (from a younger sister to an older brother).

Umma/omma in Korean means mommy, but not in a childish sense. Again, it's a more intimate way to say mom. I still call my mom "umma."

Om is Egyptian language (Arabic) is mother.

Umma has the same meaning in Hindi as in Korean.

Aren't these connections just wonderful to think about? Korean to Chinese to Hindi, I can sort of explain away. But to go on to Hebrew, Dutch, and Arabic? I would love to have enough time to follow this thread, but I don't. If any of you know of anything regarding this, please let me know.

In some broader sense, this does make sense to me. Mommy and Daddy are the two people we all learn, very quickly, to rely on and call for help. So, it does make sense to me that they should be based on the easiest sounds we could make as infants.

Current book update:

Took me two days to write one chapter (7 pages long). I had expected more, but I just couldn't do it. Maybe it's because I don't write that kind of books, but it was incredibly difficult to write a sequence of battle scenes. I thought, heck, there are history books where I could get the facts from. How difficult could it be to write a chapter about Pusan Perimeter? Well, I applaud all those writers who write this stuff everyday.

To write this chapter, I had to read a lot about the Korean war, battle for Korea, Pusan Perimeter, etc. One thing I have to say is that I came away with a profound sense of gratitude for all those who gave their lives to save Republic of Korea. Maybe that's why it was so hard to write it.... Every picture I saw, I was thinking - you were someone's beloved son, husband, brother, uncle, etc. Thank you.

Ugh! I gotta start all over again.

2010-09-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

I spent last two days writing a chapter. A difficult chapter that details the beginnings of the Korean War. After two days of working on it and having only 5 pages to show for it, I came to a horrible conclusion - I need to scrap this and start all over again. Even though I'm emotionally attached to this and like every word in the chapter (yes, because I wrote it), my book would be better WITHOUT it. The horror!

My first draft is almost done, except for the last 1/5 of the book which deals with the Korean War. I've done enough research (I think...) and I'm ready to write, but I want to make this section dynamic. I mean, how can a war, any war be boring and static? But the engineer (the analytical geek) in me wants to cover it from the beginning and that's what I've done. But I know, in my heart, that's the boring part that my editor will tell me to cut it. I can see the conversation in my head (this is the editor who challenged me to cut 50 pages to 3 pages. I did it. I wasn't happy about having to do it. But she was right. It made the book better).

"Jennifer, you can do this. You can cut this to...0 pages!"

"Uh...uh, but it tells a beautiful story of the beginnings of the Korean War."

"But it doesn't add anything to the story. In fact, it SLOWS down the story. Cut it. It won't make any difference to your book."

That's the sad truth. It won't make any difference to my book. So, I'm saving her the time to tell me to cut it when I eventually hire her to do a final read through. I guess I'm learning something, or remembering something my editor's been trying to teach me for a long time.

1. Make every sentence earn the right the occupy the valuable space in my book.

2. Make a dynamic start by starting in the middle of the action (this is a real challenge for me because I love 1200+ page books where you get gnats ass detail about everything. But I know most readers out there don't want that. So, I'm saving my special edition of gnats ass detail of this book for myself and a very select friends who appreciate that sort of thing).

Moments of Laughter

2010-09-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

I'm trying, once again (nth time, I stopped counting after my 5th attempt a while back), to schedule a book signing at a Borders store in my own town. Because my book doesn't have a BINC#, it's hard to find, even on their own computer data base (although it shows up on their online store). I haven't figured out how to get a BINC# because I haven't had the opportunity to speak to a real live person about it. So, here I am. Doing my own search to 1)make sure it's on there, and 2) more importantly, they can find it. Don't get me wrong. People I spoke to were very nice and trying to be helpful, but it's the process that's cumbersome and confusing. So, I'm waiting, once again, but I am determined to win this battle.

As I was waiting, I thought I'd check Barnes and Noble and Amazon. On Amazon, now only could you buy my book for $13.50, but you can also buy a signed copy of my book from between $19.98 and $25.00. That gets me laughing out loud because I can't believe there's someone (two people) out there charging extra for my signature. It's flattering, but very funny and uplifting (in some weird sense). So, I guess my signature, at this point, is worth at least $6.48. But since these have been there for months now, it could be the same two books languishing in someone's garage. So, it's higly likely that my signature, at this point, is worth nothing. I'm still laughing about this.

Updates from my current book:

I've never been really interested in Korean history. I've read all I could on Irish, English, Egyptian, Mayan, Incan, Sumerian, etc. histories. With this current book, I'm looking more into Korean history and I'm proud to say that I'm Korean. We've been through so much. I didn't know this, but after the Korean War, Korea and Kenya had the same GDP in the early 1950's. It's amazing where Korea is now today, but I credit much of that with the Cold War and the incredible amount of aid America had given Korea (thanks to Russia, China, and North Korea). I wonder if Korea and Kenya had switched places, would it languish in third world status today?

A New Beginning

2010-09-07T20:57:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged since May to early June because I was in "depth of despair" as Anne Shirley would put it. I'm not prone to melodramatics, but when I want to, I can really get into it. I crashed into this wall called reality and learned that what I hoped for will take much longer to happen, if at all.

I spent a carefree summer with my kids and family, on vacation or just busy at home. But one thing I didn't stop was writing. I'm actually quite happy with what I have so far and I can't wait to start querying (but this will probably happen next year).

Here are my Waiting for Appa update:

1. I had a nice article written in a Korean-American parenting magazine. It was really nicely done. I need to make a copy of that and post it on the web somewhere.

2. I'm talking with an ESL teacher to go and speak to her class about my book and myself sometime in September. I'm also hoping to schedule something with a high school in Hayward, CA for a book talk as well.

3. I'm talking with a former high school friend of mine to help me figure out what I need for a decent website. What I have right now is not even pathetic (that's how bad it is).

4. I'm going to start scheduling book talks at bookstores again. I need to get going on this or this year will be all booked.

I started looking for a job in earnest today. My average ~$30/quarter royalties just isn't going to cut it for retirement and college for my kids. I don't know what I wish for anymore. I need to be true to myself and be the best writer I can be for this next one.

A good friend just send me an email about why I haven't blogged. I had planned to start this week and what a coincidence! I'm going to try to blog at least a couple of times a week.

I'm an avid reader. A friend of mine described me as a voracious reader. Mind you, who'd eat books? So little nutritious value. I'm actually thinking about creating a blog about my book reviews. I'd only write about ones I love. I don't know. I want to keep up with this one more regularly first.

I love Goodreads.com. You can find me there.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.

$300 press release

2010-05-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

Here's the press release I paid $300 for (along with a long list of email addresses to "editors" and "contacts" that were completely useless. I actually feel somewhat misled by iUniverse on the effectiveness of the email campaign).

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
EDITORS: For review copies or interview requests, contact:
Promotional Services Department
Tel: 1-800-AUTHORS
Fax: 812-355-4078
Email: promotions@iuniverse.com
(When requesting a review copy, please provide a street address.)

Waiting for Appa
Will young girl find the father she so desperately longs for?

