In the past year, I have had a lot of changes in my life, new love, new state, new address, new travels, and all of those make me happy. But I am a particularly happy camper today because my new book, Murder in the Parsonage, is alive and well on Amazon!
For me, writing a book is relatively simple, I sit down at a computer, and let my fingers do the talking. Often, I don’t even think about what I’m doing, the fingers move, and the words just come out, which can get me into trouble as well, when I get distracted and suddenly, my fingers take on a life of their own. Sometimes they don’t really make sense and I have to smack them back into obedience. As a matter of fact, they are taking on a life of their own today.
But I digress…Back to the subject at hand, publishing Murder in the Parsonage. For me, writing the actual words for 350 pages takes almost a year. Write, rewrite, add, delete, swear, give up, drink a little wine, start over again. I finally send the book off to be edited to Anna, Anita, and the Cowboy. At this point, it is like giving away my first-born baby, and usually causes tears and Cowboy solace to get through the day. After all, I’ve spent a year tenderly coddling this work, and what if they hate it or God forbid, lose it? (Before computers were available authors often stored their typed or handwritten works in the oven…in case of fire. How do you think that worked out?) Anna and Anita, in their kindest way, tell me the good and the bad and I rewrite what they tell me. This editing process usually takes three to six months, so I usually take a trip and don’t worry about it!
After everybody approves it, I send it to Eric. I’ve never met Eric, but he makes the typed copy look like a book, you know: cover, back cover, spine, dedication, acknowledgements, page numbers, title pages, all that other stuff. He sends it back to me about a cajillion times with a note, “needs fixing.” So, I fix again, which means another month or two, depending on how many fixes it needs.
Then the Cowboy gets another turn, and he does the Amazon Watusi, answering all their questions, creating things like key words, author notes, and a bunch of other things. And we set a price for this masterpiece…this time $10.86, and that’s another story. How do you set a price for a book nobody has read? For this book I am using a “pen name” Helene Mitchell, and it took a few more zig-zags to get all that information filled in. Another month.
Then Amazon approves! And suddenly it is live, a real book, and for this series, I have a new author’s name: Helene Mitchell! You might wonder why I changed to a pen name. My Wrinkly Bits are under Gail Cushman, but this is a new genre, a mystery series with a no-nonsense lady sheriff in the middle of Nevada. She investigates the murder of a popular priest and discovers pure evil, tunnels to a brothel, and a handsome young stranger.
The E-book is another project, and requires a little more work, but not quite as much. The Cowboy is talking about an audio book. OMG, another layer in this process.
A lot of people along the way helped me …and I mean a lot probably fifty or more! Many read the draft copies (Linda Alden, Joan Wenske, for two but many more), endorsed it (Mike Moser, Agnes Sowle, Christine Barrera, Pam Sonnen, Shaun Goff, Tracy Basterrechea, and Darwin Cameron) and wished me well. I can’t tell you how much all your help means to me.
Murder in the Parsonage is out on Amazon (not on my website yet), it is $10.86, and I know you will enjoy it. The E-book will be out soon, not sure of that price yet. If you want to check it out, Google Murder in the Parsonage…my pen name may not appear for a few days. Gail Cushman will get you to my Wrinkly Bits series, but not to this book. After you read it, please do me the favor of posting a review on Amazon.
Best wishes and thank you for making me such a happy camper! Please share the dickens out of this!
