What day is it?

Ever get that feeling you're forgetting something? I woke with that this morning.

Let's see. It's Thursday, April 14. Hmmm.

Taxes, done. Bills paid. My wedding anniversary is in four days.  Tradition is that we mutually 'forget' the date, then buy each other something for the boat.  Isn't the twenty-fifth the 'teak' anniversary?

The 14th… Thursday… Oh, wait!  THURSDAY! My post on Write On The Water!

Yeah, that would be it. My post.  Okay. Crank up the laptop, fire up the caffeine and regroup the brain cells, which I'd let sleep late this morning.

This is what happens when you burn the candle at both ends. My switch from a full-time day job to full-time writer hasn't done much to improve my schedule. I find I still do some of my best writing done before dawn, but now I can work through the day and into the night as well. I'm working more hours than I ever worked when I got a paycheck, but the difference is that it's satisfying work. Sales on Last Exit have been steadily improving and I've received some wonderful letters from readers as well as growing requests for a printed copy of the book. Some readers wanted to give one as a gift to a non-ebook-reading friend. Some reviewers expressed interest, but prefer printed copies. And there were numerous promotional opportunities such as on Goodreads that require a print book. So for the last week I'd focused my attention on going to print.

First off, I researched all the current options and in the end chose to go with Createspace and upgraded to the Pro account ($35). For one thing, Konrath and numerous other top-selling indie authors use Createspace. They all state that the books look fantastic and that Createspace is cost effective, easy to work with and offers multiple avenues for distribution. I can order copies directly through Amazon at a significant discount and qualify for free shipping, and with the purchase of my own ISBN ($99) I can distribute them however I see fit.

Step one was to format the book to a printable PDF for the 6 x 9" print size I'd selected. Createspace provides multiple downloadable MS Word templates, and from there it was fairly smooth sailing, aside from Word repeatedly trying to auto-format my contents. Once I'd shut most of Word's default auto-complete features I was able to format the text to flow precisely the way I wanted, then convert it to a printable PDF. And now that I knew it totaled 253 pages, I had the dimensions needed to complete the spine and back cover.

The thing about an e-book is that you never have to think about a back cover. I've always loved my book's cover, which I illustrated myself, though between the image and the title there was nothing indicating that most of this story takes place 'on the water.' The back cover gave me the chance to remedy that, and found me digging through my chart collection, as well as my truck's glove-box for a map of New Jersey. I scanned a chart of Sandy Hook and a map of NJ, scaled, positioned and adjusted them to a dimly-lit appearance in keeping with the rest of the image. Insert the blurb and such, fiddle with the contrast a bit, add edges for print bleed, hit 'save as PDF'.

I finished uploading everything late yesterday. From here it's a matter of waiting for a review and approved, which should be within 48 hours or so. Once I sign off on the proof I'm good to go, and from what I understand the entire process can take as little as a week before books are available for sale.

Now if only I can keep track of the rest of my schedule!

(NOTE: I just noticed I'd already received a review reply at 5:43 this morning. It seems I need to make a small and very easy fix to my cover, everything else is good. That's just over 12 hours since I submitted! That'll teach me to sleep late!)

 

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