I've seen so many writers who got into difficult situations with their webmasters. It could be anything from the webmaster going MIA, doing shoddy work, whatever. In the eventuality that you want to break up with your designer / webmaster, you should always ensure that your website design (including CSS, graphics, header, buttons, everything) is yours to take with you, and that you don't have to continue hiring the designer / webmaster you no longer find “professional” in order to be able to use the template, etc. you've paid for.

BTW — don't let your designers register your domain for you. Domain registration is easy. A few clicks of the mouse and you're done. If your designers / webmasters did it for you, make sure to get it transferred to you as soon as possible. Transferring a domain name when your tech people go missing can be very time-consuming and stressful. Go to a place like 1and1.com and register it yourself. It's not that expensive, and 1and1 gives you free private registration.

P.S. In case you're interested, the ever-amazing Frauke from CrocoDesigns is doing a free author website workshop right here.

Jeannie Lin posed an interesting question over at Romance Divas: Which would you prefer — publishing one monumental book (like To Kill a Mockingbird) or publishing many lesser books (like one book a year or whatever)?

I wouldn't want the former unless the sole book I published was so significant that it won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Nothing else could make the first scenario appetizing enough.

How about you?

I'm in the middle of revision right now. Though my process is different for each project, I'll share the revision method for my current WIP.

Step One: I print out the whole thing in whatever font strikes my fancy, but it's always double-spaced so I have enough room to scribble notes. Then I read it through in 3-5 days and make notes. They're not extensive, mind you. It's mostly for big things like:

• Yawn. This lags.
• This doesn't belong here.
• I have no idea what this sentence is trying to say.
• Oops. Misplaced punctuation / words.
• Who's saying this?
• Action choreography doesn't make sense here.
• This point deserves emotional depth upgrade.
• Whoa. Emo much?
• Repetitious.

Step Two: I consult my Maass notes and go through the hard copy draft again, this time marking places that could be changed / improved per my notes. If I run out of space on the actual manuscript page, I use a notebook designated for revision.

Step Three: I finally make all the changes on my computer.

Step Four: I spend about 2 weeks doing nothing but reading other people's books and/or working on some other projects, but I do not revise anything I've written, even if it's not my WIP. (I might beta for other people who I may ping later for Steps Seven and Eight below.) This helps me “reset” my eyes and brain, so to speak.

Step Five: I print out the WIP again. Repeat Step One. Then go through it again with ECE and EDITS.

Step Six: Make changes to my soft copy. Send to the 1st set of betas.

Step Seven: Make any changes as needed per the 1st set of betas.

Step Eight: Send it to the 2nd set of betas. (By this point, the manuscript should be more or less in shape.) Make final changes as needed.

Step Nine: Send to Agent. Give myself a week of detox time from revision so I can “reset” again as I know Agent usually has her own set of revision comments, etc.

How do you revise? What tools / books have you found helpful?

Kiss of the Rose giveaway winners are:

• Lexus (from newsletter subscribers)
• @Leontine1976 (from Twitter entries)

Lexus — you should have an email from me in your inbox. @Leontine1976 should've received an @ reply from me.

Thanks, ladies!

P.S. I used random.org to select the winners.

At the end of every year, I feel like I got nothing done with my life, though Hero Material tells me that isn't so. He says I have a very warped idea about what I'm doing most of the time. Obviously our perceptions and reality don't always mesh, but surely there are better / easier ways to keep track.

But annual journals seem inconvenient. I just don't want to read through tons of journal pages to learn what I did…say, three years ago.

Recently, I listened to a workshop tape on organization, in which Robin Lee Hatcher recommended that we use a daily journal called Journal 10+ to keep track. It's designed to keep ten years' worth of information. She said it's not that pricey, and you can see how you did each year as you make your daily notations.

According to the product description:

Our Daily Page is the heart of Journal 10+. Record your activities, thoughts, feelings & memories. Each Daily Page covers a single date. The page is divided into 11 sections, one for each year, with four lines for each individual daily entry. Enough room to record the day's events without the burden of creating a lengthy entry. Each year you will record your entry for that date on the same page, and so you get to look back and relive all your wonderful memories from past years.

You can order directly from the manufacturer's site, but despite what the ordering page says, they do not ship overseas. (I had to email and ask when they didn't send me the shipment information.) You must order from Amazon using this page.

I'll post more later about what I think. But right now, I think the product will be worth the money.

Can you believe it's already July? 2010 is officially half over.

Since finishing the first draft of my Sekrit Love Story in May, I took June off to give myself a little bit of distance before I start revising. Mostly I spent last month reading books I've been dying to read for a while and watching soccer. I finally got to read Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. What an excellent YA. If you like gorgeous prose and an interesting twist on werewolves, you ought to try it.

Now that July 1st is here, a pristine print copy of Sekrit Love Story is ready for my highlighters and color pens. July and August will be all about revision.

How do you plan to spend your summer?

P.S. For those of you who missed the announcement, don't forget about my Kiss of the Rose contest!