Census Daze--Almost Gone

Census Daze--it's certainly occupied my summer.  It's coming to an end and my life (and blog) are beginning to return.

Census 2010 has been a long and involved process.  From the inside the beginning and the (near) ending have much in common.

Hopefully the Census will have sufficient data for the next 10 years to do effective planning for Medicare, schools, roads, members of Congress, etc.

The U.S. Constitution requires a Census every ten years.  The questions asked on the Census are approved by congress and become the "as approved by law" part of the Constitution.

Census workers agree not to divulge information they gathered while working for the Census.  This is why you won't see many blog posts with lots of detail.

I'm already thinking of other areas--Flu Vaccine for 2010 (I had mine on August 10th at a local Walgreens), for example.

More soon.

Editing Blog and Book--Improving Quality as a Process

Much of the day was invested in editing the blog book--and finding edits to make to the blog itself.  As I organize the posts into chapters of related themes and entries, I also find spelling errors, broken links, or omissions where I forgot to complete a thought.

Quality improvement is a process and this one is coming to the forefront because of the need to edit the book.  At the end of the process, both book and blog will be much improved.

As I edit, I revisit the thoughts behind the entries and make new decisions regarding themes and chapters.  The three chapters I worked on today each have about thirty-five pages.  I'll have to decide on the order for the chapters as I have more ready.  At present, it looks as though I'll have about sixteen chapters.

What's amazing is that this book is "already written."  Changing the format will be a definite improvement.

Why Would Anyone Want to Read My Blog? (or My Book?)--Trusted Advisor Blog

As I work on editing this blog for publication I ask myself, "Why would anyone want to read this blog or my book?"  What value have I added in the 243 posts that make up this blog to date?

When I first started the blog I wanted the discipline of writing a daily blog to create a book I could publish.  I've worked on several books ad went to a Book Expo in Chicago in 2001 with the intention of publishing and marketing a book.  To date, the only book I have published (in 1992) was my 502-page dissertation.  (Very few people read it, by the way.)

I have several books started and have a goal of writing some fiction targeted for young adults.  I've been an avid reader in that literature for the last six years to build-up a better understanding for the authors, the books, and the genre.

What is this blog about?  That's a challenge.  The blog is about many things.  Wikipedia.org has this to say about a blog: 

A blog (a contraction of the term "web log")^[1] is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic.  Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog.



This blog reflects what I was thinking about, "top of mind," on the day I wrote each post.  I have gone through the blog in the course of preparing it for editing and publishing and have identified categories that have related posts.  These are still "across the board." 

My primary role is as a "trusted advisor" and many of my posts contain information to be shared from that point of view about the topic included in the post.

This still a challenge for readership.  I'm adding posts each day to the blog and to the book until the day I publish it.  Blog posts made after the publication of the first book will be saved for a follow-on book.  I have a few friends who read the blog often.  (They should, many of their ideas and our discussions find their way in to the daily posts.)  I also have two subscribers to the blog--and I am one of them.

I've explored with other friends in the publishing and bookselling business to see how I can edit the content in a way that will make it compelling for others to read.  I'm still developing those ideas.

Another editing challenge I have is to make the links show-up in the published document.  On the website and the blog, the links work.  In print, they need to be spelled out.  Many of my posts include related links for more information and for examples.

What are your thoughts?

Why Would Someone Want to Read This Blog as a Book?

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously was a successful blog published as a book and then as a movie.  Julie Powell focused on working with Julia Child's recipes.

Readers of this blog know that the posts may vary from day to day, based on what is "top of mind" for that day.  With this post I have 240 separate entries ready to edit and am now visiting public libraries and book stores to see how I can organize these entries in a way that will be both interesting and marketable.  (If anyone reading this has suggestions, they will be welcome.)

I have created categories (for chapters), though I am not fully happy with those categories yet.  I will probably edit the posts a little for publication.

I am also checking out a book on the stories of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) for inspiration.  My goal is to have this ready for the publisher this week.

I reviewed my earlier draft books (from 2001) and don't feel compelled to rework them at this point.  Publishing this blog as a book is something new.

Editing Lots of Posts--Inspiration--Creativity-Perspiration--Perspective

Editing the posts in this blog to date--this is post #239--is lots of work.  I now have all of the posts in a format that allows editing.  To turn it into a book--or multiple books--requires lots more work and thinking about the details of the posts.

Lynn Pierce advised me that I could have the book ready to edit by the end of the weekend and she was right--it's ready for editing, though not yet edited.

I'll be working on the edits during the week and we'll see what I have to share as the work progresses.  I'm looking for inspiration and perspective as I work with creativity and perspiration. 

Wish me luck!! :-)