When Things Look Better on Paper Than They Do in Real Life

 

Photo Credit: www.kaboompics.com via Pexels

 

Earlier this year, a publisher I am friends with shut down her company, suddenly making several books go out of print. Because I knew this publisher and she is aware that I work for a different publishing company (Twisted Dreams Press), we had talked about the fate of my books. She wanted to know what I planned to do in order to get them back into print. In our conversation, I mentioned that I was starting a new imprint at Twisted Dreams Press called Dreamweaver Press, which was slated to debut on June 1, and I mentioned that I’d be happy to help her authors get their books back into print. Additionally, I agreed to take over the many anthologies that were either already published or scheduled for publication.

 

And because this is A LOT of books to get back into print, I knew that I would need to create a publication schedule for all of them.

 

The authors of this press received this invitation to sign with Dreamweaver and I have been working with the interested authors ever since. Part of this task involves discussing a date to re-release their books.

 

The main goal of Dreamweaver Press is to republish books that have gone out of print. Because I am in that boat too, I decided to add some of my books to that list. But the priority at the very beginning is put on other authors, not me. My books can wait. I want to put THEIR books first.

 

And in order to have everything sorted out with all of these books, I knew I would have to create a publication schedule so that I wouldn’t lose focus on where we were with certain books.  

 

So, I created the publication schedule. And when I did, I knew that there would be some challenges to keep that schedule at the beginning, but I was willing to take on those challenges. After all, the challenges I anticipated would be a learning experience for me as a publisher, and I could use those lessons to strengthen the press moving forward.

 

Little did I know that the challenges related to the publication schedule would have a lot more to do with real life than with the press itself.

 

When I created the publication schedule, I decided that I would start the process for getting the next book published on Mondays. Unfortunately, for this most recent Monday, I had two things on my mind: My article deadline and my son’s graduation. (I am still a freelance writer!) And both of those things took place on the same day! (Thank goodness the graduation ceremony was in the evening! I spent the first part of my day taking care of finalizing my article, submitting it, and waiting for a confirmation from my editor that the article was received.) So on Monday, June 8, I was only thinking about those two things, instead of “The Next Book to Be Released By Dreamweaver Press” – which was an anthology.

 

The first book published by Dreamweaver Press was released on schedule.

 

The second book published by Dreamweaver Press was released on schedule.

 

The third book to be published by Dreamweaver Press? It probably won’t be released on schedule.

 

And my forgetfulness about starting work on it on Monday is not the only reason why!

 

Apparently, I didn’t have everything I needed to upload the files for publication.

 

I was aware of the book slated for release on Monday, June 15. It’s the re-release of the anthology The Stranger At My Window, a book which recently went out-of-print. And while I was certain that I had everything I needed for this re-release to happen, I realized at the last minute that there was one more thing I had to do before this book could be republished: Update all of the contributor bios.

 

This anthology was first published in May 2025. And a lot can happen for a writer in one year, which is why any publisher of an anthology should always double check with writers to see if their bios need to be updated if they are going to republish the anthology at a later time.

 

The thing of it was, though, is that I should have asked all of those writers if they needed their bios updated on Monday, and not on Thursday, which is what actually happened. On Thursday morning, I was ready to upload all of the files for publication – until I realized that, oops! The writer bios needed to be updated! This is a must. I want to ensure that every single book I publish through Dreamweaver is something that the authors can be proud of and that it has the best quality possible. I would not accept anything less. I was with a publisher in the past who was okay with publishing books filled with typos and inaccurate information, and that won’t happen with me. Every book published by Dreamweaver Press will be of the best quality possible.

 

And if I wanted to republish an old anthology, I would have to make sure that all of the writer bios were updated!

 

I was kicking myself for forgetting about this very important step before the book can go to press. (It’s been a week of forgetfulness, folks. On the day of my son’s graduation, he had to keep coming back into the house when it was time to leave, because he kept forgetting things. And I have kept forgetting things all week too!) But I understand that mistakes are going to happen in these early days of the new imprint. So I am not going to continue to wallow in anger at myself for screwing that up. I had a good self-bashing, then I got back to work!

 

So I contacted all of the writers and let them know the situation. Because I was the creator of this anthology when I compiled the stories for the first edition, I had everybody’s email address.

 

And while I was at it checking to see if I had everything I needed in order to republish a book, I decided to do the same for another anthology which I plan to publish. This is one that was originally scheduled for publication by the old publisher, but now that the company shut down, it is one of the anthology projects which Dreamweaver Press acquired. For this anthology that I plan to publish on June 22, Tales from the Hearth, I was dismayed to discover that I didn’t have everything I needed in order to publish it.

