Category: My books

My book arrived!

My complimentary author copies of The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina arrived yesterday. What a thrill to hold in my hands a book with my name on the cover as the author! It will be available to the public on August 25.

A Possible Piedmont NC Postcard Book?

With my deadline met with Arcadia Publishing on Thursday, I breathed a little easier over the weekend. I shopped for some postcards with a couple of future books in mind. Today I organized 230+ postcards for possible inclusion in a book of vintage postcards from the piedmont region of North Carolina.

I also searched the 2014 “Writer’s Market” book for magazines to submit articles to about several history topics I have in mind. It’s not easy to break into the magazine market. It’s discouraging when you pitch a story idea to an in-state magazine, it gets rejected, and then a few months later a regular contributing writer gets an article published on the very subject you pitched. That’s happened to me twice with the same magazine. That makes me a little hesitant to pitch story ideas to magazines.

Another deadline met!

This has been an exciting week! On Tuesday I went for my first head shot. I do not enjoy having my picture made, but Joanna Rogers of Memories by JoannaR put me at ease and made me look pretty good. The session was relatively painless. Thanks, Joanna!

Today I had a sales and marketing (along with head shot) deadline with Arcadia Publishing. It was with great relief and pleasure that I clicked on the “send” button at 4:59 p.m. yesterday. Deadline met!

With that deadline met, I’m one step closer to the August 25 publication of The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Only 38 days, but who’s counting?

Notice for anyone wanting to order any of my three Rocky River Presbyterian Church history booklets: My costs have gone up dramatically since I set the prices listed on my website. Those prices include shipping, so I am now losing money on photocopying, binding, and shipping. Stay tuned for some necessary price increases. I hate to do it, but I can’t afford to lose money on every sale. In the mean time, if you wish to order one of those books, please contact me at Janet@JanetMorrisonBooks.com for pricing information. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Next deadline approaching

The deadline is fast approaching for me to complete the sales and marketing information update form for Arcadia Publishing. I’m still searching the internet for more stores that might sell my book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Each day brings me one day closer to the August 25 publication date!

The final proofreading on mountain book

The final proofreading has been done, and The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina has been sent to the printer! I will be working with the sales and marketing staff of Arcadia Publishing to get publicity for this book of vintage postcards and get it on the shelves of strategic stores throughout the mountains and foothills of North Carolina. Publication is scheduled for August 25, 2014!

Vintage postcard book

This is a red-letter day. I have proofread The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina — my first book of vintage postcards — and returned the proofed pages to Arcadia Publishing this morning. I eagerly await the August 25th publication date.

Publication Date: August 25, 2014

I have been notified by Arcadia Publishing that my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, will be published on Monday, August 25, 2014. Mark your calendars! In addition to being in stores throughout western North Carolina, the book will be available online. I will share those details later.

It is exciting to have a publication date scheduled, and it makes the book more real to me. This is a learning process. In the coming months, I will learn about marketing the book.

I just realized I haven’t blogged in more than a month. Time flies when you’re looking after a very sick dog and dealing with 10.5 inches of snow… and life. My vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, is in the hands of the line editor at Arcadia Publishing. I’m waiting to hear what the line editor thinks of my writing. While I wait, I continue to sew and make various items to try to sell in my online craft shop on Etsy.com and I am doing the research in order to write postcard captions in case I get to do a second book for Arcadia of vintage postcards from the Piedmont section of North Carolina.

I have selected a literary agency to send a query letter to about The Spanish Coin. When I get the letter polished and we get our e-mail problems under control, I will take a deep breath and send it off.

Since my last post, I have read The Parting, by Beverly Lewis; Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail, by Louise Shivers; and The Angel of Bastogne, by Gilbert Morris. I’m currently reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It is riveting! I finally had to put it down at 4:00 this morning. Great book!

It’s in the mail!

No, really. This is a “red letter day.” As of this morning, the 210 vintage postcards and layout pages for my book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, were shipped to Arcadia Publishing. The book’s text went to the publisher electronically yesterday. It’s time to take a deep breath, celebrate a little, and start working on the proposal for my next book.

The process of writing The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina was a bit tedious at times as there were strict guidelines for the word count on each postcard caption, but it was a good writing exercise. The word count restrictions forced me to tighten up every sentence and delete every unnecessary word. This usually results in better writing. I hope you will agree when you read the book.

Watch my blog for the publication date.

Looking ahead to the next project

I’m in a holding pattern for the next week or so on The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina vintage postcard book, so today I turned my attention to the piedmont section of the state. I was pleased to discover that I have enough postcards to consider proposing a piedmont postcards book for Arcadia Publishing. Something else to look forward to in 2014!