{"id":1593,"date":"2014-04-05T17:07:14","date_gmt":"2014-04-06T00:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=1593"},"modified":"2019-04-17T07:48:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T14:48:38","slug":"jumping-into-the-fray-of-self-publishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/jumping-into-the-fray-of-self-publishing\/","title":{"rendered":"Jumping into the Fray of Self-Publishing"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s spring! What better time to jump into the fray of self-publishing. It’s a time to blossom, so I’m going for it.<\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019ve decided to self-publish my book, A Cry From The Deep<\/i><\/b>, a romantic mystery. I resisted at first, because it\u2019s a hell of a lot of work and money. Also, I know there are so many books out there, at last count, over two million on Amazon alone. Yikes! You have to be half crazy to think your book is going to stand out in that pool. But then again, as my husband says, cream rises to the top. I’ve got my fingers crossed, that my story will resonate with readers.<\/p>\n

\"Magnolia<\/a>

Magnolia Blossom by Diana Stevan<\/p><\/div>\n

To be honest, I wanted to go down the traditional road\u2014be validated in that way, get that agent and book publisher behind me, cheering me on\u2014but though I\u2019ve had interest, it\u2019s not to be, and maybe that\u2019s a good thing. I can pick my own cover (daunting, as I could pick the wrong one), and any books I sell, well, the little money that the majority of authors make these days, at least more of it will find its way to my pocket.<\/p>\n

As for not having the traditional cheerleaders behind me, there\u2019s no guarantee they\u2019d be there anyway in today\u2019s publishing world. Traditionally published authors now have to work almost as hard as self-published authors in getting the word out. They can no longer rely on their agents and book publishers for that kind of support.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0290\"

Cherry Blossoms at Van Dusen Gardens, Vancouver
by Diana Stevan<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

What bothered me most about self-publishing was the fact that the market is flooded with books that haven’t been edited properly. A lot of vanity published manuscripts. As an avid reader myself, and married to someone who also reads a great deal, we are both aware of how many badly written books there are for sale. How is the reader to know what\u2019s worth buying?<\/i> At least, with traditional books, you know the story has been vetted. What I\u2019m hoping for is word of mouth, still the best way to get your book noticed.<\/p>\n

So, having respect for the written word, I\u2019ve taken a number of steps to ensure my book debuts in the best shape possible. And while I’ve been doing that, I’ve been consulting books like Martin Crosbie’s How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle ,<\/strong> Anne R. Allen and Catherine Ryan Hyde’s How To Be A Writer In The E-Age, <\/strong>and Jonathan Gunson’s Bestseller Labs website.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

I also talked to J. P. McLean<\/a><\/strong>, a writer who threw all caution to the wind and\u00a0 self-published a very imaginative The Gift<\/em> trilogy. She very generously shared with me her process.<\/p>\n

\"Star<\/a>

Star Magnolia Tree in our garden by Diana Stevan<\/p><\/div>\n

Here are my steps:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve been so blessed to have my story critiqued by River Writers<\/i>, a group I belong to in my community:\u00a0 Kristin Butcher<\/a><\/strong>, a prolific and award winning children’s and YA writer; Jocelyn Reekie<\/a><\/strong> publisher and writer of children’s and YA books, Shari Green<\/a><\/strong> YA writer with a great blog, and Janet Smith<\/a><\/strong>, who is writing a science fiction novel.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve also shown my novel to a number of beta readers who\u2019ve given me their thoughts. One of them, Karen Dodd<\/a>,<\/strong> has recently published her own debut book to great reviews.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve had it macro edited by Marnie Wooding<\/strong>, who\u2019s worked for a publishing house in the past and gave me great notes on my story.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And then I had it copy edited by Laurie Boris,<\/strong> a beautiful writer herself, just to make sure I wasn\u2019t putting out crap with spelling errors and poor grammar.<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then, came the book cover. How I\u2019ve agonized over this one, pouring over books on Amazon, looking at bestsellers, romances, trying to find what works and what doesn\u2019t. Time will tell whether what I\u2019ve chosen is the best one to illustrate what\u2019s behind the covers. My book designer is finalizing the touches.<\/p>\n

6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And formatting. I\u2019m currently in the process of getting that done through Quantum Formatting Services.<\/strong><\/p>\n

