WEIGHING MY OPTIONS

Once I finally got on board with writing about our early married life overseas, things suddenly began falling into place. The first chapter practically wrote itself in less than a day, a good working title just popped into my head as I drifted into consciousness this morning, and I found a diary of sorts from 1976. Well, it's not a diary, really. It's more of an agenda, where I wrote down in excruciating detail the boring things I did to pass the time, but shared none of my thoughts or feelings. Not good for much other than jogging memories, unless you're terribly interested in what I cooked for dinner each day.

My only stumbling block now is deciding what to do with this new project. Option #1 is a book, but as I explained in the comments section yesterday, publishers learned an important lesson after that first rash of blog-inspired books: no one is going to rush out and buy a book that they've already read on-line. So, if I'm dead-set on a traditionally published book, I need to keep the contents under wraps. The questions is, am I? Dead-set, that is.

I used to think so, before I discovered the joys of blogging. I thought the only way you could legitimately call yourself a writer was if you had a traditionally published book and/or were supporting yourself with what you earned by writing. Perhaps I still feel that way deep down inside. I do get very uncomfortable when people ask what I do, now that I've given up merchandising and garden design. When I tell them I'm a blogger, they grin and say "No, really."

On the other hand, publishing is an iffy prospect at best. You might spend years getting your manuscript to the point where you feel it's worthy of submission, then you may or may not find anyone who's even willing to look at it, much less publish it. Even if they are, it might be another year or two before it sees the light of day, and then there's no guarantee that anyone will buy it. Most disturbing of all, to me at least, is the fact that it's completely up to you these days, to get out and market your book. The wining and dining of authors is a thing of the past, my friends, unless perhaps you are J. K. Rowling. I have a friend who is a well-known author with several very popular mystery series under her belt. She just turned 70, but despite her celebrity, she was still out driving all over the country this year on an extensive book tour, which she had to organize herself, visiting this little library and that little herb shop, giving lectures, signing books, and just about working herself to death. Is that how I want to spend my time? I don't think so. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not much of a schmoozer.

Option #2 is to just put it out here on this blog, as it unfolds. I'd get immediate feedback from this wonderful network of friends and readers, but have to abandon any hope of being a "published author."

Option #3, as suggested by reader Musing Egret, is to hedge my options, and do neither. She suggested that I let the book unfold in a password protected blog, where only family and a few friends who knew us back then could read what I posted, give feedback, and share related memories of their own.

Well, whatever I decide, I think I owe you one chapter, at the very least, for having put up with all my blathering on the subject over the last few days, and to answer your questions concerning the teasers I have dropped. Stay tuned!