Whoopee!!!!

FINISHED!!! I finished my table of contents and outline. It's the last day of grad project (for 11th grade at least) and the last day of school. I'm going home and don't have to come back to school until April 27th. But guess what guys!!! I'm going to Costa Rica this Sunday!!!!!! Ahhhhh, I'm so psyched!!!!!!! On the flight, I will be editing and revising my story. : )

On a roll here...

I've finished my proposal, edited it and turned it in. I've also finished the proposal's cover page and created a table of contents for all of my work this trimester. I've even edited other peoples' proposals. My next step is to complete the outline of all my notes.

Much Has Been Accomplished

First and foremost, I have finished writing my proposal and have gotten revisions. Secondly, as I am considering different publishing choices such as self publishing, I'm going to meet with Ms. Johnson this afternoon for lunch to talk about the self publishing process. I've also sent out my first four chapters to Ms. Watson and Mrs. Savido for constructive criticism. Things are looking good and I'm really excited!!

SUCCESS!

On Friday, I successfully interviewed Ms. Johnson and learned alot of interesting things. For one, she is a self published author with her own self publishing agency (Words With Wings). She agreed to be my mentor on this project and said she may have another author for me to interview. Additionally, she said that if I want to be a self published author, she could set me up for that (in case I can't get any publishing houses interested). I'm not sure if I've said this before, but I finished my prewriting and the first paragraph of my proposal. For now I'm continuing my research of the publishing process (taking notes), editing my story and finishing this proposal.

Revising

I revised a chapter of my book today and made a key change. I'm really excited over where this book is going. :)

Yay!!!

I finished the pre-writing for my graduation project proposal. Right now I'm editing my manuscript. I would like to have that fully proofread before break so I can give it to Ms. Watson...so if she wants to look over it...it's not like an overload of work (grading papers, preparing for class, etc.) I hope she'll want to read it. Crossing my fingers.

Prewriting

Today I worked on the prewriting for my graduation project proposal. Nothing else to share, except I'm taking the SAT's on Saturday. I'm kind of nervous...any suggestions on how to do well?

Grumble, grumble, grumble

I swear I don't mean to be neglectful. Updating this blog is the least of my worries when it comes to my grad project. It's hard to keep it up when I have ten million things to do for other classes. Errrrr.....

Sadly, my interview with Mrs. Johnson had to be postponed because she had to go into the hospital for surgery. I don't really mind though. I just hope all goes well. Right now I'm working on a "show n' tell" presentation of what I've done so far with my project for the rest of the class. I'm also still working on notes/research...yeah. fun fun.

Update

I've read up to page 166. Yes I know I'm far behind my own schedule but it is rough as I have other work from other classes to worry about. An interview with Mrs. Johnson has been set for March 2nd, after school and it will be video taped. Nothing much more to report right now. I have a lot more reading and notetaking ahead of me. There is a lot more to the publishing process than I thought. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm not discouraged. Writing a book and publishing it is what I dream of doing.

Long Haul but Getting There

I've calculated that if I read 50 pgs. per day of Putting Your Passion Into Print, it will take me approximately 8.5 days to read it. Afterwards, I have to read all my other sources which equates to about eight others.

Although I have a lot to do still, I have accomplished a lot as well. Firstly, I've finished my first draft of interview questions and emailed a request for an interview with Patrice Wade Johnson, author of Wisdom Seeds and Lundyn Bridges. Ms. Johnson is also one of the administrators at my school and we are well acquainted, as I am the Vice-President of her Pearls group. After, the interview, if all goes well, I'd like to ask her to be my mentor on the whole project. The whole correspondence would be very convenient for the both of us. We are in the same building everyday. Additionally, I have OK-ed switching stories with my teacher and I sent an email to Vicky asking if she is okay with that.

As for the story I'm now going to use, it is a finished product. All I have left to do is edit and revise it. Once that is finished, I'll ask someone close to read it over and give me feedback. But for now, I'm going to go back to taking notes and prepare for the interview (camera for pictures, and a tape recorder? video camera?....)

SOoooooo much to do.....


Did You Know Facts cont.

Bestsellers represent less than 5% of Barnes & Noble's total sales
Paper is the largest manufacturing cost for a book
Publishers make less than 10% profit on each book sold
Less than 10% of books earn back their advance
Average American buys fewer than 2 books per year
How well a book sells is 15% dependant on its content and 85% dependant on author's ability to network
A manuscript needing a hefty editing can cost up to $25,000

Back in Action

I haven't posted in a while...PSSA Testing and Internet problems...but it's all good now. I've finished reading through and taking notes on my first source and am moving onto my second (Putting Your Passion Into Print).

I am conflicted. I had a crazy bout of inspiration the other day with another story I am writing and I really like where it is going. It's a lot more completed than the one I'm writing with Vicky. I'm not giving up our the story but I'm not quite sure she'll be around to help me with it. Writing and perfecting our story takes time and I can't do it without her because then it becomes mine, not hers. She's been very busy lately with her boyfriend, scholarship applications, etc. She is going to college in the fall and she's going to want to prepare for that, so we have a very limited time.

