Helping New Authors Publish

I just had an e-mail from someone who has written a book and is looking for a publisher. It's an exciting moment in an author's life when they realize they are ready to share their work with the world. I wrote back to her, and I'll share here with you what I shared with her:

I use the self-publishing that is offered by CreateSpace.com, which is a subsidiary company of Amazon. There is no cost to create your book with them, and you'll have a choice of paperback, Kindle or both. They have a cover creator which is also free and offers many designs to choose from. They offer word templates that are all ready for you to add your text, and will number the pages and put headers at the top for you (left and right pages are different from each other ... maybe the title of your book on the left, and the author/editor name on the right. They also offer free telephone consultants who are here in the US and speak English. I've found them very easy to work with.

What they don't offer is proofreading and editing for free. They offer it as a paid service, but I haven't checked into that.

I would suggest that you start by proofreading your content for grammatical and spelling/punctuation accuracy. Have a friend or co-author do the same. Next, hire an editor to go over the book and look for consistency, tone, sequence (if that applies) etc.

Then take a look at CreateSpace to see  how comfortable you are with their site. Don't hesitate to use their free telephone help line if you don't see how and where to get started. I have a lot of fun beginning with the cover creator. Once I have that done, my books begin to feel real, and I add the content into their word templates. Their step-by-step guide is easy to follow. When they receive all of your content, they will offer you an online "Proof" and also offer a hard copy (paperback) at a very reasonable price (mine are usually between 2 and 4 dollars, plus shipping. Having that proof copy in your hands is an exciting moment. Finding more errors as you read through the hard copy is inevitable - but that's why a paper proof is so important. To fix the errors, you simply open your online proof copy and edit, and ask them to run it again for another proof copy. I've done that with some of my books three or four times until I finally get it right. And then when I am satisfied with my work, I tell them to publish. I order any number of copies to sell (or give) locally to friends and family, each at the same low price of the proof copy.

 You'll set the price for you book using the guide that is on the site. CreateSpace will also invite you to send the copy through another format to produce the e-book copy for Kindle. Amazon will have both your paperback and kindle edition posted on their site within a day or two's time.

Lots to do - get started, and know that I'm here to answer any questions that come up - or just be a cheerleader for you. I also do proofreading and editing, but I have to charge for that, as I'm retired and that is my new job. You can check out my prices at my website. Here's the link to my services page:Terry's Thoughts and Threads Services

Wishing you confidence and good outcomes! Happy Thanksgiving.

Related articles

• Proofing Your CreateSpace Paperback (aseiwn.com)
• Copyediting - Proofreading Comments Summary (Part Four) (kristinastanley.net)

I'm offering a coupon for a Discounted Download  (April 19 through 25th) Here's the information you'll need:

 Multiple Sclerosis, an Enigma http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/152332

Your coupon code for 50% off is TC78K

The print version remains discounted at Create Space: here is the information you'll need for that:

https://www.createspace.com/3711313 

and enter this discount code at the checkout: VXXURQMH

Please consider writing a review at Smashwords, Amazon, Goodreads or in an email to me - I would love to post the reviews here for others to read.

 Today's writing prompt: What five people would you invite to a dinner party, and why?

I have to expect that my immediate family (husband, daughter and companion, son and companion, and grandchildren) would already be at the table with me. And, we always set an extra place. So here are my six guests:

In that case, I would like to invite Hillary Clinton (accompanied by her husband, Bill), in order to thank her for her service to our country as Secretary  of State in such difficult  years.  

I would next want to invite Barack Obama and his wife, and two daughters. I would want to thank them for the decision to stay at the White House at great personal expense, and for the benefit their presence gives to the rest of America.

These six people are currently in the position to advocate for improved health care for all Americans, and are currently receiving top notch medical care for themselves. Their futures are assured by earned pensions, and their safety is in good hands with the secret service protection no matter where they are in the world. 

All six of them have every reason to want to sit together at the same table; I would love to have my family break bread and have a chance to talk freely with each of them.

As a teacher, I would want to engage the Obama daughters in a conversation about how they are developing their own social and political beliefs, and how the move to Washington may have affected those. My own grandchildren would no doubt have some comments to share about attending public high school in a state widely impacted by the economic decline.  

