A writer's journey...

We’ve no doubt all run across those posts from authors announcing that they had to make modifications to their books, whether it be facts, editing/grammar, or other issues.    Whenever I’ve come across these, first, I was thankful it wasn’t me, but more importantly, I thought what courage on behalf of the author.    It built my respect for them.    It shows that they view their writing, the publishing industry, and their readers of utmost importance--and that’s the way it should be. Writing and publishing should be an evolution; not a destination.  For any of us to think that we published a book and now the journey is over would be ludicrous.  We should be continually growing, not only in the craft, our story-telling ability, but our comprehension and grasp of grammar. Add to this, there are times we come across reviews, or receive emails that may mention issues in a published book.  It’s never easy to see the low star ...

It took 4 tries and $80, but I have my US personal tax number!  Talk about a time to celebrate! If you're going through this process, you're probably starting to feel like you're applying to take over the Presidency.  But tax people and accountants, they want everything perfect, so unless you adhere to that bar of perfection you'll get back a rejection letter to your request for a US Tax Personal Tax Number, or as it's termed: ITIN. Why get a US tax number as a Canadian?  There is a treaty in place with the US that makes it so Amazon cannot withhold 30% of your earned royalties ,if you have this number.  In other words, that's 30% in your pocket faster. I'm going to lay everything out in step-by-step instructions.  First, you find the online form here .  Remember, this applies to Canadians.  For other countries there would be a different article number (I'm sure). You'll need to have acceptable forms of identification.  This can ...

Maybe the title brought to mind that older movie, Mickey Blue Eyes, when the waitress said  emphatically   “No! And then!”   Or perhaps you thought this would be a blog post on how to eradicate those two words, or the feeling of them, from your manuscript?   In fact, this post is on neither, but what it is focused on is the danger those two words are representative of--procrastination! Isn’t it true that as writers, authors, our days are full.  Not only do we have the daily concerns of life, and responsibilities that come therewith, but we have our aspirations to write, to edit, to reach another goal of some kind. If only the necessities of life would move aside so that we could fully focus on our heart’s desire--writing.  Maybe you’re like me and say the above-noted dangerous words, more than you wish to admit.  I’m sure you know how it goes, “I just have to tweet this, and then I’ll do my edits”, “I’ll check my email, and then I’ll w...