I am going to be doing two separate Poem a Day challenges and I am going to be doing the Fae 50k. I am going to be going for a daily habit more than the word count. The fun thing is that you don’t have to do 50k to win the Fae 50k you merely have to write daily. I am going to be trying to get as much word count as I can each day.
I Think I am going to just leave my Monday as a single poetry post for the remainder of October and figure out what I want to replace Publishing Demystified with in December.
The purpose of this one is simple. Most likely everyone here knows I run Fae Corps Publishing and I have been doing this in the background for a while now. I plan on talking clearly about the tools I use for publishing, and the way that each one works. Demystifying what I do. Is that to say that I will be making my own self unnecessary? No, because my experience is valuable. I just feel like so much of the process is made out to be harder than it needs to be.
Today I want to discuss the tools I use to deal with the manuscripts. All but one of these tools are free. They require a little bit of time and effort.
First is open office. This will allow most of the formatting that needs to be done. It functions like Microsoft office without the costs. I can when I have a full manuscript made create the pdf and epub from it that I will need for publication.
My pdf tool, which I rarely use for the manuscripts, is master pdf editor 5. I use it for contracts and covers. (I will come back to the covers in another one of these posts.)
And the last tool today is Sigil. This is the one that takes the time and effort. When you create the epub it will not make it properly. You will have to fix it for the publication. There is a couple of minor things that you need to do to get the epub to pass the check – just when you try to put it in the errors will tell you what you need to take out.
The other tools I use I will be discussing next week as I will be visiting my tools for covers and I will try to walk you through my process there.
I will leave on the bottom of the post the upcoming calendar. I feel like that will help.
May –
24th -Anthology Fae Propaganda
29th – (not a release date but I will be on the Owl Light Network reading Pip and Friends Live)
June –
4th – Anthology The Owl Light Menagerie (a special venture with the owl light network)
14th – Hope Splashes by Patricia Harris
21st – Chasing Ghosts by Serena Mossgraves
July –
1st – The Life Collection by Ashira Datya
5th – The Lightning War: Grounding Unit by Parker LaVitte
19th – Falling in Flames by Ashira Datya
August –
23rd – Beneath the Deep Wave by Andrew McDowell
September –
6th – The Fall by Amima Raziel
20th – The Magick Saga Collection by Ashira Datya
October –
18th – My Gothic Angel by Laj & Khoury Hawkins
25th – Anthology Nightmare Whiskers
December –
1st – unknown by Raz T Slasher (middle grade) (*though I don’t normally have an unknown in my list of release dates… from a couple of authors I will take the chance for “kids week” and save the spot. If I don’t get the book from them I will just have an empty spot for the day. But I think that they are worth it.)
2nd – where’s my Sugar by Patricia Harris
3rd – Pip 4: Pip that is not Yours! By Patricia Harris
4th – Anthology Fae Recipes
5th – Unknown by CM Snow
6th – kids week open
7th – kids week open
8th – Hood of Sedna by Mina Skye
13th – Anthology Honesty in Verse
2025
I will get those listed closer. I feel like if I were to put them on the blog it would put too much pressure. I have “penciled” in dates for several authors for 2025 already.
The purpose of this one is simple. Most likely everyone here knows I run Fae Corps Publishing and I have been doing this in the background for a while now. I plan on talking clearly about the tools I use for publishing, and the way that each one works. Demystifying what I do. Is that to say that I will be making my own self unnecessary? No, because my experience is valuable. I just feel like so much of the process is made out to be harder than it needs to be.
Today I want to discuss the basics of what a manuscript needs. This should seem like common sense…but it really isn’t.
First off what size is your book?
For the Fae Corps Publishing books I keep the size the same unless it is a children’s book. we publish 6×9 books. that keeps the template I use the same. it is always going to be 6 by 9 with 1 inch margins. (I use the same margin all around. not everyone does that, but I like the way it looks on the page.)
Each book needs the same thing to be a well put together book. 1. a title page 2. a copyright page 3. contents/acknowledgements/etc 4. body 5. about the author/about the publisher
The title page is the simplest part. It is an introduction to the book. it needs to have the title, any subtitle, the author name and possibly the illustrator name. Occasionally a small illustration to draw attention to the title. Think of it as a cover letter for your story.
The copyright page is a bit of a legal document. it has the copyright declaration – don’t use this without permission and it is not your story kinda stuff. it is also where you list your editor and cover designer. it’s where you note anything legal you need to.
The contents/acknowledgements sections are going to be up to choice. not everyone wants to add table of contents, or acknowledgements, or even author notes. This is where they would be put in.
The body. I recommend using the same font for this section and I actually recommend you choose one that is easier to read. gentium book basics, Garamond, Book Antiqua, Courier, or if you really must Times New Roman. (I really don’t like TNR and will go out of my way to avoid it. it offends me to have to read anything in it. I realize it’s an industry standard but I hate it.) Try to keep the font size around 12-16. You want to keep the page count respectable.
About the author/about the publisher… this is supposed to tell the reader where you can be found… it should be in 3rd person and have at least some sort of ability to find your work elsewhere.