As a retired teacher whose pension was affected by a premature retirement caused by a diagnosis and treatment that weakened me both physically and emotionally, I would want both Hillary and Barack to hear my limited economic rewards for thirty years of dedicated, 'highly qualified' teaching. I would want my son to have a chance to explain to them that though he works more than forty hours through multiple positions as a highly skilled public servant he is not yet entitled to quality health insurance. I would want my daughter to have an opportunity to ask both of them how they are working to improve the long-term economic planning to benefit her children. I would want my husband to have a chance to point out that his years of unpaid elder care have limited his maximum earnings towards pension and social security benefits. 

I would like to give our dinner guests a healthy menu, one which would feature vegetables, grains, clear filtered water and fresh fruit for dessert. I would like to host this dinner during cold winter weather, using our wood stove to supplement the oil furnace that we really cannot afford to turn higher. While the stove would keep them comfortable, they would see that carrying in the wood and maintaining the fire and the area surrounding the stove would take energy and attention, more so than simply turning a thermostat higher. 

I would ask our guests to bow their head for a moment of silence, meditation or prayer, just as I did with my colleagues for thirty years of public education. And I would teach them the Pledge of Allegiance in American Sign Language, explaining the meaning so evidently attached to each word's sign. And then, after dinner, I would offer a simple grace expressing thankfulness for the healthy food and good company shared. 

And I would wish them all well.

Related articles

• Why am I Eating Like This? (shrimpstirfry.wordpress.com)
• The Pledge of Allegiance in American Sign Language (terrypalardy)

Day 18: Open a book and write: Also, the FREE DOWNLOAD TODAY

I'm offering a coupon for a FREE DOWNLOAD  (APRIL 17 AND 18) Here's the information you'll need:

Generating coupon code for Multiple Sclerosis, an Enigma http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/152332

Your coupon code for FREE is CJ23V

The print version remains discounted at Create Space: here is the information you'll need for that:

https://www.createspace.com/3711313 

and enter this discount code at the checkout: VXXURQMH

Please consider writing a review at Smashwords, Amazon, Goodreads or in an email to me - I would love to post the reviews here for others to read.

 

 

 

Today's Health Awareness writing prompt is: open a book, see a phrase, and write about it for 15 minutes.

 

I opened a book by Robert Fulgham, found on my daughter's bookshelf. The phrase I read is:"... it can always be worse than the list"

 

Of course, my first thought is, what list? But that would take me away from the intent of the prompt. So instead, I will write about a list that I have been following all week while staying at her house.

 

It's a list of morning chores:  after getting the kids' morning needs met so that they are ready on time for the high school bus, there are the animals to care for: not many, but their needs are very different.

 

The dog has an egg beat into his morning dry food, so his bowl must first be washed. As his water bowl has to be filled anyway, I wash that, too. I stir his egg in his empty bowl, then add a scoop of dog food, then stir it into the egg. He sits patiently at my feet as I do this. I wash his water bowl then, and half fill it, and put both bowls on the floor. If there are leftovers of the kids' toast or bagels (not usually) I'll add that to his food, too. 

 

Then the fish - there are only two, and they don't need much. A small pinch of flaked fish food and a small pinch of freeze-dried blood worms (which don't look like worms at all.) Then top off the water in their tank, and watch them find the food. The sucker fish actually turns on his back and skims along just underneath the surface of the water, scooping up the flakes that are floating there, as though he were cleaning them from the sides of the tank. And the small black shark with the pointed nose and two tiny whiskers darts around the tanks foliage, snatching for the blood worms, and rejecting the flakes. To each his own.

 

Last on the pet list is the family's bird, a cockatiel (I may have that name wrong) who greets me each morning when I remove his cage cover with a seductive whistle. I remove, wash and refill his water, and then dump the remainders of his seeds (mostly empty husks) and fill it with new seed. If I remember, I'll give him a slice of peeled apple, or a bit of fresh lettuce. He talks in chirps to me as I'm doing it, interspersing his language with whistles he has learned. I've taught him to imitate the sound of a cardinal, and he does that quite well. He somewhere learned how to imitate a donkey, and a chirp that sounds very much like 'hurry up,' which gets me moving or calls me back to finish whatever I'd forgotten. And yes, I have to agree with Robert Fulgham: it could always be worst than the list: it could be many more animals, with pens that need to be cleaned out. Or it could be many more animals and not enough food to share. It can always be worse.

