First of all, I'm sorry but the chapters of Winter's Child and Twice Removed that I was hoping to have done today will be a bit delayed since my weekend was a bit crazy. First on Saturday I had to do some gardening and Martin's three year old niece wanted me to play with her pretty much all day long, so I was too tired to do much when we got home late. Then yesterday I had a bit of a breakdown. Ever since I moved to Quebec I've had nothing but problems with finding any sort of work, getting financial assistance, getting consistent medical coverage, a doctor and my prescriptions. Right now I'm batting 0 for all of those things, and not being on my meds is making me moody, depressed, anxious, and I'm having such severe hot flashes that it brings my body temperature up enough that Martin need to take off his blankets when I'm having them at night. Add to that the fact that with the dance season over for the year we're scraping by on seventy dollars a week and my life is being pretty stressful.
I've been turning to my writing in an attempt to relieve that stress, but after my breakdown yesterday Martin and I decided that for either of us to be happy we need to leave this province, preferably in Vancouver. I need to be closer to my kids and medical and financial aid is easier to get there, not to mention work. Also Martin will have an easier time showcasing his choreographies without the backstabbing politics of the dance teachers and choreographers community in Quebec. I love the city of Montreal, but I just can't take this anymore and neither can he.
Martin will have a job as a lifeguard for the summer, and hopefully we can make due with what he makes on that but we need to leave Quebec by September. I figure that if I push myself I can have Twice Removed ready for publishing before then, with Raven's Blood ready to publish before the year is done. I'm hoping to save at least a small amount for a move, at least of the bare essentials, from book sales if I can do it properly. There are things I need to accomplish this though and questions I have.
-How much does one charge for a full length 150,000 word novel on Amazon? What percentage of that goes to me and what to Amazon?
-Copyright for a novel in Canada, how does it work and what is the cost?
-I need a professional looking cover that will attract attention.
-I need someone to edit the final draft of Twice Removed for little or no cost and a thank you in the book and possibly Raven's Blood as well.
-Should I go by my real name as I do here, or should I use a nom de plume?
-Is there anything else I need to know or any other way I could generate income to make all this happen?
-I thought of a literary agent to help with all this, but there is no way I could afford one.
My mind is all over the place right now, I'm at the end of my rope, and I really need some help here.
Amethyst
Comments
publisher
You should find a publisher who will do all that for you and only take a percentage. As for price, 4.99 is a good price. As for copyright, as soon as you put it in print it is copyrighted, no need to do those forms anymore.
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
On copyright...
If you are in Canada when you publish, the laws may be different.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I've looked into local publishers
Unfortunately many of them are french language only and the english ones I've found are self-help books or children's books. I haven't found any yet for the genres I write in. As far as I know you just need to be able to prove a print date i Canada but I don't know for sure. From what I've been told just having an original file with my name and the content or posting it online with a copyright notice before anyone else should be enough to prove that I'm the owner of the material. I'm not sure if that's still the same now or not.
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
The poor mans way to prove
The poor mans way to prove copyright is to take your finished work, seal it in a security envelope, and post it to yourself. You get a postmark on the envelope which proves when it was put through the post.
In the US, you can file your work with the LoC.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
I knew about that way
It proves when the document was written, but it's not as secure as legally filing for copyright with the government. I'v been thinking of doing that until I can register it with the copyright office.
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
Kickstarter maybe?
If you need a push to get start up costs for you Next Great Canadian Novel there are people who might be willing to help out.
As far as work goes, what can you do? Mind you I do not live in Canada. I wish I could send you some spare estrogen (my friend has at least 60 spare 2mg estradiol at the mo) but that would jeopardize my security clearance.
If you can clearly outline what you need to get over this rough patch then that will help quell your panic. Clearly money would be first on the list and pride or no, passing the hat should not be ruled out. It might be worthwhile to have a few thou until you can find your own employment.
I'm not sure how well that would work
I would have to have something besides copies of the book to offer backers, and I have no idea what that could be.