That is what I expect to do with each of the manuscripts I format.
I will leave on the bottom of the post the upcoming calendar. I feel like that will help.
May –
24th -Anthology Fae Propaganda
29th – (not a release date but I will be on the Owl Light Network reading Pip and Friends Live)
June –
4th – Anthology The Owl Light Menagerie (a special venture with the owl light network)
14th – Hope Splashes by Patricia Harris
21st – Chasing Ghosts by Serena Mossgraves
July –
1st – The Life Collection by Ashira Datya
5th – The Lightning War: Grounding Unit by Parker LaVitte
19th – Falling in Flames by Ashira Datya
August –
23rd – Beneath the Deep Wave by Andrew McDowell
September –
6th – The Fall by Amima Raziel
20th – The Magick Saga Collection by Ashira Datya
October –
18th – My Gothic Angel by Laj & Khoury Hawkins
25th – Anthology Nightmare Whiskers
December –
1st – unknown by Raz T Slasher (middle grade) (*though I don’t normally have an unknown in my list of release dates… from a couple of authors I will take the chance for “kids week” and save the spot. If I don’t get the book from them I will just have an empty spot for the day. But I think that they are worth it.)
2nd – where’s my Sugar by Patricia Harris
3rd – Pip 4: Pip that is not Yours! By Patricia Harris
4th – Anthology Fae Recipes
5th – Unknown by CM Snow
6th – kids week open
7th – kids week open
8th – Hood of Sedna by Mina Skye
13th – Anthology Honesty in Verse
2025
I will get those listed closer. I feel like if I were to put them on the blog it would put too much pressure. I have “penciled” in dates for several authors for 2025 already.
So, this is a new type of post. It’s going to be generally a Monday thing – I am going to try to schedule it for the ten o’clock time but if I have any schedule issues this may be the one that I don’t get done.
The purpose of this one is simple. Most likely everyone here knows I run Fae Corps Publishing and I have been doing this in the background for a while now. I plan on talking clearly about the tools I use for publishing, and the way that each one works. Demystifying what I do. Is that to say that I will be making my own self unnecessary? No, because my experience is valuable. I just feel like so much of the process is made out to be harder than it needs to be.
I will admit that I am going to be posting my opinions on the process here… this is my personal blog after all. I will not be using any other author besides me for giving examples. The reason is that I prefer to protect my authors. I’m more than willing to list the upcoming releases for Fae Corps Publishing here, and I likely will.
I am really proud of the work my authors have done. It’s just that if I have a situation that I am going to be tearing apart the process… I don’t think I should do that with anyone else’s stuff.
I will explain why I have certain procedures for the anthologies, and what they are. Including one that seems to surprise most people. I will be explaining my own opinions on the way that anthology design and publishing should be. Again, this is a heavily flavored with opinion section for publishing. (Hence why I am doing it for my personal blog and not doing it for Fae Corps Publishing’s blog)
The first one is more about the post type in general, but I figured that I would include a small schedule for Fae Corps Publishing releases for the rest of the year…(Not linking these as not all have a link yet and those that do would make it clunkier than I need it to be) Though it is tight, I have left a little wiggle room for me to squeeze in my own poetry volumes or maybe something that Serena might finish.
May –
10th – Taming the firestorm by Ashira Datya
24th -Anthology Fae Propaganda
29th – (not a release date but I will be on the Owl Light Network reading Pip and Friends Live)
June –
4th – Anthology The Owl Light Menagerie (a special venture with the owl light network)
14th – Hope Splashes by Patricia Harris
21st – Chasing Ghosts by Serena Mossgraves
July –
1st – The Life Collection by Ashira Datya
5th – The Lightning War: Grounding Unit by Parker LaVitte
19th – Falling in Flames by Ashira Datya
August –
23rd – Beneath the Deep Wave by Andrew McDowell
September –
6th – The Fall by Amima Raziel
20th – The Magick Saga Collection by Ashira Datya
October –
18th – My Gothic Angel by Laj & Khoury Hawkins
25th – Anthology Nightmare Whiskers
December –
1st – unknown by Raz T Slasher (middle grade) (*though I don’t normally have an unknown in my list of release dates… from a couple of authors I will take the chance for “kids week” and save the spot. If I don’t get the book from them I will just have an empty spot for the day. But I think that they are worth it.)
2nd – where’s my Sugar by Patricia Harris
3rd – Pip 4: Pip that is not Yours! By Patricia Harris
4th – Anthology Fae Recipes
5th – Unknown by CM Snow
6th – kids week open
7th – kids week open
8th – Hood of Sedna by Mina Skye
13th – Anthology Honesty in Verse
2025
We already have scheduled Ruan Bradford Wright’s sequel to Toe rag for February. We have a tentative schedule for Dahlia Black to release a book in January. Of course there is two anthologies planned. And kids week.
I know for a fact that Parker LaVitte is planning on doing at least 4 books in his series. Mina Skye has several in hers. Ronald W Gillespie Jr is working on another one. And Amina is working on something amazing as well. Andrew McDowell is working on a third book. All of them are not sitting still… and then there’s Raz. He owes at least one more book of the Silence is Crimson series.
