Books and More...

 Before 'Slime' was finished I had 'Sleuths' in my head.  I actually began writing it before 'Slime' was on the market.  My writing gurus assured me that the second book would help sales of the first book and I loved where the story was going and wanted to keep the story going.

That it helped sales for a time was true. However, I ran up against a brick wall with marketing efforts for both books because I hadn't figured the high cost into my budget. Some things you lean the hard way.  When folks were asking for $100 to review my book, I balked.  I did double down on social media, saturating Facebook and Instagram with Slobbers and his books.  I also set up a store on Etsy to sell Slobbers branded products but ran into some brick walls there, too.  I'll explain that aspect as we go along.

Shortly before 'Sleuths' was released I happened across a very popular Saint site on Facebook because the administrator of that site began sharing more and more of my posts on her several sites.  It was a huge boon. I also had set up a page for Slobbers and a group and people were getting on board.

A little back story here before I continue.  During this time a very good friend lost her Saint.  I had grown old with her Harley because we met just before we lost Bacchus, some 12 years earlier.  When chatting about our boys we laughed that perhaps in the next book Harley could be Slobbers' dad.  After all, Slobbers' had parents and it would be interesting to tell how he happened to become a shelter dog.

Back to my Facebook friend.  During this same time frame, she, too, lost her Saint. The iconic Brenda Lee. I was stunned for I had been thinking of asking if she could be Slobbers' mom.  After allowing my friend some time to grieve, I asked her what she thought. Maybe it was fine that all the dogs had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Slobbers, after all, was the composite of all my Saints. Fortunately for me she was thrilled with the idea.  As with Harley, Brenda Lee would live on.

I began doing little stories on social media telling Harley and Brenda Lee's story and people liked them so much they began clamoring for them to become a book of their own. I asked my publishing gurus if I should do it and if I chose to, could it be a prequel. The answer was yes.

How all that went coming up...

We're Havin' A Heatwave!

It was over 100 in our backyard by 10 this morning.  I was watering our plants, hoping to keep them alive for the next week to ten days as temperatures are expected to soar into the 100s consistently. Whew!

Fortunately, even though not air conditioned, our office stays quite comfortable with a fan. What's lacking is a whole lot of motivation on my part. 

I think, though,  over the next several posts I'll meander on and tell you how I went from one book to three in very short order. 

I probably would have done a lot of things differently, hindsight being 20/20, if I had had more experience.  So how do you get experience?  I think pretty much the same way I do. Try it out.  If it doesn't work, try something else. 

All things considered, it's working out.  To take advantage of an overused term these days, I think I'm flattening the (learning) curve. Stick with me!

So Now We Have a Book

 My first self-publishing venture didn't go nearly as smoothly as I had hoped.  

Additional costs  can nickel and dime you to death so beware and ask in advance what would be required beyond the initial service fees. 

The costs can also run up long after your book is actually available. You  can buy book reviews. My readers did a good job for me but they're not in the 100s, that's for sure.  There are all kinds of services out there which may or may not be worth the money.  Determining which is no easy task because like with most things hyped on social media, who do you believe?  I was lucky and had a niche market with dog lovers, especially the Saint Bernard community.

Another thing I was naive about was marketing.  It's all on you and I'm told that's true with traditional publishers too. Unless you have celebrity or work for a news channel where everyone and their pet dogs (ahem) are writing books and all the network programs cross promote them. It seems like every news anchor and contributor in the world always has a new book coming out.  When do they find the time or do they have ghost writers?

The delays were no doubt partially my fault because I had a vision in my head and expected it to be met.  Re-doing got to be frustrating.  I kept telling myself I was not the sole client, but I still got frustrated.

I had writers tell me not to do it if I expected to make money.  I wondered why would you go to all the effort required if you didn't want to get your story out there and have people actually read it.  That to me meant making money - a return on investment at least.

