To B, or not to B: that is the question…

I know lately I’ve drawn a lot on here.  It’s been fun but here is a normal blog post… boring I know, but I still needed to do it. (FYI ~ I couldn’t help myself there’s a funny at the end.)

This is the back and forth topic that a lot of us are now being forced to choose.  The first choice we have is do we self-publish or not.   That is an entire different blog post that many authors have done, and a choice that only you can make on your own.  But if you’ve made up your mind to self-pub, here is the second choice and a new question… Do we go with the $.99 book that Kindle is offering us?  We all keep hearing the rags to riches stories.  And, although we know our work is good, we are also aware that there is only one JK Rowling out there and unfortunately it’s not us. (Ms. J.K. Rowling, if you are actually reading this, please give me a shout out. <– Shameless promotion, mixed with wishful thinking.)

To get back on track, I’m going to list the perks and the downs. Yes, another pros and cons list by yours truly. This one is about the 99 cent books which are becoming labeled B books –just like the old B movies.  I shall start positive with the perks.

The pros…

1. Your book will sale. There is truth to it.  People don’t mind wasting a buck on a book when a latte’ costs 4 to 5 times as much.

2. You will make a profit — IF you did it all yourself.  You still might make a profit if you hired an editor, which, no matter what, you should do everything you can to be properly edited, even when it costs 30 to 45 cents a word!

3. Well, there is no three I just felt there should be at least one more…

The cons…

1. You will be labeled as a B author. That is not “you might,” you WILL be labeled.  The truth of the matter is we do not yet know in 20 years if that will matter, but we know right now it’s not a great thing.  If you are planning on NEVER going traditional or you think only snobs will care and bookstores are dead… then being labeled doesn’t matter one bit to you… which is great! Go for it!

2. Traditional publishing is not dead, it’s just a little sick and chances are it will recover. There will be changes but it will recover.  The only indie movement we have to compare this new one to is the one the music world faced years ago.  Music labels and big companies didn’t die, they just changed.  By stating this I’m saying we shouldn’t place all our eggs in either basket.  I think there is going to be a meeting ground.  Why is this a con when we can just about guarantee that self-pubs are here to stay too, you might ask. The reason is we know that self-publishing will not dirty an author’s name, but we have no idea yet if being a “B” author will.  If, by some unforeseen event, the entire self-pub dies out, and one is labeled a “B” author, traditional pubs are less likely to tarnish their name by publishing a “B” author.

3. This is going to sound very cliché, but there is nothing in the world like holding your book in your hands.  It’s very much like seeing your child for the very first time.  You love to just look at it and hold it.  After all you created that book.  I’ve held my book in e-format… not the same.

Here is a good link to read a little more… http://www.publishingebooks.blogspot.com/

Now before everyone gets mad at me for what I’ve said please read this last part.  The reason this blog is up is because for the last 3 months I have taken this topic into the deepest consideration.  I have asked myself, “How fad is it?”  “How bad would I suffer?”  But after long, hard deep, consideration I have decided that I will just keep doing what I’m doing.

Note ~ I cannot stress editing enough. Before you submit to agencies, edit. Before you self-pub, edit. Before anyone but betas read it, EDIT! Have a pro look over it and fix what you, your friends, and your family didn’t see. It is VERY worth it! Your book Your baby deserves a fair start on the selves.

Note Note ~ Yes, I broke a writing rule and used ‘you’ all over the place.  Please forgive me Mrs. Brundidge, you and Mrs. Fleming are still my fav HS teachers! (My hubby is too, but he was never my actual teacher.)

Note Note Note ~ Some people do love B movies! Just NEVER watch Worm Eaters your eyes, tummy, and mind will thank you.

August, September, October, November…

I have not counted days, weeks, and months like this since I was expecting my daughters.
Here’s what my chart thingy/timeline looks like right now.  I still don’t have any clue when my book will be done.  I know I’m close.  I know that even though I am close bad things can still happen.  I know I’ll have one more look at everything before it’s ready to be finished.  I don’t know how long that will take on their side, but from what I understand on my side it should just be a quick check and a stamp of approval.  I’m still hoping everything will be done before the Holidays

