Cover uploaded to Createspace

Hallelujah! The final pdf of the cover has been uploaded to Createspace, with the spine adjusted for the total number of pages and the spot for the barcode ready and waiting. LAST STEP BEFORE PRINTING!!!! Busy planning the launch now, which will be complete with words, music, wine and treats. And I was just interviewed on the radio, with hubby Roddy Ellias, about how we worked together to create the songs on Roddy"s latest CD, Acts of Light. Listen to CBC In Town and Out between 7 and 9 Saturday morning, July 2. Whoo hoo....and now the fun begins.

FINAL PROOFS APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just approved the final proofs of the interior......I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Completion is in sight.....

Interior proofs -- finito!

Createspace returned the proofs based on my corrected edited text within a week, and they look fantastic. Now we know the page count -- a respectable 220 pages -- so we can adjust the cover in terms of the spine size. Cruising in on the last few steps in terms of getting ready to print anyway. I had about 7 corrections to make, and they will make up to 20 for free. There is a standard form they provide online for corrections, but I had already put them on a separate sheet, which they accepted ( again, as a one time courtesy). Next time I will know. Next thing to adjust is the size of the space left for the barcode. I generated the barcode easily enough (the numbers) but the actual bar design I decided to leave up to them. It is a free service, but the size may be a little large. We shall see. Of course I must now take in a deep breath as I realize that the biggest challenge of all -- marketing -- awaits me now. Endless and ruthless and shameless self promotion, always a hard landscape for writers to navigate, writers being people who prefer skulking in the shadows, writing. More soon --

uploading the manuscript

After a prolonged absence, blog girl has returned. All the errors in the manuscript have been fixed, and ater Createspace kindly agreed to let me upload again, as a one-time courtesy, we are back on track. Design proofs will be sent to me made on the revised manuscript. Again, I need to reiterate that CreateSpace has been both professional and humane in allowing me to do this -- resulting in a better product for both of us. I guess it just goes to show you though how important it is to proofread again and again and again, at every stage. Still not sure how some of the errors were introduced, but I would have been heartbroken had they remained in the book, after having worked so hard to ensure the manuscript was flawless, at least as far as being grammatically correct and with the right spellings and usage of words. The rest, well, you will have to judge that for yourselves, oh gentle readers. Still aiming for a summer launch, but may wait for the fall, when I anticipate that the first draft of my second book will be done. A nice synchronicity there....

Converting from Word

Having now received the first 20 odd pages of interior formatted text from CreateSpace, I have a few words of wisdom to pass on. First, never stop proofreading! After uploading my word manuscript, which had been edited by a professional book editor, I spoke with CreateSpace about design options and ideas (where to put the page numbers, choice of fonts, font size, where to start each new chapter and so on) and waited for the first design mock up to arrive as a pdf. It looks quite good, but errors had crept in which were not in the original uploaded manuscript. Fibres had become fibbers, Sobeys had become Sobers, and so on. Also, indents changed from the original uploaded manuscript. I don't know enough about the technology to understand how this happened, but it is important to be aware of. I had blithely assumed that if it was perfect going in as a Word file, it would remain perfect after the formatting as a pdf. WRONG. So, I am accepting the kind offer of another book editor friend of mine to go over the whole thing for me to spot the new errors. This is important, because if the mistakes are the result of their formatting, they are printers errors and you will not be charged for having them corrected. If you change your mind on something however, of course these are author's alterations and you must pay for them to be fixed, and I believe CreateSpace was charging a whopping $5 per change, which could soon add up. Which all goes to show, keep proofreading throughout the process. I would have been devastated to find all these errors once the book was in print, after thinking I had done everything within my power to submit a "perfect' manuscript. On the plus side, CreateSpace has been very helpful, making suggestions for design and also responding to any and all questions. Their community space is also very helpful, with fellow self publishers responding to questions with helpful tips and personal experiences. Until the next proof....

Out of the drawer and uploaded!!!!

Good morning to everyone! My novel is actually out of the drawer and has been uploaded to CreateSpace, along with the cover! It was remarkably easy, and I am taking advantage of their current sale for interior formatting and design. The next time vampire is the IRS. Because there is normally a 30 per cent witholding tax in the US with Amazon, and because Canada has a treaty with the US so that we don't have to pay it, I need a tax identification number for the IRS, which involves a form known as W-7. I have to send that off today and hope they give me a number quickly. I am impressed with the way CreateSpace is set up, very neat and step by step, with explanations, and they have called me a number of times to set up the initial consultation on the interior design but I have always been out, so we have done it all through e-mail and my CreateSpace message centre. So far so good. There was a lengthy design questionnaire which I filled out, and I must say, I was very glad to have done some reading on the subject before I had to fill it in. Also, when I signed on with CreateSpace, they sent me a link to a downloadable book with 555 ways to promote my self published book, which seem very useful. More soon....time to start filling the empty drawer with my second novel, The Third Road, set in 1950s Malaya.

April publication?????

I am ashamed to see that it has been weeks since my last entry. However, here is the scoop. I went to Collections Canada and obtained my ISBN, free of charge, and with surprising ease!!!! The interior text has undergone a thorough proofreading. The cover is finished, and I have just discovered a free online barcode generator http://www.terryburton.co.uk/barcodewriter/generator/ . Life is good. It is interesting though, with every step of the process, you hit a fork in the road. Current prongs: Canadian price for the barcode, US price, or a generic code which does not indicate price? The latter seems preferable, except the big book chains won't accept them for sale. Hmm. Also, the price itself: 12.95? 14.95? And now, should I take advantage of the current sale at CreateSpace which allows them to design the interior formatting of your book so that it matches the cover? Despite the templates, the formatting seems like the biggest hurdle for me, being completely non-technical and challenged even by how to insert tab stops. Ahem, there, the truth is out.  Questions, questions, questions. More answers soon, and I am hoping for publication in April!!!