MILPITAS, CA - When Eunhae is 9 years old, she says a tearful farewell to her father, an ex-Korean Navy captain, as he leaves for America. He promises to come back for her and her mother in three years, but fear grips her as time passes and it becomes difficult to remember his face.

Two years later, she and her mother receive visas to immigrate to America. Eunhae’s heart pounds with the great expectation of seeing her father as she lands at San Francisco, but Auntie Soona instead greets her and her mother, and they discover that he is in a coma after an accident on the job. At the hospital, Eunhae and her mother meet Sunwoo, who was her father’s roommate. There is puzzling hostility from Uncle Chul toward Sunwoo, but Eunhae finds him a kindred spirit as she spies him crying over her father.

In Waiting for Appa, (published by iUniverse) author Jennifer R. Kim traces the pain and confusion of Eunhae, who continues to clutch to her dead father's memory like the ashes she refuses to toss into the sea during his memorial. When she catches Sunwoo and her mother in an embrace she withdraws from everyone who seeks to love her, and as she grows to womanhood, her confusion over her feelings and the actions of her relatives deepens. On a return trip home to Korea, she discovers that she herself holds a secret, and finding the answer to it will eventually unlock her heart.

About the Author
Jennifer R. Kim was born in 1968 in Chinhae, Korea, and immigrated with her family to the United States in 1978, settling in Newark, Calif. In 1985, she participated in NASA Ames Summer High School Apprentice Research Program working on the Space Station program. In 1986, she was at Lockheed’s research and development office in Palo Alto working on the Gravity Probe B program. Kim graduated from UC Berkeley with a mechanical engineering degree and went to work for Bechtel in San Francisco, and later in Silicon Valley, working in the semiconductor industry. An acclaimed writer during high school and college, she had an essay published in the San Francisco Chronicle and a short story published in The Literary Realm. This is her first book.

Waiting for Appa

Available from: www.iUniverse.com, www.bn.com, and www.amazon.com

###

So, save your $300 and use it for something else, like buying books you'd like to read.

Publishing packages

2010-05-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

I've been very busy with some other things and I haven't been able to blog as often as I'd hoped. I'm sorry about the long gaps. I'll try to be more diligent in updating the blog.

All the self-publishing info below pertains to my experience with iUniverse only.

Self-Publishing Timeline:

I called iUniverse on 2/3/09. My book didn't get "published" until 6/29/09 and I didn't get a review copy until the end of July'09. But I really didn't get much sales activity going until November'09 because my books weren't returnable until late October'09.

In between 02/09 and 06/09, I had to edit and proof my manuscript one more time and I thought I couldn't handle this "one more time." It's very difficult to capture mistakes on a manuscript which you've read over a hundred times in the last several years.

Things to keep in mind from the beginning:

1. Returnability. Without this, you can't get the books into the stores. Do this early. It takes almost 8 weeks to get this set up if you miss the monthly window of opportunity. ($599 for a year. $300 for each additional years)

2. Copy Right. Just get it when you get the package. You can definitely get discounts at that time, but not very likely later. (was included in $999 package I purchased. I think it was additional $100 or something like that.)

3. Library of Congress #. I didn't get this one, but I regret it. I would get it next time. (I think this was additional $100 or something like that).

4. Cover Copy Polish. I bought this, but I'm not sure how useful it was to me. The cover copy came back very close to what I had already. I'm not sure I'd do that again. OK. I wouldn't do it again. ($199)

5. Press Release/Email Marketing campaign. I bought the cheapest package and it didn't work at all. I think cheap had nothing to do with it. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS OPTION. It was nice to get a copy of a press release a publishing house like iUniverse would write for their authors, but I would definitely not do this again. You can do it on your own. ($300)

6. "Customized" editing package. They wanted to charge $2400 for this. I turned it down. I had enough confidence in my writing/grammar/etc. to just go without it. You may go with one of the cheapest packages if you're confident about your material. I think that's what Lisa Genova did through iUniverse. If you don't know about her, you might want to google her name or Still Alice. That's her book. Her story will inspire you.

I know you can copy right your book and get the library of congress # on your own, but with a POD, I wasn't sure how I can time it so that my book would be published with those #s (I think you have to submit two copies of your book with each request).

I was utterly disappointed with the press release/email marketing campaign. It was completely useless in that it's basically a SPAM when it gets sent out like that. I've contacted some of the editors on my own and they've told me to contact them when I've sold ~1000 books, at least.

THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION - would I go with iUniverse again?

I would if I was going the POD (print-on-demand) way. It's amazingly easy to have your books available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. With Borders.com, it took a little work. This is incredibly valuable. So, this alone would make me go back to iUniverse.

I still can't schedule book signings at Borders. And as much as people talk about supporting independent booksellers, Barnes and Noble makes it so easy to schedule book signings at multiple locations. I tried to schedule events at independent booksellers, but I was discouraged by the sellers themselves. Maybe I need to try again with them at a different location. The bottom line - I am so grateful to Barnes and Noble for giving me a fair shake in this arena.

In the next blog, I'll post the $300 press release I've purchased along with the list of email contacts.

My audience

2010-04-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

From the beginning, agents, editors, and publishers have asked me who my "reader" would be. They told me to visualize and write for that person.

Well, I learned, almost every time I have a book signing, that there is a flaw to approaching it like this. Because there are always one or two people who are so far away from that reader profile that you'd never think this person would read a book like mine. Now, one or two people out of 3 to 14 is a lot.

So, I'd like to concentrate on just writing well. Write what I love. Write what I find interesting. And I pray and hope that my reader will find me. It's such a pleasant surprise and a learning experience to encounter these outliers.

I had a book signing today. And I sold out! But before I get too excited, I sold out three books. Between employee transitions and a book order glitch, no one noticed that my books weren't there until...this morning. However, they were able to gather three books from surrounding stores and I signed those. I handed out my business cards, but I don't know how many of those would convert to book orders.

A flip side to this is that they are holding two book fairs with local high schools, and the community relations manager is trying to tie me in with those book fairs (I'm in the process of scheduling book talks at a high school in Hayward and a couple of ESL classes in the same area). So, it was ying yang kind of day, but aren't all our days like that?

I think it's all a matter of perspective. Half full or half empty. I'd like to think mine is always half full. I overwhelmingly choose to be happy (on most days when I'm not confronted with the dismal realities of trying to make money writing).

I guess I am digging myself out of my funk, at least a little.

Hazards of Research

2010-04-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I wanted to be able to describe the Japanese militray uniforms more in detail. So, with great hesitation and trepidation, I opened a book which I promised never to read again - The Rape on Nanking by Iris Chang.

This is not a particularly a well-written book, but it is a very important book. Especially with the denials of these events ever taking place from the Japanese government (at least some parts of the government and no real owning up to it as a nation like Germany) I think everyone who has the constitution should read it. Once should be enough. It's not even really the words, but the pictures that leave a series of disturbing and searing images that keep you awake at nights.

