Hello and welcome to my hub on publishing your first book!

First, breathe deep because if you are really serious about publishing a book you have found the one tool that you were looking for, how to do it without spending the rent money.

I like quick answers so I will give you some bullet points to follow here and below the bullet points I will tell you the details on how I did it and what it has meant and done for me.

· Like all valuable things, it requires time. Lots of it if you want to save most of the money. Do not overwhelm yourself by trying to do it all in one day (I do that sometimes, it is not helpful or healthy). Give yourself a deadline and work on it at least once a week for about 3 hours (you will mostly be reading how to do things if you do not already know).

· After having written your book, have someone proof read the grammar and content. Make sure is one of your very detail oriented good friends with excellent writing skills. Then show it to a few other people, major grammatical errors will stand out immediately. You want to catch that before publishing. Tell your friends, family, or co-workers that you are searching for help with the grammar part of it. Another day ask what they think about the content. If your friends do not have good writing skills, find an English Professor or Teacher and ask them for feedback. Offer putting their name in the book as a way of thanking them for their FREE assistance to help you edit your book. If that's too much to ask, pay a company to do the editing (that will cost you over the $300 dollars though) or offer someone you know that has excellent writing skills $100 to $200 for their help. You will be surprised how many people will want to help you. We all want to be part of something meaningful.

· Never publish without first copyrighting your book (at least, never sell your book without proper copyrights).

· Copyrighting your book is extremely easy and can cost you just $35. Go to the U.S. Copyrights and READ the copyrights guidelines, they tell you what the current fee is and where to send the form, the money order and the book. Be patient, it takes about 6 months for you to receive a certification of your copyrights. It is well worth it, you'll get a good feeling when you see it and when you go to the copyrights pages to find your name under other authors. This is the link: http://www.copyright.gov/

· Ok, now what where you doing all that time that you were waiting for your copyrights certification? What? You kept living your regular life? No, you were working on the final cover of your book, on marketing tools, on creating a network to support you, on finding out where they have open mic nights or a special free event happening where you could eventually present your book. You were also telling your friends and co-workers how scared and excited you have been with this project and you had understood that publishing did not have to be just a dream. Publish your first book for YOU! For the person that wants it the most in the world, and then worry about submitting it to publishers, presenting it, sharing it, do it because YOU know is what YOU want. The love for your work will make things happen at the right time, ALWAYS!

· Have the cover idea? Who is doing your cover? You? A friend that wants to show all their artistic work and will allow you to use one of their works for FREE (to also promote their work)? If thats the case make sure to get a written agreement from your friend signing that they give you the right to use and distribute the cover of your book as you see fit, of course, they own the copyrights of their picture and you will always credit them for that.

· If you do not know what the cover should be, browse through the link I will give you to publish your book and they even have some free covers you can use. I like originality so I always try to use my imagination to do things in a different way, but use what works for you. I am very techy and I self-taught myself a lot of the things I know just by researching in the internet and talking to people I've met.

· Ok, you have your copyrights, your book has been proofread and you are satisfied with it, you have a friend artist that wants to lend you a picture to use as a cover or (one of your many "yous" is an artist and you will use that art as a cover), now you need to get all that together and go to www.lulu.com to create a FREE account and publish your first book. The site is super easy to navigate, again, just be patient and READ the guidelines. Once you have uploaded your entire book you can purchase a sample copy before you publish it to the world to see and buy!

· Congratulations, you are a published writer. Go out and share it with the world around you, you never know what comes with uncovering your passions.

· For super cheap with excellent quality marketing tools go to: www.vistaprint.com. I love them and use them often! I like them almost as much as I like Google and craigslist.

How I did it:

I always knew I wanted to write; it is my passion. I mainly write in Spanish and was not sure how to publish or even approach this market (I live in NY). Here and there some people have told me that I have a market and that I should do it. I write sporadically since I was 14, I am now 30. I mainly write on inspiration and find to be inspired by social issues, such as domestic violence, and of course, the love topic. I wrote here and there with the idea that one day I would publish my first book. I always imagined publishing it before I died and sometimes even pictured myself on my death bed telling my best friend William (who I affectionately call V.I.P.), V.I.P., I did it, I did it for the love of it! I always pictured myself smiling and passing away as he held my left hand in the mutual agreement that it is ok to let go because I had done what I wanted to do the most.

