My Adventures in E-Publishing begin!

[rebelcheese]

Yay?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007N61X4Q

I tried to pitch this novel around last year and early this year, and almost got an agent. But after the collapse of Borders all the bites vanished and I had no more luck. So I am selling my novel on the Kindle for $2.99.

If you choose to read it I hope you enjoy it and any feedback is appreciated so my next work will be better. If you enjoy it, tell whoever you want about it.

I'm hoping to do what I can to increase the visibility of the work, but frankly my resources and free time are limited. I did tweet about it (though I sound emo about it because frankly I think the novel's DOA sales-wise).

If things go wrong or DOA I will not bump this thread up with pleas for sales. That's not what this thread is for. It's more of me wanting to talk about my experiences with Kindle self-publishing and allowing anyone to sound off on what they think about my novel(s) (even if just based on the preview) or to provide any kind of advice.

From henceforth unless I e-publish a new work, I will be just updating with blog entries, sales figures, whether I got reviewed anywhere, etc.

The worst part so far was the Table of Contents. It took me forever to figure out how to make it come out half-decent and there is STILL a mild glitch in it that I just plain can't figure out how to fix. I wish I could figure out what I was doing wrong. At least it seems to successfully link to the chapter in question there's just a weird dash for no apparent reason.

[kaitie]

Your Amazon link didn't work for me. Could you correct it? I was gonna check it out.

[merrihiatt]

I think the novel's DOA sales-wise

Why do you think this? If you just put the e-book up for sale, you need to give it some time.

The link didn't work for me either. Amazon is currently having a bit of trouble with e-books coming off of the free promotion not appearing all of a sudden. They're working on it. I don't know if that's the problem or if the link is bad.

[James D. Macdonald]

Is this your book? http://www.amazon.com/Nanomancers-ebook/dp/B007N61X4Q/

Nanomancers [Kindle Edition]

Mackenzie Haa

[EngineerTiger]

Welcome aboard, RebelCheese. I understand completely with regard to limited time and funds. One place you might try is Goodreads. It is an excellent place to link up with readers who enjoy your genre. Once you join, just look for reading groups that read your kind of book. Goodreads also has a number of resources to help their members who are also readers. It's a slow process but, by participating in groups, you can at least link up with potential readers; many of whom have their own blogs, tweets, and facebook pages. Another word of mouth channel to help you spread the word.

One caution, while most groups are happy to have writers join them, they usually have specific forums to promote your work. They also prefer that you participate on the other forums as just another member or reader. In other words, don't just join to spam about your writing. By participating in the other discussions, you can build a rapport with the members so that they'll get to know you and be more interested in reading your books.

[James D. Macdonald]

If that is your book, I'm not seeing a cover image or a look-inside. That could really slow down sales.

Are you sure it uploaded correctly?

[rebelcheese]

Originally Posted by James D. Macdonald

If that is your book, I'm not seeing a cover image or a look-inside. That could really slow down sales.

Are you sure it uploaded correctly?

I honestly have no idea about the uploading correctly, I don't even have a Kindle. I thought I had turned on the look-inside and got the Table of Contents to work. I'll log in and see what's going on.

I can't afford to commission a cover nor have the software to make one myself. I don't have the money to acquire either.

How do I turn on the look-inside?

And yes, that is my book.

[WackAMole]

Originally Posted by rebelcheese

I honestly have no idea about the uploading correctly, I don't even have a Kindle. I thought I had turned on the look-inside and got the Table of Contents to work. I'll log in and see what's going on.

I can't afford to commission a cover nor have the software to make one myself. I don't have the money to acquire either.

How do I turn on the look-inside?

And yes, that is my book.

Doesn't the kindle service provide a generated generic cover if you don't have your own? I seem to recall reading something about that.

As for having no cover. I kind of feel like maybe you were a bit lazy in that department. Ultimately, it's the writing and the story that matters, but how you present it or introduce it is just as important.

I know that it is terribly exciting to forge ahead and get your stuff out there but its equally important for the sake of your integrity as a writer to not come across as lazy.

Don't be in such a rush to publish that you throw the baby out with the bathwater :P

I am poor as dirt. I get your dilemma. What i would recommend is taking a deep breath, pull your publication off, get your ducks in a row and then resubmit.

I begged a copy of photoshop off of a friend, took some pictures, manipulated the pictures in photoshop, (which took me an entire day of swearing at my computer and sifting through some really terrible instructional videos on you tube) added a title with a cool free font i found online and completed a pretty decent looking cover. I do admit to having a little bit of talent in the art department and that helps.

I guess I am taking the long way around of saying, take your time. Learn some new stuff and then put it back up on amazon.

Here we have this wonderful new medium that is allowing some of us who just can't get past the slush pile to get our writing out there, and there seems to be an adundance of people who think that because it's a free service, that it's somehow OKAY to slack a little.