 

The animals have been wonderful company with me this week - the dog curls up in bed at night with me, the bird greets me flirtatiously each morning, and the fish are mesmerizing to watch as they share the tank gracefully. When the kids come home from school, there are more lists of reminders, but they, too, are enjoyable and loving. 

 

Life could certainly be worse than it is! I've had a wonderful two weeks with them all. 

 

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• Smashwords Surpasses 100,000 Indie Ebooks
• Fish Oil Supplements Won't Help in Multiple Sclerosis: Study
• APW: More on Reviewers and Reviews

Celebrate! Multiple Sclerosis an Enigma is now at Smashwords! Free!

After many months of trying on my own, I finally admitted defeat and hired an expert book formatter to get my book into the demanding format Smashwords required. It is now available in many e-reader forms: Nook, Sony, Kindle and more.  To celebrate this achievement, I'm offering a coupon for a FREE DOWNLOAD FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW (APRIL 17 AND 18)  Here's the information you'll need:

Generating coupon code for Multiple Sclerosis, an Enigma http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/152332

Your coupon code is CJ23V

The print version remains discounted at Create Space: here is the information you'll need for that:

https://www.createspace.com/3711313 

and enter this discount code at the checkout: VXXURQMH

Please consider writing a review at Smashwords, Amazon, Goodreads or in an email to me - I would love to post the reviews here for others to read.

And now,

Day 17 Health Awareness Prompt: 

What is a lesson you learned the hard way?

Sometimes we let our ego get in the way of logic. After trying to meet the requirements of Smashwords' e-pub format and failing repeatedly, you would think I could have allowed myself to seek help ... well, I did seek help - I asked my son to take a look at the mess I had made at the time of the first failure ... the helpful directions at Smashwords were highly technical in language ... and as my son wasn't there when I made the errors, he couldn't help me puzzle out the solution.

I tried again. I tried a third time. I read the difficult guidelines over and over, trying to absorb by osmosis their meaning.  As best I could tell, my computer was unable to leave Microsoft Office and work solely in Word, and so my file was continually rejected. 

Only when I learned that other authors left the formatting woes to folks who offered to work with their files for a nominal fee (in my case, offers ranged between twenty and fifty dollars) did I let myself seek that help. 

The first formatter advertised his rates as between twenty-five and fifty, and when he learned that my book had twenty chapters he quoted at the high end but advised that his work was guaranteed and would be completed within 72 hours.  I said thank you very much, but I can't afford that right now.

Discouraged, I went back to the other authors, and asked what they thought of the offer. One gave me the name of another formatter on the list, who had done the work slowly and carefully and for less money. I contacted that person, sent her my file, and she agreed that she could do it in a matter of two weeks. She sent me the completed file last night.

But in transferring it from my email to my desktop, and then on to Smashwords, the issue of Works to Word again reared its head. Her file was apparently corrupted by the process. She had an answer, though, and sent the file again through something called Wetransfer.com. I was able to save from the email without opening the document, and forwarded it on successfully to Smashwords. 

Once again, though, Smashwords rejected my submission, saying that the jpeg cover image was too small. I had encountered that problem before, when I submit the cover for a Rack Card order with Vistaprint. I had enlarged it to their required size, but it became 'pixelated'  and the result was blurry. I ordered it anyway, not expecting perfection and happy to settle with what I had. Smashwords wasn't of a like mind. They don't settle.

The formatter helped me again, this time in somehow enlarging the jpeg without blurring the image, bless her.

What does this teach me about myself, and how do I connect this to health?  A year ago, when I was trying to submit my first book to Smashwords, I was in a different place, emotionally. I was continually butting my head against the proverbial brick wall, seeing no way around or over it. Calmer now, I am often remembering my dad's advice ... to turn to a new direction that will benefit others as well as myself. 

Hiring someone to do the work for me made sense, just as it makes sense for other authors to hire me to improve their drafts through proofreading, or editing. We cannot all be good at everything; knowing that, and choosing to do what we are good at, is a privilege adults have. Schools expect students to succeed in every subject - which is why Edison, Einstein and other highly intelligent creative thinkers do better learning in their own smaller sphere.  The cartoon that so eloquently addresses this issue is one that shows a rabbit, a bear, a turtle, a fish and some other creature. They are all asked to demonstrate proficiency in climbing a tree. Point made.