Josie Lynn Books: Imagine the Possibilities

Tag: indie publishing

  • Bad Spellers Untie

    The first time I saw this slogan on a T-shirt in a Signals catalog (not that I’m promoting Signals…not that I’m not promoting Signals…I’m just saying), I liked it because on the spelling continuum I fall somewhere in the dead middle—not the world’s best speller, not the world’s worst speller. To put it mildly, I’m in no danger of winning any spelling bees. I’m not proud of that. Once again, I’m just saying.

    In fifth grade, I was the class champion when it came to state capitals. (I might be a little proud of that.) I was the speed locater of states on our pull-down map in the front of the classroom. But stand me up in front of people and ask me to spell out loud I’m more than likely going to choke. “I before E except after C…” Except that that’s not entirely true. So many rules, so many exceptions to the rules. Things aren’t always what they sound like. Good grief! (Or is it “greif”? Just kidding. I know!)

    Watch this hilarious clip from the Tony Awards (at least through 2:44)

    Can You Raed This?

    A long while ago, a friend sent me an e-mail that asked the question, “Can You Raed This?” and claimed that according to a “study” at “Cmabrigde Uinervtisy” it has been determined that the order of letters in a word is unimportant as long as you get the first and last letter correct. It had something to do with how we don’t look at every single letter when reading a word, but at the word as a whole.

    As an average/bad/not great speller, this notion sounded good to me. Unfortunately, it turns out that the email was spurious, untrue, an urban myth. The order of letters in a word is important after all. Too bad.

    Untie, Unite

    However, something that did give me hope was raeding, urm, reading a little book called Love and Freindship [sic], a pretty hilarious tale in which a teenage Jane Austen basically makes fun of the romantic novels that were popular in her day. The book contains misspelled words, and I find it encouraging to note that Jane wasn’t all that fastidious about the order of letters in every single little word; she was too concerned about the order of the words themselves.

    If only Jane had reminded herself that friend is spelled friend because a true friend is loyal to the end….

    The bottom line is, I love words, but I’m not a huge fan of spelling. Neither was Jane Austen. That’s what editors are for.

    Which brings me to the crux of the matter. Could it be that, as a writer, I feel that details like spelling are too nuts and bolts and get in the way of the creative flow? I hope not. Because no matter how amazing your words are, if no one can decipher them or if they have to spend too much time deciphering them, your writing is not going to bring anyone any pleasure. And while the idea of a fourteen-year-old bad speller who grew up to be Jane Austen is quaint, the idea of me sending you poorly spelled emails is not.

    Of course, as a self-published author, one must pay attention to things like spelling and such. One must grow up, just like Jane Austen went from Love and Freindship to Pride and Prejudice….

    Note: The story Love and Freindship has nothing in common with the 2016 movie Love & Friendship. That movie is based on Jane’s novel Lady Susan. In the story Love and Freindship, teenage Jane Austen writes: 

    “One fatal swoon has cost me my Life… Beware of swoons Dear Laura…. A frenzy fit is not one quarter so pernicious; it is an exercise to the Body and if not too violent, is I dare say conducive to Health in its consequences—Run mad as often as you chuse; but do not faint—”

    Wise words indeed, even if some of them are spelled rather creatively.

  • Literary Allusions…Not Illusions

    I have blogged quite a bit about Pride and Prejudice for the simple reason that I happen to love Pride and Prejudice. I love the characters. I love the story. I love the writing.

    However, lest I give the impression that my obsession with appreciation of Jane Austen’s writings begins and ends with Pride and Prejudice, I would like to take this opportunity to say a few things about Northanger Abbey.

    For the longest time, I regarded Northanger Abbey as a throwaway Jane Austen novel, the one you could skip reading and simply watch the movie, if that. Perhaps this was because I saw the 1987 BBC movie first and found it dull, dreary, and dismal, giving one the impression that one was watching it on television set that was in the process of dying a slow, painful death, whether or not this was the case.