But they were right.  At least with self-publishing you start getting royalties immediately. Not so with traditional publishing. The royalties, however, are pennies on the dollar and the number of books you need to sell to break even can be astronomical. It's also possible you'll meet resistance from book stores and your local newspaper reviewers. I can't begin to tell you how often I was told they didn't review self-published books.  Their loss and the writer's frustration.

Be vigilant when choosing your service.  My people go through Ingram Spark for one reason and one reason only - their distribution. They get their lists of books to nearly all bookstores that have an online presence - like Barnes and Noble as well as Amazon and notable local stores like Powells in Portland or Aunties in Spokane. That means those stores can order them for you.  You won't find them on the bookshelves anywhere unless your local store is self-publisher friendly or you are willing to pay for the privilege - or your a "somebody" who for some obscure reason decided to self-publish.

Considering I claim to be a writer, this overview of self-publishing may seem a bit muddled to those reading it, but so is the process.

Would I do it again?  I did.  Twice, and now there is a fourth book underway.  Why? I so love and believe in my characters I just can't let them go.  And like anyone with a dream, I try to remind myself it will take time.  Be patient. We'll see.

Be Sure You Get What You Want

My project manager told me I was far more involved with the process than most of her clients.  To me this was natural since I knew nothing at the outset and wanted to know everything I was getting for my $2500!

I had no idea I had written a "middle grade" story.  By definition that's a story for kids between 8 and 12. Those books are in a 9 x 6 format. They are illustrated but not always in color.  The text is right and left justified.

The text drove me crazy because to justify it there were often huge gaps between words.  Totally normal, so I was told. Mind you I had put my trust in these people.  They did add some neat touches like splash marks around the first letter of chapters, representing, I'm sure, drops of slobber. They also put paw prints around the page numbers. They were nice touches and something I couldn't do on my own without investing in a lot of pricey programs.  The initial $2500 was a sting unto itself!

The cover was another issue.  I was only given two choices.  The one chosen was chosen because it was colorful and showed action. I wasn't crazy about the color but I guess it was to compliment the snail. The dog and the snail were extrapolated from actual illustrations.

The next step was proofing the formatting.  That was another hassle because many of the illustrations didn't mesh with the text.  I went through and placed them where, or at least close to where, they should have been.  That was time consuming.  So you've got some very lengthy processes involved.  I found it had been unwise to anticipate a launch date. However, I was told to keep it in front of my audience and part of that was the telling of its coming.

Once satisfied with the layout, it was ready to be uploaded to the printer.  Again, this is a step I left to the pros.  Many do it themselves but it must be a harrowing experience for anyone doing it for the first time. Especially when they charge for re-uploads should you find an error after the fact.

Let me say that Ingram Spark charges.  Amazon does not.

Next post will be about why we chose Ingram and what all was involved.

Picking the Pictures

 I thought I had done enough illustrations - better than thirty, but by the time we  placed them it was decided we needed about eight more. I spent the next several days working on them.

The one to the left is one of my early favorites. My two heroes studying a snail drinking beer.  What is that all about?  Read the book! Slobbers and Slime.  All the books, by the way, are available on Amazon and most bookstores that have an online presence.  I'll be repeating this often, just in case...

I had studied a lot of illustrated children's books and have to this day never seen one illustrated in my style. I thought so many of them were very static and while  cute, they didn't show action. By design I kept mine loose and sketchy. After all the book is for kids and I wanted them to be able to feel a sense of action and intrigue. 

My project manager told be I should investigate putting myself out there as an illustrator but I didn't, and still don't, know enough about the publishing requirements nor all the technical aspects of the drawing program. I decided to stick with my own projects which were challenging enough. She had a point though, when she told me illustrators command around $150 per picture.  My immediate thought was, wow, I could never have afforded to have a professional illustrate my book to the extent I did.

Once the illustrations were completed everything was made available to the layout people.  This is another area where there are a lot of guidelines online for those wanting to tackle it themselves, but again, I knew nothing about it so opted to have the professionals handle it. Layout and cover design.  We're getting close to actually having a book!

