Looking Back on My Beginning

Those of you who weren't around back then might not know that the very first thing I published was a collection of poetry. Fitting, since the very first thing I ever had published was a poem in a national young poets anthology. 

For a while now, I haven't done much with that collection, though it's continued to be available online. (I also have a few print copies available.) Occasionally, I go back and read some of the pieces included, most written over a decade ago. Sometimes they make me cringe; but sometimes they make me feel. More likely it depends on my own mood at the time. I certainly appreciate the positive reviews readers left back when the collection first came out!

For some reason, today (the day I wrote this post, anyway) was one of those days when I was drawn to reread the collection. I also decided to drop the price to $0.99. Maybe some of the pieces will speak to some of you—in which case I hope you'll let me know! 💕 

Here's one of the pieces from this collection that's closest to my heart:

One Whole Year!

I almost can't believe it, but it's been one whole year since the release of Life Under Examination, my award-winning collection of poetry!  I'm so grateful to everyone who has supported this collection, by reading and reviewing or by spreading the word — you guys rock!

To celebrate, I'm hosting a giveaway (below) for some limited edition keychains and a professionally hand-bound, autographed copy + an Amazon gift card!

AND for this week only, Life Under Examination is available for just $0.99 on Smashwords! Click here and enter coupon code:

PJ63Q

(Good through Sunday, June 22nd)

And now, the Giveaway!

Enter Here

Friday Flashed By

Unfortunately, the unavoidable busy-ness of my day meant I had to skip this week's Flash! Friday prompt.  I'm told this weeks entries are hilarious, so do go check them out!

In other news, Life Under Examination is now officially available for sale through Barnes & Noble!  I have to say, from the author perspective, I found the ability to edit an uploaded manuscript directly through the Nook Press interface to be invaluable. As opposed to other online distributors, which would require an author to correct and re-upload in a trial-and-error method, Nook Press provides the options to both preview and modify the file which will be on sale, ultimately allowing for a better quality product and a less frustrating process for the author. 

This weekend is filled with birthday parties for me, which means fun with family but unfortunately less time to write.  What about you? How are your weekends going?

Celebrating 6 Months!

It has officially been 6 months since the start of this blog!  It has been quite the whirlwind adventure, with March's Flash Blogging Challenge, the weekly Flash! Friday contests, guest posts, giveaways, the Blogger Book Fair, and so much more.  To thank all of you who have been along for the ride so far, I've decided to give my poetry collection, Life Under Examination, away FREE!!

To get your free copy: 

• Go to the Smashwords page for Life Under Examination
• Upon checkout, enter coupon code: DE52N
• Enjoy!

Honest reviews would of course be greatly appreciated. Reviews can be posted on Amazon, Goodreads, or directly on Smashwords.  This offer will only be good for the next two weeks, so snag your copy today!  

Reader's Choice Awards!

As we kick off the Blogger Book Fair, in an extremely fortunate twist of fate, the Author Alliance 5-star review (by Nada Adel Sobhi) of Life Under Examination was posted today!  With lovely comments such as:

"I loved it. And that’s all I’m going to say about it. I will leave it for the rest of the world to read and see for themselves. *thumbs up Ms. Glazki*" 

and: " Life Under Examination deserves more than a 5-star rating for it is a collection that can, and will, touch each and every one."

Ms. Sobhi has certainly warmed my heart and reddened my cheeks!  

The timing is in part fortuitous because the polls for the Reader's Choice Awards have opened!  So please check out this thoughtful review, and then go vote!! (Life Under Examination is listed under "Poetry")

Virtual Etiquette: Who's Doing It Right

It's been about a week since the release of my poetry collection, and it has certainly already been an uphill climb. One of the results of choosing to publish independently is that, once the book itself is complete, the work is really just beginning—which seems silly to us writers who have already spent countless hours, even years, slaving over the content. Still, I have been very lucky to have the support of Donna L Sadd, with whom I did an interview, and Sherry Fundin, who quickly pulled together a promotional post for me. Patience is the name of the game now, as I wait for the major promotional boost that participating in the Blogger Book Fair should turn out to be and hope that my efforts will eventually turn into readers and sales. (That isn't to say I won't be promoting in the meanwhile—don't forget to enter my launch giveaway!)

