Showing category "resources" (Show all posts)

Writing Can Be A Pain In The Back!

Posted by J. R. on Saturday, July 31, 2010, In : Occupational Safety and Health

Seriously, I'm not attempting to be facetious here. Anyone who sits for extended lengths of time, whether writing against a deadline, painting your latest masterpiece, working as a data entry clerk or a financial analyst or customer service rep, you need to find the time to move your butt out of that seat.

A few short weeks ago, I was bending over to pick up something in my closet before setting off to run some errands. As I stood back up with the item in hand, I felt a sharp pain. I went dir...

New Cover Design for Bitty and the Guardian of Sespria

Posted by J. R. on Sunday, July 11, 2010, In : Cover Design

Although my intent was to put my nose to the grindstone and complete all illustrations for Emily, Brave and Swift, I spent the greater portion of the last two weeks revising the Cover art for my Bitty novel. I believe the new cover will better attract my intended target market--YA Fantasy Adventure readers. While I was redesigning the cover (which was originally a painting of Bitty stepping out of her world into Sespria), I also used the opportunity to creatively spruce up some of the interio...
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Teaser Illustration: Emily, Brave and Swift

Posted by J. R. on Friday, June 25, 2010, In : Book Illustrations

These past weeks I have been working on the illustrations for Emily, Brave and Swift. Of course, this does not mean I have not been busy with all other aspects of creating, marketing and publishing children's books. I most definitely have. But if I am to arrive to the point where Emily, Brave and Swift is ready to be published, I must allot x amount of hours to completing the illustrations.

I must own up to something: I am not a professional artist! Okay, there, it's out! I took exactly one d...

Teaser: Emily, Brave and Swift

Posted by J. R. on Sunday, June 6, 2010, In : Book Excerpt

This week I hope to make some forward progress with my third book, Emily, Brave and Swift. I have nearly completed the editing and have sketched the cover art and four of the seven interior page illustrations. The concept of Emily, Brave and Swift came to me early one morning, several months ago. The idea of an isolated, somewhat neglected child who is both independent and brave is a challenge. To make it more of a challenge, the setting is in medieval times and blends in a little present d...

A Good Staff Is [not] So Hard To Find.

Posted by J. R. on Friday, May 21, 2010, In : Building a strong staff

In an effort to have a talented and qualified staff in place once my humble press begins to offer a la cart services to Indy authors, I placed an on-line ad for "Work Made for Hire" illustrators, proofreaders and editors. In the ad, I specified that I was looking for individuals who can work within the confines of a set, per page rate, allowing me the ability to offer these services at very affordable rates.

Before I could press the "enter" key to send the ad through (okay, slight exaggerati...

A Walk in the Park, Right?

Posted by J. R. on Thursday, May 13, 2010, In : Career Transition to Publishing

Nearly two months ago, I began walking for exercise again. I hadn't taken my morning two-mile walk for nearly a year. It was so hot in Texas last summer that I simply found a just reason to take a break. Well, a few weeks ago I realized I needed to get back out there. Like most folks struggling to start/run a business--particularly one that involves writing, I spend long hours sitting in front of my computer. Lately, I'd been noticing that towards the end of the day, my feet had become a bit ...
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A Step Backwards

Posted by J. Reynolds on Thursday, May 6, 2010, In : Career Transition to Publishing

Hello, Fellow Career Transition-ers:

Okay, I wish I'd had the foresight, wherewithal, energy and courage to begin this blog two-plus years ago when I was laid off from my job. Job? Really it was a life-career of over 25 years in finance/management/advertising. To say I was shocked to get the news is at the very least, lacking and insufficient in describing the full range of emotions I experienced. The journey to where I am today can best be described as very bumpy, but as I look back, the pro...