Thank goodness I am still alive! I did not have to wait until my death bed to make this happen! Well, I was in the Army National Guard when I was activated for training in 2003 (I was supposed to be sent to Iraq!) I immediately thought of my book and told V.I.P. that the time had come. I remember telling him how I had just been activated to go to war and I had not published my first book. What if was killed in the war? We went over the possibilities of no return and while I was in training in New Jersey (I was in training for about 4 months), I finished my book and mailed it back to him. He was supposed to copyright and if I was killed in the war he had promised to publish it. One PT (Physical Training) morning I woke up to discover that the dream I had the night before was a revelation to what was to come, we had been de-activated and we were going home the following week! I was sooooo happy, I was given another chance to live my dream (one of my many dreams anyway). I took a trip to Puerto Rico with some army buddies and when I returned home I sent my book to be copyrighted.

· The book was copyrighted in 2003. I looked for places to publish it, but it was too expensive. I waited and researched some more.

· In 2006 I was part of a transformational program called Momentum where someone informed me they were publishing their book through Lulu for FREE (thanks Travis).

· I researched the site, READ a lot! Got a few good people involved in helping me with uploading the cover (the cover is a picture of me when I was 21, I did some Photoshop on it). I added their names in my book as my gratitude for their continuous support.

· Had a few friends read and give me feedback on the grammar and the content.

· Gave a few bucks to the person that helped me with uploading the cover and a few bucks to the person that helped me with the grammar and with under $300 I had published my first book!

· The book was published in 2006 with the title: Gritando en Silencio, which translates to "Screaming in Silence" The book is about real domestic violence stories told in a poetic style

· I presented the book on May 6, 2007 for the first time at Rio Gallery. I organized a fundraiser in support of a friend that was running in support of The cancer Research with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A few co-workers and students volunteered to present the book in the form of a play. It was an idea that originated in my head while I wrote the book, but I had no idea how to transform it in to a play. Somehow overnight I became a Director of a group of about 7 people who were going to dramatize my poetry for the first time. It was exciting and nerve wrecking! If you go to YouTube (click this link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Regvx_lvxK0 you will see the original cast of "Gritando en Silencio" the play. The guy that was part of this play really liked the idea so he told a lot of people and it eventually go to the ears of Gloria Zelaya and Marisol Carrere from The Fantastic Experimental Latino Theater Inc.

· Gritando en Silencio was adapted by the Fantastic Experimental Latino Theater Inc. in to a play and put it on the Soto Clemente Theater from April 16 through April 26 (a total of 8 nights/days). Four sections in English and Four in Spanish. The play was transformational. People were openly speaking about domestic violence in a compassionate way more than in the fear of the topic (or anger for that matter). This is play is available for tour. If you are interested in it contact The Fantastic Experimental Latino Theater Inc. at www.felttheater.org

· You can check out media info on it here: http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/espanol/2009/04/16/2009-04-16_violencia_domstica_y_one_festival_a_escena_.html

· See pictures of the play here: http://www.felttheater.org/#Scene_1 and here: http://www.myspace.com/deyasboos

· Check out the amazing work of The Fantastic Experimental Latino Theater Inc. here: www.felttheater.org (Please support them!)

· What am I doing with the book now? I want to complete the translation, but find I have little time and energy to do it. Two wonderful people have helped with most of the translations, but I am still missing some of it. I will keep you updated. For now the book is available in Spanish at www.lulu.com. Just put Gritando en Silencio by Deyanira Garcia on the search box and you should get it.

· What would I do different?

· I would have not waited for a major possible tragedy to happen to follow my passion!

· I would have first done all the proofreading and cover of the book before I sent it to copyright (I copyrighted twice, one without the cover and the second with the cover and new additions)

· I would have began my e-mail list (networking in 2000 so that my network would have been bigger). I only have about 250 something people in my list, it is important to have as many people as possible that would support you in some way. Someone will always benefit from networking with you as well. Network! Network! Network!

Thank you for reading this hub. It took me 2 hours and 20 minutes to complete (typing most of the time!. I like to share my experiences because I know somewhere someone will benefit from it in a positive way, just as I have benefitted from other good souls who have shared their knowledge on various subjects.

I am getting ready to go to my responsible "YOU" job to do some Job Coaching and employment work. This is the job that feeds me so I must leave now so I am early. One day out of the week I work at 12pm, I'll try to do a hub a week using that time (no promises, though) I love what I do, but must stay sane. With all my "YOUS" one could go crazy if one does not take care of oneself.

Thank you for your time,

Put passion BEFORE fear!

www.passionbeforefear.com

Yours truly,

allyouryous

When you are READY, the universe will be READY for YOU! Whichever "YOU" you are ready to share!