The Publishing Choice Is Made - Move Forward

 I'd written the story.  I'd become one with Slobbers.  We named the book "Slobbers and Slime". Kids would love it I was told. Good.  Great title. Now we had to get it published.  I agonized for a couple of days about which way to go and finally decided on the small group in Missoula. I felt I could talk to them.  I really wanted to learn about this process.

As I mentioned before, there are a lot of ways to go, piecemeal or the whole package.  I opted for the whole package with one exception.  A friend, who was an editor, volunteered to edit the story.  She was my first real supporter, the one who encouraged me to write the story and gave me direction through out the process. I had great confidence in her. I knew she liked it and I needed the morale boost that gave me.

I was totally paranoid about the story.  Several friends had read it along with a few people I did not know personally.  I was told by all it was good.  Some read it to their kids.  The kids liked it.  That was a huge plus since it's a kids book. Yet I still wasn't sure. I don't know if other writers are like this but I was terrified of letting it out of my hands. Maybe it was because I was so new to what I was trying to do.

Never the less I moved forward.  I loved the suggestions that were made.  They all made sense and  I readily incorporated them into the story. I discovered my weaknesses and was learning a lot. 

While all this was going on, I was told approximately how many illustrations would be needed so I faced another challenge. How to do it.  I had been using an online program and was just learning the ins and outs of it. There was and still is so much to learn but I dug in and got started. 

Finally the time came to choose the illustrations. My project manager  and I got together with our computers over a wonderful lunch overlooking a golf course in Missoula.  You don't get that from the big guys.

Next post - putting it all together.

So How Do You Self-Publish

Slobbers, the Saint Bernard and the hero of my story, and I had by this time become joined at the hip.  This was our project together.  It made me think of kids who have invisible friends.  I now had an invisible dog.  I still do, though he seems very real to me. So off we went together to sort this all out.

 Boy, there are a LOT of companies who offer self-publishing services.  You can get a package deal where they literally do everything except actually write your book, or you can pick and choose the services you want.

That was all fine and dandy so I read about a bunch of them. Looking up ratings for all of them was a big help.  Disgruntled clients are more likely to comment than those pleased with a service, or so it seemed.  There were more objective comparisons too.  Looking at things like the quality they were known for, responsiveness to their clients questions, distribution and so on.  On that basis I was able to eliminate a lot of them.

I was still uneasy.  I like to know the people I'm doing business with; I like to be able to look them in the eye.

During all this my husband jumped on the band wagon and did some of his own research and in so doing found a small outfit in Missoula, MT which is just a hop, skip and jump from where I live.  The web site said, as did they all, the initial conference was free.  That made sense.  They want to lure you in. So I called them and asked if I could meet with them in person. Absolutely, I was told.

So off to Missoula I went and met for about an hour with the gal who would be my project manager. I liked her.  She seemed to like the premise of my book and the couple of illustrations I had in the manuscript.  I tried to weigh personality and enthusiasm as being real versus wanting a client. We parted company with my telling her I'd be in touch.

Once back in my office I reviewed all the research I had done on the  various companies. The choice boiled down to the 800 pound gorilla in the business or the small group in Missoula.

Next post - the decision and why.

Now It's Written - What Next?

 I had a manuscript.  I had thrown in a few illustrations just to break it up a bit.  The illustration at the left was the first one I drew. I had already fallen in love with that puppy!

People I had asked to read the manuscript - those who would be honest, but kind, loved the illustrations and said I should do them myself. More on this as we go along.

I had two options to move forward.  One was to begin researching and submitting to appropriate publishing houses, or self-publish.

Of course ego suggested going for a publishing house until a friend told me that I'd probably have to wait a couple of years before they'd get around to reading it and there was no guarantee it would be accepted. At my age I didn't feel that was viable choice.

One of my readers was with a small local house begun by a group of writers who had problems getting their own books published.  They were interested, but then they weren't, then they were again.  As with many small businesses they were having their own share of financial problems so I decided that too was not a viable choice.

The next step was finding out the pros and cons of self-publishing and how did one go about it. One thing I did know was that I was going to need all the help I could get.

Next - who helps and what exactly do they do?