Get your name on Amazon!

Its been a busy, and interesting time since I self-published Deadly Obsession in January 2012. I've listened, learnt, revised and revised.
I've spent time trawling through 'how to' books and consuming novels from author's that I enjoy, and drilled down into story architecture - I really enjoyed that - and all to improve my skills as a writer.

But there is only so much feedback I can give myself objectively! Either I am too critical or I am too lenient on myself. Bottom line, I need feedback from you, my readers.

I need to know...

• what you liked?
• who you liked?
• which character scared you?
• did any character inspire you?
• was the pace constantly moving?
• was it too fast?
• did you get enough detail to form your own pictures?
• did the book reach a climax?
• were all the loose ends tied up?
• did the short synopsis draw you in?
• what didn't you like?
• did the story make sense?
• any other comments you may have...

In fact anything you thought about the book would be enormously worthwhile for me to know. Every writer needs reviews/feedback/comments, and whilst sometimes these things are not easy to hear, I am committed to improving as a writer ... so jot down a few lines, post it on Amazon, or send me a short comment on this site. I'd be eternally grateful!!

But first ... read the book! Its Deadly Obsession... its fast-paced, salted with suspense, and peppered with lust. 

And I want YOUR opinion....

Deadly Obsession in Paperback - I'm nearly there!

Have you ever wondered why nothing is as simple as it sounds?
But then again, often when you finally complete a complex task which you viewed with dread before the outset, it turns out to be far simpler than you originally thought?

When I don't know what something will be like/take to do, it becomes this massive mountain, and I'm a piddling climber attempting to transcend a sheer rock face with nothing but my bare hands.

I even get that knot of anxiety churning away in my stomach which I have to push through in order to come out the other side. But when I'm out the other side, I look back and say 'that wasn't so bad!'

90% of the time, its never so bad. 90% of the time, its never as hard as I make it out to be in my mind.
I'm holding onto this thought with both hands and my teeth because I'm smack bang in the middle of trying to publish Deadly Obsession in paperback, and I'm daunted by the task!
I have to say, that from this side of the fence (i.e. haven't done it yet), I feel totally inept. Having said that I WILL persist.

I'm nearly there.

With any luck, by this weekend...

Self-publishing - Paperbacks

For the uninitiated, yes, you can self-publish in paperback yourself for no cost!

This was a glaring example to me of how I shouldn't let previous experience close me off to new possibilities. You see, I've had a fairly lengthy career across marketing, PR and events management and one of the things I got to do was manage a print production process. In those days, digital was embryonic at most, and final print costs per unit (one item) were totally dependant on print runs (total number of items printed). I take the time to understand behind-the-scene stuff with anything I do, so this made complete sense to me.

What I hadn't taken into account was technology - don't ya just love it! Before digital, I was used to organic growth, now in the digital age, we are accustomed to exponential growth and even more recently, the explosion of viral growth!
Long story short, I finally woke up to find that what I had learnt was not true and what I couldn't conceive of, was. Hello technology!

How does this relate to self-publishing your own paperback at no cost to yourself? It's called Print-On-Demand (POD).

It is possible for yes, you've guessed it, Amazon, to print one paperback book complete with full colour cover to fill one order!

As you can imagine that shot to hell my perception that if I wanted to self-publish in paperback, I would have to go to some small-time printer, scrape together the funds to get 100 copies published and then store them in my garage with practically non-existent means (financial and marketing platform) to sell them.

Amazon has given us indie authors, Createspace. So, what does Createspace do for you?

• Formatting
• Size of book
• Colour of paper
• Selection of cover templates to choose from
• ISBN

As with the process on Kindle Direct Publishing, I strongly recommend you read whatever guidelines you can on Createspace before you start. Remember, I'm only relating my experience with a novel, that means I have no internal images, no strange fonts or complex formatting, no table of contents, no bibliography.
Once everything is in place, your book is ready, and Createspace highly recommends that you get a proof copy sent to yourself to see how it looks.

You see there is one major difference between publishing on Kindle and publishing on Createspace - and that's the formatting.

