Reach Out and Touch

Remember the old song with the words, "Reach out and touch somebody's hand. Make this world a better place, if you can?" It was something like this. Today, I am going to leave you some ramblings on reaching out and touching the reader.

There would not be much fun in writing, if no one ever picked up our books and read them. We would tire of reading them ourselves and being our only audience. We want people to like us. We want to build a fan-base. We would dearly love to see fans create web sites dedicated to us, but will they?

Pick and choose from the things below. Think about these kinds of things as you write.

• Who is your book meant for? Is it just a child? Do you want a parent to read it with a child and the two of them enjoy it together? What is the book really meant to do?

• If it is for a child, what do they want in a book or story? In the same light, if it is for an adult to read to a child, does this change the way you put it together?

• What is the Number One Thing, when it comes to your audience? WHat is top-most of what you want the book or story to do? What do you want the result to be?

• What can you do to surprise your reader? What can you do that is unique to your book? Is there some way that you can make your book offer something that no other book has for the reader?

• How can you you put it together and make it do what you want it to do? How is the story going to read? Will it be rhyme? Will it be told through a story?

• What will you do to insure that the reader turns the page? Read, Read, and Read and see how others keep you reading.

• What do you want your readers to feel, when the book has been read? How do you want them to react?

Most importantly, write, write, and write.

I will add to this, later. Got to run.

Copyright In and Outs

I had someone send me an email today asking about copyright. I figured that everyone knew this, but I am going to repeat it, just in case.

Any writer wonders about the same things. They are afraid that someone can steal their idea.

Actually, Ideas can be stolen. Ideas are not protected by copyright.

That is right. Ideas can not be protected.

If you look at all of the writing in the world, most of it comes from the same basic ideas. Most stories are based on the basic idea of good vs. evil.

Think about it. It is true. They all come from the same basic ideas. See how an idea can not be copyrighted? If ideas could be copyrighted, the book world would be very small. It has to be something presented as unique work and then it can be considered protected.

If you talk with someone and give them an idea and then they use it, you do not have a leg to stand on. Ideas are pretty much free to use. I would caution you about talking about ideas that are not in a written form.

Some people apply for a copyright. Please, do not send in a manuscript with a copyright on it. That is considered very amateurish. Publishers will laugh or want to laugh and toss it into the slush pile. This is a big "No No." You must be as professional as possible.

When your work is written down, it is copyrighted. This is automatic. This is also true of published and unpublished work.

When your work is published, the publishing company will take care of the copyright.

When a work is copyrighted, the copyright lasts for life plus seventy years. After that time, it enters public domain.

In public domain, anyone can use the work. The author's heirs do not get anything out of it. It is as stated "public domain."

Sorry, got to run. More later.

Where Do I Go From Here?

Okay, I am going to ramble a little about me and my situation. If you have anything helpful to contribute, write to me. I would appreciate the comments.

My picture book SleepyTown will be out, soon.

I have seen a final pdf copy and I have seen the cover. There is a chance that I will have a copy in my hands this Friday. Then, it should be available in stores, online, and etc. soon.

What now? I have around "seven" other things in different stages of being finished. I have two finished stories that need illustrations. Then, I have a short story that I have written 2,200 words of a maximum goal of 8,000 words.

It would be wonderful to get rich doing what you love, but it seldom happens that way. I would love to become an instant success, but that seldom happens. I would love for someone to see something in me and hire me to make big bucks. Alas, fairy tales do not always happen in real life. So, what now?

I am going to keep writing. I love it. If a person loves what they are doing, isn't that enough some times? Imagine the thrill of being able to do something that you love. Too many people go through life miserable. They feel locked into a life that "stinks."

I do not claim to be an amazing writer, but I love writing. I have always loved writing. I was the drama person. I was the artist. I was the creative guy. (I was the male lead in my high school's senior play. I won the best actor award. It was a comedy titled "Time Out for Ginger." It was a blast.)

I guess the worst thing for me is that I grew up and live in a small town. It stinks some days. Everyone just about knows everyone. If they do not know you, they know someone that does know you. Growing up, all the police officers knew my dad. If I went 45 in a 35 zone, they told dad. They did not stop me, but they told him. That stunk!