As for work I've done work in retail but here they want you to be bilingual to do that. Most other jobs require a high school diploma and since my province refused to change the name and gender on my diploma I have no way of proving I graduated. I was trained as a sous chef, but I can't work in a kitchen anymore due to my allergy to onions getting worse, I get sick just smelling them now. I used to be able to avoid them, but here they seem to use onions in everything.
I'm trying to figure out just what we need to get by and to get to a place were we have more chance of being financially stable, bu I'm not exactly thinking clearly right now so we're going to talka bout it tonight and try to figure it all out together.
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
What about a bakery?
Most baking doesn't use a whole lot of onions.
with love,
HER
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
When I first came here I
When I first came here I worked in a bakery, but it had to close down due to lack of business. I've checked with others, and I keep my eye on craigslist and such. Most of them are small places and they they hire those fresh out of cooking schools for the wage incentive programs and/or they're looking for bilingual people who can do customer service as well.
*hugs*
Amethyst
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
Maybe you could fake it by putting on a phony French accent???
Just a though. OR - WOW, I just had the most SCATHINGLY brilliant idea. What about going to job interviews wearing a cutsy French-maid's uniform??
with love,
HER
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
I can tell you that onions in
I can tell you that onions in everything isn't that recent. My father and I both have problems digesting onions, and we've found that _everything_ is made with onions in it, whether or not it actually adds anything to the flavour.
Chicken stock? Onions. Beef stock? Onions. (There shouldn't be _anything_ in stock but the animal! That's the point!)
Broccoli, cheese, and rice mix? Onion powder.
Bread? Yes, many breads _do_ have onion or related alliums put in them. (scallions, shallots, leeks, chives, etc)
No, I don't tend to count garlic in that. I'm not entirely sure why it's included in the same family, as the bulbs of the onion family aren't formed like the bulbs of garlic. We don't have any problems with digesting garlic. Anyway - digression.
You could always try to convince someone to go for a 'Basics' menu - limit the ingredients to the absolute minimum, rather than trying to make everything taste of everything. "We serve the finest steak, and we do not adulterate it to cover up the flavour."
Diploma - could you retake an exam and get a GED (or whatever the version is in Canada) under your new name? You _can_ also provide your change of name along with the diploma, which _does_ prove that you graduated.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Yeah
I know all about onions in everything. I always have to tell the waitress to make sure there's no onions in what I order when I go out and I make a lot of meals an other things from scratch because a lot o pre-made stuff has onion or onion powder in it. I don't have problems with garlic either, in fact I love it.
Unfortunately it's usually the head chefs and kitchen managers that make those decisions and they like to do things their way.
I could take the GED and pass in any other province but the Quebec test has a strong french focus. and if I wanted to prove my graduation I'd need to use my change of birth record certificate, but I would be outing myself by doing so.
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
Trying to be supportive.
It's totally understandable about personal needs, and you shouldn't ever regret putting yourself first.
While admittedly, I don't have a lot of experience with the Canadian publishing system, here are a few thoughts:
Whatever you decide, please make sure it's the right decision for you, and not because of expediency or outside pressures. My best to you.
I've been thinking a lot
I've been thinking a lot about things and getting nowhere with most of it.
-To lose sales by getting on Amazon I would have to be making sales in the first place.
-I would welcome a graphic designer or artist wanting to make a name for themselves and give us mutual exposure, to at least discuss ideas.
-I am very proud of what I'm working on and that's why I use my real name here, so I figure since my readers know me by my actual name I should keep that up.
-Agents cost money I don't have, not to mention connections I don't have. I think I'm becoming a good author, and people seem to enjoy my writing, but sadly it seems to take more than that to get an agent or get published.
-The employment market is really bad everywhere, but I stand a better chance where I know he Territory and you don't need to be bilingual to get most jobs. I have a few connections there as well.
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
A copyright is a declaration.
By itself it does not protect your work from being copied.
It is up to you to open a civil lawsuit to regain your rights and damages. There is no enforcement from the police. It is up to you to enforce your rights. This is true in Canada and USA.
Keep this in mind when publishing.
Dayna.