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For additional information contact Theresa Nichols Schuster at tnschuster7@gmail.com.

About Theresa Nichols Schuster

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Theresa Nichols Schuster is author of "Brittle Silver" and "We Are the Warriors" a 2015 USA Regional Excellence Book Award Finalist. She currently lives in southwest Montana where she appreciates the wonders of nature, family, friends, a bit of pottery.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Almost Over the Edge



Am I being dragged, sucked and propelled toward the edge of a thundering waterfall? This past April, after years of writers' conferences, meetings with agents, query letters, and buying, begging or borrowing writing books from which to study, reflect on, and hone my skills, I decided to self-publish. To go from the excitement of having a literary agent ask for my manuscript, then making major changes, to never hearing from them again, was probably the proverbial "last straw" or possibly "the last entire log"...(Yes, I did use a clique′.)

As far as my writing goes, you know how it is—one day I feel like my writing is magnificent, the next day I feel the same writing is a pile of shit. My son once aptly told me, "Some people will like your book and others won't. You can't appeal to everyone."

With some kindly recommendations, I found a professional editor this spring. Honestly, I didn't expect to work so hard after years of editing my young adult novel...His eye for detail was astounding! I received my second edit this past month. Now onward with the self-publishing journey.

No matter how high the bar feels like it has gone, it still goes higher. Reformatting my novel for Smashwords so it can also be distributed to Barnes and Noble, Apple and Sony has been a challenge. Next task is reformatting for Kindle. I think my brain is going to split with analyzing it all.

Of course, I am required to have a cover for my ebook or novel before publishing through most outlets. Thankfully, I have found expert help to design my cover.

Turning my novel into a tangible paperback is another hurdle. I'm slowly working my way that direction. It is all a bit intimidating. I want to do it well, as good as possible. There is so much to keep track of as I work toward self-publishing, a steep learning curve.

This all said, I haven't even begun to touch the awesome task of marketing in our age of technology and social media. Meanwhile, I hope there are still young people who enjoy reading.

The question I ask as I rush headlong is, "Will I become one with the water as it sparkles, glitters and bounces playfully over the precipice, each tiny droplet set free? Or will the encounter be something else? Not nearly so pleasant, but still an adventure?