Tim H. McEnroe

So here I am with my first update. It comes a little later than intended (May was my initial start time, for anyone keeping track), and I don’t have any excuse other than I wasn’t ready to commit.

Step 1 – Complete ‘The Package’ (Formatted eBook & Cover)

My story Dead on Paper has been done for a very long time, but it’s never been formatted as an eBook. I use Scrivener for my writing projects, and part of its functionality is to output your project into the format of your choice (print, manuscript, ePub, etc.). I thought this step would be as simple as a few clicks. Nope. There were some nuances in my formatting that confused Scrivener, and since I want the finished product to look as professional as possible, I spent at least a dozen hours getting it to where I wanted it to be. Biggest issues were with the Table of Contents and unique formatting of certain sections like embedded newspaper articles, social media posts and stuff like that.

Once I thought I got it right, I viewed the eBook across several devices and applications, hoping it was pretty consistent across each of them. Again, getting it right took forever. I’d notice inconsistencies, fix them in Scrivener and re-compile. I used EPUB READER (free website), Kindle Previewer (downloadable free app) and my own Kindle device as said applications/devices. There’s a slick way to send myself an email with the ePub file attached and have it upload directly to my Kindle library, which I can then download to my Kindle. I can provide more info on this if anyone wants it.

I still need to get an ISBN to input into my eBook as meta data before I do the final compile. More on my thoughts regarding ISBNs, LCCNs, barcodes and copyrights in a later post.

The cover. I attempted to make my own, but in the end I went with a 3rd party that actually knows what they’re doing. Through research, I found 100 Covers. They’re decently priced and, from what I’ve seen, their covers are very professional (and most importantly) very effective. I gave them my ideas and was set up with a project manager who works between me and the designers. They have a one to two week turnaround for the first draft. I just received my first draft last night, and it looks amazing. I sent them a request for a few changes, but for the most part they nailed it.

Until step 1 is complete (which is basically when I receive the finished cover), I plan on continuing my research on what’s next. I spend a lot of time Googling, but two sources I keep returning to are the /self-publish subreddit and a YouTube channel by self-published author M.K. Williams. There’s lots of good stuff there if you’re interested.

Research aside, I think next I’ll tackle how to handle Advanced Reader Copies of my book. These are copies that can be given out prior to the book’s release in order to gather reviews early. There are some rules about how to go about doing it. I’ll be figuring that stuff out soon. I do know that more than a few websites exist to help with handling ARCs, all to varying degrees and costs. The way these sites work (I think) is this: Readers get free membership and access to ARCs uploaded by authors (not a free membership for authors). These ARCs are downloaded via a mechanism that prohibits or at least dissuades piracy. After the readers have read the book, they can leave reviews, which hopefully help with sales during launch. Of course there’s more to it — finding my own list of potential reviewers, how these ARC reviews get funneled to where I need them (Good Reads, Amazon, etc.) but that’ll be part of my ongoing research. Many of these sites offer other tools and services as well, so I have to figure out what works best.

Then after that, it’s author pages on Good Reads, Amazon, Tiktok, Facebook, Instragram as well as any other ways I can setup free advertising. I’m not looking at paid advertising, at least not yet. Frugality is the name of the game for me. Getting these author pages set up also requires prep work. For example, an author page on Good Reads requires me to have a book listed in the ether that I can then link to my account. This means I have to get a pre-release copy of my book available for purchase somewhere. Most likely Amazon. But there’s a lot of moving parts I have to figure out before I do that.

All this is making me anxious, so I think I’ll stop here for now. I promise to try to continue posting as I go. Feel free to leave comments, suggestions, tips or questions. I can use all the help I can get.