A Total Write Off - Kelly's ep. March 21

I felt it only necessary that I comment on the state of affairs of Anna Nicole Smith. I don’t believe that it’s getting enough coverage on the news. The passing of this woman is a great tragedy of our times. It’s reminiscent of the death of Princess Diana.
Actually, I couldn’t be more sick of hearing about Anna Nicole or the paternity of her daughter. It does suck that she died at a young age, but for everyone’s sake, let it go. Who cares? Hey, is Michael Jackson involved? If we throw in Jacko and maybe a Kennedy, this story could carry CNN for the next year.
Regardless, I’ve got more interesting (at least to me) things to blather on about. Last week was another one for the memory box.


Kelly with A Total Write-Off! host Barbara North

more after the jump


As you may remember, I will be appearing on an episode of A Total Write-Off! a reality writers show where teams of writers are pitted against each other to write a short story in under 30 minutes. It was a blast at the taping, and now I’m looking forward to seeing it on the little screen. It’s confirmed that the episode I’ll be appearing on is March 21. Mark that on your calendars. If you don’t have a calendar, write it on your hand. And don’t wash that hand.
The inevitable hygiene issues aside, you’ll all enjoy the goofy fun show. I hope I don’t appear to be too stupid, but I’m sure you’ll let me know if I do...
Another major incident happened with the hopeful future publication of the novel manuscript that I’ve been shopping to publishers. The Ghost Dance was picked as a good fit for a publisher’s imprint, and were looking at publishing my book as early as the spring of 2008. I was elated. I was excited, I was full of confidence and butterflies. I was.
The snag was that the publisher offered a ‘co-publishing’ deal, which basically requests the author to pre-purchase a number of books to offset the costs of publication, especially for a new author. It concerned me, but I held out hope.
After doing some research on the publisher and contacting a former author in their stable, I found out some bad news. The publisher is posing as a traditional publisher, but is actually doing something called vanity press. Vanity press is basically self publishing, with paying for your book to go into print. You’re paying a printer, not a publisher.
So, I’ve come close to being conned, and without the help of some smart writer friends at the Writers Guild of Alberta and the highly effective Writersbeware.org, I could have been hooped.
I had that feeling in the back of my mind the whole time, jeez, that sounds good, but I don’t think I should be paying for publication, hey, they must know how hard it is to get published.
That’s the problem, it is really really hard to get published for a first-time writer and a first-time novelist. There are people out there very willing to take your money based on your dreams. That’s the crappy part, these people prey on your dreams and can steal you blind.
So, even though I’m not published yet, I still will keep trying and follow up on some leads and not be knocked down by the charlatans that are out there, waiting.
If any of you have had similar experiences, let me know.