Another self-publishing project!

I want to do another poetry book.

Yes, I know, I just finished one. I can't wait for "She Wasn't Allowed to Giggle" to come out in October. And I have to work on "Spellbound II", which is currently at chapter 4 and going well. The rewrites are going smooth and I am catching up quite quickly. Regardless of anymore projects I take on, "Spellbound II" is my main focus for now.

"She Wasn't Allowed to Giggle" finished off at 125 pages and 84 written pieces. But I have so many poems from all these years just hanging around in random folders not doing much other than sitting there. In their eBook "Be the Monkey," Joe Konrath and Barry Eisler say that the best thing for a writer to do to profit financially is write, but if that writing doesn't get used, there is no profit.

So I want to do another poetry book.

It's an idea for one I've had for a while. A bunch of these unused poems explore what life was life in a small town, the restlessness to leave it, actually leaving and returning once or twice before actually breaking free for good. I think it's something many of us can relate to, whether you were a small town kid or not. There's always a subtle yearning to see the rest of the world. I lived for almost a decade in a town where people were born, grew up, married young, had their kids, raised their kids and died all in the same town. Meanwhile, I always yearned to get out of there and go see bigger and better things.

The funny thing is, of all the great cities like Ottawa and Vancouver I always wanted to see and dreamed of living in, I ended up in a small town anyways. I was born on the Sunshine Coast and I feel at home here.

This poetry book, which I am naming "Wildflowers Scattered, Estranged: Memoirs of a Small Town Girl," probably won't be out until next year because of "Spellbound" and "She Wasn't Allowed to Giggle." I'm thinking towards spring time it'll be released. This will be my second self-publishing project.

Speaking of self-publishing, I have noticed a few writers on Facebook and Twitter who are teetering on the decision of whether to self-publish or not. That great three-part discussion by Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath called "Be the Monkey" is a lengthy read but definitely worth the time reading. It's what convinced me to go self-publishing.

It is available in eBook for free: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/03/ebooks-and-self-publishing-dialog.html

It is a very in-depth look at the book publishing industry by two men who know the industry well. I highly recommend it to anyone trying to make the decision of whether to self-publish or not.

Well, seems as I've added another project to my own plate, I guess it's back to writing for me!