This is my story... (wow, did I laugh!)
My Kindle edition looked great - I used an Arial font, 14 pt - and when I checked it out on Kindle Previewer, it looked pretty cool, I have to say so myself.
So, I took the same format, did a bit of work fitting it into the trim size (actual dimensions) of the book and finished the process.
I immediately ordered my proof copy which is free of charge, but you pay for the shipping. Not trusting myself to handle the anticipation of waiting three weeks for the regular delivery, I selected the fastest delivery time and then put myself on bread and water for the rest of the month (only kidding!).
It arrived three days later and I cannot put into words the thrilled awe I felt when I held my book in my hands for the first time. But I digress.
When I opened the book, it looked like it was meant for someone who was visually challenged - the font was huge! (I myself am visually challenged, so no offence meant or taken).
Yes, I'd seen it online and there it looked great, like my Kindle version on which it was based. But in print, it looked so wrong!
This is the value of the proof copy underestimate it at your peril.

You see, font styles and font sizes that look great on an e-reader do not necessarily look good on the printed page.
It appears that sans serif (Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet) better suits e-readers and serif (Times, Georgia) suits print. Just one of the things you'll learn on the self-publishing journey.

I am currently revising my paperback version (still in process), but am strongly leaning towards Palatino Linotype for the font, 10 or 11 pt.

Hope this helps
Until next time.

Publishing Yourself Part 2 - What format?

When I first started my journey down the self-publishing route, I hit a few stumbling blocks.
Firstly,I didn't find one site that told me all the 'how to' in one place. Granted there may be such a site but I didn't find it.
Secondly, I couldn't find anyone who could simplify the process for me, unless I paid for it.
There are so many different types of books which people want to publish that the sites have to cover every single option.  I had to wade through all of this to find that the process is actually not as difficult and complicated as I first thought. In my ignorance, I knuckled down and read copious amounts of information to understand what options there were and what would work best for me.
Once you understand, it will appear much easier, but to get up to speed, you need to do one of two things:

• Read a huge amount of information yourself
• Pay someone else to do it for you. 

The information in this blog is geared specifically to self-publishing black and white novels - no pictures or strange fonts, or unusual formatting, etc.

In Part 1, I looked at how ready your material needs to be before you start the publishing process. So, you've proofread and edited, and proofread and edited and ... I could go on. At some stage there needs to be a final cut-off otherwise, its a process that can easily be used as a procrastination tool. Publishing yourself is like laying your soul bare to the world - not an easy process - and sometimes the prospect is so daunting, we want everything to be perfect. Perfection doesn't exist, only excellence - so do your utmost and know its the best you can achieve, and then let it go.

So, what format would you like for your book?
Do you know what the various formats are?

Let's have a look at the different formats:
1. The Amazon e-reader - Kindle
2. Other e-readers, e.g. Nook, Kobo, Sony, Bebook, iRiver and others.
3. PDF, HTML, Java, .Mobi, PDB, LRF, ePub.
4. Paperback

You can make your book available in all of these formats at no cost to yourself.

Points to consider before choosing your format:
1. Who is my book aimed at? Decide who are the most likely readers of your book. Is it very niche or will it appeal more to a mass market?
2. How would my audience prefer to read a book? Once you know who your readers will be, you can narrow down the best format for that audience. A YA (young adult) book will do very well on an e-reader as most young people are tech-savvy and prefer electronic devices over anything else.If  your book discusses fishing off the coast of Cornwall, your audience may prefer a paperback instead of an e-reader.
3. How will I distribute my book? Unless you are prepared to spend a tidy sum on printing your own books, and negotiating what is likely to be a less than sweet deal (for you anyway) with the local book store, you are not going to see your book gracing their shelves any time soon. Thankfully, there are so many other distribution outlets for the self-publisher.
4. Where will it be available to purchase? Besides the bricks and mortars stores, there is a veritable mine of online avenues for you to pursue. Amazon, Smashwords, Createspace, online book stores, online book clubs, your own website/blog. Just these areas alone can ramp up serious sales for you.
5. How do I market it? Aaaah, the million dollar question and probably the hardest/most time-consuming part of self-publishing - you do! Adverts, reviews, blog tours, social media platforms, online book clubs - unless you are paying someone to do this for you, it is all up to you.

It might seem like an enormous mountain to climb when you are standing at the base never having scaled a rock-face before. And possibly this is the wrong analogy because I wouldn't want anyone to think climbing a mountain is easy! But publishing your own book is not as difficult as it seems. A little bit of research, some well-spent time, a smidgeon of preparation, and you've done it. There are some nifty solutions out there for the indie author, and we'll go through them together.

Next post - all about Kindle!