Publishing – Page 2 – Write on the World

If my cat had thumbs

October 21, 2013October 21, 2013 Mandy Webster

picture of sleeping cats — These lazy bums think they’re ready to write a novel. Is it wrong that I was tempted to draw chalk outlines around them as they slept?

Have you ever wondered how difficult it might be to self-publish your novel? Let me tell you, it’s pretty easy. If my cat had thumbs, she could throw a sheath of paper on the floor, slather the pages with her paws prints, and call it a first draft. She could scan those sheets of paper into a digital file and organize them into the order of her preference, thus completing draft number two.

Do you hear something? I do believe that is the sound of cat lovers everywhere breathing a collective sigh of excitement over the announcement of Zelda Cat’s latest novel. Wait. Zelda would never truck with such nonsense. We’ll get Lulu to do it.

If my cat had thumbs, she might then upload her masterpiece to a website like Create Space, list it on Amazon, and call it published. Luckily, my cat doesn’t need thumbs to curl up on the windowsill and wait for her money to start pouring it in. Continue reading “If my cat had thumbs” →

Editing, Publishing

What do you mean, you’re looking for an editor?

September 28, 2013September 26, 2013 Mandy Webster

It’s going to take a lot of effort to turn this handwritten manuscript into a published novel.

Do you need to hire an editor to clean up your manuscript before self-publishing or querying agents? You may be tempted to skip this step to save a few bucks on publishing costs. However, forgoing the editorial process may cost you dedicated readers in the end. Poorly edited books garner terrible reviews, which then decrease the likelihood that anyone will want to purchase your books in the future.

When determining whether you need an editor, it is essential to understand exactly what an editor does. While attending a recent self-publishing seminar, I overheard a fellow writer discussing his need to hire someone to edit his manuscript. At first, I was tempted to offer my services. However, after listening to him talk for a while, I began to get the idea that what he was looking for was a proofreader, not an editor. The more he talked, the less I wanted to work for him. Continue reading “What do you mean, you’re looking for an editor?” →

Publishing

How much does it cost to self-publish a novel?

September 27, 2013September 26, 2013 Mandy Webster

createspace, print on demand — CreateSpace (an Amazon company) is just one option for print-on-demand services.

I recently decided I would like to self-publish my current novel project and have been considering all of the hard work that will go into such an endeavor. For example, I am an excellent editor. However, if I want readers to spend their hard-earned money on my product, then I need to hire someone to come along behind me and clean up any errors I might miss. Who knows why it is easier to spot mistakes in someone else’s work than in your own, but it is. So an editor I must hire.

I will probably need to hire a few other people as well. I could probably figure out how to format my own book. But again, I want it done right. If I can find someone to do it properly, I will likely save my readers a great deal of irritation on the back end. One thing I have no confidence that I will ever be able to do is design a captivating book cover. The sad fact is, readers often judge books by their covers. Yes, I need to hire a professional book cover designer. Continue reading “How much does it cost to self-publish a novel?” →

Education, Publishing

How to self-publish your novel

September 26, 2013 Mandy Webster

Yesterday I attended a seminar on self-publishing with author/publisher Cornel Rosario at my local technical college. I have been doing a lot of research on publishing recently and wanted to see if there was anything new he could teach me that I hadn’t figured out yet on my own. I am glad I did. Prior to the class, I had learned a lot about ebook publishing, but the process of publishing actual books had been a bit of a mystery to me.

Much of the information Rosario covered in this three-hour session was old news to me, as far as ebooks go. But when it comes to printing actual books, he was a wealth of knowledge on both old-fashioned printing and print-on-demand. I also learned a lot about the costs associated with publishing your own book. Continue reading “How to self-publish your novel” →

Book Reviews, Publishing

You must read Hugh Howey’s novel, Wool

July 1, 2013 Mandy Webster

Hugh Howey Wool — Hugh Howey’s novel Wool is now a New York Times Bestseller.

A long time ago, I thought about writing book reviews for every book I read. What an easy way to come up with content for my blog, right? But for some reason, the books I had read just kept piling up around my desk without me ever getting around to writing those reviews. Until now. Now I have finally read something so good, I feel compelled to blog about it.

I just finished reading Hugh Howey’s novel Wool, and I must say, it is the best book I have read in a long, long time. Wool is a futuristic dystopian novel that follows the story of a people who have been living in underground silos since the destruction of the outside world several years in the past. Continue reading “You must read Hugh Howey’s novel, Wool” →

Poetry, Publishing

I need some advice on self-publishing

June 29, 2013June 28, 2013 Mandy Webster

Insert cover art here — It’s probably pretty pathetic that something as simple as designing a book cover is what is keeping me from self-publishing my poems, huh?

A few semesters ago, I took a poetry writing course. I don’t really consider myself a poet, but I like to dabble from time to time. I wanted to take a course that would challenge me to think about my writing in a different way, and this poetry course definitely fit the bill.

At first, I had a hard time writing poems on demand. Then I started reading poetry on a regular basis, and the ideas began to flow. I started jotting stuff down as it came to me, and I ended up with a stock of poems to choose from whenever the time came to turn one in for a grade. Continue reading “I need some advice on self-publishing” →