We are heading back to New York City this Victoria Day long weekend and rather excited to return. It is the land of opportunity for many Canadian authors. I’ve had many New Yorkers offer their support to me as an author. They are a kind and supportive group of artists. Thank you to my connections on linkedin for encouraging me every step of the way as I write the Paige Maddison Series: for ghost story lovers only.
Life on Paradise Island
May 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Timeless flight.
What a beautiful Island to celebrate our son Justin’s 21st birthday! On our first day we met Latoya, a wonderful soul. She was our waitress and the first words spoken from her were: “Welcome to Paradise Island. Enjoy yourself. No one is watching you!” She repeated it over and over again. We do not need much encouragement to enjoy ourselves but after a rather haphazard start to our trip (our passports were expired on the Friday before we left on the Monday – no worries we obtained new ones before we left) it was a warm welcome. Getting up at 4 am is not our thing. I do not mind 6 am but 4? However, to fly to the Bahamas and be in our hotel room by 3 pm, it seemed logical. The culinary skills of the Chefs in the main restaurant was beyond belief. Each day there were many local specialties from conch, grouper to lamb and herbed chicken. Believe it or not, the chicken was to die for. We ate in the preferred Japanese restaurant one night and the teryaki chicken was out of this world. The sushi was succulent and the creme brule dessert beyond words. It is the first holiday that I have ever gained weight as I always watch my intake of food and beverages. However, our son’s 21st comes once and I decided to go with the flow. We met couples from Armenia, Los Angeles, Spain, Palm Island and many other exciting places. Conversations were lively and everyone had good old fun. We wanted to thank the staff of the Riu for all they did for us on our stay. This post is for you 🙂 Our room was beautiful and situated close to the oceanfront. That was a gift to Justin from the staff. Our balcony housed three chairs and a table – enough room to eat breakfast or enjoy the parasailors flying by. There was a good energy in the hotel. The decorations are more traditional Bahamian style and we loved it! We enjoyed the exquisite pool and white sand beach as waves crashed into the shore. The laughing gulls were aplenty providing entertainment and if you wanted daily exercise there were aerobic classes or a gym. However, we opted for walking along the beach and touring the Atlantis. My husband and I stayed there 23 years ago when it was Merv Griffin’s Casino & Resort and we flew into the Paradise Island airport (which is no longer) called the Merv Griffin airport. There are remnants at the Atlantis from our previous stay in the Coral and Beach towers – the older part of the hotel. But the aquariums are on a much grander scale with sharks, stingrays, dolphins, sea turtles and more. Life on the islands is a great place to let your imagination go, especially if you are a writer. Poor Paige Maddison. She has many battles left to fight but it will be worth the wait to read it. 🙂 Thank you to those individuals who have faith in Paige Maddison and send me direct messages on facebook or on my email to express your kind words regarding her story.
At A Loss For Words
April 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As a matter of fact, I have been at a loss for words since the Boston Marathon Tragedy. Not much really to say other than the fact it saddens my heart, as it does for many of you. It also reminds us of the turmoil going on around the world. We are happy the Boston Police took it so seriously enough to close down businesses and ask citizens to remain indoors. This is not to be tolerated on any level. It is not an everyday occurrence in North America nor do any of us want it to become one. We’re saying our prayers for those who died and those who were injured. This writer is taking a week off to celebrate our son Justin’s 21st birthday and to now reflect on life and remember who we are grateful for. My wish is worldwide peace in 2013. Best to all of you. 🙂
WINNER OF A PAPERBACK COPY OF WAKE ME UP INSIDE
April 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Announcing the Contest Winner of Wake Me Up Inside by Lee Bice-Matheson
April 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I am on top of the world today! Never have I seen so many entries for the contest to win a copy of Wake Me Up Inside. It really touches my heart in this day and age of a plethora of books/ebooks that there is so much interest in Paige Maddison and her journey. 🙂 I want to thank all of the people from the bottom of my heart who took the time to enter. It means a lot. Writing this first book in the Paige Maddison series took me over two years. Not only that, I took it offline and rewrote parts of it that I felt were weak. The newly revised edition was released in July, 2012. The fact that there are many of you, worldwide, following Paige’s journey is beyond belief for this author. Thank you so much to all of you! Salamat, Gracias, Merci, Dzi?kuj?, Grazie, Terima kasih, Mul?umesc, Köszönöm, Te?ekkür ederim, Falemnderit, Thank You! So many languages did not translate on my word processor – I am very sorry for that!
One more time: Anxiety Really Sucks
April 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Some of you who have just popped in to meander through my blog may wonder what is Anxiety Really Sucks? For more information there is a link on the above Pages. There comes a time when someone special deserves attention, and my husband Kevin and I believe that our son Justin does! If you suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, panic disorder or agoraphobia, please read his blog. You will benefit from it, I assure you. We couldn’t be prouder of you Justin for standing up and facing panic disorder/agoraphobia head on and sharing it with others that suffer in silence. It’s not the end of the world and Justin will show you through his journey. Congratulations Justin. We love you to infinity and beyond!
Justin & Anxiety Really Sucks
April 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Many readers are aware that our son, Justin, was mugged and drugged (two separate incidences) in Montreal and is now home suffering from panic disorder and agoraphobia. My goodness, who wouldn’t be?! Justin, Kevin and I want to take the time to thank all of you who have written and offered support in our son’s time of need, many of you do not know us personally. What a kind community of people that our family has had the honour and privilege of connecting with. We thank you very kindly. Justin is well on his way to recovery and is going back to University next month. It proves my point that there are many, many kind people out there in this beautiful world of ours. We are all connected. Thank you again.
