When my children’s book was finished but still in the editing stages I
decided to go Indie. I still had not mastered all the Microsoft Word/Publisher’s
requirements including how to upload my paintings and drawings (I ended up
mailing the originals) when I saw myself committing to the one publisher. Only
then I realized that I had placed the bull behind the cart: While I was learning
how to reformat my manuscript I was also dealing with choosing full color or
black; cover type, soft or hard; number of pages to determine cost, etc. Too
many things to take care of while trying to properly edit the book time and
again as every other detail and publisher’s instructions changed. Finally, upon
realizing that the retail cost for a soft-cover book would not be competitive I
had to shrink the manuscript to 42 pages in full color. That resulted in more
editing for format, directing my efforts not to content but to looks and
pricing. Realizing that I had missed the Christmas/Holidays Season I cancelled
the Publisher’s promotion. Regardless of the rushed-out process, I do like my
book since it was written with children in mind plus also with an added section
in the back promoting the love and appreciation of all animals, domestic or
wild. 
   I have now completed a General Fiction Young Adult story; there being so many
other activities in one’s life, this new book has been put aside on and off for days
on end. When trying to do the final editing, one whole day must be made available for
that purpose. Unless one edits sort of non-stop, any duplication of words,
sentences or sayings might be overlooked. I also find that at least one week
must pass before attempting the final editing to allow for a clear mind. Even then, 
as an artist-writer, I never consider anything finished, I can always find a better
way to say things or to improve my artwork. But, don't we all . . .?

   The tribulations of publishing my first book were not suffered in vein. I have slowed
down the process to where I will do all the homework first before attempting to have my
second book published.

Even though Microsoft had offered a new hosting service to replace the free OLSB one, I decided to move my two Websites to WEEBLY; I had researched this entity and started creating my first site "olivaarteshow." Since my site-building experience is limited I had the initial self-troubleshooting problems. By now I am not an expert but have been discovering the how-tos little by little. Due to Microsoft's deadline of 4/30/12 for my existing accounts to disappear from the Web, I had to rush the transfer of, first, the one site mentioned above followed by the other, "AntiquesArtBookworld." The last one was finally approved yesterday by the domain tansferor and, just as with the first one, it also appeared on the search engines immediately. I do not know who to thank for that, but I am happy with all the cooperation received from GoDaddy and WEEBLY. The latter provides paid-for upgrades but, for now, I will keep what I have, improve the sites as much as I can and, finally, spend more time writing and editing my works. Thanks for visiting my Websites!