Regardless of what choice I make, I'm working on both. Should I switch the stories I use? Or should this be a decision I make later on based on the progress made for each manuscript? Any suggestions?

errr...I'm going to have to talk to Vicky about this. I don't think she'll care, since it is my graduation project.

Notes...

My webliography is 100% finished and I'm reading and taking notes on my sources.

Webliography...Just About Done

Much progress has been made today. I just about finished my Webliography. I've proofread what I have already but there is one other source I may include. I'm quite sure yet if I will use it. I'll definitely know by tomorrow though. Right now I'm taking notes on my "How to Write Fiction like a Pro" source.

Awesomeness

Eureka! Ok, Vicky did get some books out. She's amazing. They are awesome books (she's not a librarian for nothing). I looked them over and I'm really excited about the information that they contain. I think I will be able to more than answer just my foundation questions. The three that she has given me so far (one from her personal collection, two from the library) all got ten ratings on my webliography. Speaking of which, that's almost done. Out of the eleven sources I have so far, I've completed citations and annotations for seven. Once I finish my webliography, it is my intention to comb through my sources and jot all important information into a notebook.

GO STEELERS!!!

Turns out Vicky did have a book for me and it's really good. I'm actually pretty excited about it. It's my best resource so far for this project. :)

Since she works at the library and I had a busy weekend (homework), I asked her if she could look around for writing and publishing reference books. I haven't heard from her. There has been a lot of hit and miss communication. Hopefully, I will find out today. If not, I'll just have to make a quick trip to the library today or tomorrow, perferably today.

MLA, Annotations...not so bad

Usually citing sources is a royal pain and often the part I hate most about a research project. Thanks to www.easybib.com, all that's not so bad anymore. I went through three websites and completed their citations. I feel that is a good start, especially because I am being very thorough with my annotations. Putting my best writing forward, so to speak. I've come across some sites that aren't all that good and I will have to toss them. I'm thinking about checking out some publishing/writing books from the library. I'll definately do that when I get home today. For some reason I think Vicky has a book that will be useful but I'm not sure. I suppose I should call her and ask...

Well I lied...

I only have five WOW facts, haha. But I just came up with a sixth. They are as follows.

Book advances go from $100 to $1 million+
Royalties (% of income author recieves): Trade Paperbacks 6 to 8%, Mass Market Paperbacks 6-10%, Hardbacks 10-15%
Literary Agents can improve your publishing deal by 10%
One example of a good editor deal is $25/hr. (ahhh!)
When the publisher sends you the first published copy of your book it's important to check over the cover, jacket, spine, margins, etc. for errors the publisher may have made (they will happen!)
People will "judge your book by its cover" and especially if you are a first time author, an eye catching cover is essential for more readers/buyers.

I will keep my eyes open for more "Did you know" facts as I look over my initial 10 websites and begin to work on my Webliography.

Dumbness

Eh, my photoshop collage isn't all that great but I'm leaving it go for now. Today I worked on the "Did you know questions?" I only found about six...how many are we supposed to have? Do we post them on our blog or upload them to Edline? I'm drawing a blank here...

Collage...fun, fun, fun

In Photoshop I made a collage entailing the details of my grad project (well the story I'm writing anyways). I'm almost done. All I have to do is some tweaking and small adjustments. It was a fun easy period. I'm not sure how this was beneficial to the project but I'm not complaining. :P

Reading, Highlighting...More Key Terms. yay.

I read my "Free Advice" article off of my 10 websites page and highlighted important information. I highlighted a lot of stuff, I'll just leave it at that. From this article I picked up a lot of key terms and I'll be working updating my list. Although we are supposed to post our essential questions and foundation questions today...I'm not going to because I already did so at an earlier date.

Mrs. Savido read the first three pages of our (mine and Vicky's...in case you forgot) story and said she liked it. I don't know. She had forty pages left to go and didn't want to read anymore. Yes, we wrote forty three pages on a Microsoft Word. I'm seriously not lying. We have been writing like mad women...however, recently we have fallen ill to writer's block. It's tragic but I say give it a couple weeks and we'll be right back to crazy story writing. :)

Feelin' Like a Dictionary

All I did today was work on my Key Terms. I have eighteen already. WOOT!!!!

Ugh

I'm sick. That much is definite. Good news is though I'm feeling much better from yesterday. I can hold down my food now and read and write without getting a headache. I've been using all this free time to write some more. :)

A Writing Day

Since I've already finished my 10 websites and have come up with questions, I decided that today was a writing day. Additionally, I haven't been feeling well this morning ( it's strange, same thing happened to me last week, must be something about Tuesdays), so working on something simple was exactly what I needed. I made some progress. In sickness or in health, when inspiration hits, it hits. Writing is possible even on the most dismal of days. When I get home I will discuss what I've written with Vicky, see if she approves.

