Competition and Self Publishing

Hello again

After attending the Australia Council seminar I have received some good information about the whole process. Since then I have submitted a short story to the Alan Marshal Short Story Competition in Melbourne. I am crossing my fingers for this not necessarily thinking I will win, but hoping for a mention because in this comp some of the judges mention other stories that didn't win.

You can only hope, hey?

I received some editing from a woman from the Queensland Writers Centre which was good as well.

I have also been exploring an option of self publishing a collection of short stories. There are a few online publishers who allow you to POD. One is www.lulu.com and the other one I have found is www.blurb.com.

Both of them allow you to upload your book and you can order printed copies and other people can buy it printed from them or from Lulu you can download it as a PDF. I like how Blurb.com provided some layout software, however the price is slightly higher. I am weighing up the possibilities for which one suits what I want to do. I would like to try and get it onto www.amazon.com but I am not sure which way is best.

If anyone has had any experience of self publishing I would appreciate any advice you may have.

In less than a month I will be starting my novel course. I am very excited about this. I have written a synopsis of my novel and submitted it to Allen and Unwin as a long shot (but you have to try these things sometimes).

Anyway - lots of stuff is all up in the air but that's how I like it. If I don't put a few balls in the air I lose heart and interest (if I am honest).

I will keep writing, keep pushing different avenues and we'll all see how we go. It's exciting however that in our current day there are so many possibilities for artists, thank the good Lord.

Thanks for reading my ramblings, please feel free to offer any advice if you have some. Cheers.