Now, why did I do this? I'm working on another book and the feedback was - need more history to anchor the story. And since my book spans from early 20th century to Korean war, this research definitely was required. But having said that, I'm going to need weeks of light, happy readings to make up for this one.

A matter of perspective

2010-03-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

I've recently decided to go back to work (yes, back to Engineering). I'm not giving up. I'll still be working on marketing Waiting for Appa and working on my next book. I'm just not making the progress I had hoped and I'm running out of things to look into....

I guess that's the most frustrating part of all this - being self-published. I don't know what I need to know and even worse, I don't know what I don't know. So..., once I figure this out, I'll post it here.

I'm in a funk and I can't seem to dig myself out. I'm not sure I'm trying that hard. Ok. I'll try harder tomorrow. I try to remember, it always gets better.

Editing

2010-03-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

I love writing. I think I'll wither away and die if I couldn't write. I've written on pieces of paper, envelopes, napkins, gum wrappers, etc. But editing. Editing I hate. There is no end to editing. You can always find one more way to phrase something you've already changed many times over.

I've been editing my first book once again and I hate all the cutting I have to do. It's already at almost 400 pages and I have to cut it back to 300, add more material to make it almost 400, then cut it back to about 350. So, there's a lot of work to do. But after about two weeks of doing this, I think I'm getting pretty good at it, but more importantly, it doesn't pain me as much as it used to.

I remember when I was working with an editor to cut my manuscript down, my editor told me to shorten 50 page scene where a woman is dying. She's a minor character, but a very important one. My editor sends me an email saying - I bet you can do it in 5. I thought 5 what? 5 tries? Then my heart dropped. 5 pages? Finally, although we've pretty much communicated solely via email, I called her. She answered, then said, "I was wrong." I thought. Thank goodness. She's got to be reasonable about this. Then she continued, "I think you can do it in 3." Yikes! Well the thing is, as painful as that was, I did get it done in 4 pages. It was painful to cut out the 50 pages (my editor agreed that they were beautifully written 50 pages, but they were ultimately cut), but it saved me 46 pages. So, I try to remember this lesson and keep cutting.

Things are slowly progressing on the marketing and sales front, but what I need is a miracle. A miracle like the one that Christopher Paolini had when a random 15 year old boy picked up Eragon, read it and told his father what a wonderful book it was. The boy's father was either an agent or a publisher. Christopher Paolini was still going from a library to library and bookstore to a bookstore doing readings (dressed in costumes) when this miracle happened. So, I'm praying for a miracle. The thing is I believe in miracles and my life is full of them. Hopefully, chances are good.

I truly believe that no one ever goes into writing for money (there are hundreds of better ways) but for the love of it. Well, the love it, weighed against the reality of having children, saving for college & retirement, etc., could run out enough to get me back into the work force. If that does happen anytime soon, I'll just have to do it part, part, part, part-time. In the mean time, I'm praying desperately for a miracle.

Book talk at the Hayward Library

2010-03-08T00:27:00.001-08:00

I had a good time at the Hayward Library book talk on Saturday. I was nervous and excited, but the first person who showed up for my talk really helped me feel comfortable.

I had nine people come for the book talk (1 came late and 2 left early) and had very positive and encouraging responses to the talk. What was so wonderful was that there was a high school teacher in the audience and after the talk, she asked if I would come and speak to the students at her school. To top it off, she asked me what my fee was. Fee? I'm praying for opportunities to get my book exposure! When I told her I'd come for free, she asked me if I could come for a whole day of classes. Of course, I said yes.

I'm not known for my patience and this publishing business is almost all about patience, up to this point. I hope my patience will pay off, in time.

I've been reluctant to do book talks at book stores because I'm a complete unknown. My thought was...who'd come to a book talk by someone they don't even have a name recognition, but maybe I should consider it....

Now, digressing and going back to the exercise in futility...I'm thinking about trying to crack the Borders stores book signing process once again. Or should I say enough is enough?

Goodreads.com

2010-02-26T21:42:00.001-08:00

Goodreads.com is a great place for book readers, book lovers, and authors. I'm trying to find ways to generate interest in my book and Goodreads.com offers a perfect, free way to do that.

You can list your book to giveaway and people can request it over a certain period. At the end of the giveaway period, Goodreads.com sends you who the winners are and you send the books out to them. They are not required to write a review, but that is highly recommended.

I've listed two book giveaway in November and I had 347 requests (limited to US only), but I've listed another two book giveaway in January and two days before the giveaway closes, I have 1014 people requesting my book (this time, I opened it up to US as well as Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Taiwan, and Korea). Woo. Hoo. However, only 71 of these people have marked my book as "to-read." This supposed to mean that they’d eventually buy and read it, even if they don’t win it. I know it's still an uphill battle, but it also meant that 1014 people have read my book summary, probably checked out my profile and decided that this was something they were interested in reading. That's 1014 exposures. I'm so happy.

I know..., this is half full/half empty stuff. I'd rather think of this as half full. Always.

temporary setbacks

2010-02-23T08:58:00.000-08:00

My laptop needs a repair. I dropped it (this morning, as I was blogging on this site) and it needs a new screen, which will take 4 weeks and $250. Considering my royalties for the 1st three months of book sales was less than $35, this definitely hurts.

The ironic thing is...I was blogging about how depressing it was to sell only three books at my last book-signing event (1/27/10). It didn't make me feel any better to know that they sold eight books that month and it's considered "brisk" for an unknown, self-published author. These are the numbers I'm working with....

1. I need to sell at least 1,000 to get any kind of article written or book reviewed by a local paper.
2. I need to sell at least 2,000 to 5,000 books to get any kind of attention from a publisher or an agent.

Considering the best book signing I've ever had was for 14 books at a single event, this seems like an impossible challenge. Yet...I believe in miracles. I need to find some way to generate a buzz online. Tomorrow, I'll be spending most of my day at a library or a bookstore researching.

The thing is...as stupid as this sound, I'm glad that my laptop screen broke this morning. It taught me so much about what's important in life. My 3 year old daughter has been pushing my buttons for a while and yesterday, I cautioned her about being careful around my laptop (she was watching a netflix movie). If she had dropped it, I would have gotten so angry with her. After being really mad at my stupidity, I realized that it's just money. My computer is still OK. It'll take some work, but I can access my files. I can replace everything. Is it really important? No. Just irritating.

So, I go back to my favorite quote - The glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time you fall (Chinese proverb).

Full Circle - February 5, 2010 at 7:00pm | KPFA 94.1 FM Berkeley: Listener Sponsored Free Speech Radio

2010-02-18T20:00:00.000-08:00

Full Circle - February 5, 2010 at 7:00pm | KPFA 94.1 FM Berkeley: Listener Sponsored Free Speech Radio

Price of my books

2010-02-10T00:35:00.000-08:00

I was very surprised to find autographed copies of my books showing up on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com for all kinds of prices. On Amazon, there are two copies listed for $19.95 and $27.00. On Barnes and Noble, there's a copy selling for $14.95. It actually tickles me that some of these are listed under "collectables."

