anthorn
Well-Known Member
Okay. I may be wrong but I don't think that I am that wrong. Maybe slightly off the mark. In recent years there have been attempts by a few authors to make self publishing more respectable in the book buyers eyes. These brave folks are combatting the image that we're all Staneks trying to make a quick buck without any real thought at all.
This is my view and possibly rules. I haven't decided yet. I'm capturing thoughts as they happen.
1) IMAGE IS EVERYTHING.
When you're self publishing your work it is important to get the image correct. And no I don't mean dressing it up in jeans and leather jackets. I mean getting your work as near perfect as can be. This is MORE IMPORTANT when you have samples on the previews on Amazon Kindle or on other sites. A reader wants to lose themselves in your world. They do not want to spend time being hit over the head with silly mistakes like head hopping and misspelt words. Sentence structure is a must. I admit I have trouble with punctuation, especially, : ; but I've improved with help from this board and just practice. Check out my work on this forum. You can see a vast improvement in my writing ability.
Stuff like cutting sentences in half like this. He was going to go to the Gym. And work on his abs, should not happen. It's sort of beginners class. Now I'm not saying that no one who has been writing consistently no longer makes this mistake, it happens, but IT NEVER HAPPENS WHEN YOU WANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. No author who is serious about self publishing or having a writing career, sends out unedited samples with grammar mistakes as proof as to why people should buy their book. People are going to read this and judge you for it. If your image is shabby then they're going to exchange you for a shiny new watch. People will forgive the occasional wrong use of ; or : or , but they will not forgive the mistaking of Their for they're or fullstops in the middle of a sentence.
DO NOT SEEK TO CROWDFUND YOUR WORK when you haven't even edited your book, or written it yet. Here is how I would do it. Write book. Edit book. redraft book. Edit book again. Wait. Edit book. Redraft book. Edit book. Pay someone to make a cover, or make it myself. Release on Amazon Kindle. Sell books. Thank people for reading books. Use that money earned to self publish in paper format.
Crowdfunding to self publish your book is the wrong way to go about it. I can understand if it's an established author with a fan base who has been dropped by their House, but not when it's a new author starting out. With an established author, you know they're going to finish their book because they have a fan base to lose. With a new author you've no fan base to lose and have running to all the forums commenting on how you took their money and ran.
This is my opinion and my belief.
This is my view and possibly rules. I haven't decided yet. I'm capturing thoughts as they happen.
1) IMAGE IS EVERYTHING.
When you're self publishing your work it is important to get the image correct. And no I don't mean dressing it up in jeans and leather jackets. I mean getting your work as near perfect as can be. This is MORE IMPORTANT when you have samples on the previews on Amazon Kindle or on other sites. A reader wants to lose themselves in your world. They do not want to spend time being hit over the head with silly mistakes like head hopping and misspelt words. Sentence structure is a must. I admit I have trouble with punctuation, especially, : ; but I've improved with help from this board and just practice. Check out my work on this forum. You can see a vast improvement in my writing ability.
Stuff like cutting sentences in half like this. He was going to go to the Gym. And work on his abs, should not happen. It's sort of beginners class. Now I'm not saying that no one who has been writing consistently no longer makes this mistake, it happens, but IT NEVER HAPPENS WHEN YOU WANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. No author who is serious about self publishing or having a writing career, sends out unedited samples with grammar mistakes as proof as to why people should buy their book. People are going to read this and judge you for it. If your image is shabby then they're going to exchange you for a shiny new watch. People will forgive the occasional wrong use of ; or : or , but they will not forgive the mistaking of Their for they're or fullstops in the middle of a sentence.
DO NOT SEEK TO CROWDFUND YOUR WORK when you haven't even edited your book, or written it yet. Here is how I would do it. Write book. Edit book. redraft book. Edit book again. Wait. Edit book. Redraft book. Edit book. Pay someone to make a cover, or make it myself. Release on Amazon Kindle. Sell books. Thank people for reading books. Use that money earned to self publish in paper format.
Crowdfunding to self publish your book is the wrong way to go about it. I can understand if it's an established author with a fan base who has been dropped by their House, but not when it's a new author starting out. With an established author, you know they're going to finish their book because they have a fan base to lose. With a new author you've no fan base to lose and have running to all the forums commenting on how you took their money and ran.
This is my opinion and my belief.
It would need another month to be at draft to give to a beta reader, and that is working maybe 6 to 10 hours a day, sometimes 16 hours. Perhaps eventually if I have an editor partner, I might be able to publish as fast as 8 months. I doubt it's possible for a new author.
