This site is still in transition. Should I devote it to my literary or political pretensions? I can separate the background facts of those two aspects on different pages. The Blog page is one place where the two will mix, along with other facets of this life.
On the literary front: iUniverse.com has placed my MS Word–format manuscript for The Earthworm That Blows No Trumpet in the hands of a content evaluator. As part of the package that I purchased for this novel, iUniverse offers editorial services, and they call this part of the process Content Evaluation.
[Oops, correction 5 Jan 2015: Content Evaluation precedes Editorial Evaluation. The Content Evaluation process is to make sure that the manuscript complies with the publisher's terms of service and copyright law: no large chunks of plagiarized text, no depictions of sex with children, etc. Editorial Evaluation is, at least in part, a way of determining to which editor the MS will be assigned.]
For my last novel (in 2000), I had to go cheap and did not get that service with the bare-bones package. When I received the galleys for approval, I caught a few dozen errors...but as I discovered when the printed edition came out, I missed a few dozen, too. It would cost another few hundred bucks to get it republished with those errors corrected.
Presumably, after two weeks, I'll hear back from the editor about what changes I should make on Earthworm. As of this writing, I don't know who that editor is. When I submitted the manuscript a few weeks ago, my assigned author consultant indicated over the phone that he was interested in reviewing it himself.
On the literary front: iUniverse.com has placed my MS Word–format manuscript for The Earthworm That Blows No Trumpet in the hands of a content evaluator. As part of the package that I purchased for this novel, iUniverse offers editorial services, and they call this part of the process Content Evaluation.
[Oops, correction 5 Jan 2015: Content Evaluation precedes Editorial Evaluation. The Content Evaluation process is to make sure that the manuscript complies with the publisher's terms of service and copyright law: no large chunks of plagiarized text, no depictions of sex with children, etc. Editorial Evaluation is, at least in part, a way of determining to which editor the MS will be assigned.]
For my last novel (in 2000), I had to go cheap and did not get that service with the bare-bones package. When I received the galleys for approval, I caught a few dozen errors...but as I discovered when the printed edition came out, I missed a few dozen, too. It would cost another few hundred bucks to get it republished with those errors corrected.
Presumably, after two weeks, I'll hear back from the editor about what changes I should make on Earthworm. As of this writing, I don't know who that editor is. When I submitted the manuscript a few weeks ago, my assigned author consultant indicated over the phone that he was interested in reviewing it himself.
Meanwhile, another service that the company offers its authors is the Author Learning Center. It doesn't teach you how to write; it teaches you how to play the publishing game. If you're a writer or aspire to be one, you can purchase your own ALC account without going through iUniverse. ALC lets you take advantage of hundreds of instructional articles and videos from published authors.
In fact, there are so many articles and videos, I don't really know where to begin. I don't even know whether any of the material is right for me, or whether I would be wasting my time even trying to use this service.
When I first signed into the ALC and created my profile, I noticed that there was a featured article with verbiage about hiring a publicist. As my ladyfriend would say, "Real-ly?" Hiring an editor is pricy enough at a penny a word. That would work out to over $1,000 for my 100,000-word manuscript.
There's this odd stereotype, perpetuated by the literary community, that anyone who has time to write also has money to spend on staff. Apparently we're all comfortably well off, we don't have to work a 9-to-5 or pay rent, and we all have evolved tweed jackets with leather elbow patches that change color each day. Damn, I must have totally missed that memo.
On the political front: As I have mentioned previously in this blog, I hope very soon to begin the drive to recruit more active Green Partisans in Harris County and Texas. We hope to find 500 new Green Regulars statewide, and about 100 in Greater Houston. Mostly, we need to find Millennials who want to make a difference on issues of peace, social justice, ecology, and democracy.
You can save us a lot of time and trouble by just showing up at meetings. The next meeting in Harris County is at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1007 Holman Street, Monday 26 January at 6:45 pm. Don't let the current regulars scare you away.
Of course, we do more than just meet once a month. We do stuff, and we like to tell the world about it. The Harris County Greens need somebody Web-2.0-savvy who can redesign the HCGP website. Since the site was established in 2001, the webmaster has been editing it with a version of Dreamweaver that Emperor Marcus Aurelius would recognize. (Ancient Roman websites, I'm told, were always in ALL CAPS).
The Party would prefer someone committed enough to the cause to do the work pro bono. If necessary they will pay somebody for a website overhaul and some instructions on how to maintain the new site. You'd be amazed how much respect you could earn, and how many paying gigs you could gain, if the work is good enough. The Greenies love to talk, and they will recommend your services to everyone who asks (and a lot of people who don't ask).
In fact, there are so many articles and videos, I don't really know where to begin. I don't even know whether any of the material is right for me, or whether I would be wasting my time even trying to use this service.
When I first signed into the ALC and created my profile, I noticed that there was a featured article with verbiage about hiring a publicist. As my ladyfriend would say, "Real-ly?" Hiring an editor is pricy enough at a penny a word. That would work out to over $1,000 for my 100,000-word manuscript.
There's this odd stereotype, perpetuated by the literary community, that anyone who has time to write also has money to spend on staff. Apparently we're all comfortably well off, we don't have to work a 9-to-5 or pay rent, and we all have evolved tweed jackets with leather elbow patches that change color each day. Damn, I must have totally missed that memo.
On the political front: As I have mentioned previously in this blog, I hope very soon to begin the drive to recruit more active Green Partisans in Harris County and Texas. We hope to find 500 new Green Regulars statewide, and about 100 in Greater Houston. Mostly, we need to find Millennials who want to make a difference on issues of peace, social justice, ecology, and democracy.
You can save us a lot of time and trouble by just showing up at meetings. The next meeting in Harris County is at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1007 Holman Street, Monday 26 January at 6:45 pm. Don't let the current regulars scare you away.
Of course, we do more than just meet once a month. We do stuff, and we like to tell the world about it. The Harris County Greens need somebody Web-2.0-savvy who can redesign the HCGP website. Since the site was established in 2001, the webmaster has been editing it with a version of Dreamweaver that Emperor Marcus Aurelius would recognize. (Ancient Roman websites, I'm told, were always in ALL CAPS).
The Party would prefer someone committed enough to the cause to do the work pro bono. If necessary they will pay somebody for a website overhaul and some instructions on how to maintain the new site. You'd be amazed how much respect you could earn, and how many paying gigs you could gain, if the work is good enough. The Greenies love to talk, and they will recommend your services to everyone who asks (and a lot of people who don't ask).
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