Send Marketing Success Workbook	08/03/2009	Ready
Implement Proofreading Cover Corrections	11/10/2009	Active
QA Proofreading Interior Modifications	11/10/2009	Ready
Submit Materials	07/29/2009	Success
Evaluate Manuscript	08/03/2009	Success
EE Preparation	08/04/2009	Success
Conduct Editorial Evaluation	08/04/2009	Success
Conduct Evaluation QA	08/13/2009	Success
Send Evaluation to Author	08/13/2009	Success
Author Review Evaluation	08/17/2009	Success
Editorial Consultation	08/17/2009	Success
Submit Revised MS-Post Eval	08/28/2009	Success
Conduct edit	08/28/2009	Success
Conduct Edit QA	09/11/2009	Success
Send Edit to Author	09/15/2009	Success
Assign PSA to Project	09/24/2009	Success
Prepare for Design	09/24/2009	Success
Polish Cover Copy	09/24/2009	Success
Setup Proofreading	09/30/2009	Success
Design Interior	10/01/2009	Success
Design Cover	10/01/2009	Success
Author Review Edit	09/18/2009	Success
Conduct Interior QA	10/02/2009	Success
Conduct Cover Design QA	10/05/2009	Success
Submit Final MS – Edit	10/06/2009	Success
Confirm Proofreading Readiness	10/06/2009	Success
Conduct Proofreading	10/06/2009	Success
Conduct Proofreading QA	10/29/2009	Success
Send Proofread to Author	10/29/2009	Success
Author Review Proofreading Interior	10/29/2009	Success
Author Review Proofreading Cover	10/29/2009	Success
Submit Proofreading Corrections	11/10/2009	Success
Implement Proofreading Interior Corrections	11/10/2009	Success

Happy Halloween one of the craziest times of the years…

Just in time for my daughter’s birthday I get back my proofread.  So of course it’s in the back of my head and will be there until this weekend is over.  I forgot not only is it b-day party, slumber party, Halloween party, its family b-day party at grandma’s on Sunday.  WHY DID I SAY YES?!?!?!  I think my daughters have discovered the ‘ask an author while they are in the middle of writing and they will say yes to things (sometimes) without thinking’ fact.  I had already said yes to the slumber party and Halloween party while I was not under the influence of characters in a book.  It was the extra party I didn’t plan on.  Then my husband reminded me that we are going over to his mom’s Sunday and that’s about the time I started banging my head against the wall.
The proofread looks really good.  There are very few problems and I am allowed 50 free changes.  The book cover looks a little different than I thought… they didn’t use the font I requested.  The way it looks though is nice, it’s not bad at all.  My husband doesn’t think I should ask to change it, so I probably won’t.  They did do something slightly odd.  I didn’t want a dust jacket/clothbound and it looks like they set me up with that type.  The reason I requested casebound is because I hated working with the dust jackets when I was in the library and I always take them off when I read a book, as do both of my daughters and my husband.  But I’m guessing it was just part of the package and they just designed it.  At least I am hoping that is the case.  But I will call on Monday and ask.  All and all I think I will be done with this part soon hopefully a day or two after this party weekend
I hope everyone has a safe night.  If you are drinking please let someone else do the driving, hitting a child who is out trick-or-treating would be a nightmare for everyone.

Bummer…

I just got an e-mail where the editor who is proofreading my manuscript just asked for a postponement for one week longer. I’m not upset, but I have no idea why. As an author, I have a wild imagination and this could mean 5,000 things.
First, the worry side of me starts in. “I hope no one is sick or had a family member die.” “Is there a problem with my book?” “Did aliens invade earth and are robbing us of our editors time?” “Did they find a major mistake and need to point it out and fix it?” “Did they lose all of their work and have their computer crash?” “How many calories were in that 1 pound bag of M&Ms I just downed from stressing out?”
Then the karma me kicks in with the whole, “You shouldn’t have been talking about how smoothly this whole thing was going. This waiting is entirely your fault.”
Then the optimist me smiles and starts to float in on her happy little lavender cloud. “Not to worry,” she sings in a sweet silver voice that I wish I had. “Life is good. Maybe they think your book is a pearl and are talking to their boss about how wonderful it is.” Yeah, I wish! LOL
Then my skeptical voice that I wish would pipe down says sarcastically, “Yeah right. More than likely, the person took a job that was paying more and pushed your pathetic little book to the back.” She smacks her gum repugnantly and then continues. “You know the world is only out for itself, not you.”
That’s when I stop listening because I always try to see people in a better light than in a mini-villain type persona.
I will now wait for a few weeks and see. I will also call and nicely ask if there is a problem in my book or if this was a personal matter, and pry no further. With just that natural feeling one has when one has paid over $1,000, one likes to know to some degree why things are delayed.
Moral of the story ~ never make an imaginative author wait or they will worry that you have been abducted by a mob of time traveling weregoblins whose main desire is to see literature books of the future go into publication with misspellings, improper grammar, and poor punctuation.

