Tonight, I spent a good deal of time making adjustments to my Sibro Publishing website. You probably won’t see any of them, though, because they are all in the backend! I’m using the Open Source Joomla CMS for the website, and have installed the VirtueMart Shopping Cart component to handle the orders. I highly recommend both of these! They have a bit of a learning curve, but it can be done. It’s well worth it in the long run for a variety of reasons:

1. It is free!

2. It is a very customizable and flexible structure that allows for expansion if you decide to grow your self-publishing business.

3. Both of these have excellent support communities where you are almost guaranteed to find answers to your questions.

4. There are tons of additional components and plugins that can be installed. (I’m also using the free Acajoom mailing list component to manage subscribers, and send out a regular e-newsletter.)

I will say, this option is best suited for the more serious web developer. I’m a huge fan of Open Source (when it suits my purposes), so I don’t mind investing the time to work through some of the headaches involved with getting everything set up, customized, and ready for business. The real test will come, though, once the orders start pouring in! 🙂

(I have been trying to work through some cross-browser inconsistency issues, so if you see anything that doesn’t look quite right, please don’t hesitate to let me know!)

After resisting the suggestion the first couple of times, I finally caved in and decided to start a blog specifically devoted to my book. Now I’m really excited about it, and think it will be a great extension of my vision for the book itself.

I still plan to update Journey to Self-Publishing with information, resources, and progress reports relevant to the publishing side of things. The “journey” just becomes more involved all the time! It is still often overwhelming, but I suppose it is good for me to feel that way – it keeps me dependent on the grace of God, rather than my own strength and abilities.

After many hours of writing, researching, praying, and collaborating with friends I am finally ready to announce the title of my upcoming book. Many of you have expressed your support and encouragement as I have tackled this endeavor and it is exciting to be at this point in the process! So, without further ado, may I introduce to you my book:

Pajama School – stories from the life of a homeschool graduate

Pajama School is currently in the final stages of editing. Once the edits have been implemented and the interior design completed, I will be doing a small print run and sending the book out for reviews and endorsements. If you or someone you know would be interested in receiving an Advance Review Copy for review and/or endorsement, please e-mail me for more information. Lord-willing, Pajama School will officially be released and available for purchase in March, 2009. In the meantime, you can find more information on the Pajama School website and stay up-to-date by checking back regularly for progress reports.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

BTW, you can also click here to become a fan on my Facebook page. 🙂