So after a period of neglect, I finally sat down and did some belated spring cleaning around here. I started by upgrading WordPress to the latest version 2.5.1 as of today from 2.3.3. That was the biggest change.

I added a new contact form plugin, still playing with that. Added some links to the bottom. Changed the underlying coding and some of the styling of elements.

After all my changes, I now just need to post more. Finding the time is always hard. I can seem to find time to play Rainbox Six or the guitar but not blog. Sometimes a video game or playing music just seems so much more interesting than blogging. One step at a time.

For many writers the idea of self-publishing is like giving up on a dream, selling out. I used to think that until I ran into BookSurge.com a company bought by Amazon in 2005. I came across the print on demand information on Amazon’s site the other day along with publishing information for Amazon’s Kindle. My preconceived notions about self-publishing all went out the window.

Now there are upsides and downsides, of course. The upside, you get your book out there for the world to read. The downside, you book is out there for the world to read and nobody knows about it but you. The upside, you receive a higher return on every unit sold. The downside, you probably won’t sell as many units self-publishing as you would with a traditional publisher, but who knows.

The self-publishing route holds a certain fascination for me. I look at it like an indie rock band, instead of signing with a major label who has a huge overhead and marketing division, they instead do it all themselves. They retain more money and control, in exchange for having to promote themselves really hard. It’s kinda the same way with self-publishing. You are the author, editor, marketing department, and publicist, all in one.

Self-publishing doesn’t preclude anyone from selling out and going with a big publisher. In fact, a case could be made that it gets your work out there for more exposure to the big publishers. So it seems like a win all the way around. I can still look for the super-agent to sell my book to the super-publisher while I self-publish and get my work out there to build a fan base.

The update in all of this is that I’m currently working on finalizing my manuscript. I figured being the editor, the only editor, I should probably go over it once again and make sure I like it and it’s presentable, I’m a little paranoid about this kinda thing. Then comes the cover design and layout, then the actual publishing. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I can say, go to Amazon and buy my book or download it to your Kindle.

I’ve neglected my blog for too long, over two months. I realize that avid readers have been waiting with much anticipation wanting to know what is going on in my life, all two or three of you.

Well truth be told, life has proven to be quite busy over the past two months, hence no updates, no musings, nothing. December and January were quite busy for Faded Pictures, so busy I haven’t updated FadedPictures.com with December’s portfolio work. It’s on the todo list, trust me.

So today, I have a short break between projects and i thought I’d catch up with a little post. Things have proven so busy recently, I’ve actually even neglected the querying process — shame, shame on me.

But I’m getting back into the game, jumping back on the horse…thinking of other metaphors…nope, I’m done.

Truth be told, first i wanted to wait out the holiday’s, didn’t want to try querying around Christmas. Then when January arrived, I was pretty busy and I told myself I was waiting for my copyright certificate from the Library of Congress. That showed up two weeks ago in the mail, I’m out of excuses, I must now query again.