History line of my book so far…

This is one of the things I see when I look in my MyUniverse.  Every time something is about to start I see a new project.  “Success” is when a job has been completed, “Ready” is when they (or I) are ready to start working on the job, and “Active” is when they (or I) are working on something.  The dates are the dates the project was started, not finished.  I expect anytime to see something to the effect of “Conduct Proofread” with the word “Active” by it.  The proofread could take 2-3 weeks.  I know at all times were my book is in the procedure, and if something is taking longer then it should, I can call and they will let me know what’s going on.
As one can see I started everything 7/29/2009 and one can also see where I am now.  So far there have been very few bumps in the road.

Send Marketing Success Workbook	08/03/2009	Ready
Author Review Edit	09/18/2009	Ready
Conduct Interior QA	10/02/2009	Ready
Conduct Cover Design QA	10/05/2009	Ready
Submit Materials	07/29/2009	Success
Evaluate Manuscript	08/03/2009	Success
EE Preparation	08/04/2009	Success
Conduct Editorial Evaluation	08/04/2009	Success
Conduct Evaluation QA	08/13/2009	Success
Send Evaluation to Author	08/13/2009	Success
Author Review Evaluation	08/17/2009	Success
Editorial Consultation	08/17/2009	Success
Submit Revised MS-Post Eval	08/28/2009	Success
Conduct edit	08/28/2009	Success
Conduct Edit QA	09/11/2009	Success
Send Edit to Author	09/15/2009	Success
Assign PSA to Project	09/24/2009	Success
Prepare for Design	09/24/2009	Success
Polish Cover Copy	09/24/2009	Success
Setup Proofreading	09/30/2009	Success
Design Interior	10/01/2009	Success
Design Cover	10/01/2009	Success

 My team is not sitting in idle and this is very nice to see.  I don’t feel like anything so far has been money wasted.

AAAaaa! Book cover… stock art… I’ve been waiting for this…

I just received an e-mail from iUniverse about stock art and that I can look around and see if anything speaks to me.  And although my ears are wide open nothing is talking.  Art for the cover of the book is so very important.  This is more important than the title.  In all of my years working around books, I have found that people will look at the cover before reading the name.  I know, no brainer, you have to see the cover before you can read the words on it.  But too many times have wonderful classics and great books been passed over because of the cover.  I’ve even sold the much more expensive ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ several times because that one had a better cover (the prices of the 2 books were $35 and $10, if memory serves, and both were hard back).  So many book titles have not even been read, or back of the books not been looked at, all because the picture was not grabby enough.  This picture needs to be not just good, but great, and hold on to the person looking at the cover.  There needs to be an element of suspense, a little wisdom never hurts, and the topic has to go with it well.  If I was looking over Harlequin books and saw a cover with a very nice looking robot, I wouldn’t pick it up and read it.  I would think it was in the wrong place and skip over it.  I guess if it said, “Romancing the Robot” I might, now that I’m thinking of the cover… hum?  That might make for an odd but interesting romance with a sci-fi twist.  Truly though, if the cover is not right for the genre it will not sale.  My daughters wouldn’t pick up the anime books (aka manga) if they didn’t have cartoons on them.  Men will, however, pick up sports and car magazines with near nude women on them.  I wonder, if it was a book on how to cook the best meals and do your own laundry with the cover and in the book it was full of nude women doing chores, if they might buy it as well.  As a matter of fact, it might make a few men help out around the house.  Anyway it wouldn’t help my husband; he might help out if I bought him a video game guide on how to help clean house… maybe. … ok back to reality.  Excluding some men and nude female covers, the book cover has to be right or people will think it’s for something different.  The cover speaks to the buyer before the characters in the book get a chance.  So right now my dilemma is… Will I help to make the right choice with my book?  This is not my area.  I can see when things are not symmetrical.  I love art.  Waterhouse is one of my all time favorites, but will I pick out wisely for my book?  I have been trying to go with simple, without plain… this is hard for me.  I do have a ‘cover copy polish team’ but I still say what goes.  I am second guessing myself all over the place… AAAaaa!!!

Warning ~ this was written by a nervous, babbling author.  Any book ideas that are used from this segment must be taken at the readers own risk of possible failure.

