For the last week I've been developing a web presence and getting Anna N. ready for publication. I've decided that, at least to start, I'll distribute this novel through Amazon's Kindle and B&N's Nook. I know this is a controversial decision that many will find difficult to understand. I've been reading a lot lately about the turbulence in the publishing industry and about the almost impossible hill a new author has to climb to be "traditionally published". Even if I start sending out letters and partials today, it will be at least 18 months before my book is released. Can you imagine the frustration an author feels when he has to wait that long for his work to see daylight? And, quite frankly, the compensation model for a new author is abysmal. He's lucky to see 20% of the paper book's list price and even less for an e-book. It's a hard way to make a living. So I've chosen to get the book ready myself and to put it up very soon. With any luck I'll see readers before the summer's end and that's very gratifying. Writers need feedback and support to continue what is a very lonely existence. I've spend well over a year writing Anna N. and would be devastated if I had to wait another 18 months to see it on a bookstore's shelves. Add to that the reality of publishing today and the fact that only top tier authors get any real support from the traditional publishers and you can see why more and more authors are making the switch to self-publishing. It just makes a whole lot of sense.
I'm also slogging through the battle to get my manuscript properly formatted for these electronic readers. You'd be surprised how basic the formatting is in these electronic 'marvels'. Much of the beauty one gets from a Word document is lost in translation. My first pass at a Kindle was a disaster ... almost unreadable. After I went through and replaced all the automatically generated 'fluff' that Word puts in, it got much better. And today, after going through and finding all the extra carriage returns and page breaks I'd accidentally put in, I got a very clean read. So we're close ... very close. Just waiting for the final corrections from my editors and we'll be ready to go.
I'm sure a few readers (especially other authors) wonder why I'm doing my own formatting and cover art. Reasonable questions. First, I'm a very 'hands on' guy and want to know how the process works. Honestly, it was and continues to be very eye opening. Second, I wanted to know what I could do to make the process easier in the future. Now that I've run through all the autoformatting issues with Word, I'll know what not to do with the next book (in early development as I type this ... a real thriller from the dark side). If nothing else, I'll make life easier for someone in the future and that's not all bad. Finally, with the cover, I wanted to establish a very specific image that carries through the series. I wanted an intense, photo-realistic impression that conveys the confusion and terror saturating the story. I think I was very successful in this case.
So, the process continues. I suspect the manuscript will be ready in a few weeks and then it appears at Amazon and B&N. I'll announce here and on Facebook when that's going to happen. Other formats will follow and I might even consider a publish on demand (POD) edition if enough demand materializes. What I do is up to you guys, my readers. Let me know what you want.
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