The Sounding Board

We all have our own ‘things’ we like to do when the weather forces us indoors. Personally? Rainy days are the days I like to catch up on my reading. Sometimes it’s a book for personal interests, sometimes it’s something business-related, other times it’s for catching up on all the feeds in my feed reader. It really depends on my mood what I choose to read on those dreary rainy days. It never fails though, if it’s rainy and yucky outside, you’re most likely to find me sprawled out on top of my fluffy bedspread with the French doors open and reading material of some sort in my lap. (Sometimes, that means there’s a gagillion books, notebooks, and my laptop tossed all over the spread like pick-up-sticks.)

What’s your favorite way to pass the time when the weather keeps you in?

I’ve been doing a little exploring lately. No, I haven’t been hiking remote mountain trails, or wandering aimlessly through some desert terrain. Rather, I’ve been exploring various self-publishing options. As many of you all know, I’ve had my own authoring project in the works for some time now. I’m almost ready to take the plunge into getting it published. As such, I’ve been doing a little digging.

Today I’ve been perusing Author House to see what they have to offer in terms of self-publishing options, since I want to publish a book myself. First, I was impressed that they offer authors an array of options in addition to just publishing services. After browsing their site, I see they offer copyediting services with a variety of options (standard copyediting for grammar & punctuation, expanded copyediting which includes constructive commentary from the editor, and content editing which offers the most in-depth copyediting service & one-to-one discussion with the editor.) I also see they offer assistance with both cover and interior design, as well as other services.

Since I haven’t gone through the publishing process with AuthorHouse.com myself, I can’t say one way or the other what kind of service they offer authors (or author hopefuls.) However, I am impressed that there’s alot of information available in an easy to locate format on their site. I also like the idea that they offer ‘packages’ that include many services authors need all rolled into one at one price point. That sounds like it might make the process a little easier for someone who isn’t familiar with the publishing process.

Have you had experience with this or another self-publishing service? I’d love to hear more! Just shoot me an email at sandi@virtuallyyoursllc.com and tell me about your experiences. I’ll happily post the information you share here on the Sounding Board, with your contact information and a link back!

I’m sure you’ve heard of ’social media,’ ’social networking,’ ’social bookmarking,’ and the like. It would seem these are the buzzwords of the day. I wonder how long it will be before we’re all ‘buzzing’ about something else exploding onto the scene. Hmm…

But I have to confess, I’ve become something of a StumbleUpon addict in just a few shorts weeks. As I’ve told friends and colleagues, it’s like window shopping for the web. You set up your preferences (i.e. tags) and SU will show you sites based on those preferences. For us solo professionals, this is a great way to find folks in your niche market. Rather than finding huge forums and groups dedicated to your niche (which is still a necessity) you can find individual sites and blogs of those in your niche market. You can find posts you like and comment - starting a direct conversation with individuals within your target niche market. Pretty cool.

(Not to mention it’s a great boredom reducer when you’re stuck in a creative funk! )