My editing/rewriting is going well. My goal was ~20 pages/week. I'm currently at page 59! I had worked on these pages since November, so it took just a bit more work to get here. Tomorrow, I'll be working on the pages I haven't worked on since...I can't remember. So, I expect my progress will slow down.

I haven't been feeling my usual self - optimistic and hopeful. I let my impatience get in the way of things naturally taking its course. I need to keep on believing in myself, my writing, and the readers out there. I still believe Waiting for Appa can find an audience, but it's going to take time. I wonder if the traditional publishing house authors experience this kind of issue. Probably. I can't believe publishing would be THAT different.

Back to self-publishing....

2010-02-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

Self-publishing is a tough road. I'm not sure I'd do it again with the current book I'm working on, but I'm not sure if a minor author published through a major publishing house would fare THAT much better than what I'm struggling with. From what I know, only advantage they could possibly have would be that the distribution channels would be smoother (like getting the books into the Borders stores). So, if you want to give it a shot, here it is.

I called iUniverse on 2/3/09. My book didn't get "published" until 6/29/09 and I didn't get a review copy until the end of July'09. But I really didn't get much sales activity going until November'09 because my books weren't returnable until late October'09.

Things to keep in mind from the beginning-

1. Returnability. Without this, you can't get the books into the stores.
2. Copy Right. Just get it when you get the package. You can definitely get discounts at that time, but not very likely later.
3. Library of Congress #. I didn't get this one, but I regret it. I would get it next time.
4. Cover Copy Polish. I bought this, but I'm not sure how useful it was to me. The cover copy came back very close to what I had already. I'm not sure I'd do that again.
5. Press Release/Email Marketing campaign. I bought the cheapest package and it didn't work at all. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS OPTION. It was nice to get a copy of a press release a publishing house like iUniverse would write for their authors, but I would definitely not do this again. I can do it on my own. I'll post my press release which I paid $300 for on this blog some time later.

Of course, you’d have to write a good story, but more than anything, please keep your manuscript clean. Make sure there are absolutely minimal spelling and grammar issues (I know how hard this is because I think I have a few in my book and I thought I went through it with a fine tooth comb. At the end, I was asking my husband to put me out of my misery).

I’ll address issues in more detail in later blogs.

The MOST important thing - keep on writing, even when you yourself is thinking this is crap.

Why self-publish?

2010-02-04T21:38:00.000-08:00

Waiting for Appa was pretty much in this manuscript form since 2004. I tried many, many times to find an agent, but there was something about this book that just didn't quite make it (a couple of agents read the manuscript twice, after rewrites). Even with all that heartache and frustration, I never considered the option of self-publishing because of the stigma of it being a "vanity." Well, at least not until 2009.

When my first book landed an agent in 2000, it made it to five publishing houses (Penguin, Random House, Harper-Collin, Morrow, and can't remember the 5th one). It got rejected, but one of the editors who read the 1st manuscript said that she'd be willing to read the 2nd one if I ever wrote one. So, without an agent, I sent her the manuscript in 2005. It took her a little over a year to read it and sent it back with a nice rejection letter. But the letter was so encouraging that I spent the next two years trying, once again, to find an agent while attending a writer's conference and reading as much as I can about writing, selling, and most importantly, landing an agent. Well, I still couldn't find an agent and December of 2008 was one of the most miserable time periods in my life because I felt that I need to make a decision soon. It's hard to own up to the fact that you just don't have what it takes to live your dream.

I was raised in a Presbyterian home. My grandmother proudly proclaiming to me when I was young that I came from three generation of Christian women (I don't know what she would think of my beliefs right now, though). Anyhow, in January 2009, I started praying earnestly - not for some agent to pick me up, but 1) for a sign, and 2) for my heart to accept no as answer (I was giving myself three months). Yes isn't the only way God answers prayers. No is an answer.

As I was going through this, I thought of different ways to market my book and picked two writers I didn't consider before and a third one just because I liked her book. I began digging into their first books, their publishing house, their agents and editors and guess what I've found? The two writers I picked self-published their first books (Richard Paul Evans and William P. Young). And Lalita Tademy had considered self-publishing initially. I thought wow, all three leading to self-publishing.... Hm.... But I still resisted. Then on January 31, I was surfing the web and found an article on Time.com. I can't remember the exact title, but it went something like this...Wild, Wild West of Self-publishing. The article was saying that self-publishing is becoming respectable and that it functions like a minor league to the major league baseball. The good ones percolate up and get picked up. It show cased Lisa Genova who self-published her book through iUniverse and now signed a big contract. Well, that did it for me. I've been praying for a sign and here were four big ones. On February 3, I made a call to iUniverse and here I am.

I don't know where I would be if the signs said no. I probably revised my resume and may have gone back to work in the high tech industry. I don't know.... Maybe the answer still could be no at the end of all this. No matter what the path, I would like to think that God, the universe, whatever you might call it wanted me to learn something in the process.

How do you eat an elephant?

2010-02-02T19:57:00.000-08:00

One bite at a time. That's what I need to remember. As I’ve said in my previous blog, unless I have another book, Waiting for Appa is a dead end, no matter how successful it gets. I've been procrastinating. I’ve been doing everything but working on my first book. Here are the issues:

1. It was almost 500 pages, and then I edited it down to ~350 pages.
2. The thought of editing and rewriting it makes me cringe.
3. I need to add more historical material (which will probably take it back up to 500+ pages) then edit it back down to ~350 pages.
4. The historical material I have to read is not pleasant, somewhat equivalent to Rape of Nanking material. Yikes.

So…, here I am. Procrastinating.

This is where I need to get into my project manager mode. With any project, I need to break it down to manageable, measurable, attainable pieces. Well, here’s the math (I’m being ambitious here).

1. If my goal is to write 20 “good” pages a week, that’ll take me 17 - 25 weeks.
2. But, a lot of what I have is pretty good (I did have an agent with this manuscript and it was read by editors at Random House, Penguin, Harper-Collins, Morrow, and a 5th one I can’t remember), so I think I can do better than 20 pages/week. None of them had the same reason for rejecting it. I wish they could have been more constructive. I don't mind being criticized, as long as it's constructive and I learn something from it (althought it hurts to see others tell me how ugly my beautiful, awesome baby is). Some of those comments still linger in my head.
3. So…, I could possibly have a “first draft” with the additional material in about 3 months.

Now, all I have to do is… WRITE.

On a side note, for now, I’m giving up on Borders. As much as I want to work with the book store chain (the only one in my town), I’m wasting too much time distracted and frustrated by the laborious and confusing process (more than the actual time I spend trying to resolve it). So, for now, I’ll be focusing my efforts on other book stores. I must move on to editing and rewriting my first book.

The Craziness of Rankings

2010-01-31T23:48:00.000-08:00

My book's ranking on Amazon.com was 1,887,056 for a while (yes, it is quite daunting to even think about possibilities when it's that far off from #1). Then a friend from my high school days told me that he had ordered a copy from Amazon. The next day, I checked my ranking (I don't obsessively check my ranking because that's one sure way to depress myself) after I updated some info on my author's page. It said my ranking was 370,892. Now, when I just checked, it was 620,357. I'm sure I'll be right out there at 1,xxx,xxx,xxx soon.