    I couldn’t get into the story. I couldn’t get behind any of the characters. I thought the whole idea was implausible and I simply didn’t care about any of it. At all.

    However, when Masterpiece Theater was rebranded as Masterpiece all of those years ago and all of the hopelessly dated 1970s and 1980s versions of Jane Austen movies (except for Pride and Prejudice) were revamped, I watched them all and, for the first time, Northanger Abbey piqued my interest. Prompting another, this time successful, attempt to read the novel.

    The curious thing, however, is how much it reminded me of my middle-grade novel, Maxwell Parker, P.I.,1 in that:

    1. The heroines are both avid readers
    2. Both heroines have overly active imaginations
    3. Both heroines have an unnatural interest in guts, gore and gruesomeness
    4. Both heroines suspect someone of an atrocity and then take steps to investigate

    My novel Maxwell Parker, Love Doctor, the sequel to Maxwell Parker, P.I., seems to be loosely based on Emma, another Jane Austen novel I came to late in my Jane Austen reading experience. Ironically enough, I started to/attempted to read Emma when I was about ten or eleven years old. I picked it up off the shelf at the library and opened up to the first chapter and read the first line: “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.”

    Miss Austen, I regret to inform you that this first line did not speak to ten-year-old me. Bratty, over-privileged Emma Woodhouse did not seem like a kindred spirit and I had no desire to spend any time with her, so on the library shelf she remained, and I did not become an Austen fan until I was sixteen-years-old and met kindred spirit, Elizabeth Bennet, whose opening line I much preferred. No matter. I like the book now, although, like my heroine, Maxwell, I still find Emma to be “so annoying.”2

    Just for the record, neither of my two Maxwell Parker books were intended to be reimagined Jane Austen books. Any resemblance is entirely a happy coincidence. However, I am in the process of writing a third Maxwell Parker book, and which, if any, Jane Austen book will end up inspiring it is anybody’s guess right now. As they used to say, back in the days before streaming and on-demand programming, stay tuned.

    1. Maxwell Parker, P.I. was published in 2014, but it was written long before I watched the 2007 version of Northanger Abbey. ↩︎
    2. Maxwell Parker, Love Doctor, p. 262 ↩︎

     

  • The Jane Austen Treatment

    The Jane Austen Treatment

    The idea: to translate Jane Austen’s comedies of manners into useful instruction in the finding and keeping of employment.

    Background: I’ve been an avid reader and/or viewer of Jane Austen novels and/or movies since I was a teenager. My first Jane Austen novel was Pride and Prejudice, read it in one setting, as I was mentally, physically, and emotionally unable to put it down.

    As a teenager/young adult, I also read a steady steam of job search articles and books about surviving job interviews. I knew all of the ins and outs, the whys and wherefores, and the dos and don’ts. I was well-schooled in the art of looking for a job. But I still dreaded interviews because I never felt prepared.

    Then one day, while waiting in my car to go into a job interview, I was mulling over the standard tips I’d gleaned over the years. They seemed cold and lifeless sitting on the page or glaring at you from the computer screen. And, as I sat in my car in the few minutes before having to go in to face the “hiring squad,” I gave those familiar tips a slight tweak—the Jane Austen treatment, if you will—and suddenly they came to life. They became useful. They became memorable. They became fun.

    And now I’m (re)sharing them with you. (Editor’s note: these articles were originally published on this blog May-October 2014)

    What’s Your Worst Quality, Mr. Bingley?

    If answering the questions “What’s your worst quality?” or “What’s your biggest weakness?” sends chills down your spine, read what Mr. Bingley did. You’ll never be stumped again. Read more here.

    darcy at desk

    Don’t Bad-Mouth Your Former Boss, Wickham

    When a potential employer asks, “Who was your worst boss?” he/she’s not inviting you to vent. Discover a better way to respond to this question by reviewing Wickham’s epic fail. Read more here.

    wickham

    Become a World-Class Networker (Like Mrs. Bennet)

    This is probably the one and only time it is okay to make Mrs. Bennet your role-model. When it came to networking, the girl had skills! Read more here.

    mrs. bennet

    Dress For Success, Elizabeth

    Miss Elizabeth Bennet may have had fine, bright eyes, but did her petticoats drenched in mud really send the right message? Read more here.

    eliza

    Tell Me About Yourself, Lady Catherine

    Learn how to deal with this ice-breaker from none other than Lady Catherine de Bourgh herself. Read more here.

    lady catherine

    You Can Never Be Too Thankful…Just Ask Mr. Collins

    Mr. Collins was nothing if not overflowing with gratitude. Take a page from his book (just don’t overdo it). Read more here.

