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11/02/2007: "#101.7: Welcome To The Next Hundred"

Music: Rocket From The Crypt
Mood: hopeful

So here we are. Athenaverse post #101. Did I ever think that I would get here? Not exactly. Athenaverse.com is almost eight years old now (?!?) and is only just now starting to reach its potential. At first it was merely a billboard in cyberspace, then a portal to a variety of exciting internet projects, and for the last while it was limping along, a ruin of a once great idea with an occasional post by yours truly.

If you didn't know already, I just finished writing a book. I have been spending a lot of time lately editing it, but very soon now, the process of publishing it will begin. I accept my part in the this process. I need to make sure that I properly promote it in order to ensure the success of the book that has as one of its protagonists the namesake of this website. Part of me thought to turn it into "Athena's blog," which sounded pretty cool at first, and who knows, anything can happen, but it is more important that I have a place where I can communicate one-on-one with people who are interested in what I am up to.

You, dear reader, might be one of the silent majority who regularly stops by and is slightly disappointed but not surprised when several weeks go by and discover that nothing new has been posted. Well, guess what? In order to fulfill my perennial desire to write at least an hour per day, I might as well do some of it here at this place I pay rent on. What I am proposing here is documenting the entire process of how I bring my manuscript that I have written this year that is currently titled "Living Proof" from a bunch of ideas to a published book. You might find it interesting as well as informative as you watch my quest unfold, and I hope that someone in the future might consult what I am starting to write now when they find themselves here.

Finding yourself with a manuscript for a book in your hands that you have written and edited at least once is an amazing place that few people ever get to go to. When I finished writing the first draft in June, I literally felt like I had stepped from one part of my life into another. Before, I was a guy who had always wanted to write a book. Now, I am a guy who has written a book. This book will be published by this time next year so I can save money on Christmas presents by sending everyone a signed first edition hardcover. I do not know how exactly this will happen, but I have a vague idea through books that I have been reading lately. All I know is that I don't want want to end up as one of those people who say they have written a book and then do nothing to get it published. The book could be published by a major publishing house and I will go on Jay Leno to promote it, or it could be put out by a small press and I could get a review in the Boston Phoenix, or I might go punk rock and publish it DIY style. At this point, it's not a question of when, but how.

The how will be documented at great length in this space. The athenaverse has a purpose once more.

So where did I start? I started with how-to books. The first one that I got was "Writer's Market Companion", which is published by Writer's Market, a company that publishes all sorts of helpful books. I got this book in June 2005 with a gift certificate I received from my employer at the time. At this point, writing a book was merely something that I wanted to do. Events in my life which are documented somewhat in earlier posts got in the way of achieving this goal. In August 2006, I decided that I wanted to move to Seattle and write the book and get a job managing a movie theatre to pay the bills. In other words, amidst all the events in my life I realized that I could do whatever I wanted if I put my mind to it. So I moved to Seattle, found a place to live and a movie theatre manager job and started to write the book in January. I spent my days writing and my nights working and finished in June. I took a couple of months "off" where I went camping, hiking and exploring the wicked awesome state of Washington. I also finally read "Writer's Market Companion" which began to shed some light on the process that I was about to embark upon. I also read "On Writing" by Stephen King, which is a great book whether you are a writer in need of some tips and inspiration, a King fan, or both. In fact, King's recommendation that you take a couple of months off after you finish writing was what spurred me to take my "vacation." I even met a new friend at a party who happens to be a copy editor, who did a sample edit of a portion of my manuscript, giving me a taste of what is to come. I am currently reading "How To Get Happily Published" by Judith Applebaum and have a few more books like this in the queue. I am also looking around for writer's groups and preparing my application to a couple of writer's workshops.

I am in action once more, and I'm really excited about it! I am focusing on figuring out what needs to be done in order to get my book published, starting to develop a plan, and I will execute it. I will go into more detail tomorrow, but we have to start somewhere!