Book Progress

Why Self-Publish?

I thought going from idea to finished manuscript was an ordeal, and it was, but I miscalculated the actual publishing process. I chose to self-publish for a lot of reasons. Traditional publishing does give you a sense of credibility, but the best marketing is by people who read your book and advocate. Then you trust the credibility of your friend, not the sticker on the book in the bookstore.Still, I looked into traditional publishing but became disillusioned by the finances, the lack of ownership, and the amount of work that would still be on my shoulders as far as marketing and promoting my book. I would be unable to design my own cover, and there would be an expectation to continue the series. Add to that the fees of an agent and fees to the actual publisher and the already miniscule margin for authoring a book was basically gone.As an example, take a physical book that would be priced at $15. In traditional publishing you have to give the agent, the publisher, and the bookstore a cut. The bookstore gets half ($7.50), the rest then gets sent to my publisher. The publisher takes their cut and pays me my royalty (about 6% of list price: $0.90). But I don’t get to keep my money, I’d pay my agent 15% of what I make ($0.135) leaving me with profit of $0.765. Now all those people sank money into my book, I’m not saying they didn’t. The bookstore has to physically keep their bookstore open with labor and overhead. The publishing company sank editing and cover design costs into my book as well as marketing, and the agent help to get me in the big leagues.However… What if I download GIMP and spend hours and hours on my own cover, and hours and hours of my own time editing (brutally) my story? And what if I don’t sell it in bookstores who take half my money and have no guarantee of actually putting it on the shelves? I chose Amazon and then sell my $15 book there to get 60% ($9), then pay for the actual cost of printing ($4.77). So for every book sold I make $4.23. Then there’s the eBook, which is not expensive for customers ($3.99) and kindle unlimited, which is ‘free’ for those who subscribe, and I get paid per page read.I doubt I’ll be able to make bank on my first book, but I am excited that I have created a real asset that will hopefully continue to give back for a long time. The initial time and effort invested is paid up, so now I can see the fruits of my labor.0

Cover Design

Four years ago when I thought I was done with the book (HA!) I found an artist on Reedsy and paid her quite a lot of money for what I thought was a beautiful cover. Fast forward to this summer and I was ready to publish, except I needed my cover to be large enough to wrap around the paperback. Because I wouldn’t know the spine width until I had the final manuscript, I hadn’t asked the artist to finish that version.

But four years to go back and ask her to finish it out would cost money and, frankly, I didn’t even know if she was still on Reedsy. So, I took a deep breath and asked AI to extend the back. Once I dipped a toe in that water, I was quickly sucked in. It made everything look seamless and beautiful. I needed some things changed that I hadn’t thought about in the original. Now the manuscript had Milo, who SPOILER ALERT spews toxic gas. Could I create a smokey texture to the front that would wrap around to the back? What about making Theo not transparent, but a little electrical due to tessalumens?

I found iterations that worked better and better, but each still had issues. Every time I would change one part of the image and improve it, something else would shift. Finally, I had over twenty versions of the same cover, each MOSTLY correct. So I downloaded GIMP, an open source image editor and got busy. I cropped, tweaked, scooted, blurred, and smudged my way into perfection. I dropped in a better photograph of myself, cleaned up the description, and worked to ensure everything was the perfect fit. I spent over a month, every night, tweaking. The kids would be in bed and I’d work on the cover until bedtime. But I think it paid off.

Latest News

July, 2026

The finish line is so close I can taste it. I've locked in the text and from here it's just the cover art and typesetting as well as the audio book.

I've been working nights getting the artwork just right. At first it was simply because my commissioned artwork was a cover, not a full wrap. I could only do the wrap once I knew how thick the final product would be and had the text locked in so I'd know the page length. When I went through that effort, I learned that the back could be a little fancy. And then I wanted it a little more fancy. When you give an artist a book cover, she'll need a back to go with it...