7)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And then I\u2019m planning on getting it printed through CreateSpace<\/a><\/strong>, which gave me a free ISBN number. And I\u2019ll get it on Amazon\u2019s Kindle, too. Yahoo!!!<\/p>\n

8)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But I still haven\u2019t decided exactly when I\u2019ll publish both the print and e-book versions. Will it be May? As I look at my magnolia tree, already blooming, I\u2019m wondering if I can get it out before summer sets in and everyone has already bought their beach books. Or maybe I’ll wait until fall.<\/p>\n

If you have any questions or comments <\/strong>about my process, I\u2019m more than happy to let you in on my journey. Also, if you have anything to add, I’d love to hear that, too. Thanks.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s spring! What better time to jump into the fray of self-publishing. It’s a time to blossom, so I’m going for it. Yes, I\u2019ve decided to self-publish my book, A… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[598,599,603,78,600,602,597,9,601,43],"class_list":["post-1593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing","tag-anne-r-allen","tag-catherine-ryan-hyde","tag-createspace","tag-diana-stevan","tag-jonathan-gunson","tag-laurie-boris","tag-martin-crosbie","tag-novel","tag-romantic-mystery","tag-self-publishing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-pH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1610,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/the-challenge-of-book-covers\/","url_meta":{"origin":1593,"position":0},"title":"The Challenge of Book Covers","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"26 \u041a\u0432\u0456\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was writing A Cry From The Deep, I never gave any thought to a book cover. That\u2019s not unreasonable given that I had to write the novel first. Mine took longer than most because I chose to write about subjects that I didn\u2019t know much about. Also, since\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"From 123f.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/a-cry-from-the-deep-alt-watermark-196x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2886,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/uncategorized\/indieauthor\/","url_meta":{"origin":1593,"position":1},"title":"Indie Author Day","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"30 \u0412\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043d\u044f, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The first Indie Author Day takes place on Sat. Oct. 8th in libraries all over North America. Key members of the publishing industry are supporting indie authors and their growing body of work. Publishing associations like The Library Journal and Publisher Weekly's Book Life are a few who have helped\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Indie Author","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/INDIE-AT-LIBRARY-300x233.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":953,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/uncategorized\/the-new-publishing-universe\/","url_meta":{"origin":1593,"position":2},"title":"The New Publishing Universe","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"4 \u0422\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043d\u044f, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"On a recent trip to New York, one of the places my husband and I passed by on our daily walks was Random House, one of the Big Six in publishing. It's every writer's dream, at least I think it is, to have a book published by them or one\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/P1110395-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1797,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/giving-birth-to-a-book\/","url_meta":{"origin":1593,"position":3},"title":"Giving Birth to a Book","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"2 \u0416\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, I met with my friend, Karen Dodd, the author of the delicious suspense novel, Deadly Switch. She\u2019s been marvellous, coaxing me along, encouraging me, telling me that my book is more than ready. \u201cIt\u2019s well overdue,\u201d she said. She\u2019s right. My novel, A CRY FROM THE DEEP, has been\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Deadly Switch","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Deadly-Switch.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2597,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/writing\/book-cover-wins-gold-star\/","url_meta":{"origin":1593,"position":4},"title":"Book Cover Wins Gold Star","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"23 \u041a\u0432\u0456\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Winning Cover I'm thrilled that the book\u00a0cover for THE RUBBER FENCE has won a\u00a0\u00a0Gold Star from Joel Friedlander of the BOOK DESIGNER. When I submitted the cover for their monthly contest, I wrote, \u00a0\u201cAs this story takes place largely on a psychiatric ward, I thought that Jun Ares\u2019s book\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"writing world","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/TRF-OLD-POSTER.jpg?fit=417%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1817,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/many-paths-to-a-dream\/","url_meta":{"origin":1593,"position":5},"title":"MANY PATHS TO A DREAM","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"15 \u0416\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s book launch day! Okay, so I\u2019m excited. What I need are some fireworks, a parade, and a paper bag over my head to\u00a0keep me from smiling non-stop. Yesterday, two boxes of books arrived. Some are gifts, others for Coho Books, an independent book store in town and others still\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_6374","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_6374-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}