The Niagara Gazette is the hometown paper for Niagara Falls (as readers of WTGIB will learn if they aren't local), and they have chosen to add me to their coverage of Niagara writers. They include those who live there or once lived there, which is generous.
So an excerpt of the story will be published on Saturday, May 5th, and there will be a signing at 1 p.m. in Niagara's only surviving bookstore, the Book Corner. Now I have to make sure I have relatives to come by because I've learned how much of a beating one's ego takes sitting at a signing table when there're no interested readers. Perhaps I should buy a stack of girl scout cookies as a fall-back...
Seriously, I'm pleased. I hope some people decide to buy the book. In the end I don't expect to make money off this - in fact I make a very small percentage off this event, none if I calculate travel costs. So we'll use Hollywood accounting and charge the cost of the trip to visiting family. Which it also is.
Currently the book can be downloaded on Kindle, and purchased in paper from here. I'm expecting it to appear in paperback form on Amazon any time now. The Book Corner in Niagara Falls will have copies as of next Saturday.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
WTGIB_Latest
I've published a version of WTGIB. I call it a version because Lulu lets the writer go in and revise, apparently as often as desired. I finally saw a print copy and discovered a) I thought I'd put the ISBN on the verso, but there it wasn't. So I went in and fixed that. Aaaaand my cover photo in the back looked like a billboard. Writers are all a little vain but I shrank it down some. Finally, I thought the price would magically appear, not unlike the way the ISBN code will automatically appear on the back page. Not the case.
Adding the price was the hardest part (there's some irony there but I'll leave it). I had to go into Paint and pull up the file and add the price on the back. I republished it but it kept not appearing, so until someone orders a new edition, I have no idea if the price appears properly.
In the course of this self-publishing 2012 odyssey, I've refreshed my understanding of electronic publishing, specifically formatting and compatible files and ways to change the size of pictures (Paint works best and is generally available). Back in the day (2001), you uploaded your Word file, waited a week to get the digital galley back, opened it and screamed. "Chapter Six is all in italics?" Word, when used in electronic publishing, adds a lot of junk to the code, so I've learned.
The last unfun part of this is marketing. Tooting one's own horn. Hard to do, and one must be persistent to have any success.... sigh. It reminds me that the part of this I most enjoy is the writing.
Adding the price was the hardest part (there's some irony there but I'll leave it). I had to go into Paint and pull up the file and add the price on the back. I republished it but it kept not appearing, so until someone orders a new edition, I have no idea if the price appears properly.
In the course of this self-publishing 2012 odyssey, I've refreshed my understanding of electronic publishing, specifically formatting and compatible files and ways to change the size of pictures (Paint works best and is generally available). Back in the day (2001), you uploaded your Word file, waited a week to get the digital galley back, opened it and screamed. "Chapter Six is all in italics?" Word, when used in electronic publishing, adds a lot of junk to the code, so I've learned.
The last unfun part of this is marketing. Tooting one's own horn. Hard to do, and one must be persistent to have any success.... sigh. It reminds me that the part of this I most enjoy is the writing.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Print. It isn't dead yet...Niagara Writers
I got some good news today, that the Niagara Gazette will do a feature on the story, under the column Niagara Writers. Since WTGIB has only been available on the Kindle thus far, it's time to move to print. So I pushed the button. Rather anticlimactic, really, except for the torrent of emails I got from Lulu. congratulations!!! you wrote a book!!!!
It does seem more tangible to hold the book in hand. It seems spooky to open my Kindle and see my words on the screen. Especially when I spot a typo. Yes, I can post a revision, but it seems like cheating. I guess I'm working with a print mind.
The fun part about the Gazette story is that I'm asked to write an intro to the story. The family history connection to a local landmark seems to write itself. And that's when I go back several years ago and relive my enthusiasm when I started this project, thinking how cool this would be and, well, to be honest it's been a hard project to finish, especially near the finish, but it's done and out there and that's a relief.
It does seem more tangible to hold the book in hand. It seems spooky to open my Kindle and see my words on the screen. Especially when I spot a typo. Yes, I can post a revision, but it seems like cheating. I guess I'm working with a print mind.
The fun part about the Gazette story is that I'm asked to write an intro to the story. The family history connection to a local landmark seems to write itself. And that's when I go back several years ago and relive my enthusiasm when I started this project, thinking how cool this would be and, well, to be honest it's been a hard project to finish, especially near the finish, but it's done and out there and that's a relief.
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