To Be or Not To Be--A Self-Published Author

How To Publish A Book?

Just under a week ago, Bob Medak wrote an interesting article for Writers on the Move discussing when is the best time to build an author platform. But the last line stopped me in amazement.

"Authors," he wrote, " should have their book published the way they wrote it."

To my surprise, no one even queried the statement, far less took him to task. But as a judge for the recent Global e-Book awards and member of an enthusiastic Kindle publishing group, I have to disagree or at least urge caution on any author thinking of going it alone.

So many potentially good books cannot achieve the success their authors deserve because 

• poor editing leaves muddled sentences, glaring grammatical mistakes and confused plot lines.
• poor formatting renders books irritatingly untidy and difficult to read
• poor spelling and proofreading stop the reader from concentrating on the story or information provided.
• the cover does not have sales appeal.

A reader who is disappointed in the presentation of a book will not buy from the same author again in a hurry.

Advantages of Self-Publishing

• Publish the book the way you, the author, wrote it--but please employ an editor and proofreader.
• Have the last word in the design of your own cover--but consult a good graphic designer or at least visit a site like The Book Designer.

 The designers' comments here on the great range of book covers submitted for awards are helpful and informative and teach what makes a cover attractive to buyers.

• Check and recheck your formatting till it is absolutely perfect.
• You have complete control over your own work. 
• You can publish as fast or as slowly as you like. You make your own deadlines.
•  You have the joy of learning all the ins and outs of the business.

Advantages of Traditional Publishing

•  The editors, proofreader and cover designer will be provided. They are professionals and will advise on what sells.
•   The formatting will be handled by someone who knows the job and the pitfalls.
•  A good publisher, editor, cover designer will listen.
•  You will have more time for writing. 

There is of course the downside.

• The length of time between contract signing and publication date.
• Less income as you have effectively outsourced the work of publication.
•  You may not have the book published the way you wrote it but then and again it might just be a smidgeon better. 

 Anne Duguid is a senior content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and   her New Year's Resolution is to blog with helpful writing,editing and publishing tips at Slow and Steady Writers far more regularly than she managed in 2011.

My Journey to Publication

My Psychedelic photo, simply because I like it

 My tween/YA science fiction, "Relocated," has just been published by MuseItUp Publishing, and I've published the book of poems, "Sand in the Desert," I wrote to go along with the book through CreateSpace in print and kindle formats.  How did I get here? Good luck, working at my craft, a father who insisted on proper grammar, and some level of ability.

I've written poetry as far back as I can remember. I kept it in a series of spiral notebooks that accumulated in my attic, wrote cards for holidays birthdays, co-workers leaving the office, and the occasional small newsletter. Along about 2005 I wrote a poem I wanted to keep, so I scrounged around online and ended up putting them in Yahoo briefcase (online) as I had too many computers to keep them on just one

That December I was reading an ezine I liked and discovered they had a poetry. I believe the theme was 'sleep',  I  had a poem to fit it. Since it was handy (read online),  I sent it in, and the poem was one of four runners-up., I didn't win.

But they published all four of the finalists, and I was psyched. I joined a couple of online communities and started working on my poetry. In one of them, I ran across someone who was starting a small print poetry mag (since died, I believe). He liked and published a couple of my poems. That was early 2006. I found out about "The Muse Online Writers Conference," (free, online virtual conference) and "attended" that October.

There I "met" Linda Barnett Johnson. Linda runs writers forum, and she insisted that her students join both fiction and poetry forums. Poetry alone was not an option.

At  that point, I'd never written a word of fiction (at least, not since elementary school ), and I would have sworn I never would. However, I liked Linda, and I wanted to join the poetry forum, so I signed up. I started writing for children, as that felt less intimidating - and shorter. As a poet, I was a terse writer, and generating sufficient word count worried me. My first story ended up published online. It was a *long* time until I placed another, but thus encouraged, I continued to write fiction.

Many years ago, a family friend lost his wife and all four of his children in a house fire. This incident had haunted me ever since, and one weekend I wrote a 5000 word book in which the main character, a nine-year-old boy, lost his mother in a house fire. I couldn't change my friend's outcome, but in my fictional world, I could.

I spent the next year and a half or two years whipping it into shape. Although I have (and had) a good ear for language and a solid knowledge of grammar, I knew little about structuring a story. I set out to learn about plotting, characterization, dialogue, setting, points-of-view, and, yes, more grammar. I joined a critique group and took the ICL basic course. I hung out on Writers Village University and took their free fiction course and a couple of others that proved extremely helpful. The story was accepted for publication. It won't be out until next year.

Fast forward to September, 2010. I am a huge science fiction fan, but I'd never written a sci fi story -- I had kind of a phobia about it -- so I decided I'd do Nano (National Novel Writing Month) that November, and began to plan my story.

