The Proof...

     Well, the proof got here yesterday afternoon, several days ahead of schedule. Wow! Ahead of schedule! How often do you hear that now days? Now I'm old old guy who has seen a lot in life, but opening the package and holding the book (even though it's a draft copy) in my hand made me stop for a moment and think about the enormity of what I was holding. That one small 5x8 volume (well, it is 602 pages) stands for years of work, countless hours of writing, editing, creating covers, doing my feeble best to advertise. After 22 ebooks at the Kindle Store...I finally held my first paperback book in my hands. Even now, when I pick it up and hold it and see my name at the bottom, I feel some kind of overwhelming satisfaction and pride. I really didn't have any idea that it would affect me that deeply. I have to wonder if all writers feel the same way the first time they see their work published.

     I'm sure that on some levels the selling and emotions vary from person to person, but there must be some common bond there that sends out a tiny, invisible, yet strong, beacon to touch and become a part of all the other writers out there who have felt that first book in their hands. A community of people who broke through and got published. That somehow is very humbling.

     Okay, now comes the hard part. Time to edit the proof. I immediately enlisted my wife, Carolyn, who is a former school teacher of thirty years, to help me edit. We'll take the next few days and take turns with a highlighter and pencil, marking up the proof, getting it ready for me to go into the docx version of the manuscript to edit. Then I'll convert to pdf and use the CreateSpace Reviewer to check it through before completing the process once again. 

     At that point I'll order one more proof, and Carolyn and I will go back and run through the editing process one more time. Then it's on to actual publishing and I will order at least a dozen copies of the final version. One for each of the kids, our sisters, etc. I have already edited the cover twice since I first set it up to get a proof. (I'm resisting editing it a third time until I go into to do the interior as well.)

     Pssst...come closer! I'll tell you a secret. After so many failures, glitches and revisions, I'm not sure I'll really believe that it's done. Luckily, I have already started editing the second Falls small town mystery, The Falls: Summer Nightmare, and I have already drawn and taken pictures of the front cover. By the way, the covers of all the books from here on in will be drawn by me and then photographed on backgrounds with a Galaxy 4 cell phone or a fourth generation iPad. The stingy Scotsman in me, you might say.

     So beside writing the 16th Falls book, The Falls: Dry Bones, and editing the 15th, The Falls: Brotherly Love for ebook publication on the Kindle Store, I will be reading and editing THE PROOF. (That's really the way I still feel about it...you know, it's kind of like holding a writer's Holy Grail in one's hands.)

     Okay, that means that I'm standing on the dirt ramp, ready to slowly make my way up to the light. Maybe the ramp will crumble a bit under my weight, but I'm willing to take that chance. It's almost time to leave the hole. Funny thing is, as soon as i climb out, i'll bask in the sun for a few minutes and then start digging the next hole. Book number two. Hopefully, this time around, armed with the experience of going through it once, it will be an easier hole to dig and climb out of. But then again, who knows? The world's a crazy and unpredictable place!

     Well, all that means that the next installment comes when the editing is done, both on the proof and in the manuscript. 'Til then dear reader, may your day be filled with small pleasures and may the dragons watch over you all...

Ordering the Proof...

     Well, the proof is on its way. I completed the initial process through CreateSpace and have ordered one proof of The Falls: In the Dead of Winter. It should be here in less than a week. That's a big step in the publishing process. I'm excited to get it, but optimistically cautious and wary of what more I may have to do before it's ready for publication.

     Since placing the order, I have already revised the cover twice. It still has some flaws, but I will deal with those once the proof gets here. By the way, I wonder who came up with the term 'proof' anyway? Is it because it's actual proof that you've been slaving away at your craft? Or is it proof that you need to get busy re-editing? Might not draft copy have been a better term? Ah, well, it was probably given the term by the guys who used to turn out the first copies of books when it involved typesetting, ink and reams and reams of paper stretched out on noisy, massive machines.

     I guess that means that I'm shoring up the ramp to get myself out of my hole, perhaps even taking a peek or two over the top to see what's on the horizon. Of course, at the same time I've just finished volume 14 of The Falls small town mystery series, The Falls: Brotherly Love, and I have already begun the 15th book, The Falls: Boneyard. And, at the same time, I'm re-editing the 2nd book in the series, The Falls: Summer Nightmare, getting it ready to be published on Create Space, while beginning the artistic parts of creating the cover for it.

     I guess that tells you where the majority of my time is going. I have ramped up the pace to have both digital books and paperback books coordinate and overlap. CreateSpace has been an excellent choice for a beginning foray into the world of paperback publishing. If any of you are still hesitating about putting your ebooks out in paperback, CreateSpace is certainly a viable, affordable and excellently crafted step to doing just that. I recommend it highly. I'm an old dog, who is learning new tricks. If this stubborn old Scotsman can do it, so can you.

