From the Author's Desk
Read on for more information on the behind the scenes of working on this book, events, marketing, and all the other fun stuff that didn't make it into the book / found more details about while working on it.
If you are following along on the writing updates then welcome back. And if you are not then welcome back still because this process is going to be ongoing for a few more months. I am now midway through writing this book and here's the deal - some chapters are easy to pen just because of the amount of information there is and so the words flow easy. Some chapters are not as easy to write and take some effort but those are going well too. It's the chapters where there isn't much information to be found where it's a struggle. No matter how much I try it's hard to pull just enough together for the writing to make any sense.
And then ... drum roll ... writer's block!!! Now let's be clear this is no award-winning earth-shatteringly eloquent crafted prose. It's a guidebook. A travel guide. And I'm trying to make it as entertaining and educational a resource as possible so folks will find it useful in some manner to continue their pursuit of experiencing LA in different ways while also learning something new. In this case, through its communities and cultures. And I want to do my best to share about them as much as I can so people will have many different avenues to explore other than the usual here's where you stay, here's where you eat, and here's where you take pictures. Although nothing wrong with that but I'm hoping for a little bit more from this book than that and that it's just not giving at this time so I need to do better. But then comes the blank page I simply cannot fill and I feel I have to move away from it to come back and look at it with a fresh pair of eyes. And then we go off on a different adventure and the cycle continues. I get the feeling these are the parts I will be struggling with come deadline time though I am trying to be good to not find myself in that conundrum. Even as I write this I feel like I should be writing that. So I think I will. Bye for now. Oh wait, I forgot to share the other thing that's been a problem. Is folks reaching out to me asking to see what I wrote about them and the truth is in most cases there isn't much about them necessarily as there is about that specific community or culture so it's hard to explain because businesses or venues think there will be a profile about them but that isn't the case with every chapter. Some, yes, but not all, because that's just the way I chose to go with the book. I didn't want every chapter to be about highlighting one major business or venue, it's about highlighting all of them but in a limited way because how much can you do with two pages anyways. I mean, even the listings aren't exactly all inclusive. There's no way every single spot associated with a certain community is going to make it on there. For one, I don't know everything. For another, I can't fit in everything. So I've tried, in my own way, to be somewhat mindful of including options that are across the whole county but also some within the city, some that are older and some new entrants, and hoping readers will see that I've tried to provide a bunch of fun facts and information along the way. I think that should work.
0 Comments
I believe that's what my schedule has pretty much become on this book in the last week that I've started to make an effort to transition from a research heavy process to one where I'm starting to confine those thoughts to pages. Which would also explain the delay for this update. Some pages are easy to fill, others are not. I wish some chapters could be much longer but obviously that wouldn't work for the format of the book. I finally though have some Census information I was trying to get my hands on to help give some more direction to the different communities I am including so that's been a bit of a savior helping me streamline everything into somewhat more readable chunks of copy and then trying to get all the listings in place. Keeping the different moving parts in order certainly takes some major pro level organizational skills. You don't realize how many pieces of information like links and documents and images and contacts and emails relating to those you end up with and then have to resort to some sort of filing system you might have never been taught just so you can make some sense of the chaos you've created.
