Top o' the morning to ya! All about questions this week. A questionnaire for the promotional text creation. Another for the copyediting, and still anther that I cannot recall the purpose of. The week became rather busy, so maybe there were only two questionnaires. The questions involved...wait for it... what is the book about? I did find it easier to write a summary, but still... Kind of hard to summarize a novel in only a few sentences or paragraphs. I guess the Cliff Notes version will have to be written up by someone who is a lot better at it. Other questions had to do with me. Aha, that was the other one - cover creation.
What does a person write about himself? Looking at the many novels I have in my library it becomes obvious that a 20-page biography is out of the question. There is so much to tell, but quite a bit may not be all that interesting to someone looking for a new book to purchase for that long flight back home. I tried, just for fun, to write up a paragraph in the manner that is seen on books in the store. I'm paying up front for this cover creation service; should I be trying to do their job for them?
Both numbers arrived this week. The ISBN assignments and the LCCN. A writer has the option of accepting the free ISBN assignment from Createspace or purchasing one through another service. The number can only be used for this publishing project. You cannot use the same number for a hardcover edition with Harper Collins for example. (Of course I'm hoping for a hardcover deal too!) I saw no reason not to simply accept the free ISBN. The LCCN has a fee and is not necessary for publishing. Of course I want the Library of Congress to catalog my first novel. A kind of vanity thing perhaps, but I paid the fee. Once assigned by Createspace, the writer simply acknowledges the number. It ain't like you can ask for a different one.
The link to upload the file became active this week too! This is the file, the novel, the ticket to fame and loot. Okay, so right now it isn't exactly a page-turner. A lot of copyediting will be needed first. My written voice will not make the bestseller lists without a lot of help from editors. Not a problem, just uploading the file seemed like a milestone in the process. No special formatting involved. Createspace accepts many formats and software. I used Microsoft Word 2010 and the docx file type, but the text is the main thing. After that, the wait begins. 4 weeks to edit a 98,000 word manuscript, and then back to work for me.
In the waiting time, I will be starting the process for the second novel, the first in a different series, and updating the blog on that as well. I wrote both novels at the same time simply because my mind seems to work that way. Some sort of attention-deficit thing perhaps, but I didn't do one novel in order and then start another as some writers do. To use an old-timey IT reference: you might say that some writers are serial printers and I am more of a parallel printer type.
Cover proofs, promotional text, and other things will probably arrive in the waiting time too. I did select a book size from the standard sizes. If a writer included photographs, I could see specifying a custom size (with a fee). As my work is simply the black text on the white (cream-colored actually) page novel, I looked on my bookshelf; found a size I liked that matched one of the choices, and selected the check box. There are many more options, some with fees and some at no cost. Look at books that caught your eye in the store or library. You may want to pay more to get exactly what you want.
At one of our local library's dead book sales, I discovered that a title on the spine makes a big difference too. If you don't have that big name to put on the spine like "Stephen King" or "James Patterson", the title becomes even more important. I don't recognize "Loewen", but Lies my Teacher Told Me, with the first word in big red letters over a scenic background grabs my attention. I use that book as an example because even on the shelf above my writing desk it stands out quickly. The little things are important.
Have a great week and God bless!
Bucky
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