How much is this going to cost…

As most of you know I have been sharing my experience with iUniverse on here, well today kids lets talk about money.  It’s paper yet it doesn’t grow on trees… (deep sigh)

Here is the list of exactly what I spent, what it was spent on, what I saved, and when ~
Aug. 29th 2009 paid for Bookstore Premier Pro Express package spent $1,579.00 ~ saved $920
Sept 6th 2009 paid for US Copyright spent $100 ~ saved $70
Sept 28th 2009 paid for Content Edit spent $3,475.82 ~ saved $0
Oct 1st 2009 will pay for Proofreading spending $1,162.43 ~ saving $0
Total spent/spending = $6,317.25 Total saved = $990 Total would’ve spent = $7,307.25

For the Content Edit it cast $0.035 a word, for the proofread $0.011 a word.  I will also be purchasing the Kindle/Sony Reader option ($99) for the people how enjoy reading that way.  (Like I have said before I think the book and the Kindle can live in harmony, but the Kindle is not a replacement for the book.)

If you chose iUniverse they will not wait for you to save the money for your first edit.  Once you get your manuscript back from the Editorial Evaluator you have 2 weeks to decide and pay.  I understand why, if not they would be sitting on hundreds of ‘maybe laters’ and ‘please wait, I’ll have the cash in X days/weeks/months/years/centuries/eons’.  They will give you a little time for the proofread; they are a little more lenient there.  Best thing to do is have the money saved.  If your book is near 100,000 words (and want about the same as what I have done) save about $7,000 to $10,000 before you go down this road.  Look at what is important to you.  You might wish to save more if you want to buy more books to give to libraries or friends and family.  You might want to buy a book signing kit or a marketing packet too.  They won’t help to make your book better, but they will help with sales.  Those are also things you can purchase down the road.  So if money is tight (I would not recommend skipping the edit) you might want to cut other things you find unnecessary.  The right type of edit, front cover, and the back of the book are all very important things.  People will still read it if it is paperback or if they can only get it online.  But if it looks like an amateur artist scribbled the front cover of the book, people will think an amateur author scribbled on the inside of the book.  If the edit job is poor and the story is great, most people still put it down because it’s too hard to understand.  If the back grabs them and pulls them in, the cover looks good, there are little to no editing flaws, and your story is interesting, then people will enjoy it and speak well of it.  You’ll still have to advertize, but it wouldn’t be as hard as it would be if one of those three things were lacking.  These are just recommendations and by all means this is your story, your decisions, and you are the one that has to walk in your shoes.

Although stores will not be modeled for my book when it first comes out, I saw the importance of my book being returnable from bookstores.  I want people to be able to order them from a store if need be.  I also want stores to feel comfortable with my book so they want to be modeled with my book.  That is why I went with the package I went with.

Note ~ Some of the covers I have seen artist do are lovely!  Some look very professional.  I do not want anyone to think I am saying that all are bad.  Truly though look through some of the places like iUniverse, AuthorHouse, Lulu, and any other self publisher’s site.  You will find a number of good choices as well as some of the worst covers you have ever seen in your life.  Pick carefully.

Or what if I just do something ditsy…

Cool, so I looked at an e-mail (we talk more then e-mail) and it shows what job position my middle man has… he is an Editorial Consultant.  I think that his job title works better then ‘middle man’
Alright, so I sent in my manuscript last night and I made a mistake.  I forgot to un-highlight one simple little word, “man”.  I highlight things that I might change, but am a little unsure of.  So I woke up knowing, just knowing, I left something highlighted.  I run to the computer, turning it on, waited for forever for it to warm up, and found I was right.  And it’s right in the middle of the book too.  It’s in chapter 23 out of 45… blah!  hehe ~ so one of the ‘what ifs’ happened, the ‘What if I mess up something simple?’ one.
So I call my new best friend, Mr. Editorial Consultant, and tell him.  (FIY ~ its 5:45am here and its 8:45am there.)  He told me all was fine and not to worry, to stop dreaming about my manuscript, and take a nice long nap.  He even sent me an email with some info in it and again told me to go back to bed.  LOL.  I felt like an idiot but I did catch the mistake.  My husband laughed at me, because I debated looking over it one last time and decided not to and to just go to bed and put it out of my mind… yeah right, easier said then done.
While on the phone I was also informed of a few things that I hope my pre-caffeine (yes, I’m back to drinking just one soda a morning) brain took in.  From what I understand I will have a whole book team, they will look at everything.  There will be one that is in charge.  He/She is a Publishing Services Associate aka PSA and he/she will be in charge at this point; except I will call Mr. Editorial Consultant at least one last time about the proofread so that can be done.  Mr. Editorial Consultant has been awesome and he let me know I can call if I need info.    Please forgive the one highlighted word if that doesn’t get caught!  I’m sure it will, but wow I feel like an idiot.  I checked that thing about 1000000000 times… how did I miss it… oh well, at least it’s not a ‘fatal flaw’!
But now I wait and I will be assigned a PSA.  Then I will talk to them and the ‘cover copy polish’ will be underway.
All I know in times and dates is, they might need the proofread to happen sometime in Nov.  I have no clue though as to when it will be done.  I’m still hoping before Christmas.
I just logged into my account and found that I have been assigned a Ms. PSA!
I started this all on Aug. 3 rd, so this is all moving along smoothly… so far.  I just hope it keeps going that way.  I will do a dates chart thingy later, when I’m either done or closer to it.

