Wednesday, August 5, 2009

learning as I go

When I find out how to place pictures here, I'd like to take shots of the different artworks I do while my husband preaches. I have some already on my website at www.ritastellagalieh.com but a friend put them there. Now I need to ask this friend to show me how to do it for myself. I mean you can't strain the friendship can you?

Monday, August 3, 2009

writawrites

Being at a crossroads is always an interesting point in your life. Right now I'm waiting from an editor to see what corrections and/or suggestions she's made on my book proposal. I'm also waiting for a promised contract on another title. So I just sits and waits. And waits.
This is also the first time I've ever blogged and as I'm not a techie sort of person, I don't even know whether this will work out or not. By that I mean whether anyone will read this. In the meantime, I'm rambling while I'm waiting.
The most important thing I've learned lately is that presenting a book proposal to an agent or editor is quite a formidable task. It's a lot more than presenting your story. It's acquiring the art of making them want to read YOUR book above others. Therefore the actual publishing of said book gets one step closer.
When thousands of good writers are struggling to get their words into print you have to have an edge. A good hook first of all. eg. "How could she believe in her future when she couldn't escape her past?" (Does that sound interesting enough?) Then you need a short overview of the story, a synopsis of about 3 pages, your bio, market analysis, comparative book analysis and so on. Next, the first 3 Chapters. They've got to grab the attention or else why should they bother?