With e-publishing I think that it is terribly, terribly important that when we do choose to put our stuff out there that we give it that little extra workover. Publishing in the traditional manner, one gets the advantage of knowing that the publisher they work with has an editor on staff.

In e-publishing, we are our own editors and if you throw sloppy stuff up it's only going to do you a disservice.

I hope this didn't come across as condescending, I didn't mean for it to! I wish you all the best in your endeavors!

[J. Tanner]

Covers are not all that tough if you're okay with abstract design and I think an okayish cover is probably better than no cover at all.

I made this in 10 minutes. If you agree it's okayish, and would like to use it PM me your email address and I'll send you a copy at a size that works for Amazon.



I'd also fix up the comma abuse in your blurb. Readers tend to be a bit judgemental about the quality of the blurb writing and grammar being indicative of the quality of the story. (And if you use commas like this in your story, I'd consider running it through SYW to get help with the grammar.)

Good luck.

[rebelcheese]

Thank you both very much. Yes, that is perfect, Tanner. Thank you very, very, very much. I will PM you it ASAP.

As for proofreading, I did thoroughly check my writing. It's spit-polshed. However, I did not do the same for my summary. That's an easy re-do though.

I'm not a lazy writer, I just don't really know what I'm doing because this is completely new for me. I would rather be walked through this than back out completely especially as someone told me he was already going to buy the book.

[WackAMole]

Originally Posted by rebelcheese

Thank you both very much. Yes, that is perfect, Tanner. Thank you very, very, very much. I will PM you it ASAP.

As for proofreading, I did thoroughly check my writing. It's spit-polshed. However, I did not do the same for my summary. That's an easy re-do though.

I'm not a lazy writer, I just don't really know what I'm doing because this is completely new for me. I would rather be walked through this than back out completely especially as someone told me he was already going to buy the book.

I understand what you mean-this epub stuff is new to me but it's pretty exciting. I am reading through amazon's instructions very carefully as well as their policies. I could be mistaken, but just because you take it off amazon so that you can repost it with cover art and an edited summary, doesn't mean you can't put it right back up? I will do some reading. If you can take it down and then repost it, I would definitely do that just so that you can get that cover on it and fix your summary.

[merrihiatt]

Originally Posted by WackAMole

I could be mistaken, but just because you take it off amazon so that you can repost it with cover art and an edited summary, doesn't mean you can't put it right back up?

Be sure not to unpublish. When you upload a new cover image or a new version of your e-book, it overwrites the old one. If you unpublish and then republish, you'll end up having two e-books with the same title on Amazon and it can be very confusing. There will also be two ASINs.

You can change your description and pricing at any time. Also be aware that when you make a change, you are locked out of your account for about twelve hours and you cannot make changes during that time. Your e-book is still available for sale.

[veinglory]

You need to make a cover. It can be done with free art from sxu, morguefiles or similar and the free programs GIMP or even MSPaint (ETA I see you now have one, great!). You need to let the buyer know you have made some kind of effort presenting the book, in order to have them assume you made some kind of effort writing it. Especially above the 99c level.

[Midian]

Agreed that there are plenty of ways to get a cover. It may not be brilliant but whatever it is, make sure it at least looks professional. J. Tanner's cover above is quite generic but still at least looks good doing it. Always make sure it doesn't look like a home-made photoshop hack job and you'll be better for it.

Good luck!

[Dani]

Lil heads up for everyone: th "look inside" feature is not available until a week after the book has been published. >8/ after that, browsers can see inside.

[J. Tanner]

Originally Posted by Dani

Lil heads up for everyone: th "look inside" feature is not available until a week after the book has been published. >8/ after that, browsers can see inside.

Rebelcheese's book is listed as being published on Jan 13, 2012 so in this case at least there's something more going on than just the normal delay. No idea what though. Amazon KDP customer service might be the most likely source of an answer.

[WackAMole]

Originally Posted by Midian

Agreed that there are plenty of ways to get a cover. It may not be brilliant but whatever it is, make sure it at least looks professional. J. Tanner's cover above is quite generic but still at least looks good doing it. Always make sure it doesn't look like a home-made photoshop hack job and you'll be better for it.

Good luck!

LOL! Funny that you say that..I was pretty worried that's what mine would turn out like. To be honest, I am pretty pleased with it. What i did discover though was that you need a degree in rocket science to use that program effectively. That whole trick of making the background of a photo disappear is just too cool!

Photoshop is wickedly awesome once you get the hang of it i'm sure. I'll probably be too old to type by the time i am done figuring out all the cool things it can do.

What i was kind of wondering: Is there any forum in here for photoshop users? or book covers for that matter? Hmm...I'm gonna go do some searching

[rebelcheese]

Originally Posted by J. Tanner

Rebelcheese's book is listed as being published on Jan 13, 2012 so in this case at least there's something more going on than just the normal delay. No idea what though. Amazon KDP customer service might be the most likely source of an answer.

