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The paperback process and being fearless
Dec. 11th, 2015 04:12 pmI am, as of this moment in time, not publishing my stories to audio. The people on facebook knowi t's because the company through Amazon is requiring exclusivity, and, to me, that feels like a bit of a death knell for my publishing career. I don't believe in restricting myself nor obeying what other people think I should be doing.
That was a previous entry, of course, so anyway . . .
I'm learning a lot about the paperback process through both NOOK and CreateSpace. I finally have Portal to Gaming available as a paperback through CreateSpace with my own ISBN (note: they require a CreateSpace ISBN to be available to libraries - I think I may donate. ^_^) and am currently working on getting The King and Queen of Wands and The Sons of Thor available as well. I've run into a snag with NOOK, as the cover needs to be a PDF, not a PNG or JPG. (I have ISBNs assigned for the ebooks. I just need to get them assigned on the sites.) NOOK Print on demand books will be done, perhaps not in time for Christmas, but they will be done.
Here's the link for Portal to Gaming as a paperback on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Portal-Gaming-Arc-Fantasy-1/dp/0997118636/ref=la_B00MQF33K6_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449873719&sr=1-1
List price is $11.99. I feel somewhat guilty for the cost, but then, when browsing through a local Barnes and Noble yesterday, I found Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in paperback for $10.99.
I'm finding I need to change the formatting for the more popular 6x9 formatting. I could go with the original document size of 8.5x11, but that could be a bit too much for some readers. It's interesting to see how the margin sides need to be different as each formatting increases the number of pages. I also use their cover creator with the images my sister has already designed for me. I love what she's done.
This has been a fun, nerve-wracking, and learning process for me. In truth, I have grossly underestimated the amount of time needed to go through the print on demand process as well as for promoting. But sometimes we have to crash headfirst into things to find out what's going to work best for us.
I'm sure I've written about this before and not all that long ago, in fact, but it's something I can't reiterate enough.
At some point, we have to ask ourselves when are we going to truly be ready? When are we going to take that chance and do what it is that we dream of doing? I know the hardest part is not wanting to be rejected by someone out there, be it a reader, an agent, an editor, or a publisher.
But here is a truth most any published author will tell someone starting out: The rejection will always be therre. I remember reading about a woman who taught at a writing class at the college/university level. She'd published a book as well through a traditional publisher and received a rejection letter.
Stephen King received rejection letters. J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer . . . Nearly every author in our current history of publishing has received some kind of a rejection letter. These are things we cannot allow to deter us in our goals and in our dreams. We can apply all kinds of titles to ourselves in the process, be it a feminist, a social justice warrior, or just a plain old fiction writer, but it means nothing when we're not taking the chances necessary to see our dreams realized.
I am not afraid nor ashamed to say that my goal as a writer is to make a difference in someone's life. I can't do that if I let fear hold me back, if I'm too afraid to tackle the subject matter that cause controversy. People get caught up "the market" when, thanks to Amazon, "the market" no longer really applies. In truth, the "market" hasn't applied in a couple of decades, not when the comic book industry found out they had as many female, gay, and "minorities" as fans as it did the stereotypical straight white guy.
Art isn't about making people comfortable. It's about getting them to think.
Somethingj to ponder as you consider what it is you want to accomplish as a writer.
That was a previous entry, of course, so anyway . . .
I'm learning a lot about the paperback process through both NOOK and CreateSpace. I finally have Portal to Gaming available as a paperback through CreateSpace with my own ISBN (note: they require a CreateSpace ISBN to be available to libraries - I think I may donate. ^_^) and am currently working on getting The King and Queen of Wands and The Sons of Thor available as well. I've run into a snag with NOOK, as the cover needs to be a PDF, not a PNG or JPG. (I have ISBNs assigned for the ebooks. I just need to get them assigned on the sites.) NOOK Print on demand books will be done, perhaps not in time for Christmas, but they will be done.
Here's the link for Portal to Gaming as a paperback on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Portal-Gaming-Arc-Fantasy-1/dp/0997118636/ref=la_B00MQF33K6_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449873719&sr=1-1
List price is $11.99. I feel somewhat guilty for the cost, but then, when browsing through a local Barnes and Noble yesterday, I found Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in paperback for $10.99.
I'm finding I need to change the formatting for the more popular 6x9 formatting. I could go with the original document size of 8.5x11, but that could be a bit too much for some readers. It's interesting to see how the margin sides need to be different as each formatting increases the number of pages. I also use their cover creator with the images my sister has already designed for me. I love what she's done.
This has been a fun, nerve-wracking, and learning process for me. In truth, I have grossly underestimated the amount of time needed to go through the print on demand process as well as for promoting. But sometimes we have to crash headfirst into things to find out what's going to work best for us.
I'm sure I've written about this before and not all that long ago, in fact, but it's something I can't reiterate enough.
At some point, we have to ask ourselves when are we going to truly be ready? When are we going to take that chance and do what it is that we dream of doing? I know the hardest part is not wanting to be rejected by someone out there, be it a reader, an agent, an editor, or a publisher.
But here is a truth most any published author will tell someone starting out: The rejection will always be therre. I remember reading about a woman who taught at a writing class at the college/university level. She'd published a book as well through a traditional publisher and received a rejection letter.
Stephen King received rejection letters. J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer . . . Nearly every author in our current history of publishing has received some kind of a rejection letter. These are things we cannot allow to deter us in our goals and in our dreams. We can apply all kinds of titles to ourselves in the process, be it a feminist, a social justice warrior, or just a plain old fiction writer, but it means nothing when we're not taking the chances necessary to see our dreams realized.
I am not afraid nor ashamed to say that my goal as a writer is to make a difference in someone's life. I can't do that if I let fear hold me back, if I'm too afraid to tackle the subject matter that cause controversy. People get caught up "the market" when, thanks to Amazon, "the market" no longer really applies. In truth, the "market" hasn't applied in a couple of decades, not when the comic book industry found out they had as many female, gay, and "minorities" as fans as it did the stereotypical straight white guy.
Art isn't about making people comfortable. It's about getting them to think.
Somethingj to ponder as you consider what it is you want to accomplish as a writer.
