Uvi’s Comments (group member since Apr 09, 2012)

Uvi’s comments from the The Creative Spark with Uvi Poznansky group.

This thread is to share news about the publication and promotion process. If you are a published author, and wish to post advice about any aspect of bringing the book to public attention, this is the place to do it. If you wish to ask a question, I will do my best to answer.

Also, this is where I will post news about my book, Apart From Love.

Yes, we strayed off topic. I think this conversation is about the writing process, perhaps I should add a thread for the publication process and rename the existing thread (writing and publication process) as writing process.

The writing process is a topic all its own. I think we should keep it general, not specific to memoirs, so that all the poets and writers in this group feel they can talk about their writing, whatever genre it is, and receive feedback and support.

Just did it! Lets continue this conversation on The Writing Process.

With pleasure, Marcia!

Marcia, now that you turn your attention from French history to your memoirs, do you find differences between the writing process for each project?

And Marcia, you are welcome to post here an excerpt from your current project. This is a standing invitation to all the writers in the group, as sharing our creativity can be used as a starting point to an exchange about how we go about the creative process.

Hi Marcia, it is quite enlightening to learn how thin are the boundaries between writing fiction and writing non-fiction. In both cases, we as writers form an intense bond with the hero or heroine, be it a historical figure as in your book, or a fictional one as in mine. And we use the scientific side of our brain to balance and guide the story through its highs and lows.

Now about writing a memoir: from my experience and as I can see, from yours too, it is a desperate attempt not only to come to terms with our challenges--but also to frame them in a way that can no longer threaten our core existence. If not for writing, I would not be here. I'm dead serious about this. Here, for example, are Ben's words in Apart From Love , which I lifted, word for word, from a different context in my memoir, several years before the novel:

"I have no will. I have no curiosity. Of its own, my finger is passing with barely a touch along the blade until suddenly, catching on a spot, it halts. Rust, perhaps. I raise my hand over to the light, careful not to tighten my hold over the thing. A cold shine can be seen in intervals, shooting up and down between my fingers along the metallic handle. I can sense the edge.
I can see my wrist, a vein twisting through it with a hard pulse. I can see the delicate lines, guessing their way across the skin. How frail is life. Better close your eyes. Close your eyes, I say. Do it.
I close my eyes and with a light, effortless relief, my thoughts are lifted, flying away from the moment. They are lifted, turning over the edge, cutting up and away, heading for a far, far time in the past.
I have no will. I have no curiosity.
What now, I ask. What if I have no blood. What if I am no longer here?"

Wow Marcia! It is so rewarding to have your work appreciated, let alone to win first prize! I have written scattered chapters of my memoir, but found it so difficult to put it all in perspective, because I feel too close to certain events. In addition there is also the need to 'protect the innocent' and think about who in the family might take certain notes 'the wrong way'...

So have you restarted this project, and how do you deal with the issue of perspective?

Also, just as an exercise, go back to my blog, and on the very top, on the right side you will see the words 'Create Blog'. So take a risk, Geraldine, and click it!

Geraldine wrote: "I really like your blog that you did I just dont understand how people will be able to see my poetry and how to write a book"

Geraldine, if you post a poem on your blog, you will need to post a link to that post, so that people will click the link. Where do you post the link? Share it on your facebook page, so your friends can click it; tweet it on twitter; join some facebook poetry groups and post it there too. Then, from all these places, people will come to read your blog post.

Alternatively, you can just post the text of your poem directly, in each one of these places (and in that case, you do not need a blog.) Maybe this is the simplest way, and the easiest to start with.

You may ask, why do I use a blog? Here's the reason: I like to provide rich content on each post. By this I mean, in a typical post I may include several images of an art piece (for example, several views of a bronze sculpture I created), plus links to related posts, plus a poem, plus a description of the creative process. Such richness is not possible through posts on facebook and twitter; as you know, you can post on facebook with either a link, or a picture, or a video, but not all of the above would be visible in one post.

It seems to me that you would enjoy posting them, perhaps in a website or a blog, so that you have a central place your readers can come to and give you feedback. Give it some thought, I can guide you a little bit when you decide to do that. You can create a blog for free. Take a look at my blog for example, http://uviart.blogspot.com/ to see if this is something you would like to create for your work.