Creative people do not get a lot of respect in a small town. There is not an Art Gallery within 50 miles of me at least. There was a guy that tried to have a small gallery downtown, it lasted a few months. People did not visit it and they did not purchase paintings. (The gallery closed and the guy still has around seven items of mine, that I am still trying to get returned. I am the nice guy, I know. I should have set loose a herd of elephants in his back yard, but I did not do that this time.)

I am trying to improve myself. As stated, I do not claim to be the best, but I love what I do. I must do it. I have to do it. I get frustrated because I want to do it. Are you like this? Do you feel it inside? ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! Get the idea?

When I think about my picture book coming out, I have several feelings. I am excited, but I am scared, too.

I know that everyone that picks up the book and opens it becomes a critic. They will have an opinion.

Learning to accept criticism is not easy. That story is a part of me. It came from inside of me. If someone tears it apart, they tear a part of me. It is alive. Only the author understands the total picture. Am I right. Don't you alone see the entire picture? You know why you do what you do.

My publisher sent me a pdf of the cover and a pdf of the book on Friday of last week. It looks very good. Is it exactly as I would have done it? No. I would have done it differently, but I am not the publisher and I do not have the freedom of doing it totally my way.

My oldest daughter said, "It is the most beautiful book ever. It is just beautiful. It is better than a lot of books that I have seen."

Of course, I appreciate her feeling that way, but she is biased. I expect her to like it. If your family is not for you, hire someone to be family. Everyone needs their family behind them.

I have thought about seeking-out an online course that would challenge me to write. I found one, but I am doing some research to see if it is really what I want to do. The course gives assignments and you submit them. An instructor goes over the work and sends back comments. It does cost. (I do not have time to attend a college class. This might offer something that I would find beneficial.)

I have also researched writer retreats. There is one, not too far away, but it runs into Summer vacation. That stinks. There is a writer retreat, but you have to be an alumni or take the writer workshop to attend the retreat. The retreat is for writing and writing and writing. The workshop features instructors.

I found a guy that opens up his house to authors during the summer. He is on the beach. He accepts three people at the time. They write and share and enjoy being away from home. It would be nice, but I am not sure that it would be right for me.

I am just sharing the things that I am thinking about at this time. If I lived in a larger town, there might be a writer's group that I could join, but you already know that one. I told you about it earlier in this post.

There is a writers convention thing this fall. That offers classes in a lot of areas. I have asked for a brochure so that I can look at it and think about how I can attend it and benefit from it.

I would really love to start something online. I just do not know what to do or how to start. I would really like to have my own site and get people to share stuff that would help all of us.

What would you do? Give me some feedback. I need it and I would appreciate it.

If this rambling is too much, forgive. I just was a little out of it this morning. I am tired. I am trying to keep myself under control. I can be really "stupid," when I am tired.

More later.

A Mind Retreat

Excuse the deviation from the norm, but I thought that I would take a "mind retreat" today. I am actually thinking about doing this on Fridays. Read the post and take a minute to drop me a message. Register here, it is FREE. If you are a member, log in.

I grew up in the very same town where I live now. Sometimes I wonder why I did not leave this small town and go somewhere, anywhere but here.

So, here I am. I have one older brother. He is seven years older. He is the perfect child. No matter what, he never does anything wrong. It has been that way all of my life. Yep, it is still the same today. It will never change.

As a child, we had a very small house. (I live in that house, now.) My brother and I had to share a full-size bed. Our house only had two bedrooms. Imagine growing up and having to sleep with your older brother that hated your guts. He hated my guts. (He had never seen my guts, but he hated them just the same.)

Being seven years apart did not help anything. Well it did make me the "whipping-boy" many, many times. When I tell you what he did to me, you will probably laugh.

Look, I was the younger brother and I wanted to be like big brother. You know, I wanted to hang out and talk and feel like a "big boy." For some reason, he was against that idea.

One day, okay, I will admit that I was being a pest. I just wanted some attention. You have to know that my dad never had time for us. He worked lots of hours and was always on call. (One week a year, we were together as a family. It was called vacation in Panama City. Then, my dad lay on the bed in the motel room and slept. We went to the beach.)

