Debating Book Two
It's hard to believe the book, Scooter Sagas came out just over a year ago. I continue to promote it at book conventions, websites, and libraries, but I haven't set the world on fire. As I said before, my book is not Anna Karenina. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart hasn't called, but I've been out and New York is such a schlep. I actually received a royalty check that funded a dinner out for us. The publishing company did report a high volume sale, but the buyer ended up being me. Earl didn't quit his day job, so we're still solvent. Family and friends liked
it. I have some new friends living in other countries. I feel in touch with people I don't see enough and look forward to
hearing back from them (like Christmas, only year round). Other individuals, with and without disabilities, found something in the book that spoke to them; everyone deals with something. Most importantly, our grandchildren enjoy being referred to in the book. They have even featured Scooter Sagas in some 'Show and Tell' sessions at their school. All in all, my objectives have been more than met and I'm a happy camper.
What's happened recently? For starters, life—which continues to provide humorous material for the blog. My sporadic posts are longer now and have more photos. Having learned the hard way about picture copyright issues, I've tried to use more of my own photography (except in this post)*. You can use color in a blog, whereas an affordable book can only handle black and white photography. If one funny thing after another happens, I post frequently. If nothing funny happens, nada; temporarily quieted maybe, but not dead. I know I should be more predictable and disciplined, but that's so...uh, predictable.
At least blogging about ataxia keeps me in the game, is more fun and less pressure than producing a book. Heidi and Earl proof my spelling and punctuation, but leave me to ignore many grammatical rules and keep my beloved contractions. Even though the book was essentially the blog redux, the final content organization was different (non-chronological) and, consequently, didn't feel so redundant. A unique restructuring of the last year's posts isn't coming to me. That's probably a sign to stick with blogging for now.**
*Previous Post: It's A B-B-Book
**Previous Post: A Little Help from My Friends: Blog vs. Book
The lesson: If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise...
What's happened recently? For starters, life—which continues to provide humorous material for the blog. My sporadic posts are longer now and have more photos. Having learned the hard way about picture copyright issues, I've tried to use more of my own photography (except in this post)*. You can use color in a blog, whereas an affordable book can only handle black and white photography. If one funny thing after another happens, I post frequently. If nothing funny happens, nada; temporarily quieted maybe, but not dead. I know I should be more predictable and disciplined, but that's so...uh, predictable.
At least blogging about ataxia keeps me in the game, is more fun and less pressure than producing a book. Heidi and Earl proof my spelling and punctuation, but leave me to ignore many grammatical rules and keep my beloved contractions. Even though the book was essentially the blog redux, the final content organization was different (non-chronological) and, consequently, didn't feel so redundant. A unique restructuring of the last year's posts isn't coming to me. That's probably a sign to stick with blogging for now.**
*Previous Post: It's A B-B-Book
**Previous Post: A Little Help from My Friends: Blog vs. Book
The lesson: If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise...
Good going, Tammy! I enjoy reading each one of your blogs.
ReplyDeleteSorry, if you were looking for a real critique, that's the harshest I've got.