Rachael Eyre's Blog - Posts Tagged "publishing"
Indie Publishing on Amazon
Two months to go
The story is proofread within an inch of its life. One day I think it's the greatest thing I've ever read, the next I'm plunged into the depths of despair. For some reason my brain keeps inventing DVD extras. I hunt around the MS for places to slot them.
A month to go
The cover art is chosen and zhushed up using an app. Meltdown when the font isn't the size/colour/brightness I want. Go around Waterstones and compare it to real, actual books. Staff look askance but decide I'm harmless.
A few days to go
Copyright and dedication pages taken care of. To date I've never included an About the Author page. I *say* it's because I like to retain an aura of mystery, but it's really because "Writes, reads and potters about on Twitter" is banal. I don't photograph well either, as my avatars testify.
The day
Announce, "Today's the day!" Bae says, "Oh, really?" and returns to her own project. Plug in t'internet and do last minute tweaks, chuckling to myself and doubtless being extremely irritating.
Tragedy strikes. Since I'm a Luddite who rarely uses my tablet, I've somehow managed to forget all my logins. Proceedings crash to a standstill while I amend this.
Crisis averted, I go on KDP and fill in the details. Read blurb aloud. Consensus is that it "lacks oomph," but at a complete loss what oomph might be. "Let's wait and see," I say, more optimistically than I feel.
Go to upload beautiful, shiny cover - and another stonking obstacle drops in my way. The file has to be a JPEG or TIFF or it won't be accepted. Ask, cajole and threaten Siri and co; they insist on misunderstanding. The Singularity isn't happening any time soon!
By now we've been doing this nearly five hours and we're starving. I'm yelping, growling, squeaking and the array of other odd noises by which I make my presence known. Bae tells me to make a useful contribution, i.e. fetch food. When I come back she's achieved the miraculous. She's enigmatic at first but later admits she went on Paint.
Now the ball's rolling again, I complete the last page and click the magic box. I can't settle - possessed, I return to it every few minutes. It's only when I decide to call it a night Bae exclaims, "It's up!" Having witnessed the marvel myself, I fire off numerous social media posts.
The day after
The instant I wake up, I switch on my phone and check how many sales I've had. I'm invariably disappointed, not least because one of them is me. My inferiority complex goes into overdrive: the cover, blurb and price are all wrong! That or I curse the evil algorithms.
A month afterwards
Still watching the sales reports and reviews pages like a hypochondriac checking their pulse. It's nerve wracking no matter how many times you do it. Yes, you know it's not going to be an overnight sensation, but that never stops you from hoping.
The story is proofread within an inch of its life. One day I think it's the greatest thing I've ever read, the next I'm plunged into the depths of despair. For some reason my brain keeps inventing DVD extras. I hunt around the MS for places to slot them.
A month to go
The cover art is chosen and zhushed up using an app. Meltdown when the font isn't the size/colour/brightness I want. Go around Waterstones and compare it to real, actual books. Staff look askance but decide I'm harmless.
A few days to go
Copyright and dedication pages taken care of. To date I've never included an About the Author page. I *say* it's because I like to retain an aura of mystery, but it's really because "Writes, reads and potters about on Twitter" is banal. I don't photograph well either, as my avatars testify.
The day
Announce, "Today's the day!" Bae says, "Oh, really?" and returns to her own project. Plug in t'internet and do last minute tweaks, chuckling to myself and doubtless being extremely irritating.
Tragedy strikes. Since I'm a Luddite who rarely uses my tablet, I've somehow managed to forget all my logins. Proceedings crash to a standstill while I amend this.
Crisis averted, I go on KDP and fill in the details. Read blurb aloud. Consensus is that it "lacks oomph," but at a complete loss what oomph might be. "Let's wait and see," I say, more optimistically than I feel.
Go to upload beautiful, shiny cover - and another stonking obstacle drops in my way. The file has to be a JPEG or TIFF or it won't be accepted. Ask, cajole and threaten Siri and co; they insist on misunderstanding. The Singularity isn't happening any time soon!
By now we've been doing this nearly five hours and we're starving. I'm yelping, growling, squeaking and the array of other odd noises by which I make my presence known. Bae tells me to make a useful contribution, i.e. fetch food. When I come back she's achieved the miraculous. She's enigmatic at first but later admits she went on Paint.
Now the ball's rolling again, I complete the last page and click the magic box. I can't settle - possessed, I return to it every few minutes. It's only when I decide to call it a night Bae exclaims, "It's up!" Having witnessed the marvel myself, I fire off numerous social media posts.
The day after
The instant I wake up, I switch on my phone and check how many sales I've had. I'm invariably disappointed, not least because one of them is me. My inferiority complex goes into overdrive: the cover, blurb and price are all wrong! That or I curse the evil algorithms.
A month afterwards
Still watching the sales reports and reviews pages like a hypochondriac checking their pulse. It's nerve wracking no matter how many times you do it. Yes, you know it's not going to be an overnight sensation, but that never stops you from hoping.