Time to get back to the story. I do have attention issues. I get distracted. One day, I was in the bedroom. I kept going by my brother and saying things to him. Look, all I wanted was for someone to pay attention to me. (Mom and dad did not.) I was acting kind of crazy. After all, I was seven years younger.

My brother said, "If you do that one more time, or touch me one more time...I will knock you through that wall!"

I could have been the good little boy and walk away. I could have gotten a book out to read. I could have even took the time to plan a trip to Siberia, but Nooooooooo, I did that "one, last thing."

He back-handed me and knocked we through the wall. My entire body went into the wall. Now, before you think that he was some kind of "Hulk,” you have to know that we had sheet rock walls. (I hate sheet rock walls.)


My entire body went backwards into the wall and made an impression of my entire body. My brother had this look on his face. I grinned. I knew that he was going to get killed. He was dead meat. I tried to fake a wound, but he said that he would kill me if I did not stop it. He meant it. Mom and dad were not happy campers. They did not say, "Yea, you did good son. We can see his complete outline in the design." They were very, and I mean very, upset.

My brother had to give a pint of blood, have two finger nails pulled out by the roots, and he was locked in the trunk for an entire day. (I lied! I wanted this to happen. He was grounded. He had his toothbrush taken away, or something stupid like that.)

Several days later...mom and dad had to go somewhere. They left me at home with my brother. DANGER!

They told him to wash the dishes and have the kitchen clean, when they came back. Most of all, they told us to "be-have." (Is that spelled correctly? It was used to tell kids to do what was right, and stay out of trouble.)

My brother was washing dishes and I as in the living room. In our home, the living room and kitchen were connected. I was taunting him, I think. He had to do the dishes. I was going to lie and say that I was not doing anything, but I am an honest person. I was standing in front of the couch. I was saying something to my brother about him doing the dishes. I did not have to help.

It was best not to have us around dishes at the same time. Mom wanted to have some for the next meal.

Honest, truth...It was not that I was mean. My brother just hated my guts.

It did not take long and he got his fill of me.

He said, "If you say ONE MORE WORD, I will sling this knife through you!!!"

Please, oh please, he should not have said "say ONE MORE WORD." That was his fault. He should have known better. He tempted me. I could not help it. I tried to hold back. I groaned and grabbed my mouth and mentally, I said, "NO!" I gave my brother THAT LOOK and said in my clearest, seven years younger, voice, "WORD!"

He whipped around and all I saw was a blur as his arm swung in a perfect arch and something zoomed over the table, through the door, and across the 14 feet between door and me.

It was almost like The Matrix, only different. I did some kind of uninvented-asian-kung-fu thing and slipped out of the way of the butcher knife.

That is right. It was a butcher knife. It missed me and lodged itself into the back-support of mama's couch that was strategically placed in front of the Spanish painting of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. (Mom was into Spanish decorating.)

This was going to be so good. This time he was bound to lose a liver or something. If not a liver, maybe he would have his spleen ripped out. I smiled and said, "You're gonna get in trouble."

Then, he reminded me of something. Why had I talked? I knew better. I should have only given my name, rank, and serial number. I had told my brother something a while back. Hey, I did not think that he would remember it and drag it up in a time of need, but, he did.

My mom had this PRIZE, and I do mean prize, painting behind the couch. It was "gi-normus." (giant with a twist) My mom loved it. It was her prize. (She paid $75.00 for it at a furniture store and made me swear on a stack of sale papers not to tell dad.)

I had taken "glow-in-the-dark" crayons and added color to parts of the painting. That way, when mom and dad were not home, I could get out my "black light" and make the painting glow.

It was beautiful. It was like WOW and Spanish all wrapped up together. My brother knew that mom would kill me or make me walk three days in a desert without water.

He said, "If you tell mom and dad, I will tell mom about the "glow-in-the-dark" crayons.”She will kill you. She will make you swallow a razor blade." (Yes, he was cruel.)

Then, he pulled out the trump card of all trumps. I am telling you the honest, truth.

He said, "If you tell mom and dad, Soap Sally will come and get you and make soap out of you!"

