Who Knew These Choices Would Be So hard?
In these next few posts, I plan to describe the process I’ve followed for self-publishing my book Lady, Will You Hear Me? which is available here.
First, a disclaimer. This entry and any successive posts describe my own personal writing and publishing journey. The decisions and choices reflect those I’ve made based on my own circumstances and desired outcome. I cannot and do not guarantee that anyone else will have the same outcome, or one that is better or worse than mine. This information is provided only to give an understanding of the process I followed to achieve my own goals and results.
Okay, that’s done. Now, on with it…
I never intended to self-publish any of my writing. The shift came as I realized the only way to get my True Ghost Story series out into the world was to publish the stories myself. That was the same rationale that prompted me to use a hybrid press for my first book, Uncovering Norman. All that being said, I went into the how-to of self-publishing as a complete neophyte.
The first decision to be made was whether I wanted to start with digital or print - paperback or e-book. That might seem a simple enough choice, but for me it definitely was not.
I am the throwback kind of reader who prefers to hold a real book in their hands when reading. I do own a kindle and I do use it, but I much prefer paper and ink. There is a sense of permanence with a printed book that an e-book can never muster. It’s not the same to have a collection of e-books in a cyber library as it is to have a bookcase full of printed books in my own room, that I can reach out and actually riffle through the pages whenever I choose.
E-books generate higher royalties. Because they require fewer physical resources and production time, the royalty percentages tend to be higher than for print books. Although the money is nice, validation for writing hours and creativity, it’s never been my personal priority. Because I have a pension, I’m not trying to support myself with my writing, nor do I want to or have to. That sets me apart from a lot of other writers who are starting out with a writing career in mind.
I definitely wanted my book in paperback and my thought was to produce that first, getting a print book done first would make the e-book easier.
Wrong!
Although I made a lot of decisions about the layout and format of Uncovering Norman, I really didn’t remember the full process. That was six years ago and I will say that Balboa Press staff were extremely helpful with all that, and I had one editor-associate assigned to my book with a phone number I could call and speak with directly. I made the decisions, they did the work. That’s because they are a hybrid publisher, and I paid them a lot of money to do that work.
Draft2Digital is completely different. They do have support staff, but it feels far more distant. All their support is digital and online. So if I wanted to create a book, I needed to do the upfront research to make sure I understood what every aspect of building my book required before I made any decisions that would be difficult or impossible to change later.
I got about half-way through the book set-up questions and actions. I hit the delete button. I was scared, worried I was making the wrong choices. Draft2Digital allows unlimited free changes (corrections!) to e-books, but only one free change every 90 days for print. The whole process was far more stressful than I expected or wanted it to be.
I went back to the beginning and selected “create an e-book.” It seemed a better place to start for somebody who knew effectively nothing.
That was the better choice for me. Set-up for the e-book required fewer steps and I had an easier time making the necessary choices. The main lesson learned – if you’re a newbie, start simple and work up to the more complicated options.
Where to next? I’ll describe the nitty-gritty actual steps to produce my ebook.
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