With his first ebook published, KR. Mitchell tells
us about his self-publishing
journey.
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I
didn’t think I would ever get a book published, and nine years ago without the
rise of ebooks that would have been true. The book I had wanted to write was nontraditional and unique in a literary sense. I was more inspired by the
fast-moving action and stylistic quirks of animation, movies and video games
than any actual book. The result is a book that's dialogue focused and
character driven with an emphasis on humor as well as action.
I'd
like to explain to you all the process through which I self-published. Let me
start by saying there is a wealth of additional information about
self-publishing and if anyone wants to know more about it check out my Facebook
page or Twitter feed for more advice.
First,
I wrote the book. This was quite honestly the easy part. I was free to be as
creative as I wished to be without regard to style or form. You don't have to
worry about bad dialogue, cut it out later; no need for intensive research,
google it later; and no need for editing—which bring us to point number two.
I had to edit. I hated editing. I hated it
more than I hate math and I loathe math.
Punctuation, grammar, style and so on had to be carefully checked line by line.
There was a lot of addition and subtraction, which coincidentally are the only
things I know how to do with math. Dialogue had to be rewritten and scenes had
to be switched. It was a heavy task and it took about a week but I eventually
turned in a clean copy. I'd recommend pushing this work off on some editor if
you can afford it. I currently eat canned beans for dinner so that should tell
you my money situation. Pop-tarts are equivalent to French macaroons at the
moment. I'll let you know how the macaroons taste as soon as the royalties
start coming in.
The
final step was publishing the book via Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Smashwords and
iBooks. The method to do so couldn’t be simpler as long as you take a deep
breath, be composed and follow the instructions like a worker drone in an ant
colony. When you’re writing the story be sure to set a half-inch first tab
stop, use an auto generated table of contents, use page breaks when needed and
use “Heading 1” paragraph style for the chapter titles. After you’ve finished
the book convert it into an ePub file. Most programs should have an export or
save as function to do this for you, but if you’re not sure if your writing
program has this function; you can use this website
to convert it for you. I recommend using an epub, because the format is
universally accepted by all major ebook publishers. Yes you can set the pricing
to whatever you want, but stick between the sweet spot of $2.99 and $9.99. You
shouldn’t bother with ¢0.99 because you’re not only devaluing your work but
every self-published ebook as well.
I
lied, the final step is marketing, which is a subject I’m still learning about
myself, so I can’t offer you any advice beside the obvious such as use social
media and everything else to get the word of mouth started.
Don't
look down on self-publishing. The era of "vanity publishing" is over.
This is a time where vanity is the social norm. Vanity is the reason why we
know who Mark Zuckerberg is and why we should hate him. Having a digital
prescience won't hurt your chances at getting a deal with a traditional
publisher. In fact, it could help if you can use any sales reports to prove to
the gatekeepers who keep their bony claws on the printing press lever that
there is a market for your book.
Some
additional advice: have your bank information available. All ebook publishers
will want to know where to send your well-deserved money. Keep your check or
savings and bank routing numbers available as well your Social Security or Tax
ID numbers on hand for tax purposes. Don’t be intimidated by the technology or
the paperwork assets of self-publishing just be calm. Oh and one more thing,
take the plunge and either hire a professional cover designer or buy a royalty
free stock photo and edit it yourself. You don't have to use any fancy, finicky
programs like Photoshop just use PowerPoint like I did by following this guy's advice.
I
hope to see all of you aspiring writers alongside me on the Kindle store.
There's no need to keep buying TV dinners with the ice crusted brownies and
rubbery corn nimblest. Go forth and write books.
About Forces of Nature Series
The
adventures of a young girl named Alison Moody and her friends, Ren Kiramitsu
and Edwin Silversine, as they try to save their country and the world from
corruption by secret forces with extremist intents. The Forces of Nature is seamlessly mixed with drama and action
that keeps you laughing on the edge of your seat. The character development is
fascinating along with the twists and turns associated with them. Find
the FON Series
on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/ZVfuGb
About KR. Mitchell
KR. Mitchell is
currently working on a Bachelors of Arts
in Journalism at the University
of Alabama. KR. Mitchell began with a love of reading and writing from a young
age. Not until reaching college did KR start serious work on honing his skills
in writing thanks to vigorous journalism courses. It is an adherence to AP
Style and brevity that influences his writing style's focus on minimalist
descriptions, short sentences and conciseness. It's not the standard, but it
works for him. Find him on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/10wHEmK