I devoted most of my time and energy to world building, a bit to thinking about the characters, and devoted about  a page to the plot. Then I started writing. I heard about an online editing workshop given through Savvy Authors. Through Savvy, I connected with a publisher and submitted the manuscript. It was rejected. They liked it, but not enough to publish it. I worked on the manuscript, including strengthening the ending. That June, I pitched to Lea Schizas and she accepted it.

Backtrack to November 2010. Robert Brewer runs a chapbook challenge on his PoeticAsides blog. I wanted to participate, so I created a poet to go with the universe of the novel and wrote 31 of his poems that November. I used eight of the poems in the novel, as I worked studying the poems into the plot.

"Relocated" has just been published by MuseItUp Publishing I  brought all the poems out as a book, which I self-published through CreateSpace.
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You can find Margaret Fieland on her blog, http://www.margaretfieland.com/ or on the Poetic Museling's blog, http://poetic-muselings.net/


Also check out these excerpts from Relocated on the publisher's blog: http://museituppublishing.blogspot.com/2012/07/relocated-excerpts.html

Related articles

• Editor's POV: How to Submit your Work
• And it's a poetry book
• Sand in the Desert: Putting Together a Poetry Collection
• How Fiction Works (7.31.12/Poem 6)
• To write or not to write
• Keeping a Journal

Debra K. Dunlap Presents Fallon O’Reilly and the Ice Queen’s Lair

Debra Dunlap lived in Alaska as a child, and is now a resident of Wyoming. Having a desire to write since a very early age, she attended the Muse Online Writers Conference a couple of years ago, and began to learn the writing ropes.

Her first book, Fallon O’Reilly and the Ice Queen’s Lair, is out and about, and ready for your viewing/reading pleasure. It's a Young Adult fantasy story set in Alaska.

A bit about Fallon O’Reilly and the Ice Queen’s Lair:

Magic lives in the Americas, too…

Land of the Midnight Sun. The Aurora Borealis. Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Dog sleds. Mount Denali. 60 degrees below zero. Moose. Grizzly bears. Salmon. Gold nuggets. Blueberries. Bunny boots and duct tape.

To most people, the word “Alaska” evokes visions of a wild, mysterious land, but for Fallon O’Reilly, it means home. Growing up in a village hidden deep in the wilderness, she eagerly anticipates her first sojourn at the Borealis Academy of Magical Arts. Nothing dampens her enthusiasm; not the creepy bookseller, her sisters’ nagging or the world’s nastiest classmate.

However, when village inhabitants disappear, someone murders a student’s pet and she suffers a near-fatal attack by a horrible, hairy creature, Fallon’s curiosity draws her into a dark mystery. Can a twelve-year-old witch, together with her wheelchair-bound cousin and new found friend from Wyoming, uncover the identity of the evil behind the chilling events?

From the wind-swept tundra to the frozen peaks of Mount Denali, Fallon’s struggle to protect the school and her fellow students encompasses a journey of far more breadth than she expected.

~~~~~

Your book sounds great, Debra. I'm a big fantasy fan.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process and how Fallon O’Reilly and the Ice Queen’s Lair came about?

Sure, Karen.

My family lived in the Alaskan wilderness when I was a child and my mother homeschooled me during first grade.  As soon as she explained that the marks on paper represented sounds, I grasped the concept of reading and books hooked me for life.  I wrote my first novel at the age of 11 or 12, pounding it out on a toy typewriter.  Although the 25-page novel disappeared (thankfully!), my love of stories remained.

After attending the Muse Online Writer’s Conference, I felt inspired to begin putting stories in a more permanent form than my imagination.  During the Conference, I learned of NaNoWriMo and resolved to rise to the challenge of writing 50,000 words in a month.  Fallon’s story had been rattling around in my head for some time and NaNo provided the opportunity to begin writing.  I did write 50k words in a month and went on to write another 25 thousand to complete the book.

During the same period of time, my oldest son came to visit from his home in Japan.  I live in Wyoming, where the summers are very hot and dry.  Like many Wyoming residents, I use a “swamp cooler.”  For those who have never seen a swamp cooler, it’s a big vented metal box.  Water runs into the box bottom through a small tube and a fan inside the box blows cold humid air into your house.  I love swamp coolers!  My sons frequently complained of the cold temperature in my living room, where the swamp cooler rested in a window.

One night as we prepared to eat pizza and watch a movie, my oldest son called to his brothers.  “C’mon, guys.  The movie’s ready.  Time to head into the Ice Queen’s lair.”

Voila!  Instant book title.  It need only a character name to become Fallon O’Reilly & the Ice Queen’s Lair.

~~~~~

Isn't it funny how an idea, a title, and even a story can just appear? It'd be great if you can give us some details about your book.

It'd be my pleasure.

The book was released October 2010, through MuseItUp Publishing.
eBook ISBN: 978-0-9865875-2-8
Price: $5.95

~~~~~

Debra, it's been a pleasure featuring you and your book on our blog. I wish you much success with it.

~~~~~

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children’s ghostwriter/ rewriter. For tips on writing for children OR if you need help with your project, contact me at Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

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