The Official Website of Author Tarah L. Wolff Just another WordPress site

I received an email from my editor last night that absolutely made my day, “I have just finished Part Two.  Boy, that Waltruk was an ugly sucker.  Now I am in it.  Now I am involved.  I really liked the longer sentences, the longer discussions in this part.” I knew my book was a very large swallow starting off, no matter what, and my editor has confirmed that with her comments over the past week as she got through part one and part two. I kept hoping, crossing my fingers, that once she finished part two she would understand. This email made my heart soar. I went back to my book instantly and read 3/4s of it in two days! It’s been awhile since I had even looked at Embraced by Darkness. When I’m away from it for a few days, or even weeks, I start thinking that it is simply shit. But, I read it again and it was like reading something that could truly become popular. Something sharp and well cut. Something that showed a writer who truly gave a damn when she was writing it. I hope with all of my heart that someone else will think that too someday.

Choices

I’m in a bit of a conundrum here. I’ve talked about this before but I simply do not know what to do. I need advice: very specific advice, and have no one to ask. I want to get a grant so I can hire someone to produce an incredible cover for my book, so I can finish it and give it a gorgeous website and then truly advertise the hell out of it and promote it myself. However, I am concerned, what if this could hurt my chances in acquiring a publisher or an agent? I would like to think that if I can sell a few thousand copies of my book, than wouldn’t that be a good thing? Wouldn’t a publisher or agent be more interested in me then?? I don’t know who to ask this question to and I am concerned.

On top of that

I just read from a very reputable writer (who writes fantastic free articles for writers) that you really shouldn’t even consider sending out to agents or publishers until you have every book written that will be included in the series that you’re selling. So, that means I should really have the sequel to Embraced by Darkness written as well. I am 30,000 words into it but the task of taking it on and writing it is just not something I do not have time for in the summer. Especially not this summer. So, that is something that is obviously making me lean toward just publishing and promoting the first Embraced by Darkness myself.

Cart before the horse

My wonderful editor still has to finish going through my book before I should even be considering this stuff. So, it is going to probably be two or even three months (realistically, I know I haven’t always been realistic with my time-lines, maybe that’s why I’m always disappointed?) She needs to finish reading it first and she has her own very busy life to deal with, not to mention she’s doing this for free because she’s my wonderful and very loving aunt. I will keep you updated on her progress

Ads

I am determined to someday make some money off of all of this time I spend on my blogs. I now have my Recipe blog as well as this one. I have Google Adsense on both blogs now and I have included a cool book widget from Amazon now in the right hand column here. I think that it is really cool. Now everyone can see my all time favorite books without having to ask

Please, don’t think I expect to actually make money on either this or my recipe blog. I am simply not that naive. But, I have been working on trying to come up with a blog of some kind that could truly make me some money. I always come up with ideas for things I know nothing about because that’s obviously the blog I would go to and enjoy learning something from. I took a step back and started focusing on what I know; what I can teach someone.

Web Design Workshop

That led me back to an idea I’ve had for awhile about putting on a one day “Become a Web Designer” workshop in my local hometown to make a few bucks. I’ve been brain storming about this all summer and it never occurred to me to make a website out of this workshop. Why not?

So, the next website you’re going to see from me is a total and complete devotion to my teaching the newbies what they need to know to become web designers (at least to some extent). It’s going to be very large and take me a lot of time to propagate with all the info that I want to add. It’s also going to include a blog that I will try to update at least monthly with new thoughts as well as a new entry for each new web design that I do. I hope to give people a literal walk through of my own web design process. Full tips and tricks. But, mostly, a basic layout and step by step guide beginning with acquiring a domain name. I will let everyone here know first when I finally get it up and running.

Portfolio.Tarahlynn.com

Some of you may have noticed a broken link over in my navigation called portfolio. When I was sending out resumes last year (to absolutely no avail) I ran into several companies who wanted to see an online resume/portfolio. So, that is something I hope to have finished and up ASAP. I have wanted a place for my photos, all of my web designs and book designs for a very long time, so this is something I am excited about and I think it will be a good step for me professionally. So, check back soon!