Project Juneiverse: Moalaia Press

 Many years ago, my father set up a micropress to publish a textbook my mother had written about nursing education. When I got it in my hypomania-addled head that I wanted to publish some self-help books of my devising, I put together one called Catbooks and Other Methods about various free-writing techniques for head-clearing and problem-solving. My father let me release it through the auspices of Lullwater Press. (You can still get it! Just go to https://www.wonderbink.com/books/ and pick your ebook purveyor of choice.) It was a new experience for him as it was for me, since my focus was digital publication and the previous book he'd done had been in print. I designed the cover and handled the conversion process; he got the ISBN block and provided the company details to the various booksellers. 

I still haven't sold enough copies to collect payment on it. But, I'm kind of okay with this. It was, primarily, an exercise to to get a feel for the process. I had other books planned (and might one day write them) but the steam for those petered out when the hypomania did and other projects arose and took priority.

But from that book I learned the rudimentary basics of how to publish things in the 21st century, and now I'm ramping up to do it again.

I stated earlier that I was going to name my micropress Juneiverse Press, but when I finally filed the paperwork I changed it to Moalaia Press--a word of my own invention with very few hits on search engines. This way, if I want to knock out a chapbook of poetry, or pick up one of those abandoned projects from my unmedicated days, I don't have to get a whole new trade name. Admittedly, it could be hard for people to remember, but people are interested in books, not publishers. (Do you search on Random House if you're looking for a book? No? Well, then.)

The next step is to tidy up the final details of the first book to be released, Christophina's Wings. (Actually, the next step is to finish drafting the sequel, Christophina's Garden, so I can go at it with a clear head. The latter novel ends in the wee smalls of New Year's Day, and the part I'm writing now is the wee smalls of Christmas Eve. The end is in sight.) I'm going against all recommendations and doing my own editing and proofreading, because (a) I'm cheap and (b) I've done editing and proofreading professionally so it's not as though I don't know what I'm doing. This is going to be the messy first pancake, where you gauge the heat of the griddle and how long to wait before you turn.

I will continue to write excuse notes if I fail to work on any project on a given day. I will also try to keep this blog updated with my progress, though this may be intermittent if I get too involved with the actual writing part.

When I made up the word Moalaia, I gave it a meaning: "wisdom." Let's hope I have enough to bring me through all of this.