ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

A recent copyright violation incident prompted me to look into book publishing again.  My blogging history is short.  It started March 2008.  My blog entries touch various topics, encompassing several different themes.  I have been pondering on the idea of publishing my own books for some time.  However, I don’t think that I have written enough articles to publish a book.  I am not a career writer.  I work full time and have two little children and a family to care for.  After work and picking up our kids from school, I have to cook for the family.  After the meal, I have to either work with my son on his homework or play with my daughter to sway her away from disrupting her brother’s study.  After the study time is over, usually half an hour, it is family time again.  We either watch TV or play games or read books.  Time flies quickly.  Then it is time to wash the kids and prepare them to sleep.  Our work with the kids doesn’t end with tugging them in bed.  They are afraid to sleep alone, so one of the parents has to stay with one of our kids.  My daughter prefers her dad so I am the one staying with my son.  We have to wait until they fall asleep to have our own personal time and that is usually after 10pm.  The only time I have to write articles is to sacrifice my sleep.  Sometimes, I slept less than 2 hours a day, reading books, so I can write a book review.  Sometimes, I spent precious sleep time researching the meaning of a Chinese poem, so I can more truly reflect the essence of that Chinese poem when I translate it into English.  At times, it is exhausting to me.  Yet, I get the sense of satisfaction and achievement when I finished writing one article.  It is easy to imagine my anger towards people who copy and paste my creation if you understand the time and effort I put in each creation. 

I have always thought about publishing a book, not for making a profit, but for my own personal satisfaction and as a keepsake for my children.  With this incident, I thought about publishing my own books again.  I started to do some more research about it and found some pretty good information.  Createspace is a cheap solution to publish your own books.  Signing up as a standard member is free unless you request professional services such as designing or marketing your books.  See more details at the link below https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/  Book on Demand is a media I would suggest for self publishing and distributing your own books.  You earn royalties for the sale of your books.  You can also order books on your own behalf, for which you pay only the fixed and per-page charges plus shipping and handling fees.  It is approximately $3 for an order of your own book before tax and shipping and handling.  You don’t earn royalty for the book you order on your own behalf.  There is however a restriction on the number of pages required to publish a book, which is between 24 and 828 pages.  In addition, you must obtain all applicable copyright licenses for artwork used in your book.  You can register your work electronically at the website of United States Copyright Office.  http://www.copyright.gov/.  The cost is $35 to register your unpublished work online.

Now that I have found a way to publish my books, the next step is to find an illustrator.  My neighbor is a writer and was recognized with two awards for his children’s book.  I talked to my husband about asking my neighbor for his illustrator.  My husband gave me an interesting answer.  Why not ask our son?  Wow!  I never thought about that.  He would be a really good illustrator if he can sit still and do what I ask for.  I need to think of an incentive to lure him to work with me.    

Anyway, that seems to solve the problem of finding an illustrator.  Next, I need to find someone to proofread my articles.  I know very few people who majored in English and they are all pretty busy.  Now, I am starting to regret that I didn’t ask my classmates’ educational background while I was a graduate student.  Where can I find people to proofread my articles?  Maybe I should attend a writer’s workshop and expand my professional network to include the writers.    

Okay, let’s not burden myself with that at this moment.  It is still too early to worry about it.  I have a rough idea of the types of books I want to publish.  It would be Elisa English’s poems, Elisa English’s grammar and word usage, Elisa English’s travelogue, Elisa English’s book review and Elisa English’s reflection of life.  That’s all I can think of for now.    

The road to publishing a book is still long for me but it is something to look forward to.    

By the way, my husband thinks that it is a nonsense for me to waste my time blogging and to think about publishing a book.  Anyway, it is my hobby and I really enjoy it. 

Written By Elisa English

On 8/12/10 in Minneapolis

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