I think I spend more time organizing and following up on things than actually doing the writing but I am hoping that scenario will change as I go deeper into the writing process and leave the research behind to just some last minute details and such. So far things are going somewhat smoothly and according to my grand plan so I feel good being mostly in control of how the project is panning out. I do still every now and then get lost in some piece of information and then start clicking on links I have no business looking at because, hello, this book isn't writing itself! But it's so hard not to when curiosity gets the upper hand. Sometimes I just think of it as a break but then the break extends into a full day activity and that's a whole day of writing I am never getting back. Le sigh. I will say though I am learning so much about LA and that itself is extremely rewarding for me. I am trying to be good about putting aside some of the 'extra' information per se to try and work on some articles later but let's see how good I am at maintaining that. And then if I have the energy after this book to actually pursue those ideas. I knew this was work but not that it would get so tiring. Most times it's a breeze going through some of the pages and following up on things but once you hit about 50 communities, that last stretch to the next 25 is becoming more difficult because finding the information you want isn't easy and then the information you have isn't necessarily what you want to focus on but I cannot tell you honestly how many people have been absolutely delightful in extending a helping hand, introducing me to sources or others who can help, and generally just being so enthusiastic about this book being in the works. I really truly hope they like it when it is out in the world. And that's a day I am eagerly looking forward to. Back to writing now before I lose the flo I got goin at the mo. Lol! I do not write like that in my book!! Where do I begin? I now have a master document with all the information I want to include in the book along with separated folders for each chapter with more documents there of everything I've put together. I already have some images but others I am sourcing and that image part has been one challenge.
Most folks share images when requested after I've explained the nature of the book I'm working on but many others imagine I am going to turn up with a camera crew to do videos and interviews and like a whole official photoshoot of sorts and I have to explain to them those glory days of publishing are no more, and I ain't the bestselling author as some big fancy names you can think of that can come to your venue with an entourage for a picture. So no that's not happening. Some others want to see images from other businesses that I've been provided and I'm thinking I have no time for this. Several others do not have professional images to share which was also a challenge because I get that not every business sees a purpose behind having publish-ready images to provide but then it also delays the process a tad bit having to wait to ensure the images are the right type to include even. Most surprising though was folks asking to know who else was being included and only then deciding if they wanted to participate which seemed a bizarre ask because this is after all a book celebrating all the communities and cultures of LA so unsure what they thought was going to be included that they needed to first review for themselves. That one certainly threw me off and I had to take a few prospective candidates off my consideration list as a result. In a handful of cases I was actually bothered by it because they would have been great additions to the book but guess what - made space for a few others now so that's that. More than anything though it's the countless follow-ups you have to do to remind folks to share some information you requested. In many cases they were really kind with their time and resources but in some not so much and it really does go to show it takes all kinds to make a venture like this really work. For the ones who responded right away and made my life easy. Thank you. For the ones who didn't, thank you still because you teach me the value of patience (not a virtue I possess, ask my family) and valuing others too. Ok onward bound folks! Fingers and toes crossed that this is the final stretch with research and I can focus on just writing and organizing my thoughts for the next few months to actually make all these random bits of information look like a somewhat cohesive book. Gulp! I'm going to consider this my midway point in research. I've been logging away hours of information I've put together about different communities and cultures and trying to sort of maintain some sense of semblance around my teeny apartment with multiple documents online and several more books on my desk and well all around the floor at this point with all these ideas and things and links and books and more things to follow up on and include and also want to include but don't know if I should but also don't want to include but how do I let go?
Those are my thoughts in this moment. I know I have a format or template rather from the publisher to work with but sometimes you best believe that rabbit hole of research throws up such wondrous stuff that I feel I can write a whole other book about some things that I have no business reading about right now while writing this book and then others I am not even sure if they will make a page leave alone anything resembling what I want to send to the publisher finally. Ah, the dilemmas, the adulting, the decisions! So all this to say basically what I have now is a mountain of information, some real good, some I need to knead for more dough and others well, lets just say there is going to be a day when those topics will get my undivided attention - both loving and not. Where there are wins with some of my requests and such, other spots are just a dead end. Some I can let go and move on but others I really truly want to see be a part of this book so I am pushing for as much as I can muster until I give up to ensure I gave it all I got before I gave up. So onward with more research it is. I also made the big mistake I think now though when I did it I was very proud of myself for the thought and the immediate action but yes I did make the mistake of borrowing a bunch of books from the library about LA and its many communities and cultures and so it is that my poor eyes are trying to sue me for overtime but sacrifices must be made and so we read on. Part of me is happy I gave myself a deadline of next month to stop with the research and start writing but part of me is also anticipating that might not well be the case so join me next month to see how I fared. Adios! Yes, I apologize, pretty much everything from now on is going to have exclamation marks so you can feel the excitement even if virtually - we have a title! I just received more information about the book and now know the title for the series is Around the World. And my book will be Around the World in Los Angeles. How fun is that?
