E.L. Farris's Blog, page 4

Avoid Print on Demand or Vanity Publishers

That’s right. Avoid them. They’re like sharks in the water and you’re the chum. Most so-called “print on demand publishers”, which is a fancy word for vanity presses, make their money charging authors to print their books. Again, let me repeat: a vanity publisher is one who charges authors a fee in order to publish the author’s book. On top of that fee, which may or may not be drawn against royalties, the vanity publisher will take a set percentage of [...]

Book Review: Memoirs of a Homeless Bookstore Owner

I just finished Self-Published Kindling: Memoirs of a Homeless Bookstore owner (Kindling), by Mik Everett. This was the best book I’ve read in 2013. Seriously. This isn’t hyperbole. I’ve read a few excellent ones, like Ann Leary’s A Good House and Christine Nolfi’s Treasure Me. Kindling was special. Unique. I am a picky, grouchy author of literary fiction myself. I read tons of other books, and most of them disappoint me so bad, I don’t even bother reviewing them. This [...]

Mother and Daughter: Letting Go of My Past

It’s a hot July afternoon, and I’m working hard, networking, talking to fans, and editing a friend’s manuscript. Bad Doggy starts shrieking, and I practice deep breathing. I forgive Bad Doggy, and I forgive Aaron and Esmerelda. I wait for a few seconds. More shrieking. I turn up the radio, but now the music is pounding in my ears and I can’t concentrate. Stop it, stop it STOP IT, I scream, really at the top of my lungs. And I [...]

Self-Publishing Tips: Editing Process

My editor, Christina M. Frey, just sent me line edits for I Run, A Novel. It is completely impossible as an author not to feel humbled when reviewing, assembling and ultimately accepting or rejecting line edits. For those of you who don’t know what that is, editing consists of four different parts. First comes developmental editing, which is when your editor moves major parts around, assesses whether the plot is sound, suggests shifts in characterization, and helps with flow, voice, [...]

Coaching for Self-Published Writers

Coaching Services I’m excited to announce I’m offering coaching services for writers now. For a long time, I’ve been advising other writers and wanna-be writers. I field questions from authors who are either thinking about self-publishing books, have already published books and are concerned about slow sales, or who have signed contracts with “vanity publishers” like Publishing Companies like New World Media, Durbin House Publishing, iUniverse, PublishAmerica. Often, people want help cleaning up what’s messed up as a result of [...]

I Saw an Angel

Friends, a piece I wrote has been picked up by Yahoo, which makes me feel happy. It’s an honest, simple story celebrating God, and little children who haven’t learned to stop believing in Him. As I am sure you’re noticing, my direction as a woman is increasingly influenced by spiritual considerations. I hope this article provides a little peace and healing to its readers … I saw an angel one time. I was a little girl, growing up in a [...]

Diving into, no through, Darkness: with God

I tried to meditate this morning, and some crazy stuff went down. What I was supposed to do was to turn inward, moving past all the noise, the insanity of my life, until I could sit with God. Today’s mantra is: God is with me wherever I go. I’ve been struggling of course with the concept of God being anywhere near me, because I feel unworthy of having Him near me. I feel unworthy of Him, and this dose of [...]

Mirrors: An Eating Disorder

NOTE: Contains triggers for those of us with eating disorders, and it contains obscenities. Each one felt necessary. This will be a part of the sequel to I Run. “If I write something, that I’ve never written about, not in any novel, not in any journal article, not in my first book, or my second book . . . would you read it? So that I didn’t have to sit there, head in hands, alone, with . . . me?” [...]

Forgiveness

I Run, A Novel, is about a woman’s healing from child abuse, addiction and self-abuse. In the following conversation, the main character, Sally Lane Brookman is talking to her inner child. “Am I forgiven?” Little Sally whispered. I looked at her hair flowing in the wind and contemplated what that would mean. If she was forgiven, then so was I. And it hurt to think I was forgiven; it hurt almost as much as it had hurt to say the [...]

Way to Ask for Money: Beg, Badger, Barter and Bazookas

We get slammed silly with requests for money, don’t we? Whether it’s that hilarious e-mail from Nnandia in Nigeria who has forgotten the password to his bank account and lost his puppy to civil war, or the salvos from the predictable PTA moms or the “Buy this product and be instantly fixed forever,” someone is always asking for something.     We get “buy now, get one free” or “BOGOed” to death. It becomes just white noise sometimes.   I’ll [...]