Self-publishing

It's been a while since I updated my blog because I've been busy pursuing the traditional publishing route.  I think it's more difficult than it should be to get an agent to look at your work.  However, with the steep rise in population comes a steep rise in the number of people competing for the same thing I want, which is to get my written work out there. 

After having numerous agents reject me after my sending them requested pages for my first book after they responded positively to my query, I've decided to publish my book myself since self-publishing doesn't have the stigma attached to it that it used to.  Vanity publishers whose only goal is to make as much money off you as they can still exist, but there are now several options for writers who can't seem to get their foot in the door of an agent and don't want to submit their book to a single publisher's slush pile and then wait for a year or more to find out if the publisher wants to take on their book. 

There are a few things that you need to do when you self-publish.  First off, you have to make sure you polish your manuscript, which means edit, re-edit, and re-edit again, which I have done.  Have test readers go through your work and critique it, which I have done.  After the initial test reading, I made a major revision of the book I'm nearly ready to publish and had test readers read it again, which resulted in completely positive feedback over the plot and characters and no complaints regarding anything in the book. 

After the polishing is done, you need to format your work for the publisher.  I've decided to go with Smashwords, and so I downloaded their free formatting guide, and I've gone through my book and made the necessary formatting changes.  Find/replace is a powerful tool, and with the detailed information given in Smashwords' formatting guide, I was able to quickly make the changes required for a manuscript that will be made available in numerous formats. 

 

Next up is the cover art.  I looked at Smashwords' recommended cover artist list and browsed most of their pages.  Unfortunately, it sounds like most of the listed cover artists use stock photos to create a book cover.  As I'm certain there are no stock photos that come close to portraying how I envision the cover art for my books, I have begun contacting artists who make the kind of images I have in mind for the covers of my books. 

Once the cover art is done, my first book will be ready to launch!  That means I have to find time to hammer out the details I'm going to share on my web site and begin building it, since I already own my domain name, so there's no excuse to slack off on getting it up and running around the same time I publish my book.