My Road to E-Publishing

I've been asked to share some of the tricks I've learned while publishing my short story on Amazon and Smashwords.

First off, I want to give a HUGE shout out to my editor, Nancy Adams!  She's been a boon to my writing by helping me wade through the grammatical errors I'd been making for much of my life.

I also want to thank the two writers groups to which I belong: Sisters in Crime - Northern California Chapter, and the Guppies (which stands for the Great Unpublished, for those of you not in the "know").  Through these groups I've met several people who have been helpful with their war stories and gentle prodding to get me in the right direction.  I even met Nancy through the Guppies, while looking for Beta Readers.

Also through the Guppies, I was turned on to the blog by CJ Lyons, titled "No Rules, Just Write."  Her blog arrives in my inbox every few days with amazing gems for writers.  Some of the past titles are Creativity's Secret Ingredient and Find the Heart of Your Story, and--being a self-published author herself--she has many blogs to help those interested in that as well.

Ms. Lyons even offers a great tutorial on how to format your book for publishing on Amazon's Kindle.  In 5 Easy Steps to Format Your e-Book she walks you through step-by-step instructions for getting it set up.

For those of you interested in publishing on Smashwords, they also offer in-depth guidelines on how to make your manuscript e-reader friendly.  Their information reads more like stereo instructions, but I highly recommend you read them anyway.  I didn't at first, and my short story was delayed from being published on their site for two weeks because of it.  And those who could see the story, it looked all wonky and weird.  NOT a good example of your "professionalism" in this business.

As for the cover of my story, that I made myself.  I used Adobe Photoshop software, and bought some images from Getty Images.  You can also buy stock photos from Shutterstock, or iStockPhoto.  These sites offer royalty free images that you can buy and use as many times as you want.  I also purchased a bundle from Getty, which allows me to download five pictures for one price.  I'm not sure if Shutterstock or iStockPhoto have that option as well, but I would assume they do.

For those of you not Photoshop savvy, you could check with neighbors or friends who might have knowledge of the software.  Lots of people are getting into graphics and graphic design these days, so I'm sure they wouldn't be hard to find.  But, if you're interested in learning it on your own, it's quite fun to see what you can create in Photoshop.  Yes, a professional would be able to make a great cover for your book, but they can also cost a pretty penny.  I'm sure it's worth it, but you have to look at where your finances are, realistically.

Hopefully this has given you some help and knowledge.  Stay tuned while I learn how to market my book(s), and I'll give you those pointers down the road.  :o)