Another idea is to join poetry groups on social networking places, for example on Facebook. If you enter the word 'poetry' or 'poets' in the facebook search box, you will find many groups where poets post their work, and comment on each other's poems. This interaction is very inspiring and will trigger a lot of creative ideas in your mind.

Geraldine wrote: "MIRRORS"

Thank you so much, Geraldine, for sharing something which is intimate, intense, and beautiful with me. It is so heartfelt, so honest! And I love the theme of mirrors, because it allows you to reflect reality, and to play with what's real and what--illusion, the shine reflected off of them. Also, the broken heart takes on a special meaning when you think of the fragility of glass.

Also, I like the way you breathe out these sentences, in short, painful utterances. I can truly hear your voice, and through it, the pain of rejection.

One minor suggestion, not about content but about format: I think it would be easier on the eye to read the poem if you presented it in lower-case letters. Traditionally, the first letter of each line is presented as a capital letter, and the rest of the line is in lower-case. Perhaps I am just old-fashioned... Or perhaps you had some intent when you presented it all capitals.

What do you think?

Geraldine wrote: "Thats what I really dont no I do have a design for the cover though I will post a poem to see how you like it"

With CreateSpace (as with lulu, Lightning Source or any other POD provider) you will be able to upload your cover image. But you will have to select the format & size of your book, and adjust the cover to fit a 'template' tailored for that size.

Would love to read what you write!

ֿim really trying to get some help on how to publish them"

It is a great feeling to hold a book of your own work in your hands. My first books were published on lulu.com, but the price of these books with lulu is too high for general consumption. One of these days I will re-publish them with a different POD (Print-on-Demand) provider. I published my novel, Apart From Love through the best POD provider out there, Lightning Source. However, to work with them you must be proficient technically in all aspects of book design, cover design etc., because there is a high cost for each revision of the book.

So for a novice, I think the best deal is Amazon's own POD provider, CreateSpace. It is easy and relatively pain-free. Here is the link, take a look and explore the possibilities:
https://www.createspace.com/

You may recall the play-in-a-play, performed by the rude mechanics at the end of Midsummer Night's Dream, aptly described in their own words as 'The most lamentable comedy, and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby.' These would-be actors, whose ability to express themselves is unabashedly mocked by their audience, are used by Shakespeare mainly for comic relief. The play they perform is merely a farce of the Romeo and Juliet love story. Why, you may ask?

To read more, click the link
http://uviart.blogspot.com/2012/07/py...

I am not busy, but swamped! Also, you would need someone who can incorporated pics, and I am yet to learn the ins and outs of that. If I know someone, I am sure to let you know.

But now, Marcia, to the more interesting, exciting part: what is your next project? Are you writing a new book?

Hi Geraldine! So nice to see you here! So to offer any help, tell me this first: in what form are you trying to publish it: paperback? ebook? or online? Each one of them has its benefits. Tell me which one of the three you would like to start with.

Also, I would love it if you posted a poem here, if you so wish. This is a standing invitation to all writers and poets participating in this group.

Yay! Thank you, Marcia!

As do most writers! It's not easy to to rely on qualified professionals, and make sure the result is to our complete satisfaction in terms of the layout of the text and the functionality, as tested on a reading device. You, Marcia, took great care, for both the paperback and the ebook, to achieve excellence in both. To me, this means that you care about your work, and most of all--about the reader!

(in my case, because of having worked as a software engineer, I could do the conversion single-handedly.)

But even though most writers cannot do the actual conversion by themselves, they should still keep an eye to Amazon , B&N and iTunes announcements about any news for conversion technologies. Why? Because by keeping abreast of the latest news, writers can better assess if the people hired to do the job know what they're talking about.

Apart From Love is listed in several listopias, including Indie Books Better than 50 Shades of Gray. If you wish to cast your vote for it, here's where:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/23...

This is great information, Marcia!

Now here is some information that you and other discerning authors may find useful, to format ebooks to a higher level of design:

- children books, where illustrations are to be incorporated, fixed layouts and Kindle Text Pop Up;
- fiction books, where text is to be formatted with embedded fonts, line spacing, alignment, and justification;
- Technical and engineering books, where nested tables, boxed elements and Scalable Vector Graphics are to be incorporated;
- Comics and graphic novels.

So take a look here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html...

Now what is needed is to compare Kindle Publisher Tools with other tools available for iPad and Nook. At a minimum, you would want your ebook designer to be knowledgeable about these techniques!