My Barnes and Noble ranking continues to hover around 320,xxx. I guess all the books signings are working their magic on the ranking :)

All the more reason why I shouldn't pay any attention to rankings at all.

A Thrill

2010-01-28T22:24:00.000-08:00

A person who just finished reading my book emailed me and told me that it was "enthralling!" What a compliment! I hope I'll never take these wonderful feedbacks for granted, no matter how successful I become (if I get that lucky).

The weird thing is...after the book was published, I have had a hard time reading it again because...
1. I must have read the manuscript more than I care to count when I was editing it over and over. When I had to edit one last time before it was submitted for publishing, I've asked my husband to put me out of my misery.
2. I keep noticing all the place where I could have written better.

I'm only human and I have to admit it makes me feel very good to get these feedbacks, especially since I feel very insecure about my writing because...
1. English is my second language.
2. I majored in Mechanical Engineering in college.
3. I didn't formally study writing or literature.

I think I'll just stop here. Anyhow, thank you for all those who encourage me in so many ways. I do need these to fight my insecurity.

But...what I want most of all is to become a better writer. And in order for me to do that, I need to know what I'm not doing well. And for obvious reasons (especially from my friends or acquaintances), I don't get criticisms very often. I am very open to inputs of every kind, and as I embark on this journey to edit and rewrite my behemoth manuscript, I really need them. All I ask is to be kind.

I did get some real nasty ones from an agent before and they leave you breathless in abject misery (unfortunately, these were not very helpful because they were generalities). Abject misery would be OK, at least momentarily, if there was something I learned and gained in the process. Good thing I bounce back fairly quickly.

A Fantastic Day

2010-01-28T20:34:00.001-08:00

I'm a day late, but, I just didn't have the energy or the inclination to write a blog last night.

Yesterday, I had a radio interview at KPFA, 94.1 FM for a program called Full Circle. I was soooooo glad that it was a recorded interview and not live. I do pretty well on presentations and I can hold my own when it comes to conversation, but it’s all the ums and ahs that I was concerned with. Jane, my interviewer, helped me feel comfortable. She was gracious, encouraging, and engaging. I don’t know what the interview is going to sound like, but I felt pretty good coming out of the interview. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

On our way back home (my son was with me because his school had a teacher’s work day), we stopped at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Dublin. There I was able to schedule a book signing at the end of February.

But the best thing about the day was the time I got to spend with my son walking around the Berkeley campus and telling him stories about what I did when I was there. We went to one of my favorite restaurants (it was still in business after all these years and the food still tasted pretty similar to what I remembered) and had lunch. I was walking around in a glow of happiness with my son. I think he’d rather do something else, but he was very indulgent with me.

I was praying for my in duk to kick in and I think Jane happened. I am so grateful for this opportunity to share my experience and book with others. I hope I'll be able to reach a lot of people this way. And even if I don't, it was a great experience. What a wonderful way to get my feet wet!

Upcoming Events:

Book signing at Barnes and Noble, Fremont – 2/6/10, 1 – 3 pm

KPFA, 94.1 FM Radio Interview air time – 2/12/10, 7 – 7:30 pm

Book signing at Barnes and Noble, Dublin – 2/27/10, 1 – 3 pm

Book talk and book signing at the Hayward Main Library, Hayward – 3/6/10, 1 – 3 pm

Two Masters

2010-01-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

I think it's in the Bible somewhere that a slave cannot serve two masters. Well, mulling over two different books is doing nothing for my writing efforts. Because I've written nothing since November 2009, I need to face the fact that I could go on marketing and selling Waiting for Appa, and maybe even find some measure of success, but without another book, it's just a dead end.

So..., I've made a decision. I'm going to work on the adult literary fiction. I've read over a few chapters today and I like my revisions so far. I just have to keep at it. And knowing that it's a long haul is definitely making it difficult. Then there is the sheer size of the manuscript. I'm afraid that after I make the additions, it's going to about 500+ pages and I need to pare that down to about 350 or so.... Wish me luck.

I got a good review from one of the mom's I met at Little Gym. I'm glad that she enjoyed it. Stuff like that makes me really happy. Continuing on with the happy theme, I'm doing a radio interview (not live, thank goodness) next Wednesday. I had a good talk with the interviewer today and I'm both nervous and excited about it. I guess that's normal considering that this is my first interview (not counting Korean newspaper articles) ever.

Now on to the bad news.... I've made a decision. I'm going to give up on getting my books into Borders bookstores. I sent an email to my publisher on Tues. Got no response. So I called today. She said she doesn't know of anything she could do from her end. She told me to go back to the bookstore to get a BINC #. I don't understand why this process has to be so painful and cumbersome..., especially when my book is already available online through Borders.com. I'll try to make my way back to the bookstore and see if I can find something else to do that will make a difference. After that, I'm going to stop wasting my time. Argh!

Encouraging events

2010-01-21T21:37:00.000-08:00

You know, when you make $37.40 for a quarter (yes, a quarter, not a month, not a week, but for three months of book sales) of royalties, you quickly learn not to expect too much. But when you don't expect too much (I don't know how I can expect anything at that point), you get pleasantly surprised. My second quarter's royalties may inch above $70! Imagine that!

Although I couldn't schedule an event last week, I was able to schedule a book signing at a Barnes and Noble bookstore in Fremont, CA this week. I think I'm off to a good start.

Now on to writing...unfortunately I haven't written anything, BUT I've been doing a lot of thinking and plotting. The bad part is I'm still torn between young adult fantasy which allows me to have a lot of fun and share that with my voraciously reading son or a literary fiction which takes me to the Japanese prisons of occupied Korea. Hmmm.... It would be an easy choice if it hadn't been for the fact that the literary fiction is about 60% done (even if I rewrite much of it) and agents responded very well to it last time. I did have an agent for it in 2000, but she couldn't sell it after having the 5 major publishing houses take a look at it. So..., here I am. Conflicted and procrastinating.

Poetry. I really wish I could write it, but I can't. If there's a book that can teach me to write it, I want to know the title of the book. For the YA fantasy, I need to write a small segment of prophesy and I would love to do it in verse, but I can't. I'm just not a poet and I know it.

In Duk

2010-01-14T21:31:00.000-08:00

When I was a child, my mother told me I was born with in duk and that being born with in duk was better than being born wealthy. In duk literally means people luck, that people you meet in your life's journey will help you along the way.

Well, making a decent living as a writer is my dream that I'm working on, but there is a dream that's dearer to my heart. I want to see my book translated into Korean because I want my parents to be able to read it. Yes, that is the sad reality of immigrants. Even though my parents have lived here over 30 years, their conversation was limited to asking customers what they want and how much things cost (they've owned several small businesses). And they never had the luxury of time to attend ESL classes (even though they both wanted to) since they often held more than two jobs or worked all the overtime offered to make ends meet while we were growing up.

