Karen GoatKeeper's Blog - Posts Tagged "self-publishing"
Exploring Options
My novels were entered as CreateSpace print on demand books. Even Dora's Story with a few illustrations went through easily.
It is so tempting to do the same with The Pumpkin Project. Printing it at home then getting it bound is a lot of trouble.
I know how much trouble because I have two others, Goat Games and Exploring the Ozark Hills, I do that with. So why did I choose to do it this way?
Goat Games is full of puzzles, photographs, stories, trivia and more about goats. The formatting is exact and demanding. I was afraid of trying to convert it over into a print on demand format.
Exploring the Ozark Hills is a book of nature essays and photographs. It too has some intricate formatting. I was afraid of the conversions.
There is also the matter of price. I do not want to try to sell $60 books.
The Pumpkin Project is getting close to done. I am in the "Hurry up and wait" phase as I wait for the last pictures and information from other people. That's a good excuse for my procrastination on the last four puzzles too.
Out of curiosity I ran a check through CreateSpace about The Pumpkin Project. Surprisingly my proposed price of $25 was very much in line with their estimate of $16 to print.
But there is still the formatting problem. Converting this mess to PDF will be challenging judging from past experiences. Even using page breaks is not a guarantee.
I still have a couple of weeks to think this through. My last pictures must wait until the end of September. At least I have their places ready and waiting.
There is another question to consider. I was very happy doing a give away for Dora's Story. If I print The Pumpkin Project myself, can I still do a give away?
It is so tempting to do the same with The Pumpkin Project. Printing it at home then getting it bound is a lot of trouble.
I know how much trouble because I have two others, Goat Games and Exploring the Ozark Hills, I do that with. So why did I choose to do it this way?
Goat Games is full of puzzles, photographs, stories, trivia and more about goats. The formatting is exact and demanding. I was afraid of trying to convert it over into a print on demand format.
Exploring the Ozark Hills is a book of nature essays and photographs. It too has some intricate formatting. I was afraid of the conversions.
There is also the matter of price. I do not want to try to sell $60 books.
The Pumpkin Project is getting close to done. I am in the "Hurry up and wait" phase as I wait for the last pictures and information from other people. That's a good excuse for my procrastination on the last four puzzles too.
Out of curiosity I ran a check through CreateSpace about The Pumpkin Project. Surprisingly my proposed price of $25 was very much in line with their estimate of $16 to print.
But there is still the formatting problem. Converting this mess to PDF will be challenging judging from past experiences. Even using page breaks is not a guarantee.
I still have a couple of weeks to think this through. My last pictures must wait until the end of September. At least I have their places ready and waiting.
There is another question to consider. I was very happy doing a give away for Dora's Story. If I print The Pumpkin Project myself, can I still do a give away?
Time to Relax?
The two books are written, edited, covers done. It's time to relax for a few days before starting the next project.
That only happens if a writer puts that book in the drawer. Indie authors have more to do.
Self publishing is popular. The royalties are better. The control is better. The headaches are better.
Each online publisher has a set of rules. Those rules are published and usually easy to understand and follow. Why don't they work?
In order to keep costs down and volume up, these publishers are highly automated. Anyone who uses a computer knows this is asking for problems.
I have trouble with right and left. My online publisher tends to move copy right. I tried to compensate by moving my copy the wrong way.
That was the first reformatting.
Then there is the cover. The dimensions given on the site sound fine but don't work. They are too big.
Second reformatting.
On one cover I'm up to the third reformat.
At least the interior was approved after the last reformat.
Next I get to tackle the ebook formats.
Time to relax?
My next draft is already up on my computer.
That only happens if a writer puts that book in the drawer. Indie authors have more to do.
Self publishing is popular. The royalties are better. The control is better. The headaches are better.
Each online publisher has a set of rules. Those rules are published and usually easy to understand and follow. Why don't they work?
In order to keep costs down and volume up, these publishers are highly automated. Anyone who uses a computer knows this is asking for problems.
I have trouble with right and left. My online publisher tends to move copy right. I tried to compensate by moving my copy the wrong way.
That was the first reformatting.
Then there is the cover. The dimensions given on the site sound fine but don't work. They are too big.
Second reformatting.
On one cover I'm up to the third reformat.
At least the interior was approved after the last reformat.
Next I get to tackle the ebook formats.
Time to relax?
My next draft is already up on my computer.
