Self publish?

It's nothing new. Plenty of writers have been self published, and we've all heard the stories.
Recently self publishing has been on my mind a lot. Michael J Sullivan was self published before his "Theft of Swords" was taken up by a traditional publisher. Christopher Paloini self published his book at 18 before "Eragon" became a world wide best selling novel (as well as a series).
How did these authors do it? How can we publish ourself if we don't know what the outcome will be?
You're entitled to your own opinion, but for me I think of self publishing that will either destroy me or bring my dreams to life.
As you all know, I've been on the search for a publisher for over a year now. I've been editing "Cursed with Power" nearly every day, and I've even working to make my query stand out in the publishing world. It's difficult, and though nobody likes to face it there's a 99% rejection rate. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm not saying that I'm going up on seeking out a traditional publisher, but I will say this...
I have respect for those authors who have taken a leap of faith and self published their work. Especially those who have proven it is worth something.
If any of you have self published, please feel free to comment and enlighten us on your experience. I'm interested in hearing anything you've got.
No, I do not plan to self publish tomorrow, but it is another option if not traditionally published.

Goodbye Inkpop, Hello Wattpad

As many of you already know, inkpop.com is no longer existent.  Some inkies switched over to Figment, the company that Harper Collins is now working with, but you may have also noticed that a majority of us writers moved over to Wattpad.

For those of you who have been following my book, I'm now switching over all of my links to the present and up to date one: http://www.wattpad.com/3571491-cursed-with-power-book-1-in-the-magicians-series
Don't worry, you don't have to be a member to read my book, but if you truly enjoy it and would like to support it please consider joining to vote for it.  (The picture above is actually exactly how it looks on Wattpad)

During the time I've been MIA from blogger, I promise you I have been searching among publishers and agents.  I'm hoping to find a home for Cursed with Power.  You, my readers, have been amazingly supportive.  Even with the change of the book's location on the web, you all have been wonderful and I won't forget that for a single minute.  I am so grateful to you, and so I want to take a minute and personally thank you for everything you have done.  Through the high and low, my readers are the reason I will always continue writing with my heart.

I'm currently seeking out publishers in hope that someone will take in the book.  At the moment I'm simply writing down who to contact, but I plan on waiting a while before I start querying.  There are some edits I have to finish up, and I plan to polish my query and synopsis.

If anyone has a sample of a timeline --some publishers require it--or a self promotional plan please email them to me: my email.  I've been asking my boyfriend, but both he and I have no idea.  (Why I'm asking him when he's majoring in Computer Science is beyond me lol)  I'm a bit at a lost on that one...

Before I go, I want to give another shout out to all of my readers.  Your support gives me hope and the strength to carry on.  Thank you; I love you all :)
I'll try to be around soon again.  In the mean time feel free to look around.
Lindsey R. Sablowski

Be there for the magic: www.themagiciansseries.blogspot.com

Back in the loop

Hello all!
It would be understatement to say it's been a while, and I apologize to all my blogging friends for having neglected you for....however long it has been.  (I honestly don't know!)  The good news is, I'm hoping to keep you in the loop with everything.  Since that's my job and the mission of this blog, I'll do my best to explain where I've been since I last posted.

To no surprise, this book to the left has become quite a dilemma to tend to.  For a time I was searching for a professional editor, but unfortunately at the moment it is too costly for me to afford.  With that in mind, I've had to abandon that hope and return to my original idea: Finding an agent.
I have the final edits set up for my book.  Now the trouble is actually working through them (from the "editing" document to the "final" document).  It's a lengthy procedure, but if you're a writer I don't need to tell you that for you to know what I'm talking about.  Editing has been severely bothersome.  I'll admit I have been somewhat neglecting it over the past couple of weeks, but I promise you in my mind there is nothing nearly as important as this.  (Well, besides living my life, but this is a part of that so you get the point.)

Often, as a writer, I'm asked about how many rejections I receive.  I'll admit to you right now that it isn't pretty.  All of the agents I emailed last year have either a) rejected the book or b) never responded.  As devastating as this is for me, I've forced myself to bear it.  (Mind you I'm not exactly grinning while bearing this burden.)
My hope is that once the final revisions are complete I can query agents and publishers again.  At the moment I know of two publishers at the top of my list who sounded perfect for my book.  Before I send anything out to them, though, I want to make sure I have everything polished, all my T's crossed, and all my I's dotted.  Then and only then will I return to querying.