FYI ~ I have typed this blog in my word first and it has taken me all day due to interruptions… an insane amount!

I caught a bad case of the ‘what ifs’…

I had a nice talk with my middle man and he feels it would be a waste to have them do both the proofread and have the content editor go back over it.  He feels that I only need to have it proofread.  Both cost the same ($0.11 per word) so there is no profit with one over the other.  I think he feels it would do better to have another set of eyes going over it.  I feel safe trusting him, so I think one more read with it printed out, or at least the chapters with the new scenes printed out and re-read.  I might just print out the new stuff for my husband to go over one last time, and then have me go over all of it.  My middle man told me it should be fine right now, but if I fell more comfortable with going over it again, one more time, then to do it.  But since I am having a proofreading done too, 2 times read should be enough.  He did like the idea the content editor gave about printing it out and reading it.

What I loved the most (and found very helpful) was before I submitted it the first time my husband read it out loud to me and we both caught things nether of us had caught before.  It was great.  I highly recommend this to anyone who has someone willing to this for them.  I am so lucky, right now he is reading over some of it for me… lets just hope I can read any of his side notes.  His handwriting is worse then a preschooler’s.  It was the one thing he hated about being in the classroom.

Well I have to get back to work.  I have a few typos I caught, that I want to un-typo.  Then I’ll do the ones Richard caught.  Then I think I’ll submit it tomorrow.  I am so nervous, what if I forgot something, or worded it wrong, or anything, or what if the house blows up and all of my computers die and I can’t do anything anymore… eek!  Or what if our computer beagle, who likes to stand on my husband’s computer and open up his widgets, learns how to delete files on my computer… There are many ‘what ifs’!

Ok, so today I am not AS engrossed in my work…

I have been slowly making a list of what I fixed and what I feel I am weak on, to send to my middle man.  Some of this I change/added so everyone else will understand.

 Key ~
Me = M
Editorial Evaluator = E
Content Editor = C
Husband = H

 List of what I did ~
Double researched everything I was a little unsure of ~ M
Added a little more conflict ~ E + H
Made one more climactic scene where suggested by evaluator ~ E
Made a different climactic struggle helping with 5 character developments ~ M + E
Made odd-ball teen a little more of a problem ~ E + H
Made the jerks a little more jerk-y ~ E
Made the main man less of an idiot and a little more dear ~ M + H + E (I did not mean to)
Made one ‘grandfather’ figure stand out a little more ~ E
Developed 2 good guys just a little more ~ E
Just a little more detail to 3 different places ~ E + H
Had main lady bring up 2 of her personal issues a few more times ~ E
Plus made sure that all of it matched ~ M
Did a better description of a device that the editor misunderstood ~ M + E + H (my bad)
Fixed suggestion made by editor and evaluator ~ C + E
Read it twice so far & read out loud the new scenes/sentences ~ M
Found out what my biggest problem area is, making it ‘flow’ just right ~ M + H
Second biggest problem is sequences in back stories (sometimes get ahead of myself) ~ H
Third is detail, I sometimes just need to add a little more ~ H
Made main lady less teenage-y ~ E

 This was not as much work as it sounds; some of it was real easy.
As you can see some of this I changed because I saw a problem, but most of it was the evaluator’s idea.  It would have been great if I would have had the ability to make the changes before the content editor did everything, but I was in a situation where I absolutely could not.  Sometimes in life we just do not have control.  But (as I have stated in other blogs) I will have it gone through at least one more time with an edit/proofread, if not both!

 Well, back to work… today, I am printing everything out to read it in a binder (that was suggested by the editor).  Then I am done after I read it there.  My husband is going to read it again too.

 To be truthful to everyone, I am not having any problems with this part.  I have been warned by all that this is the worst part and that I will be sick of my book before I am done.  I’m not.  I’m even planning or reading it one more time for me, with a highlighter, so I can highlight dates, names, ages, laws, rules, and so on before I edit the second book.  Just so I know I’m consistent.  BUT I was prepared for this before I started.  I was not prepared for the query letter or the this might take a while… a long long while part.  That was why I took this road and not the other.  I want to write books, not 2,000 letters, and wait 5 years, no thank you.  This is the road less traveled, but man do I love the scenery.