Packing for the Trip

What to bring along and what to leave behind

Before I begin, it’s announcement time. Cue the trumpets! Just released on 9/23 – The One-in-the-Noose – a very spooky novel just in time for the Halloween season.

Something is wrong with the empty house on Vansander Road. Ursie senses it from the moment she steps into the fourth-floor attic and sees a noose hanging from the rafters. She takes it home and becomes the target of a woman trapped inside. A woman who desperately wants to be free.

Get your copy here. FYI bonus: Because of Amazon pricing, the paperback version of my book Death in the Cards will increase after Sept. 30 from $7.99 to $9.99. So if you've thought about reading that one, or getting some for gifts (ahem, Xmas is coming...), the time to order is now, here. They pair well. Order them together – The One-in-the-Noose and Death in the Cards. It'll make us both happy!

Back to business…

This segment of my publishing story will provide the details of how, when, and why I published my very first book, Uncovering Norman, Proving the Former Life of a Ghost which you can purchase here from the publisher (much better for me) or here from Amazon (who pays only a few pennies in royalties and keeps the rest).

First, a disclaimer: This post is not a recommendation or a referral. The claims I’m making are related to my own experience with a hybrid publisher in 2016. There is no guarantee that anyone using this same publisher or a similar one will experience the same or similar results. I accept no responsibility for anyone else’s outcome. Okay, that’s over with. Now…

As I noted in last month’s essay, once my manuscript was accepted by Balboa Press, I chose the basic package. I signed the contract on April 3, 2018, and two days later received several files that included basic information, step-by-step instructions, guides, and checklists. My head was spinning. They weren’t kidding when they said the book would be published quickly. I got to work immediately, reading every document several times to make sure I knew what was expected on my end.

A staff member they called a Check In Coordinator (CiC) was assigned to my project. Their first job was to make sure that all the materials I submitted for the manuscript met their standards. At the same time a content and copyright review was conducted by the Content Department to ensure there were no issues. They identified one issue with my manuscript.

I had included a few photos in the book of Norman’s parents, the family, and the family gravestone, all with the consent of the person who had originally posted them on Ancestry.com. That individual had no photos of Norman, however. During my research, I found one photo that had been distributed by the Associated Press (AP) and published in a number of newspapers around the country in December 1952. Norman was in the Army, stationed in Korea, at the time, and, in the picture, he and three fellow soldiers were trimming a Christmas tree with odds and ends found around the base. The photo was grainy and showed a side view of Norman. The person from the Content Department requested that I provide a copyright release for the photo.

I wasn’t sure where to start, so I contacted one of the newspapers who had published the photo. The person I dealt with was very nice and very helpful. Since this was an AP photo, she told me who to contact there and how. Again, a very nice woman from the AP, took on my request, with all the info I had about the photo, and conducted a search. The results were disappointing. AP did not hold the copyright, which means it reverted to the original photographer, whose name was not recorded in their files. They could not give me a use license or a release to use the photo.

Without that release, Balboa Press would not allow me to include the photo in my book, because of potential copyright infringement. I completely understood but was so disappointed. It was the only photo I had of Norman. Under the U.S. copyright law in effect at the time, the photographer had to renew the copyright by 1980, or the photo went into public domain. If it was renewed, then the copyright extended for 95 years or until 2047. But, without knowing who the photographer was, there was no way to determine whether the copyright was in effect. The photo had to come out.

Now, the manuscript was ready to move to the production phase. I was assigned a Publishing Services Associate (PSA) to guide me through that process, which took about a month. A design team used my files and any information I provided to create a cover and interior proofs.

Similar to the process I followed with Draft2Digital for Lady, Will You Hear Me?, I had to select the options and features that would determine the basic features of my book. First I chose the size book I wanted – 5.5 x 8.5 inches. Then the paper color – I always like cream rather than white.

Next I had to choose three book genre categories. Not so easy as you might think. There were seventy-five to choose from, very generic to very specific. The three I chose were non-fiction; Body, Mind & Spirit/Supernatural; and Reference/Genealogy. They were the only ones that came anywhere close.

To finish off this first phase, I had to provide:

* About the Author – written in third person and highlighting my credentials; also choose whether it appeared on the back cover, inside, or on the web only edition.

*About the Book – a brief teaser summary covering the main points of the book, that would encourage people to buy and read the book.

*Free Preview – a 1,000 word max preview to go on their website to give customers a sample of my work,

*Keynote – an elevator pitch in one to two sentences

*Keywords – up to seven words that readers can search to find the book. I selected: Ghost; Spirit; Genealogy; Past Lives; Mediumship; Psychic; Akasha

*Audience Level – My book was for an adult audience.

That took care of the preliminaries, the information that the design team would use to create Uncovering Norman. Now, I just had to wait to see what they came up with. It was a month of complete nervous anticipation!

What’s Next?

Mapping the Route