Terena Scott's Blog, page 38

Draft One of Punk Anthology DONE

Putting a book together is my favorite part of being a publisher. I sit at my desk with a stack of story pages, freshly edited and clean, and I piece the manuscript together into a cohesive book. With a single author, the process begins from the first draft they send me. I make notes and hunt for the thread that ties everything together. Often the author can't see it, but has created the unifying thread intuitively. When I show them what they've created, the author responds as if I've given away

Jane is Back!

Jane Mackay is the copy-editor at Medusa's Muse who dedicates HOURS to the Medusa cause. She is also my very dear friend and writing partner. She's been away at college in Boston for the last two years but has graduated and is now back in California. To that, I say...

YIIIIIIIPEEEEEE!

Jane helped me start Medusa's Muse and is one of the people who continues to support my struggles and keep the press alive. Without her incredible grammar talents and creative vision, and the technological know-how o

Now I get why people love Disneyland

I just returned from several days at Disneyland Park in LA with my daughter. It's her birthday, so we went down with Tama and her daughter Boo-Bug for a Princess loving adventure in the "Happiest Place on Earth."

I have never been a Disney person. I could care less about Mickey Mouse and Sleeping Beauty (although I do like Pirates of the Caribbean). But after this trip, I understand why people fall in love with all things Disney.

My daughter has a disability so I was a little concerned about takin

On Vacation, See You Next Week

I won't be posting for a while: I'm going to Disneyland! My last class for this semester is tomorrow and after that my daughter and I are going to D-Land to hunt for Cinderella. She's never been, and I haven't been since high school (grad night. mostly I remember looking for good spots to make out with my boyfriend).

Have a great week everyone![image error]

Blogging has Hit the Big Time

Remember when a blog was a fun way to keep a journal that you could share with your friends and any random stranger who happened upon it? Then blogging became part of the way we got our news, with bloggers reporting on events that were previously reserved for the New York Times. Sure, some of those bloggers didn't check their facts and a lot of it was well written gossip, but the opinion makers were often bloggers. Now it seems that everyone has a blog, from President Obama and Nike, to your gra

Tamarian Graffham on The Joy of Owning Your Own Business

If you haven't read Tamarian Graffham's blog, Tales From the Den of Chaos, now's your chance to check her out. She wrote a post about the joys and trials of being an entrepreneur and why she wouldn't give it up, despite the lack of a steady paycheck. Here is an excerpt:

Times like these are both the worst and the best for thinking about doing what you love, rather than whatever puts food on the table. I wouldn’t swap a steady paycheck for opening my own business right now if I had the choice, fra

Article About Publish on Demand

To try and make up for scaring so many people with my workshop on self-publishing, here is an article from CNN on-line about successful authors who used Publish-on-Demand.

(excerpt) "If you believe in your book, I think you should give it a chance," Genova said. "Still Alice" "was a book that people already identified with and [Simon & Schuster:] saw the book's potential in a very real way."

Genova is not alone. As the economy takes its toll on traditional publishing houses -- HarperCollins dropped

I think I'm Scaring People Away from Publishing

(image by Robin Mills)

Last Saturday, May 2nd, I taught a workshop with Amy Wachspress about starting a small press. 22 people came with their notebooks and questions, eager to learn how we did it.

I think I scared them.

Half way through the class, after Amy had talked about marketing her book and I talked about why I started a press and all the steps I had to take, I realized the room had grown quieter. People stopped jotting notes and instead stared at me with huge, quasi-vacant eyes. Their bodie

20 Things to do Before You Publish

In preparing for my workshop tomorrow, I created a list of twenty things everyone who want to publish their own work, or start a small press, should do BEFORE publishing. This is what I'll be discussing at the workshop, as well as book marketing.

I hope you find this useful. And if you think of something to add to this list, please leave it as a comment. I'd love to hear your perspective.

20 Things to do Before You Publish


1) Define your dream. What do you want to do and how will

Join Amy Wachspress and Me at Lit Fest for a Workshop on Book Publishing.

This Saturday, May 2nd, Amy Wachspress and I are teaching a workshop on independent publishing, called Perspectives in Publishing, at the Mendocino Community College LitFest, a free, annual event, celebrating authors and publishers. Authors such as Jody Gerhman, Jean Hegland, Charlotte Gullick, Jordan Resonfeld, Hal Zinna Bennett, and many other writers, are reading and teaching workshops at the college from 10:00 to 4:00.

Amy and my workshop begins at 10:00, in room 740 (near the library). Amy w