Category: Self Publishing

Behind the Glass | Publishing | Cover Design & Blurb

On By Abby WilderIn Behind the Glass, Self Publishing, Writing1 Comment

cover design

Even though the cover was part of the formatting process, I feel it needs its own blog. Book covers sell books. They are not the only thing that sell books, they are not even the most important thing that sell books, but a good cover is worth investing in.

I have a few graphic design skills and attempted a few cover layouts myself (see here for previous blog post) but I knew I did not have the skills I needed to get the cover I wanted.

I decided to use an online sourcing site called 99 Designs. Mainly because I could determine the price, I would be given the choice of a number of designs, and I did not know them. I found this an important part, as sometimes I find it difficult to tell someone I know that I’m not happy with what they’ve done. As I discovered, I also felt uncomfortable telling strangers that too.

I uploaded a brief that went something like this:
————————————————————————–
Possible Themes:
Inside vs Outside.
Freedom vs Security
Reflection/Glass – things not as they appear.
City vs Nature

Possible Images:
Shattered Glass
Domed City – Black panels, white framework from outside. Inside: Stark. Futuristic. Colours: White, Grey, Black with splashes of red.
Nature – Lush Forest and/or desolate earth.
Main Character: Female. 16. Auburn hair. Barcode tattoo on wrist. Also wears futuristic communication device on wrist.

I tend to gravitate towards covers that have a single point of focus rather than detailed backgrounds, but I am willing to consider anything.
————————————————————————–

The response was slow at first, and I began to doubt the choice I had made. Admittedly, I hadn’t given the designers a lot to work with, but after browsing some of the covers already done, I was confident enough to hang in there. And the results were amazing. I wish I could show you what some of the designs that I didn’t end up choosing looked like, but most of the designers withdrew their concepts once the contest ended. The few that are left you can see here.
Choosing one design was difficult. I wanted to choose at least five. But a book with five different covers is probably not the best idea.

Having a few computer graphic skills and also the software needed, I made sure that the designer supplied all layers of the design so I could alter it for various promotional material. It is important to let the designer know at the start of the process that you require the layered files of your book cover.

Writing the blurb was harder than writing the entire novel. I read countless articles and advice, but none of it seemed to help. If I’m honest, I’m still not happy with my book blurbs, but they are what they are. My advice to anyone out there would be to get another author you trust to read your book and write the blurb for you. Condensing your story into a few short lines without giving away too much information, and at the same time saying enough to spike the reader’s interest, is a skill I’m not sure I have.

The next post will be published on 15th October and is the final in this series.

Behind the Glass | Publishing | Marketing

*If you haven’t read Girl Behind Glass yet, it is currently free in the Kindle store – http://goo.gl/KUGZrA

Behind the Glass | Publishing | Formatting

On By Abby WilderIn Behind the Glass, Self Publishing, Writing2 Comments

formatting

This is a very short post as most of what I learned about formatting was trial and error.

Formatting for Kindle is wonderfully simple.

Formatting for Createspace is relatively easy. (Okay, I did struggle with cover alignment a little.)

Formatting for Smashwords is hell.

I like to have information provided in easy to read concise sections. Not a 100+ page document. My saving grace were the templates. I don’t think I would have done it correctly without the them. I thought I was rather well versed in using Microsoft Word. Turns out, I’m not. But there is one thing I will say, there is almost nothing better than holding a paperback version of your book in your hands.

 

The next post will be published on 8th October.

Behind the Glass | Publishing | Cover Design & Blurb

*If you haven’t read Girl Behind Glass yet, it is currently free in the Kindle store – http://goo.gl/KUGZrA

Behind the Glass | Writing | Editing

On By Abby WilderIn Behind the Glass, Self Publishing, Writing4 Comments

editing

I thought I was rather good at noticing mistakes in writing, and because of this, I was confident I would be able to proof read and edit my story myself.

I was right about being able to pick the mistakes in writing, I was just wrong about certain aspects of that assumption. Firstly, that I would be able to pick all the mistakes in a 100,000+ word story, and that I would be able to pick the mistakes from my own writing. I wrote the story. I read what was supposed to be there, instead of what should have been there. Much like I did when I played the piano. I played what I thought the song should sound like, not the notes the sheet of music in front of me told me to play.

If you read one of the earlier versions of Girl Behind Glass, I’m sure you picked out some of the mistakes. To be honest, I hate even thinking about it. But I vowed when I started writing this blog series that I would be honest about my writing journey and this is part of mine. There were mistakes. I corrected the mistakes, uploaded the book to Createspace to get the paperback copies, and when my proof copy arrived, I read it.

I found more mistakes.

I felt sick.

The book was already out there as an ebook. I knew that people would see these mistakes. Most of the errors were silly ones, typos. I knew better than to make these mistakes, but somehow they had escaped me. I should have known better.

I scolded myself and deliberated never writing again, but then I pulled up my big girl pants and set off to correct the errors.

I made GBG free not long after that, and got a nice number of downloads. Some of the feedback I received mentioned some typos in my book, and so I read it again, and once more fell flat on my face when I realised that there were still mistakes. I’m sure everyone at some stage or another in their lives have experienced that ball of dread, that nauseating feeling in the pit of your stomach when you know you have made a mistake. I hate that feeling, but I had to overcome it, rather than succumb. I changed the mistakes I found and even sent Amazon an email stating that I had corrected some errors in my book and they offered an ‘update book’ option which I blogged about a little earlier this year.

Then I started the editing process for GBS. I knew a lot more than I did before, but still the errors escaped me. So I identified my weaknesses and started coming up with methods to correct them.

This is a very brief outline of some of the methods I used:

I read the manuscript on my computer and corrected the mistakes as I went along.

I read a printed out copy of the manuscript and highlighted the mistakes which I later corrected.

I gave printed copies of the manuscript to my beta readers and altered the errors based on their feedback.

I listened to a computerised voice read out my novel while I read along on the computer. I found this method very effective as it showed those little errors that my eyes glossed over.

While on a 12 hour road trip, I listened to my story, pulling aside to highlight any errors I heard on a printed copy on the passenger seat beside me.

I re-read the final printed version.

Now I’m sure there are still mistakes, and I’m sure I will make more in the future, but I do feel like I’ve learned a lot, and that with each book I write, I will improve. Editing also involved fleshing out scenes that were too light and cutting scenes which were unnecessary. I added over 3000 words to the final manuscript of GBS and cut over 4000. It is a hard but necessary part of the process. If a scene was boring to write, no doubt it would be boring to read. If I hesitated or felt unhappy with a scene, I cut it. There must have been a reason I felt that way even if I couldn’t pin point it. In the first draft of GBG, Bracken actually shoots Willow at the end. Things change. Plots change. I needed to allow for that.

And I still feel sick about the copies that exist out there with errors. But there is nothing to do other than own my mistakes, and endeavour to do better.

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!

The next post will be published on 1st October.

Behind the Glass | Publishing | Formatting

*If you haven’t read Girl Behind Glass yet, it is currently free in the Kindle store – http://goo.gl/KUGZrA