been a while

i am aware i haven't posted anything in a while, and to those few who are following or even reading my blog often, i apologise. things at uni have been keeping me quite busy, but i will be posting regularly again  once all my work is done and exams are over, and i shall do a more in depth guide for lulu.com as the first post. anyway, apologies once again for the absence of posts, but don't lose faith, i am still here. on a side note, i have begun working on creating the website, so that could be up and running soon as well.

First, useful post.

Right, well, as the title says, i am going to try to include some useful information rather than just go on about things i like in this post. so, i will talk about probably the most important thing to think about when writing a book, or even a collection of poems. something even more important than plot, structure, or spelling and grammar, which i am aware i have neglected in my posts. and that is publishing. perhaps one of the most daunting tasks for authors, as it can have a huge effect on your confidence as a writer to have something turned down. today though, i am going to talk about a few self publishing options.

The first, is a website called AuthorHouse.com, a brilliant self publishing site, for those who can afford it. they offer spectacular packages, with just as 'spectacular' prices. the packages will include meeting an in house team of designers for cover designs and illustrators, they can read and edit your book for you, do all the work, other than writing it, and will even get you some good advertising, but you are looking at at least $600, or around £800 -  £1000 for this. Brilliant if you have a nice paying job on the side, but for those like me who are just starting out, you don't want to pay that much for something that may never make it.

There are many other sites like authorhouse, which will offer cheaper deals, for less services, and although i cannot bring any to name right now, a quick search on google will bring them up.

However, if, like me, you would rather put in more work yourself, and get more of the profits, i recommend a site called Lulu.com, this is where i have published my first novel and i found it to be very accessible and easy to use. you sign up for a free account, and then go through the process of choosing what sort of project you are doing, you can choose the paper type, the size of the book, whether you want black and white or coloured text, and then you simply upload your file, they convert it to pdf, you get to check everything and go back and change whatever you want, before moving onto the cover. you can upload any picture you like for the cover, and customise the front, back and spine, as little or as much as you like. even before doing this, you can calculate the printing cost of the book, by entering how many pages it contains. Once all this is done, you then decide how much you sell it for. Lulu.com does not ask for any money up front, all they do is remove the printing cost of each book, from the price you sell it for, then take 20% from the leftover profit. to me, this seems more than acceptable, as the money is never technically yours, so you are not losing any money. the books are then printed on an order basis, you order a book, they print a book. as the author, you can buy the book at the low price of however much it costs to print, plus delivery. throughout this, you are in control completely, and out of all the 'free' self publishing sites like lulu.com that i looked at, again, google shall reveal them to you, i found lulu to be the best, not because of the prices, but because of its ease of use, it makes publishing your book fun, not tiring.

Well, that is all for tonight i guess, until next time :)

Poetry

Now i dont know about the rest of you, but i for one am not a huge fan of poetry. well, writing it that is. reading it, i dont mind, i can put up with a bit of phillip larkin from time to time, and i will always enjoy reading the Walrus and the Carpenter. As for a book i am currently reading, all i can say is wow. The book is Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. for those of you who have no idea what this book is, i highly suggest you look it up. i have read the book before, but it is only now i am older, that i can truly appreciate the masterpiece that it is. the Divine Comedy is one of those things, that you just sit back and wonder, how a human could have ever created it. i would recommend it for absoluetely anyone, even those who like myself, are not a fan of poetry, because, in case you hadnt worked out, the whole thing is one long poem, split into 3 sections, which are then seperated by cantos (effectively chapters). but the difference is, when you read it, you would not realise it was poetry, the flow of the narrative sucks you in as well as any novel could. it is definitely one of histories best pieces of writing.

Second Post

Well, right now the posts are not really about anything, as i dont have any followers yet, so dont have anyone to post information to. it will become more detailed and interesting when i get feedback and have active followers, remember, the plan is to eventually turn this into a website community. if you have come across the blog, leave a comment saying what you think, or follow me, i promise it will get better over time. for now i ask a question to all you writers, or just whoever is reading, what book would you say has influenced you most as a writer/ if you are not a writer, what is your favourite book and why?

First Blog

Well, im sitting at my laptop at 1.05 am, because once again my brain wont allow me to sleep. i  have created this blog as a middle point between not having a website, and having one. eventually i aim to have a site, where new, unknown authors such as myself can post work in progress and anything they want, and have it read and commented on by likeminded people, without worrying about it getting stolen. i realise that sharing work you have written yourself can often be quite daunting, as you feel very protective over it, and would hate for someone to say it wasnt the masterpiece you believe it to be, but as a recently self published author, believe me when i say, your work is usually never as bad as you think, but it can almost always be improved. that is not to say it is not a good piece of writing, but there are always ways to improve, and if you seriously ever want to make it as an author, you have to learn to take bad criticism with the good, and remember, you can't please everybody all the time, some people will like your work, while others just wont. hopefully as this blog gets more popular, i can look at trying to get guest writers, people who are a little more known, to maybe share some stuff, or at least give some pointers and advice to us all, and maybe answer a few user submitted questions. i will also eventually post links to help and advice on publishing and self publishing, maybe try and work out deals with some of the smaller self publishing sites to get some discounts on packages for advertisement on the site/blog. That is is for now i guess, pretty much explains what this blog is about, i am Steven by the way, so if there is anyone reading this, feel free to ask any questions, offer any help/ advice or generally just let me know what you think. oh and yes, i did mention i have recently published a book, here is a link if you want to check it out. if i get enough people following, i can arrange discounts for followers of the blog when purchasing my book, if that sort of thing appeals to you. :)
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-agency/14618025