Excellent Explanation of ISBNs, Amazon, and Your Publishing Goals

I’ve included a chapter on ISBNs in my little book on formatting your paperback interior with Adobe InDesign (soon to be republished in an updated version), but this post from AuthorImprints is extremely clear, concise, and helpful. It explains in detail why you need an ISBN for your paperback, but may not want to accept the Kindle Direct Publishing free ISBN. According to the author, David Wogahn, Amazon is using the migration to KDP Print to persuade writers to accept the free ISBN. As his article makes clear, that is a fraught decision we all need to make with our eyes open.

Page 1 of King of the Roses in Adobe InDesign

You CAN format your book!

 

How are you handling ISBNs, and how does your process work for you?

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Filed under Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, business of writing, indie publishing, Myths and Truths, novels, Print on Demand, Publishing, Self-publishing, Writing

Speed-Write That Synopsis (or close)

Your book ready to publish--dreamscape!

This article by guest poster Romi Summer on Jami Gold’s site is one of the clearest synopsis-writing templates I’ve seen yet (thanks again to Chris the Story Reading Ape!). I especially like that it’s a primer on story structure as well. I don’t care if you do write Literary Stuff—if you don’t have these elements, you don’t have a story.

Give it a try and tell me what you think!

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Filed under Finding agents, novels, Plot Development, Writing

Punctuating Dialogue! Here’s How.

A single quotation mark.A single quotation mark.I wanted to write this, because I get so frustrated when I’m critiquing and I have to stop following the story line to correct the punctuation of dialogue. But I don’t have to write about dialogue because Reedsy has done it for me. If you’ve ever wondered, say, about what do with em dashes or how to punctuate a quote within a quote, it’s all here! Feast! The five basic comma rulesThe five basic comma rules

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Useful and Practical Info on the Migration from CreateSpace to KDP

Books flying into reviewers' hands.Courtesy of Indies Unlimited, Melinda Clayton shares her experiences with the changeover from CreateSpace to KDP Print. Straightforward tips that you may find useful. I’m going to tackle this soon. Read the comments; they are helpful as well.

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‘Tis the Season for Pet Peeves: How to Make A Family Name Plural.

Here’s the primer. Save those apostrophes for the times you really need one—and that means NOT in plurals!

Check the five basic comma rules

SHOUTING:

NO APOSTROPHE IN THE PLURAL OF YOUR FAMILY NAME—OR YOUR CHARACTER’S FAMILY NAME. APOSTROPHES ARE FOR POSSESSIVES AND CONTRACTIONS. THAT’S IT!

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People! RESEARCH “How to Publish.” It’s Not Hard!

Editing tips for writers

Yet again, on a Facebook page for writers of fiction, someone asked about a clear vanity press scam. Page members quickly jumped in with the appropriate answer for such a query: RUN!

But what amazes me is that I see so many of these kinds of questions. I’m not a particularly patient soul myself, so I had to throttle my immediate response: Don’t you have a computer? Don’t you know how to Google? Shouldn’t basic research be the first step for someone thinking about publishing? Doesn’t it occur to folks that in this day and age, How-To is there for the asking? All you have to do is look.

I consider the answer I composed reasonably tactful (for me):

These days, when we all clearly have access to the Internet, it surprises me that people don’t actively search for information on “how to publish a book.” Of course, a search like that will turn up lots of scams and vanity presses, but it will also turn up many useful sites that offer advice. Everyone who is thinking seriously about publishing should be compiling a personal list of the most helpful FREE sites that lay out the ins and outs of today’s publishing options. A search for “best websites for writers” would yield a ton of these. Yes, you will get some conflicting opinions–some people love Amazon, some hate it–but you’ll begin to get the lay of the land. After a while you begin to get a sense of which bloggers know their business and which don’t. In my earlier comment, I listed Jane Friedman and Victoria Strauss (Writer Beware): invaluable. I also recommend The Book Designer (Joel Friedlander). You can buy books by the carload that will walk you through every step; most are cheap enough as ebooks that you can buy more than one and get a wider set of options. Takes a little time, yes, but not nearly as much time as you have devoted to writing your book, and this basic research will save you many hours by helping you make the best choice for you. Chris the Story Reading Ape also offers regular links to excellent advice. I found these people by Googling, attending conferences, and searching Amazon. Don’t put less energy into this than you would in buying a car!

Okay, I get it that posting questions to Facebook groups is a step in this process. But Facebook friends can’t offer the kind of education we writers need. Learning about style and grammar and showing-not-telling are basic skills, but so are the fundamentals of the business you are thinking of entering. For example, one respondent said she couldn’t afford to self-publish! Facebook friends can’t possibly slap up a full explanation of why this comment is unfounded. They basically have to say, “Go look it up!”

So that’s what I’m saying: Want to be a writer? Go look it up.

Am I completely off base here?

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Filed under Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, business of writing, ebooks, indie publishing, Money!, Myths and Truths, novels, Print on Demand, Publishing, publishing contracts, Scams, Self-publishing, Writing

5 Lessons From a Lost Novel – by K.M. Weiland…

This article (via that incredible resource, Chris the Story Reading Ape) rings so true for me. I, too, have “lost novels,” one of which actually got published, to my everlasting regret—even with a supposedly top editor! Just goes to show you (me): it’s YOUR book, and you are the one who either makes it work or not. K. M. Weiland’s focus on story—on structure, on having an arc that provides readers with the narrative pull to keep reading: vital. I’ve written and reblogged about that (just some examples), because I learned the hard way. Take her advice to heart.

Do you have a “lost novel”? What did you take away?

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Helping Writers become Authors:

Mistakes are unavoidable. To fear them is to fear life itself. To try to eliminate them is to waste life in a futile struggle against reality itself.

I daresay no one has more opportunities to learn these truths than does a writer.

As writers, our lives are a never-ending litany of mistakes. Certainly mine has been full of mistakes—everything from the opening sentences I wrote for this post, thought better of, and replaced—to literally hundreds of thousands of deleted words I’ve carefully saved from all my rough drafts—to entire story ideas (representing hundreds of hours of dedicated, hopeful work) that have proven themselves unsalvageable and earned a dusty place in a back corner of a closet shelf.

I won’t say I don’t regret these mistakes. I do. I regret the wasted time and effort. I regret the bereavement of loving and nurturing something that never…

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Filed under Editing, Learning to write, Myths and Truths, novels, Plot Development, self editing, What Not To Do in Writing Novels, Writing
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