I was scared to death of Soap Sally. (Soap Sally was a legendary woman that lived in the woods. She had a pack of wild dogs and she captured bad little children and made soap out of them. No one had ever seen her, but I was told that she existed. I cowered-down, when Soap Sally was mentioned.)

Fear took a hold of me then and there. I froze for a minute. I tried to keep my brother from noticing how it affected me, but being the emotional-wreck that I was, I could not help it.

Hey, if you had grown up with him as your brother, you would have been a wreck, too.

He smelt blood. No, he smelt the fear that was rushing though my veins. I was scared. My brother removed the butcher knife from the couch and arranged the cloth so that it was hardly noticeable.

Of course, I would have been sitting there with my finger in the hole of the couch, when mom and dad came in, but...He only had to look at me and say..."Soap Sally."

When mom and dad came home, I was in the bedroom reading. My brother was just finishing the dishes. Mom and dad never found out.

Making money with your writing and other stuff!

Did you know that many local junior colleges offer classes in things of interest for the community?

They have Art, Knitting, Sign Language, and all kinds of subjects.

This could be a great opportunity for you as an author, illustrator, or both.

Go by your local junior college and get a catalogue. Look in the back of that catalogue. It might have a list of classes that people can sign up for that are taught by people, just like you.

Hey, you might have some other talent or background that your local college could use. Ask! You do not lose for asking. The worst thing they can say is, "Sorry, we do not have anything right now." If that happens, keep reminding them that you are interested.

Look under the "Continuing Education" department.

The Continuing Education Department is committed to linking College and community resources to provide quality enrichment programs to people of all ages.

Most colleges offer a variety of "fee-based" workshops, classes, community-service activities, and continuing education courses designed for those who want to keep learning but who are not necessarily interested in earning academic credit or pursuing a college degree.

Classes are designed for people in search of life enrichment and those striving for personal and professional growth.

Most programs consists of two major divisions of courses: professional development courses and personal development, interest, and leisure courses.

Programs are provided for youth, adults, and seniors in a variety of formats, such as seminars,workshops, and short courses.

For example, my local junior college wanted me to teach Watercolor Classes at night, but I already have a commitment. I could not do it right now.

Then, check out your local college's Kid's Programs during the Summer. Many colleges offer an education-based type of day care for children. I work two months in June at my local Junior College and teach Art to children. It provides vacation money for me and my family.

I just thought that all of you bloggers would appreciate a new idea to check out for a way to use your talent.

I would suggest that you write up a proposal of what you can offer and give it to the person that is in charge of the special programs. You never know what might happen. Give it a chance. Share your talent and knowledge. People will appreciate it.

Let me know if you find something.

Everything you ever wanted to know about being successful

Stephen King has written a lot of books that were very successful. He writes. He gets paid. He lives off his writing. He is successful. He was asked, in an interview, to tell writers what they need to know in order to be successful. This is a short version of what he said. I am not going to quote his exactly. I am giving him credit for what he said and then I am adding my two-cents-worth.

1. Be talented: He stated that if you write something and it gets published and then you get a check for it, then, you are talented. He actually goes on to say that he is not really trying to anser the talented thing. HE is just saying that if you have talent go for it. He does say that we should skip as much of the "self-illusion" as possible.

ME: If you have that writing thing in you, write. You have to do it or die. Then, write. Hang in there with the rejection letters. A lot of very good authors got rejected many times. You will know, if there comes a time to turn to something else. If you can do nothing but write, WRITE!

2. Be neat: Type. Double-space. Do it just the way the publisher wants it. Use good paper. Stay away from cheap paper. Do not send in a messy manuscript.

ME: If you want to be treated like a professional, make it look professional. If you get a rejection, make it the best manuscript that has ever been rejected. If, by chance, you get any comment on your work, GLOW! That is a good thing. If a publisher makes a favorable comment, they saw something good.

3. Be self-critical: You should have marks all over your manuscript as you go back and make changes. No one writes a perfect story the first time. "Only God gets things right the first time."

ME: You have to walk away from it. I put it down for a couple of days and work on something else, then I go back to it. I laugh when I think that I have five children's stories that are in various levels of development. On top of that, I am writing a teen-vampire short story. As a painter, it helps to turn the painting upside-down and see it from a new view. Try it.