During the time when I'm not working on some aspect of my book, I've been focusing on school and just life in general.  I'm awaiting an acceptance from University of Maryland Baltimore County and scholarship money.  UMBC is my first choice for colleges, but if that doesn't work out it looks like I'll be joining the University of Notre Dame (seeing as they've accepted me).

If you have any free time, I'd love for you to take a look at Cursed with Power.  It's been coming along, and trust me it's much further than it was a year ago when I started writing it.  Hopefully by March I'll be querying.  Thanks to everyone for the ongoing support!
Lindsey R. Sablowski

Be there for the magic: www.themagiciansseries.blogspot.com

Additions

Chapter 12 GUARDIAN ANGEL
In an attempt to catch up with the new and final additions that have been added to Cursed with Power, I've decided to include them all in one posts.  I'll also let you know the back story on how these additions came into place with the book.

Chapter 12 was re-titled due to the additional scene near the end.  Celestria reaches for Alaire's necklace, and upon seeing it is a cross she dares to ask about religion which she knows nothing about.
One of the main reasons I added this scene was because it brings Celestria and Alaire closer together.  It wasn't only that, but also that I could write emotion into the scene because I have often found myself in a similar position as Celestria.  Faith is something we are supposed to blindly believe in, but sometimes it takes another person to remind us why we do it in the first place.

Alaire grinned, showing the top row of his teeth. “I have faith in you, Celestria, because you’re the one person in this world who respects me for who I am and what I will never be.”
           He dropped his hand from mine, but I remained grasping onto the necklace.  I respected him for those words, even if I had more questions about what he said.  I did not know what he would “never be,” but I was glad he was the man before me and not someone else.  I did not need to pray that night.  I titled my head toward his chest and cried into his soft tunic.  No religion would save me, no matter how long I was on my knees.  I accepted that, and blinking into his tunic I knew it was not a matter of waiting anymore.  Perhaps my prayer had been answered in a different way than I had intended.  He was my guardian angel.

Chapter 14 AWAKE
Despite Alaire's poor condition, he listens to Celestria during the night as she confesses her insecurities and greatest fears.  While she reveals the bitter punishments she receives as a child, she also wishfully asks for safety.

“This is the same moon two people can stare at together, even if they are miles away from one another,” Alaire whispered.
            Running his hand through my hair, he whispered in my ear, “Look at the moon.  It’s dancing for you among the stars tonight, Celestria.”
            I desired to respond to him, but within minutes I lost all energy to speak.  His words faded from my hearing.  Before I drifted away I heard him say “you’re safe,” and then I allowed my eyes to rest.

Whatever safety Alaire promises is soon destroyed when Celestria wakes up from a nightmare only to find out she's given away their location.


Chapter 21 PLEASURE AND PAIN
Everyone panics when they realize the church in town has been set on fire.  After Celestria manages to save a little boy from the flames, she realizes all too late that Alaire never left the building.  Though he does stumble out of the rubble, he appears to be more severely injured than he had been hours before.

“What happened to you?” I asked.  Without thinking twice about it, I reached out and held his hand in mine.  He stopped walking and stared into my eyes.
“The poison, Celestria.  Good god what have they done to me?” He replied.  I urged him to continue on, seeing as I had no explanation, but the same question pondered in my thoughts.  All I desired was to return home again.  Ironically, I thought of Grefin’s manor as my “home” now.  Alaire required persistent medical attention, which meant Grefin had been right.  I would need to return to his manor again, even if I did travel to Belsgar.

Hopefully I didn't miss any additional scene, but if you're reading through the book and notice something new let me know and I'll post an update about it.
I'll try to post again after midterms (which are this week).  Thank you all for your undying support.
Lindsey R. Sablowski
Be there for the magic: www.themagiciansseries.blogspot.com

Happy holidays

As you already know I'm extremely late on this but I hope all if you had a wonderful time with your family and friends during the holidays. As for me I have been missing because... Well I've lost my USB and I'm losing hope of ever finding it.
Good news is now I can update more often because I have an iPod touch which I'm currently using to post this right now. I'll admit I love this darn little thing. It goes everywhere I go and allows me to do almost anything when I'm not around my computer.
As for my progress in Cursed with Power it's coming along. Now how long have I been saying that for? But as soon as I update my new USB with the files I've managed to save I plan to continue revising until I'm entirely finished. Once that's done I can return to querying agents and publishers. I promise to update more about the book on both this blog and my other from now on.
In case by this point you've gotten noted about hearing updates... I will say I had a lovely Christmas.

