eBook delay

Hmmm. I said I'd post about a month ago. Obviously, I didn't. There wasn't much to say.

1) I don't have a new computer yet. But -- I plan to buy one next month.

2) I've lost a lot of steam for the project. There's no pressure to get anything done.

3) I've got some new projects going that have nothing to do with the book.

On the other hand, I did do a little bit of work on the Kindle version. I hoped that I could simply follow the directions given on the Kindle Direct Publishing site to change my book file into a Kindle file. So I worked on the file and then had my daughter download the Kindle previewer on her computer. Unfortunately, when I uploaded my file, some parts worked great (the table of contents) but others needed a lot of fixing. (The stars on the title page all turned into "é." Odd things were happening with chapter numbers and my small caps at the beginning of chapters. And other stuff.) I will really need to do more in-depth editing than Kindle thinks.

 So don't expect more news for a while. A month, maybe? In the meantime, if you're interested in an eBook version of Just Like Magic, leave a comment and let me know which format you would like it in (Kindle? EPUB? PDF?). That will help me make decisions later.

Have a good month!

Happy New Year!

I am pleased to say that I did finish the e-book publishing course. Which means that I took and passed the final exam. I have in no way absorbed all the material or started applying it.

And with a major vacation coming up in two-and-a-half weeks, it's not going to happen soon. I hate to say it, but don't expect any more updates until mid-February. At that point I may have:

1. More time.
2. A new computer? That one depends partly on my tax refund this year.
3. A new head of steam for the project.

We'll see.

If you have read Just Like Magic, I hope you enjoyed it. For those of you nearby, the library has purchased two copies but is apparently still cataloguing them; they aren't available yet. But you can still put them on hold!

Best wishes for 2013!

My plans for the rest of the year

"Now comes the hour to put the game* away,

And greet the joyous season of the year.

The time of Tree and Star is drawing near;

Forget the search* and revel in the day!"

Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two

* Substitute "blog" for "game" or "search."

Here are my plans for December:

1) Keep up with and finish my online e-book publishing class.

2) Put this blog aside until January 6.

3) Enjoy the holiday season!

I'm getting some good information from my class, but I won't be applying it until the new year. So Happy Holidays, everyone! If you've read Just Like Magic, I hope you enjoyed it. 

My writing plans for next year are, in this order: publish the e-book versions of Just Like Magic, market it, and continue to work on the sequel.

P.S. I got my first royalty payment on Friday!

Still learning...

Learning about e-book publishing, that is.  There are four more weeks in the class and I expect that absorbing and applying it all will not be done until next year sometime, what with the holidays and all...

Frankly, it's been nice to have a break from a heavy writing/editing schedule. I've woven a basket, sorted a drawer, read some books. I'll get back to the publishing and promoting, I promise, but at an easier pace.

Odds and ends

1) I have started my online "Publish and Sell Your E-Books" class, and from what I read in the syllabus, the class should help me get my book out in several formats, not just Kindle. And getting Just Like Magic published as an e-book should help me with marketing, too. Cheaper prices = more people willing to take a chance on it. Right?

2) Just this morning, I had a couple of couple of good ideas for the sequels.

3) I'll be getting a royalty check at the end of the month.

4) It's not a big royalty check.

5) Someone bought a copy of my book without me knowing who it is!

It doesn't take much to make me happy, does it?

It's in the catalog...

The Fort Vancouver Regional Library catalog, that is. They've ordered two copies (yeah!), so go ahead and place your holds now -- if you have a FVRL library card, that is.  ;)

I'm still waiting for the "Look Inside" feature to show up on my book on Amazon.

This week my e-Book publishing class starts. I'll find out if my computer can handle it or if I'll have to use library computers.

This post is late because I was away for the weekend. Sorry!

That's it...

How much does self-publishing cost?

I can't speak for everyone who self-publishes, but here's what it has cost me so far to get Just Like Magic available for purchase:

$29.49   iStock photo credits, for my cover photo. I still have a few credits left, too.
$  7.08   First proof copy from CreateSpace, including shipping.
$25.00   Extended distribution from CreateSpace (optional).
$  7.11   Second proof copy from CreateSpace, including shipping.
$23.40   Five copies of final version for me, at author's discount, including shipping & tax.

Total: $92.08.

Note: Just Like Magic is 198 pages long. Price for proofs and author's copies is based on the book length; my copies are $3.22 each plus shipping and tax. (The second proof copy had two more pages, hence the higher price.) For fatter books, you need fatter wallets.

Buying an ISBN would have cost me from $10 to $250. But I didn't; I used the free CreateSpace ISBN. If I had paid someone to edit the interior or design the cover, that would have cost me hundreds more. But I didn't; I did it myself, with help from friends and family.

Further expenses? Well, marketing. I really haven't done anything about marketing besides this blog and posting about it on my Facebook page. Sending out review copies will obviously cost me for books and postage.

Considering that I don't expect to make a mint from this, I think the cost is reasonable.

But those are just the monetary expenses. There are also time costs: 6 months of my spare time to get it published, and that's considering that I had the whole book written when I started. That 6 months included formatting, designing, rewriting, waiting for proofs, proofing, waiting for other people to proof, and more proofing. Having more experience now, I don't think another book would take me six months.

And there are emotional costs, too, to putting your baby out in front of the public. Cheers, jeers, and silence all take their tolls.

Meanwhile--I have signed up for a (free! through my library) online course entitled "Publish and Sell Your E-Books" which starts in about ten days. I think I'll let what I learn in that course guide me in my attempts to get the e-version out. What research I did this week into publishing for the Kindle led me to believe that 1) it's so simple a child could do it, but 2) you have to be a child with a PhD in HTML. So I think I'll see what I learn in the class before going further with that.

This week--more break time for me! Have a good week, everyone.