Blurb

The shoes didn't fit. It was an omen.













Sunday, November 25, 2012

And Everyone Smiled: The Woes of Self-Publishing

He smiled. She smiled. They smiled. Someone smiled. So-and-so smiled. Such-and-such smiled. And they all smiled at each other.

Yeah. Well, I got a proof copy of my novel, Secondhand Shoes. The book is beautiful  in person. The pic below doesn’t do it justice. It was surreal to hold and stare at it. Tears filled my eyes, and I got all mushy over it. So did Sweetman. But…

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…on the back, some words were kicked out of the blurb. Some of the sentences make no sense without them. But it does look beautiful. But then…

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…you open to the very first page and it’s totally off center. It also needs to go up a little higher. And the more I go through the book the more alignment issues I see. But this didn’t show up on the Create Space Page Viewer thingie. It all looked perfect. And it’s so not perfect so much so one can’t even see the left hand page numbers.

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And all my poo-words were converted to pooh. That’s not the pooh I wanted. He’s in another story. Holy Schmoly!

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But these aren’t the only problems. My hyper-sensitive-editor has now gone on red alert. I’ve got two pages of smiles. Smile. Smile. Smile. While editing via my computer screen or an 8x10 paper copy of my MS, it wasn’t apparent. Everything looked word-symmetrical. It all looks really different being in a book. It’s more condensed.

SO do I go in and delete a lot of those smiles? ***shrugs*** Am I being too sensitive? Too much of a perfectionist? OMG!

Shouldn’t I be my own worst critic before some one else out there buys the book and butchers my story? My writing?

Anyway, if you’re self publishing, make sure you pay to get your PROOF copy before agreeing to unleash your great American novel onto the word-eaters out  there.

So I’m hoping before I get Glowstick back later, I will have gone through the entire book at least.

Hugs and chocolate,

Shelly

42 comments:

  1. Good luck with your book. I used Createspace for mine and was very pleased with how it turned out in the end.

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    1. Thank you, Linda. I'm sure the problem is going from one program to another.

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  2. Oh dear.
    But hey, I did tell you you'd have a tear or two.

    There's so much that goes into a physical copy, I now have better respect for my publisher who has it done via a company[Ingram], and let them sweat out these nasty problems that crop up. So sorry to hear that it wasn't nearly perfect enough.
    You want it perfect, or where you're comfortable with it, though.
    Take your time, do it right. I wish I had spent more time on my original mss. for Spell of the Black Unicorn before I self-pubed it.
    Good luck. The finished product is nearly there. Do you have it up as an ebook yet?

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    1. I'm hoping to get through all or most of it today.

      Collin is having problems with Chinese coming up in the doc I sent him.

      Delete
  3. Congratulations and thanks for the tip about the proof. I was under the very false impression that proofs are complimentary or free because they are necessary. Very interesting. Things in publishing are so different now--you'd never know I was in publishing for 25 years.
    I wish you all the success in the world and I know you can do this and a lot more!

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome. It all looks different in print...in the actual book.

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  4. Congratulations! Hey, you can still go in and fix those and just use the ones you have now as review copies.

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    1. Thank you, Alex. And yes, I plan on using them as review copies. However, the one I'm going through has notes and highlights through it now.

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  5. I expect you won't give up. My daughter has been editing her proof copy and is getting nearly finished. The outside does look great. There are many changes on the inside.

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    1. No. I'm not giving up. I've come too far to give up.

      Delete
  6. Take your time with it. It's better to get it done right before releasing it.

    I keep wondering if you might end up having to retype the entire doc for the ebook. Copy and paste would just transfer whatever causes the glitches into a new doc.

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    1. I definitely am. I don't want to throw something out to the public in frustration.

      What if I convert it to another doc type? Would that work? I can convert it to a 1997-2003 doc.

      Delete
  7. Okay, how did "poo" turn into "pooh?"

    We've had issues with mine, but never to this extent.

    Eve: you get charged for print proofs. If you do them online, no charge.

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    1. Its very weird, Norma. In my original doc its poo. And also, on the previewer everything looked fine. But then I got the email that they change some of the settings to make everything fit but there are three empty pages toward the back.

      Eve: If your eyes play tricks on you, its a good thing to pay to get the print proof. Obviously mine do.

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  8. At least you were able to intercept it and fix it before it goes out into the world.