Yeah that baffled me too considering I put it up just two days ago but I figured it out what it is. I almost put the novel up for sale on that date but saved a draft and didn't post it because I felt it was too early. That's probably what's going on.

I have put the cover in the book and uploaded the new copy and tweaked the summary. The comma abuse in the first paragraph is intentional, all the others are not, and I tried to limit the comma abuse in the other paragraphs and cut out a couple of unnecessary details.

[Midian]

Originally Posted by WackAMole

What i was kind of wondering: Is there any forum in here for photoshop users? or book covers for that matter? Hmm...I'm gonna go do some searching

Yes, there are many but honestly, the best advice I could give you is to go to Lynda.com and take the lessons. Really good stuff, gives you images to practice on and shows you how to do things. There are so many ways to do one thing but what's really important is to learn how to do it well no matter which way you choose to do it.

Seriously, can't recommend Lynda.com enough. In my graphic design classes, we don't even use textbooks. We use Lynda.com as the textbooks.

[JustJas]

There are also plenty of places where you can buy premade covers for very little, and they are exclusive too, meaning you won't see another book with exactly the same cover. I love the idea of designing my own covers but my computer limited in what it can do, so I find this a good option for a professional looking cover. So far I've paid $18 for covers for two short stories -you can see them on my blog on the right if you scroll down.. *SBP

If you are interested just search for premade ebook covers in google and you will find a range of sites. Prices vary but if you do some searching you can find good deals. For people out there who enjoy designing covers I'd suggest this is a very good area to make a little money, as the demand is only going to grow.

*Shameless blog plug

[J. Tanner]

Originally Posted by rebelcheese

Yeah that baffled me too considering I put it up just two days ago but I figured it out what it is. I almost put the novel up for sale on that date but saved a draft and didn't post it because I felt it was too early. That's probably what's going on.

Probably. In that case, it's likely the normal delay as mentioned. Give it a week.

I have put the cover in the book and uploaded the new copy and tweaked the summary. The comma abuse in the first paragraph is intentional, all the others are not, and I tried to limit the comma abuse in the other paragraphs and cut out a couple of unnecessary details.

Fair 'nuff. I read the revised version and I still think it could be improved but I don't want to turn this into a crit thread without you specifically requesting feedback--it was a bit presumptuous of me to raise the subject at all. If you want to post the blurb on AW with a request for such, I'll weigh in, or you can PM me if you don't want to open it up to the masses.

[WackAMole]

Originally Posted by Midian

Yes, there are many but honestly, the best advice I could give you is to go to Lynda.com and take the lessons. Really good stuff, gives you images to practice on and shows you how to do things. There are so many ways to do one thing but what's really important is to learn how to do it well no matter which way you choose to do it.

Seriously, can't recommend Lynda.com enough. In my graphic design classes, we don't even use textbooks. We use Lynda.com as the textbooks.

WOW! Awesome! Thank you! I spent quite a few hours watching tutorials and practicing. The result turned out very good and I was pleased, but I did notice that there are a couple of small flaws where some of the background was not completely deleted. I need to clean up the image a little but i couldnt find any videos that went into a little more detail on the more complicated tasks.
I also had a little trouble changing the color of the puddle my object is lying in. I wanted it to be blood, but it looks more like a muddy puddle of water and when I tried to change it without losing the reflective affects, i failed! LOL
I have time, so I am going to check out that website, and I cannot thank you enough for the tip!

As for the commas, I feel your pain reb! I am editing my entire manuscript right now just for that reason. I hate commas. I tend to use them without even thinking about it, and later i go back and read through and I'm like *WUH???*

Hang in there! and I am watching this thread like crazy because I'm also getting ready to epublish! Good information here and very helpful people.

[Midian]

Originally Posted by WackAMole

I need to clean up the image a little but i couldnt find any videos that went into a little more detail on the more complicated tasks.

I also had a little trouble changing the color of the puddle my object is lying in. I wanted it to be blood, but it looks more like a muddy puddle of water and when I tried to change it without losing the reflective affects, i failed! LOL
.

The hardest part is going to be knowing the result you want and the name of the filter or process that will do it. It will come down to lingo.

Good luck! FYI, lynda.com is not free but it's not at all expensive.

[rebelcheese]

Originally Posted by WackAMole

As for the commas, I feel your pain reb! I am editing my entire manuscript right now just for that reason. I hate commas. I tend to use them without even thinking about it, and later i go back and read through and I'm like *WUH???*

Hang in there! and I am watching this thread like crazy because I'm also getting ready to epublish! Good information here and very helpful people.

I try to avoid comma abuse whenever possible unless it's intentional. However, one thing I have noticed is that actual teenagers tend to abuse commas a lot when they're actually trying to write properly (either that or they write a short of short, staggered sentences). So in the book's prose I'm trying to walk a deliberate balancing act. I want the writing to look professional and dramatic but at the same time try to give the manuscript an authentic fifteen-year-old's voice without the writing flaws.

[J. Tanner]

I see Look Inside is now available on your book.