Hope all is well with everyone. I'll post again soon.
LINDSEY R SABLOWSKI

December's here --and so are updates

Since I've been behind it's that time again for me to attempt to catch up with myself.  (And we all know how that's been working out.)
However, I've got some exciting news.  At last I figured out how to add a like box to my blogs (both this one and the Magicians series), and now you're able to like Cursed with Power from facebook.  Since I also sadly have probably forgotten to mention this, you can like the Cursed with Power group on facebook as well.

Besides that, revisions for the book are not going to be done with a matter of days.  Please understand all of my revisions were done on the hard copy of the book, so transferring them over to a Word document may take me a while.  (Literally, I have no idea how long.)

Nonetheless, some new revisions have been posted to the book on inkpop.  If you haven't had a chance to read the book, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.  The new prologue went up several days ago.

Now that it's December everything is slowly calming down. Very happy to say the University of Notre Dame has accepted me.  Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive.

That's about all I can pluck from my brain right now.  On cold days like these looks like I'm left to write or revise.  As for which, I haven't officially decided.  I will try to return before Christmas.
Lindsey R. Sablowski



Be there for the magic: www.themagiciansseries.blogspot.com

Christmas shopping --done

It's been so long since I last posted it's already December, and Christmas is right around the corner.  I don't have time this year to make up cheesy Christmas posts to go along with any of my stories, and I highly doubt I'll ever have time to work on A Christmas for Daniel --that was a side project anyways.

I blow out candles on the 10th for any of you who care to keep up with that, but honestly right now all I can think is "Where did the time go?"  (And maybe when will I finish revisions...)

Speaking of revisions... Those have been brutal!  I wrote myself a "To do" list for Cursed with Power today, and it's like my entire life was just written on a paper.  As for when those revisions will be coming on inkpop?  I actually have no idea.  The goal is to be entirely finished in February to send out the book to publishers --and this time I want to have all my revisions fully complete so there's no doubts in my mind.  Also possibly so when I get the rejections I can pretend to laugh it off.  (Haha when has that ever happened?)

That's everything in a nutshell for right now.  Happy holidays, and I'll try to stop by now and then with some kind  of update.
Lindsey R. Sablowski

Be there for the magic: www.themagiciansseries.blogspot.com

Alive and moving along...

It's definitely been a while, and for those of you who actually keep up with the blog I'll apologize yet again.  Unfortunately I've been up to my throat with revisions.  I've also been spending a lot of time finding motivation because let's face it these days you have to keep yourself up so you don't fall.  To be entirely honest I want my book to be more than "good," and that's what I suppose you could say has kept me.

However, I will announce that revisions are in progress and new scenes are being added to Cursed with Power as seen necessary.  Oddly enough, I've felt extremely close to Celestria these past couple weeks or so and I've really been able to express her character more easily.  Alaire has also been a reason for me to continue to the book; if there's one character I'll always come back for...it's him, without a second's hesitation.

On a sadder note, you all know I'm never one to be a downer, but I didn't create this blog so I would seem like a robot without any emotions.  I've recently lost touch with my best friend, and alas there she and I have stopped speaking.  This may seem irrelevant, but that also clouded my thoughts for my book.  She'll never see this, but I hope one day she knows I miss her.  And I wish that forgiveness could exist in her world...

Back to writing, though, I can't say I have news on New Life.  The book is up on inkpop, but only the prologue and maybe the first chapter are public.  Thankfully I got up to chapter 32 in outlining for the book.  My plan is to outline the entire book, and then go back and work through little holes here and there and anything else.  It's a work in progress, but right now my major concern is Cursed with Power.

Too all my writing friends who have recently been published: Congrats.  Just when I get to thinking that publishers are rejecting everyone, someone's being published.  Your work is excellent, and I wish you all the very best.  Thank you for inspiring us "little people."

Lastly, I'd like you to keep this in mind.  Should you ever fall, stray from the path you're on, or lose your way... I pray that someone always finds you.

For now that's all.  I'll try my best to update again sometime soon when I have more news or I can catch up with revisions and additions.  Just in case, I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.
Lindsey R. Sablowski

Be there for the magic: www.themagiciansseries.blogspot.com