 

The manuscript is edited, but I didn’t have the cover or the writer’s email addresses. I was not the creator for this anthology, and the person who was the creator is not available to contact for the email addresses, so I tried another approach. Since I am on Facebook, I looked all of the writers up on there. The good news is that I am Facebook friends with all of the writers. The bad news is that not all of them included their links on their Facebook profiles. This was bad because I prefer to contact people through their website contact forms, not through Facebook Messenger. (Except for people I am actual friends with; we chat in Messenger often.) But I still rolled up my sleeves and contacted ALL of the writers in the other anthology through Facebook Messenger asking them to send me their bios AND their email address. (An email address is good to have if you are working with someone!)

 

Then I waited.

 

Fortunately, all of them have been responding to my message and have provided the information I needed for the book and my files. I am so grateful to them all for being okay about reaching out to them through Facebook Messenger rather than email. And I’m grateful that they have replied so promptly, too! (Thanks, everyone!)

 

Now if only I can get the cover for that other anthology. Then I will have everything I need in order to publish it.

 

My plan to get the TSAMW anthology published looked good on paper, and now it’s just a matter of waiting for real life to catch up. We’ll see if I can still get it out by Monday!

 

I realize that I could just go ahead and republish one of my own books on Monday just to keep the publication schedule consistent, but I don’t want to do that. I want to put the other authors’ books first. I want to work on getting OTHER books back into print first. Mine will be back out there in their own time.

 

So what have I learned from this mishap? Two things:

 

1.  We all make mistakes and sometimes we forget things. It happens.

 

2.  It’s a good idea to create a system in order to prevent certain mistakes from happening again. My forgetfulness is not something I have any control over, but I CAN control planning ahead, which is what I will do from now on. This will mean that I’ll include a reminder in my dayplanner for EVERY Monday to start the process for releasing the next Dreamweaver Press book. Mondays MAY be a Release Day for Dreamweaver Press, but it’s also a day I need to start working on getting the NEXT book released!

 

Yes, we all make mistakes. We’re only human. But it’s important to LEARN from our mistakes and think about what we can do in order to avoid making that mistake again. Hopefully, for this particular case, a pre-set reminder will work!

Setting Aside Time to Write

 

Photo Credit: Ron Lach via Pexels

 

As someone who spends Monday through Friday setting aside time for Twisted Dreams Press as well as working on anything related to the newsletter and reading books I am reviewing, it can be a struggle to find the time to work on my own writing: Books, short stories, poetry, essays, articles, and anything else my creativity comes up with.

 

But the thing of it is, we don’t really find the time for the important things in our lives. We MAKE the time for them.

 

So, at the end of the day, even if I’m tired or physically drained, I still made time to get some writing done this week. I have reviewed all the work I have got done this week (so far!) and I was happy to see that, in spite of everything else I had to do, I still made time to work on my own writing.

 

I am currently revising a short story and I got some VERY helpful feedback from a reader on things to add to this story, so I have been working on making those additions.

 

I have been revising my book, 365 Tips for Writers, because it is currently out of print, but I am at the stage where I am not only revising it, but adding more to it as well. This is necessary in order to make the new format of this book work. So, I made time to get some writing done for this book as well.

 

And of course, I’ve worked on the two articles I needed to finish writing this week. One is finished and sent off to the editor. The other one is almost done; I hope to complete it by Sunday, 3/29. I made time to write in these articles as well. And even on those days, I also got some writing done in one of my WIPs (I am working on several books) or something of my own to write (such as poetry!).

 

I have noticed that some people who work in publishing have said that they feel guilty if they set aside time for their own writing. I think this is nothing to feel guilty about. If you are a writer, you owe it to yourself to set aside time to write. Don’t give your whole time to the job in publishing. It is not the only thing that you are. You are also a writer, and you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t set aside time to write. Just as you are also a student or spouse or parent, etc. You need to manage your time so that you are able to have a slot of time for each of the things that are a part of your life.

 

This is why I stick to “business hours” with the press – well, usually. Last night, for instance, I remembered an anthology we plan to announce an open call for in the near future, so last night, I emailed a writer who submitted a story for an anthology that wasn’t right for it to let him know about this project, and ask if he wanted a spot in it. I wanted to do this before I forgot to do this (again!). But usually, yes, I stick to “business hours” with the press. Once I am done for the day, I am done. And THEN I can focus on my own stuff.

 

Having business hours and sticking to them is the key to being able to still do other things with your life when it comes to a job or career. Don’t let your job in publishing take up all of your time during the workday. By sticking to business hours, there is no reason to feel guilty about spending time working on your own writing. If you are a writer, you need to write.