4. Remove every extraneous word: If you want to preach, go out to the woods, stand on a crate and preach. Get to the point. Remove the parts that do not help the story move along.

ME: If you keep circling the airport, looking for a place to land. Ditch the plane and start over. Parachute out of that one and start over. This is so hard to do, when you are attached to your story.

5. Never look at a reference book while doing a first draft: You want to write? Write! Stay away from the dictionaries, the encyclopedias, the thesaurus, and other books. Write.Stay away from spell-checker. Write. You can go back later and make corrections. Do not stop your train of thought. Stay on track.

ME: I agree. If I stop, it takes me a while to get back into what I am doing. I do better work if I stay with it. I don't even like to stop and go to the bathroom. Sometimes, I must. Sometimes, when I stop, I totally lose where I am before I stopped.

6. Know the markets: Do enough research to know what markets are interested in what you do.If you write something good, why not send it to someone that wants to see that kind of material? You have to research the market.

ME: True! You really need to read what they publish. You need to know what their slant is in the publishing world. Look for trends. Try tot find THAT SPOT. There has to be an opening that no one else has stepped through. Do it.

7. Write to entertain: People read books for a reason. They want to get enjoyment out of the reading. Write for others to enjoy your writing.

ME: Keep telling yourself that "someone" is going to read your writing. You write for people. You want them to say "Wow!" You want them to go and tell their friends to purchase your book. You want to make money. It is true. It is not all about having fun. Money is a nice side-line.

8. Ask yourself frequently, "Am I having fun?": If you never say "YES," do something else.

ME: I write for me, but I also write for others. It is a blast. I am doing what is in my heart. I have to write. I must write. I love it. I am not saying that I am the best. I am not saying that I know it all, but I know me.

9. How to evaluate criticism: Listen to what others say. Nod. Then, think about it carefully. If your critics are ALL telling you the same thing, maybe they are right. If THEY say something is wrong, something is wrong.

ME: If something is not working, get rid of it. If you love it, keep it for you. If the critics do not like it, and they keep pointing out the same thing, let it go. Put it in your private stuff. Just maybe some day someone will find it and be amazed at something that never got published. It happens.

10. Observe all rules for proper submission: Do it exactly as stated in the submission guidlines.

ME: Some things get rejected, if they miss just one little point of the guidelines. It helps with rejections. Some get tossed in the slush pile from the start because of one little thing.

11. An agent? Forget it, for now: Agents make money off you. Beginners do not need an agent. Do all the work yourself at this point. Agents come later.

ME: Stephen King says that you do not need an agent until you are making enough money to matter. Actually, he said it stronger than that, but I chose not to repeat it. I am trying to be nice. He says it like it is.

12. If it is bad, kill it: "When it comes to people, mercy killing is against the law. When it comes to fiction, it is the law."-Stephen King

ME: I quoted him on that last one. The truth hurts. It rubs like sandpaper or worse. I have a few things that have been buried among papers. I did not totally kill them, but maybe they will arise some day.

Take care! Keep writing! Do what you have in your heart!

What others say about writing

The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. ~ Robert Cromier

I do not know all of these people, but I did find it interesting to read what they had to say about writing. I decided to leave some of them here for you to enjoy.

Read, read, read. Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.~ William Faulkner

I did read that Stephen King was making a comment about writing and he said, "If it is bad, kill it."

You don't write because you want to say something' you write because you've got something to say.~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

What we want is a story that starts with an earthquake and builds to a climax.~ Samuel Goldwyn

One of the least impressive liberties is the liberty to starve. This particular liberty is freely accorded to authors.~ Lord Goodman

They're fancy talkers about themselves, writers. If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don't listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.~ Lillian Hellman

Manuscript: something submitted in haste and returned at leisure.~ Oliver Herford

Why do people always expect authors to answer questions? I am an author because I want to ASK questions. If I had answers I'd be a politician.~ Eugene Ionesco

If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, its research. ~ Wilson Mizner

I always do the first line well, but have trouble doing the others.~ Moliére

The dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere.~ S.J. Perelman

Writing is the hardest way of earning a living with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.~ William Saroyan

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightening and the lightening bug.~ Mark Twain

No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's draft.~ H.G. Wells

Have a great day! More later.