So it's going to be like a guide book with each chapter covering one community and sharing some fun stuff about that specific culture as an introduction and then sharing a list of venues where you can experience the food, celebrations, arts, performances, and other activities to learn more and immerse yourself further in that culture but right here in LA. I get the feeling I am going to have no trouble finding 75 cultures to cover but finding enough information about each of them may be a tad bit of a challenge. Some communities are really close knit and sort of well represented in one specific geographic area of LA so those should be easy to cover I'd think but not all are that way so this is going to require some extra effort. Fingers and toes crossed that folks will want to talk to me but we shall see when we get there. For now I think I am just going to dive right into research to see how much I can find from online and in-person contacts and try to organize which communities I'd like to cover so that way I can gauge how much content I have and then plan for more digging around if I need to for others. I am thinking of giving myself three months to just research and do the brain dump thing right - just get everything on paper. Then use another three months to do the actual writing which should give me a pretty clear picture of where I need more research. That should bring me to the end of the year. And then in the new year, I can do a final read, factcheck stuff again and make any corrections required and then send it off to the publisher in March which is my deadline if I want this to be a fall release. That's going to be a whole nine months before my book baby goes away to production! Pray for me, I get the feeling I am going to need your thoughts and good wishes on this journey. Alright then, off I go to get this research piece moving. Come check out the update for next month and if you didn't read the first blog post on how this started then here it is - It's Official, I am Writing a Book. Ciao for now! The dotted line has been signed, as they say. It's as official as it gets! I am writing a book and signed on with Reedy Press to work on the first book in their next series of travel books that are city specific. The title is sort of a working title right now so I am not going to share that but it's a book about Los Angeles and all the great communities and cultures that live here and call the city and county home. And I am going to be including different ways you can experience those cultures through their cuisine and arts and performances and celebrations. Something that I do anyway thanks to my freelance work and my magazine so I'm excited to get started!
Only a few close friends know because I am someone that likes to get things done before announcing them but I think having a few cheerleaders along the way to encourage me and be my pillars of support as I start this journey is welcome. I am not sure how much work this is going to be along with everything else I am doing but I think I am ready for a book. And glad to do it with a publisher than go the self publishing route and have to figure everything out by myself. I am looking forward to everything I will learn while researching for this book. I see a few sleepless nights coming up but we will cross that bridge when we get there. The obvious question has been how this came about - or at least that's what everyone wants to know when I share I am working on a book. Everyone being the five friends that know about this. So in my case this was a somewhat simple and straightforward process. It happened quite quickly I must say. I attended a webinar last year hosted by Reedy Press sharing about their work and how they work with city specific authors to release these travel series in different cities. Take a look at their site, it's pretty cool what they do. I know some folks personally who are authors with them from other cities. The webinar was hosted with one of the travel journalists associations where I am a member and I felt confident after that presentation to want to work with them. I am in LA which is always a great market to write about and while they seemed to have worked with other writers in the area, I felt sure they wouldn't mind a new voice so I reached out. They were quick to respond at Reedy and before I knew it I was speaking with members on their team, they sent me details of the new book they thought I could work on, I said yes, they said yes, and off to the races we are now. There's an official agreement with t's crossed and i's dotted and I now have a year just about to get everything together to them in the format they'd need to get production going at their end. Well, technically less than a year but for now I am only going to do this in phases. Keep coming back for updates. I intend on documenting this process though how well I will do it remains to be seen. And if you'd like to read any of my published work in the meanwhile then go to www.ruksanawrites.com and also feel free to subscribe to my monthly digital magazine on www.travelerandtourist.com See you around! |
|