Saturday, March 20, 2010

Questions? Comments?

I have been working on several projects over the past few months. One was a complete overhaul of my digital scrapbooking site. I installed WordPress and then purchased a very good and highly competent theme. This will help me update that site a little more often.

Now I'm testing screencasting programs so I can ramp up that site with some tutorials. More projects are in the pipeline for ScrapShot Magazine & Designs, but for now, creating a screencast is enough to keep me busy.

My cousin is getting married in May and I'm creating a guestbook for her, featuring her engagement photos. I'm almost done!

And of course I'm still in the process of writing a book about my return to the Catholic Church. (Whew!) I decided I will self-publish when that's finally done. I attended an online Catholic Writers Conference that was spectacular, and I did pitch my book idea to one publisher. However, it's tough for a publisher to sell a story like mine unless I'm wildly famous - which I'm not. The editor encouraged me to self-publish and give the book to family and friends. (Meanwhile, he did encourage someone who has visited this blog to "go for it" with her book idea. I'm very excited for her!)

Well, I will definitely do that. But I have a larger vision for the book than "family and friends." I would really like my book to find its way to parents who have adult children who no longer attend the Catholic Church. I want to give them hope. And then I would like the book to find its way to those who are ex-Catholics that attend non-denominational churches and ask them to consider a few things. That's it. Just consider. I would much rather see someone attend church somewhere than not at all. But I will say that there is a distinction with Catholicism that in hindsight, I didn't notice right away. Now that I've returned, I have a much different perspective on Catholicism. So when it's time for this tome of mine to find its way into the world, you'll be the first to know. :-)

I so appreciate you reading this blog. I have discovered even more wonderful things about our Catholic faith as a result of your comments. And for those who aren't Catholic, but just stopped in to say "hi" and share the joy of our faith in Christ - thank you. You have shown me that there are still many Christians who don't look at Catholics as "whores of Babylon" and can find the common ground with grace and compassion.

I thought it may be fun to ask if you had any questions for me or questions in general regarding Catholicism and non-denominational issues. I lifted the moderation for recent posts. (It seems the spammers like to pull out older posts and then try to add links to their sites in the comments.) So, ask away. And if you read someone's question, please feel free to add your own comments to theirs. I love discussion and really enjoy seeing visitors engage with one another, too.

That's it for this sunny Saturday! See you in the combox!

1 comment:

Janny said...

I don't know who was shortsighted enough to tell you to self-publish for your "family and friends"--but if you can find a way to get yourself an expanded platform, and you can make enough of a marketable name for yourself between now and when your book is finished...I'd certainly at least try small presses before I'd think in terms of "one and out" for pitching your book to publishers!

I confess...it absolutely infuriates me when publishers dismiss things like this and tell you to go self-publish. Sure, you might not be (for example) Doubleday's next star, but that's hardly an excuse to tell you to "go do it yourself." A self-published book will be distributed exactly nowhere, and it won't even be accepted by a bookstore if you're willing to put it in there yourself. That publisher, whomever it was, was damning you with faint praise. Don't accept their estimation before you try a few (or a few dozen) other places!

My take,
Janny