     As the ramp is nearing completion, I'm not fooling myself. There are, as it was phrased so wonderfully, "...miles to go before I sleep". But I can peek over the edge, see the promising horizon and I am, for perhaps the first time since starting all this, certain that it will eventually happen. I still have my shovel gripped tightly in my rather sweaty, earthy and anxious hands at this point, but I am optimistic.

     Never fear, I'll tell you all about the proof (draft copy!) when it arrives. Until then, may your day be filled with small pleasures and may the dragons watch over us all... 

Digging a Ramp...

     Okay...I am cautiously digging a dirt ramp up to the edge of the hole. Why you ask? Good question...convoluted answer. I spent several days working on editing the template for the first paperback printing at CreateSpace of my novel, The Falls: In the Dead of Winter, in The Falls small town mystery series. (14 volumes now and going strong) I'm sure it's not perfect by any means yet, but after using the CreateSpace reviewing tool (which is excellent by the way) I felt like I needed to get the show on the road, so to speak. At this point, only seeing the book in paper form and being able to give it the eye test is what's needed.

     I had already designed a cover and was fairly happy with it, with one exception. The program won't allow me to use the logo for the series that my friend Kate Eileen Shannon had designed in the space assigned for the publisher's mark. Now it will let me place several other pictures there, so I'm not sure why it won't allow the logo. Hopefully, Kate can help me get that fixed. I have to say, the design process for the cover, although quite rigid in some ways, is excellent as well. I am very pleased with what it looks like on screen...now for the eye test, as I said before.

     Next I went into the program and set a price, which floored me. The program told me that at 602 pages, the book couldn't be produced and sold for less than $20.18. Well, as I told myself, and Kate told me as well, the first book in the series is not a moneymaker, it's the way to get people interested, and as long as I have a Kindle version for $2.99 it should be alright. 

     Now, the other books in the series are somewhat smaller. Some as much as two hundred pages smaller. So they will sell for a lot less in paperback. I'm still shuddering at the $20 price tag, but I know I need to get the paperback out there. So, for now...that's where it will be. Then I got to the part in the instructions where I could order proofs.

      I ordered just one, in order to edit it in paperback form. That was only $8.07, $11.66 with shipping. Should be here in about a week. I've been advised by my Irish Fairy Godmother to order one proof at a time, then go back and edit the document, reconvert to pdf and download it to my file in CreateSpace until I'm happy. Seems like a very smart way to go. When I'm satisfied and place it out there to sell, I will buy a dozen or so proofs to give out to family and friends.

     Thus the ramp. With every proof that I edit and send back I build the ramp a little higher and make it a little more secure. Am I out of the hole yet? Not by a long shot, and I anticipate a curve ball or two along the way. But the ramp is starting to be built, shaped and fortified. I'm going to make it as strong a ramp as I can, not hurry it along, make sure it holds my weight when i go to climb out.

     I must tell you, I can't wait to get the proof in my hands! After 22 ebooks in Amazon Kindle and having written all my life in one way or another, to see my name on the cover, turn the pages and smell the book, will be a great feeling. One of those 'I wasn't sure I'd ever get there!' type moments, in all honesty.

     To those of you have gone through this, a sincere thanks for carving the path for those of us who follow. For making the path a little easier and for cheering us on. For those of you who are still inspired and dreaming of it happening...my advice is overwhelmingly, take the steps. Do it. Don't wait for a better time or situation. If people like me can do it, you can do it too. Without much financial investment. Of course it is required that you invest your blood, sweat, tears and soul. And to Kate, my thanks for sticking by a stubborn old Scot when he needed a true friend.

     May the dragons watch over all of you...(and my proof!)

Big After Easter Sale!!!!!

     The Falls: In the Dead of Winter, the beginning volume of the fourteen (and counting) volumes in The Falls small town mystery series, is now on sale as an ebook for only $.99 at the Kindle Store! It has been reedited, the font changed for easier reading, and the type of chapter format has been edited as well. 

     Come back to The Falls and follow ruggedly handsome Sheriff Cash Green, Deputies Ericka Yamato and Horace Scofield along with hard-working Doc Stone, and Jordan Smith the beautiful, alluring and fiery town pharmacist. Laugh at the antics of old Jeb and Zeke, and enjoy Grandpa and Grandma Burman and their large, extended family.

     There's battling mortuaries, a dead body in a most unusual place, and a Greek hitman! The story weaves to and fro through the lives of the people of The Falls with several story lines. See if you can figure out "whodunit"! As the snow falls, the bodies pile up! The ending is all action. 

     Come back to the story that started it all! The Falls: In the Dead of Winter, at the Kindle Store.

http://www.amazon.com/Falls-Dead-Winter-Mystery-ebook/dp/B008G4X28O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398089272&sr=1-1&keywords=the+falls+in+the+dead+of+winter

Happy Easter...

     To all our friends and family...we wish you the happiest of Easters, filled with love, friends, family small pleasures, special moments and warmth. May you relive the memories you most care about and may your day be filled with small pleasures, passion and beauty. You are in our thoughts and hearts. May the dragons watch over you all...

