Marilyn Frazer

The End of the Trail is in Sight

Again, I must say it's easy to write a book; it's much more difficult to publish one. There are endless back and forths between the publisher, agent, writer, editor and anyone else who can get into the act. It took me six years to write the book and now it has been almost two years of going down the publishing trail.

I am delighted to have a literary agent who acts as a middleman, helping me move through the process. There is a whole new language, a whole new protocol. There are query letters, proposals, agents who specialize in such genres as fiction, non-fiction, children's lit, romance and so on, and they are not interested in your book if it doesn't fit into their stable of writers.

However, the end of the trail is in sight. The publisher sent me the final copy, full of editor's red marks...she is a "Comma Queen"...just loves to put in commas everywhere. Every page had 4-5 red marks where she thought a comma should be added. I had a different opinion, but I bow to her expertise. (First I had to decipher her symbols.) Along with all the commas, I added my final changes...small, but needed...and sent the manuscript back to the publisher ASAP. Now I have to wait in line behind the "big boys"...the major publishers. Hopefully, it won't be too long a wait.

My goal was to be published by the end of October. That date was moved up to "by Thanksgiving." Now I'm hoping for a launch before Christmas. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. Missing the Christmas/Hanukkah season would be so disappointing.

Don't forget...THE RELATIONSHIP TRAP is a must-read for anyone contemplating a new relationship. Don't enter a relationship before reading this book!

There's a Story in You...Somewhere

    When I say I wrote a book people are so amazed. "You wrote a book?" They are so intimidated by the thought of writin. Yet, there is a book in everyone. We all have a story to tell, fiction or non-fiction. I started writing and before I knew it, I was on my way.
    Writing a book is not such an amazing feat. You just have to sit down at your computer or with a yellow legal pad and start...anywhere.
    You don't have to start at the beginning. Start in the middle if you'd like. Start at the end and work backwards. It doesn't matter. Eventually you'll put it all together. And don't worry about grammar. Like the Nike commercial...Just Do It!
     What would you like to write about? Perhaps something you're passionate about or something you're interested in at the moment. Nowadays, people are starting to write their memoirs and there are a number of workshops being offered in memoir writing. Take one. Start there...with your own life. Don't tell me your life is not interesting. Everyone's is and your grandchildren will enjoy reading it one day.
    Write! Enjoy! There really is a story in you.