Category: Projects/Work

Thick, Sexy Journals!

Published on by Christine GabriélleLeave a comment

I’ve been sitting on this for almost a week. Not hiding it, just a little unsure what to do with it. If you follow my IG account, you’ve already seen them.

I got my journal proofs and I love them!

I want to make these available soon, but I’m weighing the options on how to go about it. Also, if I’m really going to do “the journal thing,” I want to see if there’s a better manufacturing option. If not, I’ll stick with KDP to print them for as long as they allow “low content books.”

Thanks to get rich quick low content book “hacks” on these social sites, there are some angry people with very strong opinions about using KDP to print journals. A lot of platforms don’t allow it at all anymore.

My previous experience peeking into the journal manufacturing world led me to cheaply made 80-page journals or highly custom journals that cost $30 each to produce and required minimum orders of no less than 250. The barrier to entry seemed so far out of my grasp.

With KDP, I’ve been able to create nice thick hardcover journals in a much more accessible way. These are not your average low content books.

There’s still some planning to do on my end before I can feel confident putting these out. In the meantime, here are some pictures:

I’d love to know what you think about using KDP to print journals, alternative manufacturing options, and overcoming barriers to entry to create good products.

Until next time…

🖤

December Writing Cave Wrap Up

Published on by Christine GabriélleLeave a comment

So, we’re at the end of the first week of January and I still haven’t the nerve to log back on socials.

This writing cave month was very much needed even though I didn’t get as much writing done as I thought I would. There was quite a bit of reflection, clearing energetic space, making room for things to be moved out of or into my life. It’s been mildly cleansing and a lot reassuring.

There’s been validation of my intuition, confirmation that my desires, intentions, and moves are in the direction of God and the life I am creating for myself, and a consistent practice of regaining trust in myself through all of it. My therapist would be proud of me.

What I did get done during December in terms of writing:

1 Short story completed
2 Journal designs completed, and proof copies ordered
1 Short story started and stuck on

My goal is to have 5 of my short stories done by the end of February. Positive vibes, well wishes, and aligned prayers are welcome!

There have been some business document mishaps this week that I’m still working to correct, but I’m chalking it up to the new business owner learning curve. However, they have thrown a wrench in my writing plan for today. There’s always next week, though.

And since next week is not today, I’m not going to think too much about it.

I’m learning to practice mindful presence. We’ll see how that goes. I hope your 2023 has started well.

♥

December Writing Cave – Day 27

Published on by Christine GabriélleLeave a comment

I finished my journal interiors and cover designs!

I didn’t realize Canva had a max page count of 250, so I ended up redoing both journals and formatting in Word. Technically, it was easier than doing it in Canva to begin with, but I tend to do everything in Canva because I love it so much. Also, my design ideas were easier to translate to Word because I’d already done them in Canva.

Not going to lie, though, my eyes were on fire by the time I finished recreating those pages last night. I reviewed, made some edits, and exported to spec this morning.

Then I did a happy dance. Literally.

Although there wasn’t a lot of writing to be done, it was a lot of work to set these up—the covers are simple but creating the pattern for the covers was tedious.

Anyway, now I’m going to let them rest (like a steak fresh out of the oven [even though I don’t eat beef]). I’m excited to see how they turn out physically. If they turn out as well as I think they will, you’ll be the first to know because you’re special.

Definitely treating myself to a fancy fruit popsicle tomorrow to celebrate (there’s a cute shop nearby).

Yes, I’m still stuck on the story from yesterday. I’m letting the characters marinate until they want to tell me their story. Forcing stories never turns out well for me. I’ll let you know when I get past that wall.

♥

P.S. Three posts in one week! Who is this woman?

P.P.S. Also, tomorrow’s my grandma’s birthday and it’s been five years since she died and I still get sad I can’t call her to tell her happy birthday but last year when I got a new phone I found a voice message that she left me for my 27th (I think) birthday in my Voice Recorder app of all things so I’ll probably listen to that a couple times instead. I cried when I found it because, seriously, how does one old voicemail end up in my voice recorder files?

Anyway, that’s it.