Dottie Goes to Print

Six months ago the first book in our Let's Write a Story series was published as an e-book on Amazon. Seven Ways to Plot was an introduction to various plotting methods, and it was aimed at helping aspiring authors to figure out the best plotting method for them and their books. It was a good beginning, but now, our baby has grown up! It is available in print as well.

After the birth of an ebook, it takes a bit for the baby to become an adult print book.

 

How long? Well, it depends.

 

While that might seen like a wishy-washy answer, it really does depend on many factors. The following three are the basic items you need to consider in order for your print book to make it into the real world.

Carefully consider:

• Back cover
• Formatting
• Finance

Let’s take ‘em one at a time.

Back Cover

In order for a “print” book to develop, especially if the contents have first been an ebook, there has to be a back cover and a spine.  

Covers and spines are needed if the book is to be bought by libraries, carried in book stores and easy to physically handle if viewed and used by a reader.

Of course something has to go on the back cover. Because in a bookstore, the consumer will, after picking up the book, flip it over and read what is on the back cover

 

The problem is what to put there. A blurb about the contents, an image of the authors, and of course, a bar code will be needed. Who is going to get the bar code? Who will supply the ISBN which all print books must have.

Does the author want her picture on the cover? Or perhaps a bit about how the book came into existence?  And should there be a short review of what’s in the book, because now, the potential reader in a bookstore will likely turn the book over and read what it contains.  Well, after a lot of work -- here is how it turned out:

Formatting


Getting the file ready for printing means a “new” formatting has to be done, as the formatting for an ebook is different from the formatting for a print book. And someone has to do it.
•  
  Neither of us know how to format. I suppose we could learn, but we simply don’t have the time, the energy or the desire to take a class on formatting.
   
  Getting back to setting up the book for printing, formatting is different from formatting an ebook, so you need to be careful in finding the right person who has experience in this area. A good formatter costs money.
   
  Finances
• 
  
  Of course everything cost money in self-publishing.
  • the Bar Code usually costs about $25 but the ISBN number that goes on the bar code also costs
  • someone has to do the layout of the back cover. This also costs money, usually around $100, but this varies greatly
  • more formatting. Once again someone has to do this. This cost usually is figured by the number of pages depending on the expertise of the formatter.
•  
  Becky and I are proud to announce that our “baby” in the Let’s Write a Story series has left the ebook nest and has joined the “print” world. It seems like no matter how much we enjoy writing and finishing a book and getting it published, there is still nothing quite like holding that printed version in your hand and knowing it will be put up on someone's bookshelf soon.
   
  Seven Ways to Plot  is available in ebook and print at Amazon.com and we will soon be publishing the next in our Let's Write a Story! series -- Creating Memorable Characters.  It will also start out as an e-book and then progress into print.
   

New Writing Blog -- Any Questions?

Sue: Welcome to our new home. A blog where you can feel free to ask generic  questions, whether large or small, about your writing or writing in general. We are dedicating this blog to helping writers, aspiring or professional, with their writing problems and concerns.

Becky: Yes, welcome. We are so glad you found us. We have been teaching and guiding writers through the pitfalls and hazards of getting started with their stories for more than ten years.  Whether it be a romance novel, a sci-fi adventure or a shoot ‘em up thriller, we have worked with dozens of writers and now we are here to offer you guidance in your work.  


Sue:  Over the years we’ve discovered that many people who want to write a book just don’t know where to start. It all seems so confusing,  and once they do get started, they get lost in where they want to go with their story. How can you plot a story? Where do characters come from?

Becky: And that is where we come in. We have both been beginning writers ourselves and we remember some of those questions and the turmoil that comes from trying to find the answers.  We both enjoy working with writers and we like to see others succeed so we started working together years ago with the goal in mind of helping those who want to go from being a writer to a published
author.

Sue:  We also discovered writers are all different and we both bring some of those general differences to this teaching partnership. I’m the talker whereas Becky is more of a thinker…grin, but between the two of us we cover all the bases, from nonfiction books to a new set of cozies and of course Becky’s romantic-suspense, romance and mystery novels.

Becky:  Sue is the creative artistic type, while I am more of the practical journalist, but when it comes to writing a novel, she is the outlining/plotting sort of writer, while I take an idea and simply run with it, and let the muse take me where it wants to go. Because of our different approaches, we can see just about any side of a discussion, and that is why together we make a great team.

Sue: Right, however we both work best when we have deadlines we have to meet, and although we hate them, they do keep us moving and writing.

 Becky: Agreed. Deadlines and discipline are what get the stories written.  I worked for 30 years in a profession where we sometimes had minute by minute deadlines, but whether it’s hourly or monthly, without deadlines, often  the story, whatever it may be, stays in your head.

 Sue: Never to see daylight, let alone a book shelf  or to go “live” on Amazon in any form, such as a print or ebook. We  We are here now to  help you with your story. Send in your generic questions or concerns and please note that we never use real names in our blog unless,  it is a compliment of some kind.

Becky:  While we can’t always answer specific story questions, we are here to help you with your plotting, developing characters, pacing, and figuring out all those pesky little “insider” things like POV (point of view.)

 

We'll be bringing you writing tips each week, but we want to focus on YOU. Feel free to address the questions you want answered. Send your questions  or comments to either

sueviders@comcast.net or  beckygmartinez@gmail.com

 As a final note -- OUR NEW BOOK IS OUT.

Seven Ways to Plot -- the first in our Let's Write a Story series has just been published on Amazon and is available for Kindle and e-readers.  Here's the direct link:

http://goo.gl/tDKis3

Next week, we'll be back with more ideas to help so Let us Write a Story with you! Send questions!