This will be my first experience participating in the Blogger Book Fair [BBF], but it looks like it's shaping up to be a huge event, and I'm excited!

Diving Into Self-Publishing

My poetry collection officially became available to the public yesterday which is at once incredibly exciting and superbly overwhelming. Writing, selecting, editing, and organizing the poetry wasn't enough. Books require front matter (unique for each distributor) and quality covers, not to mention formatting for each individual distributor. 

Formatting, if done attentively and meticulously did not actually turn out to be that difficult. Granted, I'm more comfortable with basic computer usage than many people out there, but Smashwords has a very helpful and free guide which can assist anyone with Microsoft Word to format their work appropriately. From there, following the basic Kindle Direct Publishing guidelines to create an HTML file took me less than 5 minutes!

Exciting News!

My poetry collection, Life Under Examination, is officially available for purchase!! (For details, visit the dedicated page for this project.)

This is my first time self-publishing, and it has been both simpler and more complex than expected.  I am sure there are undiscovered, and therefore unresolved, problems which will arise, but hopefully those interested in reading my work will be understanding with any technical glitches which may occur.

I am still reeling from the disbelief associated with finally having published my own work (Ah!!!), so a more in-depth post will have to wait.  Nevertheless, I do have an exciting offer for all of you:

The first 5 people to comment on this post (must include a reasonable way to contact you) will receive a FREE copy of this collection! (PDF or a coupon code for Smashwords)

Start of Summer

Summer is officially here, or so it seems to me after my time away and return to a season of graduations, picnics, and sunshine. Honestly, I'm a bit behind in my goals for this year, but all that can be done about that is catching up. Of course, one of my biggest problems is my tendency to bite off more than I can chew. Still, here is what I am planning to do and considering doing in the near future:

• Publishing my poetry collection, Life Under Examination. This will hopefully happen within the next week.

Crucial Cover Choices

As every published (independently or otherwise) writer knows, covers are crucial. They must stand out, draw attention, & be artistic and evocative—and now all in thumbnail form. The general consensus is that writers without design skills (i.e. most of us) looking to self-publish should hire cover designers. But however the covers are designed, as the ultimate word on what works for the project, an independent writer must make many choices, usually on our own—ones that may very well define the success of our projects. Yikes. 

On the plus side, independently published projects can fairly easily switch out a cover that just isn't working. However, if you're publishing with an ISBN, as far as I am aware, you will need to purchase/use a new one for a work whose cover you're changing (not so for correcting stray typos and such that sneak through). Plus, we want our first cover choice to be perfect—by which we mean one that will get attention and inspire readers to read a preview or outright buy our books. 

Continued Tales of Title Woes

For the last couple of weeks, I've regularly reprimanded myself for not working on the poetry collection I had hoped to have completed by now.  I can make perfectly "reasonable" excuses, but in reality, the block I'm up against is titling my poems.  It wasn't that long ago that I was faced with titling my manuscript, which was trying enough, but titling poetry is significantly more challenging. 

Efficient Procrastination

I am intimately acquainted with Procrastination, as are, I'm certain, many of those who might read this post.  I have known many creative people to define this lack of motivation to work on the project on which they should be working as the absence of a muse, or inspiration. 

Perhaps there simply aren't enough muses for each of us to have our assigned companion by our side when necessary, or perhaps muses prefer our company when there isn't a deadline (self-imposed or not) hanging over us, overshadowing our creativity.  Whatever the case may be, I have yet to find a way not to procrastinate.  Instead, I have learned to divert my lack of a desire to do what I should be doing into doing something I will at some point need to do – that is, something that may not need to be done right that moment but is nevertheless somewhat productive.

A Notebook of Poems

I own a lot of notebooks. Many of them are still blank, and most were gifts, since that’s what one apparently buys an aspiring writer (or did, before laptops became as ubiquitous as they now are). One such notebook, I long ago decided to use to collect my poems, ideally in their "finished" form. I thought then that once the notebook was filled, there just may be something worth publishing. 

Recently, I rediscovered both that notebook and other pieces written thousands of miles away from it. I polished many of those pieces, reworked some of those that had already been written into the notebook, and added them all to this collection. The notebook is now only about half-full, but the world has changed, and various options exist for the publication of work that might otherwise never have been seen by readers’ eyes.