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Friday, June 22, 2012

Dream of Things




For the last 40 years or so, I have had a serigraph on my wall created by (sister) Corita Kent with the quote from G.B. Shaw: "Some people see things that are and say why? I dream of things that never were and say why not." Seems like synchronicity to me that my new publisher is Mike O’Mary of Dream of Things.


I met Mike through my friend, mentor, and go-to person for all things related to publishing, Mark Shelmerdine, CEO of Jeffers Press. I contacted Mark as soon as I heard Lucky Press, the first publisher of Leaving the Hall Light On, had decided to go out of business. However, I also took Mark’s advice and waited to contact Mike until I had time to distress and unwind while on vacation. That said, I wrote to Mike the Monday after we returned home. And Mike responded favorably from the start. I am so fortunate for that.

Since Mike decided to become my publisher – he’ll publish paperback and eBook editions by the end of July – we’ve been busy. We first created a new book description with review blurbs to post on my Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Red Room pages. Mike has already posted them, and I think they make a big difference. And even though Lucky Press made the corrections to the text that I had indicated and provided me with final native and pdf files, Mike and his wife Kathy each went through the manuscript with very precise eagle eyes.

Guess what?

They each came up with many more typos to correct. I must reiterate here that it is so important to have new and fresh eyes look at our material before we post or go to press with anything. I can't tell you how many typos I find on my blog posts after the fact. It's disgraceful.

We also decided to provide a list of book club discussion topics at the back of the book. We both came up with a list and then Mike merged them. Finally, I decided to redo the Acknowledgments page – you’ll have to read the new edition to see if you’re on it – and now we’re ready to go.

I can’t tell you how excited I am with my new publishing arrangement. Thank you Mike and Mark for making this happen. 

And now on to a marketing plan. Mike has the best ideas.

1 comment:

  1. Besides the word, synchonous, I kept hearing a word and a phrase while reading your post: fortuitous (old publisher drops out of the race) and fresh air. Our human selves must go thru the gnashing of teeth phase when bad news comes and changes our lives a bit. My practice is to tune in to the spiritual self, beneath the cacophony of noise on the surface! I see this dance in your memoir, your blogs, your poetry. Thank you, Madeline! xoxoxo

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