 

And you need to make that time to write, too. If you only have five minutes to write, then use that five minutes to write. That’s what I did this week no matter how busy it was and you should try to do that too. It is YOUR time to manage and figure out how to spend it.

 

If you are able to spend your free time writing, then write.

 

But some people will think, “Oh, I can’t concentrate on the writing right now” or “I don’t feel like writing.” But, maybe you can? And maybe you do? Try it. Try writing something in a journal, write a few sentences in your WIP or try writing some notes for a piece you need to write.

 

I did, and I feel a lot better that I still got some writing done every day this week. Any week that I am able to write every day is certainly a good one, so make it a good week for yourself too when it’s Monday again and get writing. 

 

Remember, what you write doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be written.

Writing Through the Storm

Photo credit: Tumisu on Pixabay

 

In the past, I have talked about how writing was the one thing I turned to when I was about to lose all hope for humanity. It was my saving grace when everything was falling apart. It was the only thing that helped me to retain my sanity.

 

But at the same time, it can be hard to write when everything really is falling apart.

 

It’s hard to get excited about a story or hold on to that spark that helped me to start writing an article or book when I can't get excited about things in real life.

 

That’s exactly what I have been dealing with this week. Some things have happened that have made it hard for me to keep going with the writing work I have been doing. Because I have deadlines, I have kept plodding forward, doing what needs to be done so that I can meet those deadlines in time. With other things, however, it’s not so easy. I have been asking myself questions like “What’s the point of even revising that book or short story?” or “What’s the point of even writing that story?”

 

The answer, of course, is to get those things done. To finish revising that book and those short stories, to finish writing that story. To finish editing that other book and finish writing that other book.

 

The point is to keep writing, because writing is the one and only thing that I still have any control over. I can write or I can not write. That choice is still up to me. What I do during all of this mess is STILL up to me! 

 

I love to write, and that’s why I write.

 

Writing is my chance to escape from the horrors of this world to, well, the horrors of another world. Or if I’m writing a children’s story, science fiction, or fantasy, then the writing is an escape to somewhere else – somewhere better.

 

I don’t need to have a reason to write.

 

I don’t need permission to write.

 

I don’t need any validation to write.

 

It’s okay to write even when things get hard. It’s okay to write even if there is no home for the things that we write. It’s okay to keep writing even when the world is in chaos.

 

The act of writing itself is all that matters.

 

Another reminder that I have used to help me get through the emotions that have swarmed around in me all week is that I will be happy when I finish work on something. It’s always a great feeling to finish writing something. Finishing what I start writing – or revising or editing – offers a HUGE sense of accomplishment other acts of completion do not. At the end of the day, it will be one more thing that I will have ready to send out somewhere, whenever that destination is found.

 

I finished writing this thing. I finished revising this book. On to the next one!

 

My very long list of writing projects reminds me that there is more work waiting to be done. I just need to finish the CURRENT writing project first before I can tackle the next one.

 

These are all of the reminders that I have told myself as I struggled with trying to focus on writing instead of focusing on my feelings. Even if those things to write and revise don’t get published, they still need to be written and revised. I need to finish work on them. They need to be done.

 

I might find a new publisher for those books later. I might succeed in my efforts to self-publish my children’s books. Things might work out okay in the future. Who knows?

 

I am upset about things that have happened now, and they make me feel like it is The End. But it’s not The End. Not yet. My journey is not over; it’s just taking a detour.

 

I have managed to get some work done this week in spite of feeling so down about everything. I have worked on revisions for two short stories that I plan to submit, and I worked on my deadlines. I have also written this blog post. I have also written in my journal, using it to vent and moan about everything. That helped a lot!

 

But I am starting to feel like showing up for the writing acting like everything is okay when everything is NOT okay is being fake. It’s pasting a smile on my face when instead I am actually frowning. I don’t want that fake sense of positivity to seep into my writing. (Maybe it helps that I write horror!) I don’t want to be fake with people and I don’t want it to look like I am ignoring the bad things going on by shining light on only the good things.

 

But maybe that is what we need. We need more good things. There are already so many bad things, and I don’t want to add to that. Yes, I can write about the bad things, but in a more constructive way instead of being a huge downer about them. And maybe I can write about the bad things in a way that would make readers want to create change or take action against them.

 

That is one solution to coping with adversity: Putting it to a positive or inspirational use in the writing. It’s certainly challenged me to try to look at them differently and see how I can turn those bad things into good things.

 

All of this has reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from Doctor Who: “The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don’t always spoil the good things and make them unimportant.”

 

As long as the writing is important to me, it’s worth it to keep at it in spite of the bad things.

 

Just yell “Plot twist!” and carry on.