The first proof came in the mail and that is when I realized just how important resolution is as well as the size of the book. It was too big! It didn't FEEL right in my hands. That's when I learned ISBN is associated with not just per media (paperback vs ebook vs hardback) but the physical printing dimensions as well. So I had to burn another ISBN number in "whoopsie" tax.

That's when I learned about photoshop/GIMP, an image editing software. I became self taught in layers, smudge, heal, and all the fancy words to get me to force my image to do what I wanted. I finished the cover for Proof #3 last night around midnight and ordered it this morning, it will come in the mail Saturday. Then it's just (hopefully) ready to order REAL books in prep for the launch party/book sales at Killer Nashville.

Meanwhile, a friend reached out who is wanting to do audiobook narration and offered to work with me. I asked for samples and my jaw dropped. I am very picky about audio book narration, since that is how I consume most of my literature. I want a voice like butter, warm and comforting without drama, just nuance, like a tired father at the end of a long day of work reading a story to his child before bed. I'm absolutely floored and snagged a contract with him. As soon as we have Chapter 1 recorded and edited, I'm going to upload it for all of you to listen.

We're at the home stretch! Stay tuned for more drama in August as we near the launch date.

Killer Nashville

Iterative Methodologies, Killer Nashville, and Yachts

I spent this past weekend (and the tail end of last week) at a writing conference in Nashville, TN. Killer Nashville may lean towards murder mystery, thriller, and cozy genres, but at its core, the conference is about authors getting together and supporting each other. It also socializes and breaks down stigmas between authors, aspiring authors, editors, and agents. It was a great chance to get out of the normal 9-5 grind and focus on writing and its opportunities.

Every year they announce awards for the conference for writing and this year I was the equivalent to a semi-finalist in the fantasy category for my manuscript in progress, "When a Soul Unravels." I knew before the first day of the conference that I hadn't made it to the final round, but I still proudly wore a little banner on my lanyard telling everyone I was a "top pick."

The experience let me reorient on the importance of my website, newsletters, and the powerful capabilities of my own self and my own actions. Last year it felt like a whirlwind, brushing shoulders with real, live, professional published authors. But this year, the glamor had faded into something more realistic and grounded.

Even though famous, successful people are still just people, sometimes you wonder why you aren't. After all, there is a reason I don't own a yacht and sail the Mediterranean with my private chef. I don't know what that reason is exactly, but there is a reason.

This time, I think I might have an idea why I wasn't published: I hadn't quite chosen to do it.

The person most invested in my success and the person most to blame for constantly highlighting my faults is just me. There's a saying in the corporate world, "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good," and as someone with a heavy background in mathematics, I still have to constantly remind myself that the answer is usually iteration.

Back in the day when software was published, the entire program had to work perfectly right out of the box or someone would have to ship more CD's to re-install onto a computer (an expensive and embarrassing prospect). Then the internet came and IT professionals changed how they dealt with project cycles.

No longer did something have to be perfect, it just had to work. They could always push updates later and thus "agile" methodology and the "minimal viable product" (MVP) concepts were born.

We are constantly surrounded by examples that are trying to train us to "just move forward" and to embrace the imperfections not because we don't want to be perfect, but because being imperfect is proof we're doing something difficult. Yes, I can reach for the dream of being a multi-millionaire, selling my stories to Hollywood, and having my children roll their eyes when strangers excitedly gasp, "That's your mom?!" But I can also reach for the dream of one day having my own website, my own blog, and my own published book. Then, I'll take a glass of champagne, raise a toast, and dream for the next milestone.

So here's to you, fellow human, wherever you are in your own dramatic story of life. That last milestone you hit was a doozy, wasn't it? But you made it, you did it. And now you're just iterating towards the next one. Maybe there's some ups and downs, but you're chugging towards success, aren't you? You're figuring it out. Look at you go. Just think of how amazing we will be tomorrow.

Learn more about Agile methodology, iterative philosophy, and yachts in the Mediterranean.

posted Aug 29, 2024

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