ABOUT ME
Hiya! I'm Mary Sisson, and yes, I am a proud member of the Illuminati. I've worked as a reporter, writer and editor for almost 20 years. I've won awards and all that, but I basically got tired of having to always put commercial considerations first.
So I wrote a novel and put together a nonfiction book proposal, and I started shopping them around. And that's when I started getting The Letters. The Letters are rejection letters--but they are extremely conflicted rejection letters. I have rejection letters that tell me that the people who wrote them really enjoyed the book and are looking forward to reading it once it is published--by somebody else. I have rejection letters that, no kidding, I could use as promotional jacket copy, they are that flattering to my work.
In short, I was a little too good at not putting commercial considerations first. I finally decided to go the self-publishing route--if I'm not doing this for money, I might as well really not do it for money, you know what I mean? Still, if you like these books of mine, please head on over to the Web site where you bought them and leave a review. Keep in mind that word-of-mouth is pretty much all I have--it will make a big difference.
Am I the Mary Sisson who writes for your hometown paper? No (although I might have been in the past). Mary Sisson may sound unusual, but it is actually quite a common name--Sisson is a French Huguenot name, and Mary is a traditional first name among Sisson women (Google the name if you don't believe me). There are at least two other Mary Sissons writing for publication that I know about, and probably more. In other words, if you absolutely hated one of my books and want to e-mail a semi-literate rant to that bitch Mary Sisson, fill out the contact form to the left there. The other Mary Sissons won't know what you're talking about and will think you're crazy--as will I, but at least I'll know the context! (If the contact form isn't showing up, check the security settings on your browser.)
Want to know if I'm goofing off or hard at work? Check out my blog! Not stalkery enough for you? Follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook! If you live in the greater Seattle metropolitan area and are curious to either learn about e-publishing or to hook up with other e-publishers, check out the Puget Sound E-Publishing and Book Promotion Group and its handy-dandy Two Flavors of Meetups!
ABOUT MY BLOG
Why blog? you might wonder. Well, I blog primarily to take advantage of the Hawthorne effect--I have no boss now, which makes it really easy to screw around all day. So I note here what I've done or make lame excuses about what I haven't done. I find making lame excuses to be really embarrassing, so I'm likely to do something just so I don't have to put up a post that tells people I did nothing.
I also like to feel like I am of some use to the greater community of authors. To that end, I post about what I've done to self-publish--what worked, what didn't--and I've even put up a little guide to do-it-yourself publishing. I'm not an expert by any means, so take my experience for what it's worth and realize that you may well want to do things very differently (I won't take it personally). The posts that I think would actually be useful to other writers are usually tagged "helpful (I hope) hints."
I'm also a former business reporter, so I like to blog about the business of publishing, self-publishing, and book selling. It's all very volatile and interesting right now, and if you ever want your writing to be read by people (or are just pathologically curious like I am), it's all very much worth investigating. I also note when something is going on that I think is not in the best financial interest of writers--these posts are usually tagged "money matters."
Finally, I blog about writing that I like--be it in book, movie, television, or cartoon form--and writing that I don't like. This I do 1. because I am as opinionated as all hell, and 2. because I believe that if I write this sort of thing down, I'm more likely to remember it and to produce good writing instead of bad. I actually recommend this as a tactic for writers--you don't necessarily have to write everything down, but I think it's good to figure out what works (or doesn't work) and why in the things you read and watch. At the very least, it will help you to produce something that you don't mind reading!