Betwixt and Between in Traditional Publishing versus Self-Publishing
April 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The writing life is always interesting and it has its share of ups and downs. However, it is up to the author to ensure there are more ups than downs. That being said, what I really want to talk about is traditional publishing versus self-publishing.
I have been interviewed often and reference the beginning of my journey into the world of published author. It began with a large traditional publishing house in Toronto. My manuscript was well-received and I was asked during the year it was there do not send it out anywhere else. To me, this was a sign that they were considering my work. Sadly in the end, not so. Just before Christmas I was informed that the young adult budget was cut and they could not proceed with Wake Me Up Inside.
Thwarted, but not completely devastated, I decided to send it out to a smaller publishing firm located in Southern Ontario. I was happy she accepted emailed submissions (to quicken the process) and most of our communication was using this format. I was informed that she had many projects underway and unfortunately she would not be able to look at my project for some time. However, the next day I received a rather excited email proclaiming once she took a look at it, she could not stop reading it and was going to publish it! Oh, how excited was I? Very! Although a part of me realized until it’s actually in print there was no cause to celebrate just yet.
For one month, I did not hear any news from the publisher. And then sadly, in response to one of my emails asking her if everything’s okay, she responded by saying “I am so sorry I had to close my doors.” Was I upset? Not at all. Disappointed, yes. All I could think about was this poor publisher and the projects she really wanted to share with the rest of the world and now did not have the resources. I understood where she was coming from because my father, sadly, had to close his doors. The good news – once he started up his company again and settled his former debts, he did exceptionally well in his business. I wrote an empathetic email in response to her sad email and hoped she would one day return to the publishing world.
The third attempt was with a medium-sized publisher that also accepted emailed submissions. And for six months our communication was the same asking me please do not send it to another publishing house. Whoops. A pit in my stomach formed as I remembered the last time I was asked to do this. My response? I emailed back and respectfully withdrew my submission.
In the meantime, I had heard about ebooks and was not quite certain where that would lead this author. I began to inquire about it asking various online publishers what does it entail and what will they do for my book as far as the marketing for it. The response was “Do you want to publish your work for the rest of the world to read?” I answered “Yes, of course.” An author does not spend two or so years of their life writing a novel unless they are sure they are going to see it through to the publication process. The marketing end of things of course was left to me. I thought I can handle that. I signed up with Bookbaby and they uploaded it to many online buying sites such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple ebooks, Sony ebooks, and many more. The sales for Wake Me Up Inside made me a paid author. This means I sold many more ebooks than my personal investment of producing the ebook online. I actually made a profit! I will never forget receiving my first cheque from Bookbaby and it is now framed next to my computer.
However part of me, being the author that I am, was not happy with the original version of Wake Me Up Inside. And in the process of selling the ebook which was marketed mainly through this website, I had many readers email me and ask if I would consider putting it into print. They had an aunt, or parent, or friend that preferred reading the book while holding it in their hands, feeling the quality of the paper and appreciating the artwork first hand. (I have since discovered that many readers of Wake Me Up Inside loved the book so much when asked if a friend or relative can borrow it, their answer is no. I’ve been told that they felt while reading my book, it was like a personal journey of their own discovery). I considered the printed format for a while and finally decided to pull my ebook offline and waited the appropriate number of months while Bookbaby withdrew it from the online sellers.
Using this time wisely, I did two things. Firstly, I rewrote the parts of Wake Me Up Inside that I considered to be weak. Secondly, once finished, I sent it off to Fitzhenry and Whiteside in Toronto for an opinion, only. You see, I am a librarian and as a student page was the receiver of all purchased books. I admired this particular publishing house and was happy to send it to them for a final opinion – should I pursue the publishing of this book or not? I was thrilled to hear back from them and was told “Yes, definitely pursue the publishing of Wake Me Up Inside. You just need to find the right publisher with the right budget.” When I read these words I screamed with delight!
In truth, the reason I wanted to know if the book was good enough was because I wanted to self-publish it. My confidence was growing and I knew if I could just get it out there, readers would want to buy it. After researching online for weeks on end, I finally found a Canadian self-publisher named FriesenPress. And that’s where my book is to this day. Now FriesenPress also uploads the books to many online sellers from Chapters.ca, Barnes and Noble, Kobo ebooks, Amazon.ca/com, and many, many more. It is also available through Ingrams Book Distribution which allows it to be sold in bookstores all around the world. Just go to your local bookstore and they can order it in! How amazing is that? No shelf space required for the bookstore owner.
The funny turn of events for me, is that I’ve sold more paperbacks than any other format and when I’m interviewed the interviewer often forgets I’m self-published.
In my last interview I was told ‘I’m so happy that publisher picked you up and I’m sure all the readers of your book are happy too.’ It shocked me. I almost corrected the interviewer but we were live on air. I really just wanted to thank her for that!
I am not sure where you are at as a writer, author, reader dreaming of writing, or passionate about books in general, but I thought I would share my journey in self-publishing Wake Me Up Inside for the public audience.
Where will I go from here? Stay tuned. A writer’s life is for courageous and passionate dreamers. Book Two in the Paige Maddison series is next.
Live Bookstore Reading on C.K. Webb’s WebbWeaverBooks Author Reading Room
March 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Listen in on the live bookstore reading by Lee Bice-Matheson and interview with C.K. Webb, co-author of the Innocents Series, with her Mom and Best Friend, D.J. Weaver! You do not want to miss this one! I had a blast on the show and will return again as invited back from C.K. Remember it’s C.K., unlike K.C. of the Sunshine Band. 🙂
WebbWeaver Books Proudly Presents
March 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Don’t forget I’m performing a live bookstore reading tomorrow at 11 am EST or 10 am CST on C.K. Webb’s blogtalkradio show from WebbWeaver Books! Listen in and see what’s on Paige Maddison’s mind. Have you got the Paige fever yet?