Pre-Writing

This weekend Vicky and I got together to start our story. Mostly we just brainstormed, writing our ideas into a notebook. We deciding on the plot, characters (names, appearance, roles) and story settings. We also wrote down ideas and details for chapters and plot progression. It's got a little mystery, romance, horror and action. It is also our intention to throw in humor when appropriate to lighten the somewhat dark mood of the book.

The setting of the book is completely fictional and does not pertain to real events, people or places whatsoever. However, there is an air that it takes place in medieval times which is what was intended, but again, ITS COMPLETELY FICTIONAL. So nothing should be taken as true to that era.

Essentially, the book is about a young man who loses his memory after a terrible, brutal incident unknown to the reader, and regains his memory as the book progresses. I'm apologize for my bluntness but I am reluctant to disclose further details on the story for confidentiality purposes.

Trucking Along

I've finalized my essential question and foundation questions. They are as follows:

Essential Question:
How do you write and publish a book?

Foundation Questions:

What is the writing process?
What is the professional book editing process?
What is the publishing process?
How do you write a good book?
What are some credible, reliable book publishing companies?
What are common grammar mistakes? or What are the rules?
What are good, colorful descriptive words that can be used to spicy up a story?
What does an agent do?
What are the benefits and disadvantages of having an agent?
How do I prevent my ideas from being stolen?
What is self-publishing? What are the advantages or disadvantages?
I don't know. It's something to start with.

I don't know. I think it's good for a start.

Good News

Today was a very good day in the land of Desiree. First of all, I'm not sick anymore so that's something to be happy about. Yet what I'm more psyched about is the fact that I can co-write a book with Vicky for my grad project. We've written stories together before, often having to converse over the phone when meeting in person to write was not an option. I think it is going to go very well. Additionally, I was able to find my ten websites today. I deleted most of the sites I got from Book Pros. The information was too specific to the publishing company and I need something more broad. To start with anyways.

Under the Weather

I'm not feeling too hot today and I wasn't able to make it to school. It's unfortunate, but I was able to do a little research on my topic anyways. In other words, I found I few more web pages I want to look at but it's not much. It's hard to work when your sick. Most of the pages are from a publishing company called Book Pros. or something like that. Never heard of it, so I'm being cautious. Additionally, the guidelines for book editing and publishing given by Book Pros. is very specific to their company. I was looking for something more general, just to get started with anyways. I'll look for specifics when I actually get into the task of looking for a publisher.

I got the Essential Question Chart in my email, which was gone over today in class. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it, so I'm leaving it alone for now. I'll find out soon enough.

Down the road I'm thinking about talking to Ms. Johnson about book writing and publishing. I know she has gotten at least one of her books published. What could be better than talking to someone who has done it before and knows the ropes? I'm sure she'd have no problem with it but we'll see.

First Steps

Over the weekend I talked to Vicky about co-writing a book with her for my graduation project. She said she was perfectly fine with it as long as I was allowed to do so. If I am, that is definately the road I wish to take. If not, that's alright, I have a back-up story I can write and I've got all my ideas for it already (it's not uncommon for me to be working on several stories at once).

In class today, I came up with my essential question and some foundation questions. I began to explore my topic and saved some interesting websites I want to look at more closely in the future.

Decision Making

Today I read three articles about graduation projects students from other schools have done, what they did and what their requirements were. Afterwards, I answered questions based on these readings, which helped me come to a decision on my project topic. It was inspiring to hear other students talk about their passions. Without a doubt, I am writing a book and trying to get it published. My dream is to become an author, my passion is to write. As of yet I do not know whether or not I'm going to write the book alone or if I'll co-write it with a good friend, Vicky. We already have ideas for a story, so getting started won't be an issue. I just have to talk to her about using it for my graduation project, to see if she's okay with it. We are writing it together so it is as much as her decision as it is mine.

The Beginning

To be honest, I have heard a lot of bad things about Graduation Project and because of that I've been dreading it for years. Working with students from all grades on the Tech Repair Team invites a lot of complaint about classwork and teachers. Ever since I've started, all the seniors have complained about grad project and how stressing it is. Even though they put a lot of time and effort into their work, they still got unsatisfactory grades. Initially, I didn't know that you could do a project on just about anything you wanted, as long as it wasn't too general, broad or explicit.

Until recently I never really knew what I wanted to do for grad project. I've thought about learning how to play the piano, as it is something I've always wanted to do, but what would be much more appropriate for my interests would be to write a book. I've been working on several manuscripts for years, but I've never been thoroughly satisfied with them. I want to be able to finish a manuscript and get it published (or at least try to). I may write the book single-handed or co-write it with my best friend, who also has a passion for writing.

What I'm the most concerned about is how we are graded and how we prepare for a presentation that is 40 minutes long. Do you have to talk for all 40 minutes? How harsh is our presentation graded? Can a panel member fail you just because they don't like your topic? A friend said she got a really bad grade from the panel because they didn't like her religion topic. It sounds ridiculous and I hope she was just being melodramatic.