Well...today I met a group of writers at the Korean-American writer's group meeting who were fascinating to talk to and learn from. These were writers and poets who were in their 50's and older. They graciously shared their insights with me and encouraged me. I'm hoping that they'll be able to point me in the right direction as far as getting my book published in Korean. Of course, I can pay a translator and self-publish a Korean version of my book, but I'm hoping that the material is compelling enough to find some Korean publisher who is willing to take a risk.

I had a wonderful time, but I had to leave in the middle of the meeting because I had to go pick up my son from his school (it was a long meeting). I guess that's it's like for a part-time writer and a full-time mom.

I'm praying for my in duk to kick in. A new hope is gestating in my heart.

Inspiration

2010-01-12T20:59:00.000-08:00

I was at my daughter's gymnastics class (she's only three, so there's not much real gymnastics happening here) when one of the moms who bought my book before Christmas told me how much she enjoyed my book. She flew across the country to visit her family, but all she did the first day was trying to finish my book between her son's naps and playtimes.

It meant a lot to me, especially because I feel uninspired and unmotivated right now. We spent the next hour talking about my book, my writing process, my inspirations and her dream of writing a book of her own - a religious, non-fiction book. At the end of the class, she told me how much I helped her, inspired her, encouraged her, etc., but all I can think was...you helped me get my motivation back. Thank you for reminding me why I want to make this happen. Also, talking to her helped me think about the talk coming up in March.

I am determined to write something tonight. I'm hoping that it'll be something worth keeping.

Pick your battles

2010-01-11T21:01:00.001-08:00

I'm at a point where I think I'm going to give up trying to get book signings scheduled in Borders bookstores. I'm going in circles, always ending up with a recorded message which tells me nothing about how to proceed. Ugh!

I guess I should explain.... In order for a book to be sold at the Borders bookstores, every book has to have Borders specific BINC#. This is on top of having your book be "returnable" from the publishers (when you self-publish with a print-on-demand company, you have to pay a lot of money to get this option). I thought everything was set once I saw that my book was available through Borders.com, but no. So, after 5 phone calls and 2 emails which led to nothing concrete to follow through, I'm of the opinion that my time could be better spent doing something else, like building my own website.

One of the independent bookstores I was counting on to have my book signing was highly discouraging about my chances of success at his store. It's more locally driven audience and I'm not from there.

I never thought this would be easy, but it's hard to keep myself motivated and upbeat sometimes. I guess I should work on my next book....

I know the real place I need to work on is creating a buzz online, but I don't know what to do with that. I guess I need to spend my time reading upon online marketing.

Woo Hoo!

2010-01-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

What a difference a day makes! I'm happy to report that I met my "schedule an event a week" goal for this week. I am scheduled to give a book talk at the Hayward Library on 3/6/10. I just hope that this book talk event will fare better than last one. It's guaranteed...no one showed up for the last one.

I did "sell" a book today (I didn't actually get paid, yet) to someone I know. I hope she enjoys it. One down. 1999 to go.

This last one might be the hardest goal to hit. Right now, I'm not really inspired to work on my first book (a historical fiction that takes place in Korea in the early 1900's during the Japanese occupation). A lot of the comments back from the agents were that it needed to be anchored in history (they found the stories of women fascinating, but not fascinating enough to take me on, yet). Well, that means I need to read a lot of unpleasant stuff that happened - torture, massacre, comfort women, police tactics, the worst prisons, etc. I've read the research material once already, but I know I need to read it at least a couple more times and I'm not really looking forward to it. After a bout with one of these and I need to cleanse my head and give it a lot of reading candy.

AND looming behind that, rather threateningly, is the actual task of writing the additional material. So...I'll be very happy if I can actually get myself to start writing by the end of the week.

Still, I'm keeping my focus. Woo Hoo! I have my first event scheduled!

Goals

2010-01-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

I had hoped to have a "running start" in 2010, but I have yet to schedule a single event due to getting sick on New Year's Eve and fever finally breaking 4 days later. Needless to say, it was not an aspiring start.

There are three predominant ways to contact a book store manager and have them schedule an event for your book - email, phone call, or going there in person. Well, to be honest, first two ways just don't work, for me anyway. I have yet to have any of them reply my email or call me back. Compounding this problem is that when I do have time during mornings and early afternoons, these managers are seldom in the store because they usually come in late and get off close to the closing time. If I could drive around in the late afternoons and evenings, this matter would be simple to deal with, but I have two young kids and it's difficult to find time. So, I'll just have to make time in the evenings to call.... I have to remember that it's me that's chasing a dream. Not them. I need to be thankful for their time and consideration.

I have set some goals (some lofty and others not so lofty....)
1. Schedule an event every week.
2. Sold about 200 books last year. Sell 2,000 this year? When I do the math, I want to laugh and give up, but heck, I was always a dreamer....
3. Finish editing my first book (I can't remember how many times I've edited this manuscript and I'm definitely not looking forward to it again) and query (landing an agent would just make my year) or have it ready for self-publication by the end of the year (Waiting for Appa is the second book I've completed).

I've listed another two books for Goodreads.com's book giveaway. That's a great way to get exposure and get reviews. I'm happy to say that the reviews are positive. I need to find more ways to get online exposure.

Ultimately, I am so profoundly grateful to have this opportunity to chase my dream. How about you?

taking a break

2009-12-10T23:36:00.000-08:00

I'm still pounding the pavement to set up events so that I'll have a "running start" next year, but everyone is too busy even to schedule anything until after the holidays. So, I'll still be pounding the pavement, but I'm taking a break from blogging until January, probably.

Those one or two people who are reading this, THANK YOU. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season with your friends and family.

Priceless

2009-12-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

Royalty per book. $0.75
Tall decaf latte. $2.65
Price of my book. $14.95
Royalty check for the first three months of online book sales $37.40
Trying to make my dreams come true....Priceless

Retail Therapy

2009-12-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

I thought I was handling the abject failure of my talk yesterday very well, but today...today is a new day. I had to admit, I feel crushed. I'm usually a cheerful, optimistic kind of person, but it was depressing to get up. I tried to concentrate on the positive Barnes and Noble experience, but I couldn't shake off the depressing thoughts that came at me in waves. My first book talk in my hometown where I grew up as a child.... The branch manager was so helpful in trying to get the word out.... I couldn't stop thinking about it and analyzing it. Tuesday evening at 7pm probably wasn't the best time slot for a book talk.... I wanted to bury myself under a mound of blankets and just sleep. But when I tried to do just that, I couldn't fall asleep. I didn't want to do anything.

In my head, I knew it didn't mean anything unless I let it mean something. But my heart was nursing a wound that was bigger than I originally thought. So, in my efforts to shake off the blues, I went Christmas shopping (found perfect presents for my brothers), had lunch with wonderful friends who gave me a lot of air time to vent, and spent a nice afternoon with my son. I was feeling better and better as the day went on. I just have to get through today.

Tomorrow is another day. Maybe I'll schedule my next book signing with Barnes and Noble Fremont. Maybe I'll swing by Borders in Milpitas and try to catch the manager to talk about book signing. Tomorrow is a brand new day with endless possibilities.

