Tomorrow was supposed to be the day I would become an Aunt for, oh, the eighth time. But for some reason which I am sure has nothing to do with the fact that men in my husbands family are impatient it happened Friday night.
Ryan Jeffrey Breakey came in to the world at 7:45 EST weighing in at 6lbs. 12ozs.
Friday night I found myself sitting somewhere between euphoria and melancholy after we heard the great news. Finally after all the months of planning and preparation he was here. And everyone was so happy for the new parents.
But we live quite a distance away from our loved ones and it did get me to thinking that I wished we lived closer. It also got me going down the road of what ifs, which is always a dead end road that I am forever lured to turn down every once in a while.
Saturday morning dawned bright and the text messaging and phone calls were flying fast and furious. It is times like this that technology is something I would not want to be without.
Because through this technology we new within moments of his arrival that he was here and even though we weren't physically there to welcome him to the world we got to see pictures of him and send vocal welcomes to him that his parents played.
Through technology we built a website with a blog so the Mommy to be could keep everyone apprised of what was going on in day of a life of a pregnant lady. It was a big hit with family and friends alike.
Now I have the task of turning that website into a hardback book for a keepsake that one day he will read. Writers seem to sit on the fence when it comes to self publication. I have used this tool very well for personal books and work publications but I have never thought about it for marketing and selling my own stories.
I am just curious, what do you guys think?
7 comments:
Congrats, Aunt Kelly! So happy for you and your family. On Saturday evening, I was at a birthday party for my little neighbor, who turned 7. His baby brother fell asleep in my arms.
If we could somehow bottle the feeling an infant sleeping in your arms evokes, we could put therapists out of business.
As for self-publishing, it takes a tremendous amount of promotion. I'd purchased a few self-published books from Amazon and found myself disappointed. They weren't well-edited (I found so many errors, it distracted me from the story). I tried it myself with one of my first novels and to date, the only copy sold was the one I bought.
On that note, buying a PerfectBound copy from lulu.com was significantly less expensive than printing the MS at Kinko's, so I still go this route to hand hard copies to friends and family.
Oh how I miss the baby days (well, I do and don't...). Per self-pub, I actually don't have an opinion on it either way. How's that for sound advice this Monday morning?!!!
Congrats, Auntie Kelly!!! He is soooo cute.
Uh, I don't really have an opinion about self-publishing...mostly because I don't know much about it and I tend to shy away from giving an opinion unless it's a fully informed one. Sorry :(
What a beautiful baby! I miss the fuzzy heads and tiny fingers.
Self Pub? I am more anti than pro. I think self publishers get a raw deal unless they themselves are willing to a lot of time and money into being successful. I have neither, so therefore I apply to the mercies of agents. The pay off int he long run is much greater.
In this situation, I don't think there's anything wrong with going the self-published route -- it's a keepsake for a very few family members, not a book you're selling out of your trunk. Even Miss Snark says it's okay to do that. And congrats on the handsome baby boy!
Congratulations, Auntie. What a cutie! I self-published my first book and have written about the pros and cons on my own blog. You can visit and check it out. Like Cynthia said, for this purpose I think it is fine. And I did it over 10 years ago, long before social media. But Alyson is right; it takes a great deal of time and money to be successful.
Thanks guys for all the great information. It has made me think. But then again, you guys always do.
Write on!
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