    If there's a difference in the encoding scheme between the source and destination file, it won't get fixed except by retyping it...I'm sorry if that's the case. Did odd characters show up? I hope that's not it. Copying and pasting won't fix that. Reloading from a compatible file would.

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    1. I know the first two times I loaded it, their program didn't recognize em-dashes and the margins were totally off. I got that fixed and now we have different issues. The word poo to pooh. A few alignment issues again. And some things are my own doing like too much smiling going on in two pages. It looks different in print that's for sure. Viewing it in the previewer didn't help my eyes but having the actual book helps. I'm catching more of my own errors as well and completely understand now why its good to have a thesaurus.

      As for the ebook, my formatter for that keeps getting Chinese characters. I'm hoping just converting the doc into a compatible one will work. If not, I'll retype it. That's okay. I don't want the world to go that Shelly Arkon is a moronic writer.

      Delete
  9. I have trouble with my self-pubbed novel on amazon.com. For some reason, almost all the paragraphs are not indented. Tried fixing it, but wasn't successful. I'm afraid I'll have to retype the entire book and republish it. For any future books, I'm thinking of hiring someone to do the formatting. My previously self-pubbed book of short stories came out fine.

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  10. Oh Shelly,
    I have a lot of smiles too, but it's either that, or the corners of the mouth curving up.
    I've gone through formatting issues too and now I format the books myself (It took a few days to learn). The books always come out the way they appear on a PDF. But, I don't go through Createspace. I use Lightning Source for distribution.
    I hope it all works out for you. Fingers crossed.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Marta. It really looks different in the book. Things pop out at ya.

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  11. I'm so glad you got a proof copy so you have the chance to fix things before it goes out into the world.

    I've been working on nailing down the formatting for a Kindle copy. It's taken a long, long while. But that's cool. Because I've got nothing but time...

    Best of luck with it, Shelly!

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    1. Thank you, M.J. Life is all about learning.The Kindle one I haven't tackled yet. But after the Create Space one, I'm no longer afraid.

      Delete
  12. WOW How excited you must be to see and hold your book! Am sorry to hear about the couple set backs, but am excited for you that it has come this far. I also don't blame you for being a perfectionist where your book is concerned You worked very hard on it. BTW Love the cover! Def enjoyed your posting

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    1. Thank you, Gossip. Sorry, I haven't been here to answer.

      Hugs and chocolate.

      Delete
  13. It's amazing all the things you're finding in the proof. Great advice. I'll remember to get the proof copy.

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    1. You're welcome. A lot of things jumped out at me from the proof copy.

      Hugs and chocolate.

      Delete
  14. Oh my and there certainly is a lesson to be learnt here. I reckon you are indeed correct about paying to get your POOHF, sorry, PROOF copy.

    The trials and tribulations of self-publishing, or as Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar, would say, "self-pawblishing".

    All the best to you, Shelly.

    Gary

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  15. The cover looks great! Sorry that you're having all of this unnecessary aggravation. Fortunately, you've found the problems early, so everything should get resolved. This is definitely worth fighting for. Julie

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    1. Now I'm waiting to hear back on the back jacket. And I need to go through the format for the Kindle.

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  16. I don't think you're being oversensitive. I released my first edition through Create Space, wasn't completely happy and have removed that book in favour of the Australian printed version by Lightening Source. It just looks so much better. Best to spend the extra time now and save yourself a lot of money and frustration later :)

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  17. You haven't posted in awhile. Hoping all is going good with your book and with your family! Wishing you Happy Holidays! Miss your postings!

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    1. Hey Gossip:

      I'll post something for Christmas and will return in January. Right now, I'm waiting for my cover artist to send me the bookcover again with its corrections. I hope soon. And I'm going through the formatting of the ebook.

      Happy Holidays to you, too.

      Delete
  18. I definitely recommend ordering a print proof too! That's weird that things changed so much between the digital one and the print one. I used Createspace, and I've been very satisfied with them. I'm sure you'll get everything worked out. :) Happy Holidays!

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    1. Almost there.

      Happy Holidays.

      Hugs and chocolate.

      Delete
  19. Oh no! Sorry all that went wrong in the print copy. Good luck sorting it out, and happy holidays!

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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  20. Well, guys. Thirty-two books were delivered to my house on Friday. Yay!

    Hugs and chocolate.

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  21. Welcome back Shelly! Your book is BEAUTIFUL! I hope sorting out the inside goes smoothly - it has sounded nightmarish. Happy New Year to you and your family!

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I'm dying to know what you think.