    Mr. Collins

    Does anyone else find it highly ironic that a bunch of people who (with the exception of Wickham) never worked a day in their lives could instruct one about job interviews?

    Gossipgirls

    Nevertheless, this is what’s worked for me. What are some of the ways you make a boring, unpleasant task a tad more tolerable?

    And finally, do I promise this is the last time I will write about Jane Austen? I’m sorry, I cannot make that promise.

  • Use (or Choose) Your Words (Wisely)

    Use (or Choose) Your Words (Wisely)

    “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me.”

    I’ll admit it. I am (on occasion) a public eavesdropper, but only because people say the most interesting things in public. For instance, I was in the parking lot of an organic market not too long ago and a family (consisting of a mother, a father, and a pre-teen son) was getting in the car next to mine. The son was not in a happy mood.

    “Why are you mad with Daddy?” the mother asked, and then instructed him, “Use your words.”

    The son proceeded to not use words, his or otherwise, but to sulk as he climbed into the backseat of the crossover with folded arms.

    I laughed inwardly, mainly because I was surprised to hear that people really used words like “use your words.”

    Another time, I was innocently eating breakfast at a hotel near a popular amusement park, when a family of four was seated at the table next to mine. The two young boys were having a dispute, and to settle it, the father parroted the adage about sticks and stones breaking bones, but words never hurting you, to which the older son replied, “But they do hurt. They always hurt.”

    Again I chuckled, this time because the little dude was merely confirming the belief I’ve always held: words can be dangerous things.

    People can make cutting remarks that go on to have long and productive lives, remarks that go so far as to find a home inside your brain, and turn up again and again like that proverbial bad penny. If someone struck you, they might leave a sore spot or a bruise, but those things heal, those things fade with time. You might at some later date wish to revisit your injury, only to discover it has completely disappeared.

    But words are different; words cut deep.

    That’s why it’s a good idea to be like Horton and only say what you mean and mean what you say. Because once the words are out, you won’t be able take them back. You can’t. You can say you’re sorry. You can say you didn’t mean it. But if those are just lame, ineffectual words compared to the mean, harmful, pointed words you’re trying to take back.

    Those words that can’t be “un-heard.”

    It reminds me of the fable about gossip, often used to illustrate how once words are spoken, they become feathers in the wind; difficult to control, impossible to collect once unleashed.

    Like that vintage shampoo commercial (and they told two friends, and so on, and so on) suggests, words have a way of getting out at an exponential rate, which is good for advertising your new restaurant, but not so good if we’re talking about your embarrassing, dirty laundry.

    Funnily enough, I have written a book that addresses this very topic. Imagine that! It’s called I’m the Greatest Star, and tells the story of a sixth-grader named Star who, among other things, finds herself face-to-face with the verbally-abusive class bully.I'm the Greatest Star 3D cover 2022

    I’m the Greatest Star is published by Stepping Stones for Kids, an Imprint of FootePrint Press and will be available for purchase next month, April 2018, as a paperback or eBook. Visit my website josielynnbooks.com for more details.

  • The Problem With Book Clubs

    Or why I (personally) don’t like Book Clubs

    Disclaimer: Any views or opinions presented in this post are solely those of the (sometimes over-opinionated) author and do not necessarily represent anything other that what she felt like expressing at a particular moment in time. It is quite possible she will feel differently at a later time.  Any similarity to any person living or dead is merely coincidental (so please, no offense). No animals were harmed in the writing of this post, because, well…harming animals is wrong.