Now when each of them will get the writing done? That I don’t know. I don’t force deadlines because I feel like they stiffle the creativity.
Perhaps with this thread I will be able to open the door and share the publishing thing with more people. Make it less complicated. I have been doing this since 2010. I have learned a lot of things the hardest way.
So I have been doing a daily poem and unlike the previous years I have not been posting the prompt that I am following. I probably should… but I really like the way the post looks without it.
If I deviate from the writers digest prompt I will at that point note on the post where I got the prompt.
So between the stress of the normal holidays and vehicle issues… I have been a little bit more than usual fighting with my internal demons. To the point where it has even interrupted the writing. Usually the fight feeds the writing…
I’m not sure what the difference is this year but I have been struggling. That being said… my friend Jenny Elliott – writer, and Fae Corps intern…chose the best way to cheer me up.
She has been reading my The Voices within volume. And she came to a poem and decided to tell me that I was more than enough.
Screenshot she sent me.
Then she has been busy with making marketing stuff for Fae Corps and I keep running across my books there.
Though I know it was a part of her job…it really does feel like I have made some difference in this world.
Sometimes we can’t see the world around us for the immediate struggle we are dealing with.
Remember you never know what your reviews will do for the author.
Okay…I get recommended writing tools at least once a day…sometimes once an hour. Most of them are bloody expensive.
I can’t afford to pay out for quite a few of them. Oh believe me…I have paid for some, and for services…(Including some editors that I plan to recommend on another post)
This one is entirely about the programs I use.
We will start with the ones I was willing to pay for.
Canva – I pay for the premium features. The reason is because of the amount of use this opens up. I use it for marketing, poetry images, blog images, cover design, and quite a few other fun little things. This is not an expensive cost but it is a monthly cost. I pay $13 a month.
Master PDF – This was a one time cost. It has come down since I bought it. It was closer to 100 when I bought it. It’s now $70. I can use this to make the full covers, sign contracts, adjust a pdf in whatever way I need to. This is the most comprehensive editor I have found. There is a few features I would like it to have and I used to have a pdf compiler program that did those but I don’t have it currently…might look for one.
Google Drive – I pay for the largest google drive so I can have some file access and backup ability. This is not a need. It is a personal preference. I have lost files too often.
One Drive/One Note – okay those who have followed me for awhile know I had to switch my writing on my phone from Evernote to One Note. This was a difficult decision prompted by Evernote choosing to go with a forced AI…I was uncomfortable with it and tried to opt out. The response I got was …sad to say the least. So I pay for One drive to make One note usable. It costs me $8 monthly.
That is it. The paid list.
Now for the freeware.
LibreOffice – This program does everything Microsoft office does and then some. And it does not cost anything.
Sigil – Epubs are the filetype that publishing require. Libre office will export to epub. But you have to fix the file. It only requires a couple of minor fixes – but it needs done if you expect to use the created epub.
And Lastly – this one is a tool I use for Communication.
Discord – It allows me to easily transfer files to the authors and be able to announce upcoming events and such. It makes things easier for me. Fae Corps Publishing’s Discord even has channels for writing games and such to try and help the writers. There is places for feedback and general help, and prompts. All conveniently in one place.
This of course is not all my tools. But it is the main ones. and it gives you a start.
I have been doing the publishing stuff since 2010. For my own personal stuff, then I started with Fae Corps in 2019.
I struggle with depression, PTSD, Migraines, and a whole bunch of other health issues. Which is why I don’t do more than I do. Fae Corps does limited books because I don’t have the ability to do anything more.
I use several platforms to publish the books, with a few routines to make the work easier for me to accomplish. And I always leave plenty of time on the deadline so I don’t ever get pressured for time. Hence why we are starting to take the children’s book submissions for the kids week books now.
One of the places that I have used for publishing is draft2digital.com and I will continue to for the ebooks. Their print option however is awful. I stopped using them when we were getting reports of the cover for the books being delivered cockeyed.
Now I do the same place as they did separately. Better quality. The trick for their ebook set up is to prevent them from messing with the layout. So the only way to do that is to provide an epub file… which means I have learned how to make that.
That was in 2020 that I stopped using them for print. I really don’t know what I have been thinking. Someone pointed out that the print was wrong for Through the Sunshine… so I checked. I care about the quality of our books. So I will always check. Yes it is something that I can fix. Something that I should have already done.
Now, I am asking myself. Is the 17 books that I still have to port over a sign of laziness? Or that I have been doing too much? And should I even get upset with myself over the whole thing?
Honestly I think that I am just going to get it done and write it off as a learning experience. If I beat myself up over it, well it will just be longer for me to get it done.
The 17 books are a mix of the early Anthologies for Fae Corps Publishing and some of my poetry volumes. In order to get it fixed I will have to take it off sale on the one place and put it back up on the other two. So I am going to be doing this one book at a time. It should only have each book down for around a week in print only.
I will get each of them updated on their books2read.com links. I plan on posting on fae corps publishing as I have each book updated. This is a ridiculous amount of work and I am probably still going to be dealing with this well into the next year.
Pattimouse 