Quote of the Month
"Basketball is a beautiful game. If you know the game of basketball, basketball will give you enough to talk about... You don't have to chase controversy. We simply talk the game we know and embrace it. Teach fans the game. That's the New Media."
- Draymond Green
(4x NBA Champion)
Writing is a Beautiful Game
Why start this month's newsletter with a quote about basketball?
Well, when I heard it, my brain immediately swapped in "writing."
Writing is a beautiful game. Writing will give you enough to talk about.
A little more context - Draymond Green, the basketball player, argues that "Old Media" creates controversy and focuses on off-the-court drama. The "New Media," with shows hosted by athletes, is changing things. Their focus? The game itself. Teaching the sport they love.
Similar to basketball, it seems like writing is rarely the main focus. It's always about what it could achieve. Things like:
Write a book TO BECOME a bestseller
Write a book TO BECOME famous
Write a blog post TO GO viral
But what about the writing experience? The journey of becoming an author? Why not talk and teach the game?
Our cartoon slush piles embody the internal (or external) doubts authors face at the beginning of their journey.
These can sound like:
I've never done this before...
Who am I to write a book?
Where would I find the time?
And where would I even start?
Besides, would anyone buy it? Why me? Seriously, why me?
Stressful, but I love this part. This is the classic "call to adventure" moment in the hero's journey. It's when an author says, "You know what, screw it. I'm doing it anyways." One foot in front of the other. Open the laptop. One chapter down. Two chapters down. Gradually, the rust falls off and the author experiences these Flow states where an hour goes by in the blink of an eye.
Before you know it, that first draft is complete.
In 2022, there's nothing preventing an author from self-publishing their first draft as a final copy on Amazon KDP. It's really pretty easy. But there‘a an important stage to go from "First Draft" to a completed manuscript. Our belief - There's no need to rush the process.
This is when you invite a few readers in. Create your book's "Fellowship of the Ring." Aka a feedback circle. 3-5 people (7 at the very most) who read your book and provide notes.
Note - I think a First Draft is any version that only the author has viewed. So, even if the author has tweaked their First Draft 255 times, until there‘a an outside reader, it's still a First Draft.
Great feedback makes everything stronger. This helps the author develop their characters, make the story more crisp, clear up confusion, re-arrange scenes/chapters, and ultimately provide a guiding light during the rewrites/revisions.
After this, it's time to work with an editor. After that, it's book design time. This stage is completed by either a traditional publisher, hybrid publisher, or by the author if you're self-publishing (that can be DIY or working with freelancers).
There are tons of variations along the path.
For example:
Is the Feedback Circle a group of friends or a $400 - $600 manuscript review?
Is the editor a professional who costs $3,000+ or a beloved English teacher/English major friend helping you out?
Are you printing with Blurb? DiggyPod? Print Ninja?
If it’s a children's book, who's doing the illustrations? Someone you know? Someone you don't know but love their website/LinkedIn portfolio?
Whether you use Long Overdue or not at any of these stages, we'll still make sure you have helpful resources via our blog, newsletter, or you can always email us directly (library@longoverduestories.com) for info about book printers, editors, designers, different publishing options. Whatever you need. We're here to help!
But let's go back to those bulletpoints for a second. Look how cool that is; a journey that started with heavy, doubt-filled questions like, "Who am I to write a book?" or, "Where would I even start?" turns into, "Which printer should I choose?" That's awesome. There's a self-confidence that grows along the way, and that's why I think the 2nd book goes so much faster than the first.
So yeah, selling a bunch of copies, becoming famous, going viral, those would be really cool results. But writing a book is still worthwhile without any of those things. It's like finishing a marathon; even if you're not in the Top 10 (or top 1,000), it was still worth doing.
Like Draymond kind of said - writing is a beautiful game. Helping authors complete that journey, going from an idea to a finished book, that's enough for us. We love knocking out all of the obstacles, going Ghostbusters style on those trash-talking slush piles. It just never gets old.
We love stories, and we love turning those stories into beautiful books.
Updates on Safe Landing
Three cool things:
Available in a Bookstore Near You! - Whether that's Barnes & Noble or a local independent bookstore, just ask the staff and they'll order a copy. Shoutout to Unabridged Bookstore in Chicago and Read Between the Lynes in Woodstock for being the first two!
Book Clubs - We've had a few people mention Safe Landing as their next book club pick. We love that idea! If you're looking to order a bundle of books, let us know and we'll take 10% off. And save on shipping too. Email - library@longoverduestories.com
Radio Show - Our authors were guests on the John Howell Show (WLS 890 in Chicago). You can listen to the clip by clicking on the image below.
Updates on Dad, Our Candy Man
The hardcover version is here and it's a beauty. So happy with how this turned out. The photos above don't do Annie Leue's design and Dena Ackerman's illustrations justice. You can order a copy here.
Tip - We used Blurb as the book printer. Great option for a children's book.
Shhhh... Can You Keep a Secret?
We have four children's books that are just about finished. For one book, we're the publisher. The other three we've teamed up with Ice Cream Publishing to help as their book designer and serve as an online bookstore. All four books should be at the pre-order stage by next month's newsletter.
Ready for a sneak peek? Alright... but please don't tell anyone... Or share on social media...Promise?
Okay. We trust you. Here's what's ahead this summer:
Yeah, we're pretty excited about these ones. More info to come next month!
"I'll give it back.
I was just keeping it warm for the little guy."
- Crash, Team Dog
Keeping up with Long Overdue
Best place to keep up with all things Long Overdue is a tie between our monthly newsletter and our Instagram page (shoutout to Annie Cerovich!). If you enjoy this newsletter and know someone who might enjoy it as well, let us know, we'll make sure to add them to our subscriber list. We also got back on Facebook recently, you can follow us here.
And check out our website - Long Overdue Books. Long Overdue Books is a community for creating books. It's a place for authors, readers, editors, artists, and designers to come together and move their stories from ideas to finished books.
Next newsletter - Aiming for July 20th range. In the meantime if you have any questions, ideas, stories to tell, you can reach Cal the Librarian at - library@longoverduestories.com