    Now that that legal bit of business is out of the way, I invite you to view a commercial which pretty much sums up why I don’t relish the thought of joining a book club.

    [vimeo 35919418 w=500 h=281]

    It’s because I harbor the fear that that guy will want to join or will have already joined. In either case, I would have to quit the club and run for the hills, because that guy is annoying. I want to read, not be annoyed.

    Readers (at least, this reader) tend toward the introverted side, and for me reading is a solitary experience. So I like the idea of a book club, but not so much the actual thing.

    I liked the idea of Oprah’s book club. She picked a book. You and a bunch of other people out there in the great beyond read it. There were no meetings, no social interaction. It was just you and the book and the idea that a whole lot of other people were reading along, which was in some ways comforting. It was like being in a flash mob without having to leave the comfort of your home and without making a complete fool of yourself.

    There was always the off chance that some fortunate viewers would be invited to participate in the book club dinner/discussion with the author, but let’s face it, the reality of that happening to you was pretty slim.

    Oprah’s book club surpassed any other book club because she could actually facilitate a dinner with the author (except for the time she chose two books by Dickens…she’s Oprah, but there are limits to was she can do). What are the odds the guy in the commercial could get the actual author of a book to come discuss his or her book over dinner? Slim to none. I don’t care how much processed cheese book club guy promises to serve.

    Post script

    I have a bit of news: My book, Maxwell Parker, P.I. was honored as a Notable Book in the Middle-Grade Books category in the Third Annual Shelf Unbound Writing Competition for Best Independently Published Book, sponsored by Bowker.

    For more information about the competition, please check out the December/January 2015 issue of Shelf Unbound, a great resource for all those interested in indie publishing.

     

  • Declaration of Independence

    Or Why I Became an Indie Publisher

    Once upon a time, I used to think that the only pathway to becoming a “real author” was to secure an agent who would sell my book to a “real publisher.” This would inevitably result in a call from said agent reporting the sell, which would reduce me to a sobbing mess of happy, relieved, celebratory tears. That phone call never came, because finding an agent (for me, anyway) proved to be the enormous, impossible, clichéd catch-22 that everyone says it is. I once read a quote that likened the TV business to ‘a cruel, shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where good men die like dogs.’* The quote resonated with me; I instantly pictured my books left to die along a long plastic hallway of shattered hopes and dreams. Was I bitter? Was I hopeless? Perhaps, just a tad, but like I said in an earlier post, writing is something you can’t stop. It was just a matter of figuring out a new, different, and better approach to authorship. Or, to quote from Jurassic Park, “Life will find a way.” So I watched and I waited. Then, finally one day, seemingly out of nowhere, while I was busy poring over one of those books with lists of agents and publishers (who are currently not open to submissions or who do not accept unsolicited manuscripts or whose name and contact info is followed by any of those unfriendly, unwelcoming, disheartening phrases), there was a publishing revolution—a bloodless revolution with no visible carnage—but a revolution nonetheless—that left writers empowered to take matters into their own capable hands and stop waiting for someone on the other end of the proverbial transom to decide their fate. The time had come to remove the carcasses of dead books, dead hopes, and dead dreams from those hallowed trenches and hallways. Writers could set their books free. Writers could set themselves free. It reminds me of a commercial I once saw… [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZDUbKNiMsU?rel=0&w=420&h=315] …Plus, indie publishers have to wear lots of hats and I’m a big fan of hats. Do you have a similar story that you would be willing to share?

    *The quote, in its entirety is: “The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.”[…]

Powered by
►
Necessary cookies enable essential site features like secure log-ins and consent preference adjustments. They do not store personal data.
None
►
Functional cookies support features like content sharing on social media, collecting feedback, and enabling third-party tools.
None
►
Analytical cookies track visitor interactions, providing insights on metrics like visitor count, bounce rate, and traffic sources.
None
►
Advertisement cookies deliver personalized ads based on your previous visits and analyze the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
None
Powered by