Ying Yang kind of night

2009-12-02T21:08:00.000-08:00

I'm a day late, but I was too tired to blog last night....

I had no time to do anything for these events because I was so preoccupied by family health issues. So, I headed out with trepidation in my heart, wondering if anyone was going to show up tonight. I was worried about Barnes and Noble event. They are letting me use their store to get my book and my name out. I wanted some respectable, not so embarrassing sales. Considering I didn't have any friends showing up to support me ('cause I didn't send out an email out to them on time), I was really worried.

At the last book signing, I sold 14 books in a little over an hour. But the fact of matter was, I only sold 1 book to a total stranger I met at the book signing. So, I crossed my fingers hoping to sell...five books. My time slot of 5:30pm to 6:30pm was also a bad one. Who gets off work, head for home thinking heck I'm going to stop by a bookstore? Not that many, especially on Tuesday nights. So, I was delighted when I sold four or five books in an hour. That's to perfect strangers! The store manager said it was really dead last night, but she had me sign all the remaining copies (I think she ordered 27 copies) to sell as author signed copies. I asked if I can come back to see if I can do better and she was really open to it. Now, I need to call to set that up with a person who is in charge of that.

So, with this kind of success (small steps), I had high hopes when I showed up for my book talk at the Newark Library scheduled for 7pm. Well, lo and behold, it was a total bomb because no one showed up for the talk. Not one. Yikes! I was disappointed, but I knew this could be a definite possibility. When I made my rounds at different libraries to see if I can schedule a book talk, I was told, several times, that they had a very low turn out (less than a handful) for even the past bestselling author talks. So, I left the library disappointed, but not crushed.

I packed up my things, got in my car and thought, I'm going back to my family. How can I complain about THIS wonderful life?

A Success!

2009-11-24T21:03:00.000-08:00

I didn't have time to blog this weekend, so I'm several day behind.

On November 21, I had my first book signing at Barnes and Noble on Stevens Creek Blvd. I wasn't nervous, until I saw the bookstore come into my view. Then my stomach churned. I wondered...what am I doing here? I hope I won't embarrass myself....

When I walked into the store, I saw the poster stand with my book cover and my picture and I thought, here I am. At a real bookstore, like a real author. When I introduced myself at the customer service center, they started moving things around a bit to make room for a small table with a stack of twenty books. I was joking with Kelly (the community relations manager at Barnes and Noble) that I was hoping I won't be an embarrassment. She smiled and told me not to worry about it. I tried not to worry about it, but as person after person walked passed my table to the bestseller bookshelves (which was conveniently located very close to my table), I was thinking...one. Can I get one? Just one? Pleeeeease?

Then I saw friends from Matheson (where I worked in the mid 90's) come and I was so happy. These are the guys who wouldn't read a book like mine, but they came out to support me. Then one after another, my friends (still from Matheson) came and bought books. Then people from my church came and bought books. Another friend bought six books. Just over an hour, I had sold thirteen books! I had hoped to sell twenty (I didn't know they only had twenty ready). Even though my book signing was only for an hour, I stayed for another hour and sold one book to a total stranger! I told her she made my day.
When I was getting ready to go home, Kelly told me to sign the rest (six books) for them to sell as signed copies, and that it was better than expected turnout for a books signing. Yipee!

On this day, I've learned that I am blessed to have such good friends and that book by book, I'll find my audience. That one sale to a stranger gave me a lot of hope for the future. I have another book signing coming up on 12/1. It's on Tuesday. 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. I'm afraid this is going to be a deadzone time slot. Getting off to work. Going home to family. Stop by at Barnes and Noble to check out Waiting for Appa? I still believe in miracles and I'm hoping to sell five to ten books.

Right now, I'm still celebrating the success of my first book signing.

Last minute marketing efforts....

2009-11-20T14:26:00.001-08:00

I know I should have done this sooner. Ideally, on Monday or Wednesday, but working against the law of the Universe conspiring to make your dreams come true (The Alchemist) is the Murphy's law. So, here I am, the day before my very first book signing, I'm driving up and down El Camino and Stevens Creek looking for a place to post my flyer and get the word out. This would be a prime example of WHAT NOT TO DO, but I'm hoping that this is better than nothing.

Here are some of my triumphs:

* Starbucks on Lawrence and El Camino was AWESOME. Very friendly. Very visible.

* I've posted flyers on the bulletin boards in Korean grocery stores (they are located in the most visually challenged wall space between the two bathrooms down a long and narrow hallway). I'm not holding out too much hope.

* Cafe Java on El Camino and near San Thomas. Very Friendly. Very visible.

* Starbucks at Valley Fair. Very Friendly. Very visible.

Note to anyone who is going down this path: Not all Starbucks are open to flyers. Some are only open to flyers from non-profit organizations (I thought I saw a flyer of other persuasion, but I wasn't going to argue. What would be the point?)

So, after two tall decaf cafe lattes and an Odwalla I don't need, I feel quite happy with what I've accomplished this morning. Of course, I've posted the events on my accounts on Facebook and Goodreads.com as well as sending out emails to my friends and acquaintances who may be interested. I'm crossing my fingers and toes that I'll have a decent turnout.

On another front, I just learned that my book is now available through Borders. Yipee! Next week, I'll be driving around Palo Alto, Milpitas, etc. to talk to Border's stores. I'm hoping that the books lovers I don't know, yet, will think $15 for a signed book is a good price for a present/stocking stuffer for another book lover. Is it merely a wishful thinking in this economy? I don't know.... Wish me luck. I need it.

Excitement building

2009-11-18T21:56:00.000-08:00

I'm getting excited about this Saturday. It's my first book signing, ever! And the fact that it's at Barnes and Noble on Stevens Creeks makes it all the more sweeter. I used to walk along the aisles of that store and dream about seeing my books on the bookshelves.

I've got the posters. I've got the bookmarkers. I've got business cards for my book. I'm glad that this 1st foray into the public realm is not a talk. The book talk is coming up in December (December 1st in Newark) and this event will help me get my feet wet nicely.

I'm hoping that some of my friends will come out and buy books there. I would consider it a major success if I sell....20 books. I don't know.... I want to sell enough so that I wouldn't be embarrassed to ask the bookstore if I can come back in six months or so. Wish me luck. I need it.

I'm scared. I'm excited. I can't wait for this first experience of meeting people in the bookstore as an author.

Returnability is what made this possible. Returnability. Returnability. Returnability.

New Hope

2009-11-16T22:50:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been struggling with keeping myself motivated when things get so discouraging.... But I did get some good news today.

Returnability is very important if you want to sell your book through book stores. Well, I didn't realize this when I first started this whole self-publishing process, but I did catch on this summer and bought the returnability package from iUniverse in August. Because of how the update cycle works, Waiting for Appa wasn't marked as returnable until October. Having gone through all that, it didn't show up as returnable from the wholesaler that Borders buys their books from. So, now with December right around the corner, Border's wholesaler confirmed today that it is marked as "returnable" in their systme. But I still have to wait a couple of weeks before my book will show up as "returnable" at Borders. Yikes! I can't wait.

