Frustration with Simple Things
We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.
Admittedly, I’m tech-challenged. I know it, and I don’t mind saying so. But it frequently seems to me like people make things unnecessarily difficult. Guess they enjoy watching us dummies squirm. And what’s involved in today’s subject isn’t even all that high-tech.
For at least a week now, I’ve been trying to load Heaven Sent into CreateSpace so they will make it available for purchase as a paperback. As widespread as the use of e-readers has become, they still lack a bunch covering 100% of the market. Many of my friends and family members have asked me when they can purchase a paper copy to read because they don’t have e-readers. I’m sure there are many around the world who still buy paperback books.
At first, the problem was getting my 8.5 x 11 size manuscript to fit their 6 x 9 page size. After several attempts to conform it by adjusting the margins, I finally realized I needed to change the paper size in my Word document to 6 x 9. Duh!
That change move the process along, but then I had to go through several do-overs to get the margins and gutter right. In order to leave enough margin on the right side of the left-hand pages and on the left side of the right-hand pages, I ended up increasing the margins on both sides to the point that the outer-edge margins are a bit excessive. Okay, I can live with that.
Then, I found that the cover I used for e-readers didn’t have enough dots per inch to suit CreateSpace, resulting in a blurry cover. Back to my cover designer, Steena Holmes, for a redo. She graciously provided me a new .pdf cover that fit their requirements.
That done, I found that my bio photo also needed more dpi. Since it’s from my own photo collection, I didn’t have anyone to convert it, so I had to change to another photo from a vacation. Whew!
Finally, I received CreateSpace’s blessings. They sent me a message that everything was okay to proceed.
That’s when I realized I had a beautiful front cover but a blank back cover and spine. So I asked their support desk if I could transfer my bio page from the back page of the book to the back cover. They wrote back that I could use their Cover Creator to design front and back covers and spine.
When I tried to upload my front cover, their software would not accept .pdf, which is the format of the only cover I’ve got with 300 dpi. Arrrrgh!
I had to ask Steena for help once again, which she graciously and promptly provided. She may be wondering now why she ever went into the business of designing book covers.
When I received the new image from Steena, I wondered what would go wrong next. Sure enough, the image was too large for Cover Creator, so I used Microsoft Office Picture Manager to reduce the size, but Cover Creator continues to show it full-sized, which doesn’t allow all the words to get on the cover. *Censored* I’m wondering now whether or not I’ll ever get the paperback format on the market.
Do you have trouble dealing with the technical side of writing, blogging or publishing? Surely I’m not the only dummy around. Share some of your frustrations. I love hearing from you.
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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tag above.
For more information about his book, click the “Heaven Sent” tag above.
Contact him at davwalktx@yahoo.com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx
Filed under: Miscellaneous Tagged: book cover art, CreateSpace, David N. Walker author, Microsoft Office Picture Manager, Steena Holmes
