This Self-Publishing Adventure

Why do people let me near the blog?  They should have patted me on the head and then taken away my keyboard.

Do you like the logo?  I drew it and then gave it to more talented people than me to make it pretty.

Anyway.

Hidden Worlds is available in a variety of formats – paperback through Lulu or Amazon, Kindle, and Nook.

And, of course, each of them wanted a different format.  The Kindle, oddly enough, wants the source file in html.  It will not read page breaks but will read section breaks.  The Nook will not read section breaks but will read page breaks.  Lulu requires you to embed any non-standard fonts, and CS makes you buy a proof.

It’s enough to make one want to tear one’s hair out, but luckily, this is where my husband steps in.  He is perfectly happy to sit there for a few hours and tweak a format until he’s happy with it.  He downloads samples and makes sure the page breaks are in the right place. 

Thank goodness.  I’m too right-brained for that sort of thing.  I would stab myself with a pencil in an attempt to escape.

Even so, if I had to start this whole thing over again, I would still self-publish this book.  I know there’s a stigma with self-publishing, that nay-sayers say that people who self-publish are just too lazy to go through with the traditional publishing route, but I’ve done a lot of research and I’ve found people self-publish for a variety of reasons, and the successful ones have never done it out of laziness.

It turns out that it’s not that hard to find quality self-published works.  I’ve come across some talented people in my journey, people who deserve to be read and put out a good product.  I believe we do the same.  It’s been fun and it’s been interesting.  There are things I like about it a lot – things like being able to directly connect with people reading my book.  Being in control of the entire process.  There are some things that are harder, but overall, this has been a good learning experience and I look forward to what I, and TDP, can accomplish in the future.

2 Comments:

  1. I need one of those happy formatters.

    On the rest though–yes, indeed! I like having control. I also like that there isn’t an end date–if I don’t make someone else’s notion of impressive sales quickly enough, I can continue to offer my book.

    I’m rather proud of my book, and fond of yours. I’m glad we chose this route.

  2. [i]I’ve found people self-publish for a variety of reasons, and the successful ones have never done it out of laziness.[/i]

    That’s a really good point. It could even be the basis for a blog post all on its own… 😉

    Siri

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