I need to go around to businesses around the bookstore to see if I can post a flyer about my upcoming book signings at the Barnes and Noble stores.

Here are my upcoming events:

Books signing at Barnes and Noble, Stevens Creek - Nov. 21, 2009, 1pm - 2pm

Books signing at Barnes and Noble, Fremont Hub - Dec. 1, 2009, 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Book talk at the Newark Library in Newark CA - Dec. 1, 2009, 7:00pm - 8:30pm

A good news from Cleveland

2009-11-11T21:43:00.000-08:00

Good friends are the greatest treasures a person can have and Robin Roch is one of them. She buys five or six books and takes them to places she goes and hands them to people she knows. Her friends. Her family. I appreciate that so much. She not only read my manuscript and gave me good feedback, but she's supporting me in so many ways....

She had given one of my books to her grandmother and her grandmother really liked it. She liked the book, but she equally liked the cover (which my brother Fred designed). This was just what I needed because I've been feeling pretty discouraged about all this. Thank you, Robin and Robin's grandmother!

I'm usually a confident person, but when it comes to writing, I get scared and insecure. I think that's a good thing. I want to tackle uncomfortable topics and try to become a better writer every day. I hope I can do that.

A better day

2009-11-09T22:03:00.000-08:00

Got posters printed for the talk and book signing events. The red in the cover almost bleached out to...bluish red? How could that be possible? But that's what it looks like right now.... But they're still good enough to keep. Now, I need to find a frame for 16x20 poster.

I met a poet today and had a lot of fun talking to her. She has about 100 poems written, in Spanish, and wanted to talk to me about publishing. We talked for a bit and exchanged emails addresses. I'm going to forward some info about iUniverse and which options she should consider. I think it's very important that we, all of us, help each other. I'm going to write to her either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Sometimes I wonder....

2009-11-08T21:30:00.001-08:00

I need to keep this up more regularly than this. I shall try my best to write every M/W/F (when my daughter goes to pre-school and I actually have some time to myself).

Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. Right now, I've hit a marketing hurdle and I really haven't sold many books since July. The royalty for my Sept sales was...$0.75! That means I sold one book online. I did sell about 100 books on my own from the 250 books I've purchased, but it is definitely depressing.

I need to think positively about all of this. If I can come to US without speaking any English, learn the language, get into Berkeley for Mechanical Engineering and graduate, and get where I am by sheer will and hard work, I think I can make this work, too. But my fear is...what if it takes more than hard work? This whole Santa Clara Country library system debacle is a big lesson. I still don't know what I could have done differently and what I did wrong. I just don't know.... I'm supposed to dedicate my M/W/F to marketing Waiting for Appa, but on the days when I have nothing to go on, I should keep working on The Seed Gatherer.

I'm learning that the most difficult thing about self-publishing is that all the contacts must be made on my own without any guidance. After I get through all this and find some measure of success, I'm going to write a book/pamphlet about self-publishing. I might even give it away as a free download if I don't have to worry about money too much.

Still, I have much to be thankful for - my family and the fact that I have the luxury to do this in the first place.

The things I learned today....

2009-09-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

Beginning of this month, I purchased a press release kit from my publisher, iUnivers, for $300 (always negotiate for a discount). I would provide the info (via questionnaire) and they would craft a press release (which I thought was pretty good). The package included, along with the press release, up to 300+ media contacts to which my publisher would send out my press release via email. I thought I just needed to wait for a request for an interview or for a free review copy of my book.

I thought this sounded like a good thing...until I hit a brick wall of reality this afternoon. These media outlets receive tons and tons of press releases like mine and unless I stand out, I don't have a shot. A very nice gentleman who was an editor at one of the local papers called me back and we had a good talk. I learned a lot, but the bottom line is that, even for a local paper, I don't really have a chance at a feature or a review until I sell about 1,000 books (at least! He said he'd love to talk to me if I had sold 10,000!). And I can't sell that many books until I get the word out. So, where does that leave me? Well, it leaves me with more determination to work hard and see this thing through, with one book at a time.

Ultimately, do I think it's worth the money? I'm not sure. If I hadn't done this, I would wonder if I should have done and second guess my decisions for a while. Would I do it again for another book, if I do self-publish another one? No. I already have the media outlet list for my area and I have an example of what a press release should look like. So, a definite no.

My goal for this blog is to share the info I have so that the next person who decides to self-publish would have a little bit of head start on this awesome and bewildering business called publishing (maybe it should have been self-publishing, but I've heard similar stories from the writers from small presses).

I am usually a very optimistic person, but today was difficult. This was just one example of how today went. I have four pages of missed connections and disappointments. But at the end of the day, my children and I went for a long walk and everything was well in my world again.

Finally, iUniverse sent out 317 emails to the media outlets around my area, but how many will actually request a free review copy or an interview, I don't know. My intelligent guess is that it'll be dismally small, but I live in hope, prayer, and laws of attraction.

2009-09-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

The title of my blog should have been Misadventures of a first time author.... The thing about first time anything is that you don't know what you should do or what questions you need to ask to figure out what you don't know. All this is very difficult to do on its own, but it gets incrementally more difficult when people who are in the know only gives you one bit of information at a time. Not out of maliciousness, but out of sheer indifference. So, at the end of the day, you have to go back over and over to get all the information. Yuk!

So, here it is. If there's anyone out there who is reading this, here's what you need to do before you think about setting up a book reading/book signing event at a library. I'm told that very few people will attend a book readin/book signing of an unknown or a first time author (even at a big library, supposedly only three or so will show up). So, you really want to get a book club to "sponsor" you. The most important librarian an author needs to talk to is the librarian in charge of book clubs. Most often, you need to send a review copy for the librarian to read before she makes her decision. After four visits, I was finally told this (after having talked to four different librarians). So, after having filled out event application with all the paperwork requested, I'm back to square one. Still need to convince the book club librarian to even request a review copy from me. Wish me luck.

2009-09-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

Talked to the branch manager of my hometown library yesterday. She's going to read the book and then decide:
1) if she'll put it in circulation.
2) if she'll recommend it for a book club selection.
3) if she'll allow me to book a book reading/signing event at the library.

We had a really good talk and I have a positive feeling about this. She really liked the cover. Thanks, Fred!

Checked on my royalties. iUniverse will only send a royalty check if it's over $100 for the quarter. Well, at this rate, I think it's going to take a couple of quarters, at least, to make that happen. Still, it's unreal to think that I'm collecting royalties. Yipee!

My royalties to date:
July '09 $22.44
August '09 $14.21

Background

2009-09-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

My husband told me to blog when I first started down this path in early Feb 2009, and I should have listened. It would have been nice to document this crazy and wonderful process of self-publishing.

After receiving more than my share of "positive rejection" letters, I've decided to self-publish my book, Waiting for Appa. I would have never considered this option before reading the Time's article on the publishing industry.

After eight months of work (beside the important work of writing), my first book reading/signing may be just around the corner. I'm discovering that marketing is a big part of being a writer. I wish I had more time to write. I'm crossing my fingers and wishing for the very best.