Starting to publish

Recently some friends and my husband, Jeff and I went to visit Apple Hill. Apple Hill is a local collection of apple farms. During the fall they are open to visitors. There is food, fun, crafts and a bazillion people. Normally we go one or two weekends with family and friends. We have been going ever since we moved up to the Sierra foothills over twenty years ago. From time to time I will purchase a piece of jewelry or some crafty thing to give as a gift at Christmas. This year we were really strapped for cash. I haven't been working as a sign language interpreter very much. Most of the time I only work in the school system. However I did not pass a very important certification test this summer, and until I do, I can't work in public schools. That means our income has been drastically reduced. Needless to say there wasn't any spare change to buy trinkets or such things. We did enjoy looking at the wares people were selling and smelling the home baked pies and large crates of fresh fruit. At one farm we met an older man who was selling his books about historical stories from the California foot hills. He was also selling a book about self publishing. My friend Don bought it for me, bless his soul. He told me it was for all the years of cooking delicious meals for them when they come to visit. Little does he know I love to spoil my guests. Anyway the book has been very informative. The fist step to self publishing is to create a ficticious business name for your publishing company.
At first I thought I would chose the name Diamond publishing. It is suggested you don't use your name or a family name in case you want to sell the business later on. On second thought, I thought the name Dragon Land Publishing Co. would be better. It is more interesting and has conotation to family stories and legends. I need to make sure no one else is using the same name, and must get a business license and place an ad in a local newspaper for four weeks. I wonder how much that will cost? We'll have to see.

By, By BVDs

My daughter in-law informed me she had started a blog. I thought that might be a good idea to chronicle my foray into publishing. I've been composing a novel about the unforgetable week my son Adam and I spent at outdoor science camp. He was in the sixth grade, and just diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. We ended up at a ultra strict environmental wacko science camp, with Adam just coming out of the honeymoon stage of the disease. It was an unforgettable experience full of humor and tragedy and a boat load of pre-pubescent sixth graders.
Since I have no conections with any publishing company I am looking at self publishing. Sunday I talked with a friend who has published two children's books already. She was not satisfied with her experience of chosing an internet publishing company. I suggested she might want to investigate with me the possiblility of forming our own company and publishing our books ourselves.
The novel I'm writing is to inform those individuals who might be going through the same situation that there is hope and humor in our situation. Having a child diagnosed with Diabetes was a shock and life altering experience. Perhaps I can relate how we worked as a family to deal with this medical trauma.
I'm sure I will have many difficulties trying to finish and publish this novel. In the end I'm hoping to satisfy this consuming need to put down on paper the experience.
Oh, I forgot to tell you I'm a terrible speller and already have the name of a good editor.