A Novel Finished

This quarantine has lasted long enough that I actually finished editing this novel.  Now I suppose I need to make some decisions about how to publish it.  I guess Amazon is what everyone does now, especially since no one can go to physical bookstores anyway.

If any of you have any useful advice or suggestions, let me know.  I've never published a book before.

17 comments:

Gringo said...

You could use Calibre software to turn it into an e-book.

james said...

I was told that prospective readers judge books by their covers--in particular the Amazon thumbnail images. Also, getting it classified precisely is a big plus--bad reviews by somebody who was expecting something different can be a killer when you've only had a few sales.

I'm still working on getting a cover for mine, and I haven't figured out how to do publicity, so I don't speak from experience here.

james said...

I forgot to add: "Congratulations, it's a book!"

Calibre has been a very nice program, but to sell you need the rest of the infrastructure.

E Hines said...

Congratulation finishing it.

James is right about the cover. This guy has done all my covers; I heartily recommend him: https://rembertdesigns.com/about/

I started out publishing through Xlibris. They do a very good job of physical production of hardback and paperback as well as eBook formats, but they're expensive, and their claimed marketing support is virtually non-existent. They mass blast press releases--which they expect you to write (they offer drafts, but their ideas are pretty poor, as is their writing)--to TV, radio, and newspapers, and then they're done. They're not worth the price. Especially for someone like me, who can't sell water in a desert.

I've since switched to using Amazon's self-publishing facility--it's nearly foolproof, at least for straight print--no imagery, tables, graphs, etc. I'd expect them to handle those well, too; I've just never had to test that. Their self-publishing will walk you through the various parameters you want surrounding your publishing and sale, but you still also have to write your own long and short blurbs. I write in MS Word, but the facility can handle a number of formats and convert them to Kindle's proprietary format. They make it easy to edit the published version and republish, too. https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200635650 Their menuing is a bit obtuse, but ultimately you'll wind up uploading your manuscript: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200645680#step5 and proceeding from there.

Their self-publishing facility also has a proof-reading/preview application that's pretty good, but I prefer to see the product in its final destination: a Kindle reader. If you don't want to drop a dime on one (their Fire might also serve as a pretty good tablet, it looks like), Amazon gives away a Kindle reader for laptops and PCs that's almost as good as their stand-alone readers: https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Digital-Services-LLC-Download/dp/B00UB76290

For classification, look at other books on Amazon in the same area as yours and copy their key words and classifications, or use some of either that are close but not the same to achieve some differentiaion. If you can get a name or two to review and tout your book, their blurbs would be good to include.

Amazon also seems to have a facility for publishing hard copy books (I think they use a print on demand subcontractor), but I've never tried them.

Good luck.

Eric

Anonymous said...

Amazon has two options for publishing electronically - KDP, and KDP Select. The difference is if you go Select, you get some additional money but you lose the option to sell the book elsewhere (Kobo, Barnes&Noble, or going through Draft2Digital for even wider sales.)

For formatting software, I've used Caliber, and currently use Vellum. Vellum is Mac only and costs $250, but I release 3-8 books per year, so the program paid for itself after the first book.

For covers, I've hired artists, and for my current live series, I use SelfPublishedBookCovers. com. The selection and quality vary a lot, so caveat emptor.

I'm Amazon exclusive at the moment, because Barnes & Noble's terms of service for Nook are less-than-good in terms of intellectual property rights. Kobo fouled up badly in 2013, and I don't trust them any longer. I have not used D2D or other distributors, so I can't give you any opinions or experiences with them.

I've also published with a university press, but that's a very different experience.

Congratulations on finishing! You're far ahead of many. :)

LittleRed1

Grim said...

The cover I have, at least.

Gringo said...

For those who use Calibre for ebooks, you have undoubtedly noticed that Calibre doesn't do the best job in converting PDFs to EPUB or Amazon Mobi/AZW3. Calibre also warns that it doesn't do that good a job with PDFs, so the user is forewarned.mobipocket creator does a better job of converting PDFs to EPUB or Amazon Mobi etc.

Tom said...

Yay! Sounds like you have plenty of experienced advice. I look forward to seeing it!

Grim said...

By the way, James, if you need a cover I do know a good artist who takes commissions.

james said...

Thanks! I was thinking of throwing the work my daughter's way, but she's going to be tied up for another year with other things. Can you ping me with the info?

Grim said...

Done.

David Foster said...

There's a site mostly for authors called the Mad Genius Club, where a lot of the practicalities of publishing are discussed...they are mostly SF/fantasy authors, with some historical fiction. Might be worthwhile dropping by.

https://madgeniusclub.com/

David Foster said...

I notice that Mad Genius Club has a whole collection of posts called Navigating from Writing to Publication:

https://madgeniusclub.com/navigating-from-writing-to-publication/

Grim said...

Thanks. I've been reading through some of that.

Tom said...

I did finally think of some good advice for you: Start on the sequel. Cheers!

(Does it count as advice if it's entirely self-serving?)

ymarsakar said...

Covers and editors can be found on Upwork or Fiverr. Artists post their work at various websites like tumblr and what not.

You will need to do your own marketing and appear on podcasts and interviews, to spread the word. Otherwise, given the competition in kindle ebooks, it may or may not spread around.

ymarsakar said...

Instead of Calibre, I use other free online websites that have updated algorithms for conversion. So long as it is merely text and some pictures, it works well for kindle/ebook/whatever conversions.

Special formating, probably causes an issue.