I have been fighting a sickness and it has left me exhausted. I fully intend to get the week scheduled but I am not able to handle the book review today. I will have one next week.
Exhausted
Creativity options
So The next topic in the group is publishing platforms
I am always finding new places for publication. I am quite sure that I don’t have a full list. And each one has a different reason for the use. The best way to give you this is to list the sites and tell you my opinion about them.
- Draft2digital – I use this to get the broadest reach. They have a sister site books2read that is useful to share the link…most of the places are available under one link. I will not use them for print materials (ie paperback and hardbacks) as the quality is terrible.
- Kdp(Amazon) – They are picky and it is better to use their direct site than to use any of the other platforms to get it to Amazon. They are more likely to refuse it from an outside platform.
- Google play books – I have yet to actually see sales here.
- Barnes and nobles – I use this for print only. quality is good.
- Ingram spark – This is the most aggravating site. their shipping for author copies are the best but they are a pain to set up. If you want to do the indie book stores you have to set wholesale prices at the 55% and it is recommended for you to allow returns. I dislike that. I use this for mostly author copies. especially because they charge 25 per edit you do.
- Drive thru fiction – this is a new one for me. still learning about it.
- payhip – direct sales.
- There’s at least a few more but I don’t know about them.
I will Discuss the things you need to publish paperback versus hardbacks next week. I will be discussing the different places to find useful services for publication.
Friday Share
So you found a new book?
Or maybe you just published one?
Did you find a new webcomic that you like?
Or a song you think everyone should hear?
No need for explanation…Just Share it.
You find a good deal that you think we should all see? Just share!
Or hey even a joke you think too fun not to share, Just share it.
Post links in the comments.
Occasionally I will too.
Artsy Fartsy Thursday
Titled: Reborn
Artist: Serenity Rose
medium: pencil Drawing
Wednesday Whispers
Music post caught in vertigo
this week I did not get the posts scheduled on Sunday. so I have been trying to get them done the night before. I have been fighting vertigo all week. yesterday it was just too much. Tuesday Tunes will return next week and I am grateful for your patience.
Monday Poetry
to sign or not
So I rarely sign my art. unless I am doing an acrylic painting I often feel like I am pretending to be an artist and signing my work somehow legitimizes it in ways I am uncomfortable with. I showed my son a pencil drawing that I felt was both done and excellent that I had signed. I said it was worthy of the signature. He said all of my art is. I realize that he is biased. But so am I in a fashion. I see my art daily. So I will always see its flaws. I only sign it if I think I am done and it is not immediately something I hate. sometimes I don’t sign because I don’t feel like it is done.
When he was younger my son said I ruin my own art because I don’t know when to leave it alone. I try to improve it until it is trash. He was not wrong. Which is why I am wondering if he is right here. Should I sign all of it ?
Creativity options
So The next topic in the group is Epubs
Okay, this seems complicated. It really is not. You need 2-3 programs max to make a decent Epub. All are Freeware. First is LibreOffice. You export the Manuscript after it is polished to an Epub. (It will be needing attention after that but it is minor.) Next you need Sigil. This allows you to open the file.
First go to stylesheet and go down until you see a line that says direction ltr there may be more but that entire line needs to be erased. It will cause the publication issues otherwise. You will now need to add a “Title” between the words title on each page. It really does not matter what you put here…as long as each page has something there. You can go through and adjust the pages by splitting and merging to get it to lay the way you want. Sigil is very user friendly. The other option is Calibre E-book management. There have been occasions when it has helped me clean up the Epub when I could not with Sigil. Make sure you update the TOC before you try to upload it to the publisher…
Do Not attach the cover to your Epub or the PDF unless you are selling it privately. As places like Draft2digital and Amazon both attach the cover and the book will end up with a double cover image.
I will discuss the places that you can publish(that I am aware of.) Next Week. I will Discuss the things you need to publish paperback versus hardbacks soon.
Friday Share
So you found a new book?
Or maybe you just published one?
Did you find a new webcomic that you like?
Or a song you think everyone should hear?
No need for explanation…Just Share it.
You find a good deal that you think we should all see? Just share!
Or hey even a joke you think too fun not to share, Just share it.
Post links in the comments.
Occasionally I will too.