The Falls: In the Dead of Winter...

     BIG SALE on the first digital volume of The Falls small town mystery series, The Falls: In the Dead of Winter! It has been completely reedited with a new format and font and will be on sale at the Kindle Store from Monday, April 21st until Saturday, April 27th for only $.99! Come back to The Falls! Join Sheriff Cash Green, Deputies Ericka Yamato and Horace Scofield, Doc Stone and the colorful characters of The Falls community as they try and find out "who dunit". There are battling mortuaries, a Greek hit man, and lots of scenes describing the charming and picturesque village of The Falls in the very dead of winter. The snow falls as the bodies mount up! It's a cross between a small town mystery and a cozy, with some suspense and drama thrown in for good measure! Come back to The Falls! May the dragons watch over you all...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Falls-Winter-Mystery-Series-ebook/dp/B008G4X28O/ref=pd_sim_b_13?ie=UTF8&refRID=02T01CVQKE2NS17ZMG1A

The Hole Had a Slight Cave-in...

     No, don't panic, no worries...the dragons and I are still standing, but one side of the proverbial hole crumbled and fell in, requiring me to stopping making the hole larger and deeper and to clean up the mess and reinforce the sides.

     As I filled in the CreateSpace template, it was all going so well. I had finally figured out how to manipulate the various techniques of copying and pasting that meant with basic success. But I should have known that things were going too well. You know how you get this blissful feelings sometimes and you tell yourself that this is it? You're going to reach the goal in mind? Well, I should have figured it. Things just aren't that easy. Or at least for me they're not. It's a good thing I'm hard-headed and an old Scotsman. Hmmm. That's pretty much the same thing, isn't it? Ah, well.

     Anyway, what happened was this. When it was all in, I downloaded the template to pdf, downloaded the pdf into CreateSpace and then began using the CreateSpace previewer they have. It's actually quite splendid. Sharp, accurate and has a defined field so you can see where your errors are. They place arrows at wherever there's a problem, whether it be an image that's not at least 300 DPI or if any of your text is out of the format, stuff like that. Great to use and work with.

     Anyway, the book, In the Dead of Winter, came to be 686 pages. Yup, you read it right. 686 pages. I knew it was long, but in that 5x8 inch format, where part of the page is used for a gutter (the area toward the middle of each page that must be used to attach the page to the spine) the length became overwhelming since the page was narrowed.

     I checked with the CreateSpace manufacturing tool where you can estimate the cost of your book considering the paperback's size and number of pages. It will cost me $15.00 just to break even. Now, I was already planning on making the first book as low a price as possible, making little or no profit on it, just to introduce the series to people in paperback. But $15.00? Wow!

     That was where the hole caved in. Now, after cleaning up, reinforcing the walls, mumbling to myself, and talking to my Irish Fairy Godmother, Kate Eileen Shannon about it, I'm sitting in the hole, considering the options. At the present time those options are as follows: 1. Turning the book into two or three parts and selling them as a set. 2. Working with margins, size of font, and format to see just how small I can get the book without tearing it apart or making it unreadable. 3. Heaven knows.

     The Heaven knows part will come as I think about all the possibilities. Once again, the technology has kicked my proverbial derriere, making me wish that I knew a lot more than I do about book design. The next steps will probably come in contacting the design geniuses at CreateSpace, finding out what creative solutions Kate has come up with, and taking a step back to think about it.

     My small town mysteries tend to run a good deal longer than most cozy mysteries. But 686 pages is a bit over the top. So here I sit, in the hole, patting down the walls and thinking good thoughts. The dragons and I will continue to write book #14 in The Falls small town mystery series (The Falls: Brotherly Love) and continue to edit the ebook of In the Dead of Winter, which has needed editing for some time. So there will be no "down" time. (I say down time very quietly, because I don't need any more parts of the wall to come "down" you understand.)

     So if you're looking for me. check deep down in the hole and I'll grin and wave back. May the dragons watch over you...and keep the walls solid on my hole...

The Hole is...

     Well, the hole is getting wider as well as deeper. My good friend, Kate Eileen Shannon, has been working with me to help me get the first The Falls small town mystery novel, In the Dead of Winter, ready for publishing on CreateSpace. She built me an infallible template complete with chapter headings resplendent with my new logo of two sap buckets hanging from a sugar maple. Love the logo. 

     Of course, as you might have already guessed, I promptly screwed up the template, because my original Word document had a slew of invisible design errors in it. Once she patiently showed me how to place my Word document into a neutral note taking application and use that to copy and paste into a new template, that eliminated most of those issues. 

     But then, there was yet another dilemma. (You had already guessed there would be, correct?) She works on PCs and I use an iMac. So the instructions she gave me for copying and pasting worked fine for her, but for me it had a glitch. The commands and options on her PC were different than the ones on my iMac. So I blithely went along copying and pasting until I had the whole 600 odd pages of the novel installed in the template and then converted it to the pdf file CreateSpace requires. The margins were off, and the pdf file had the last letter on the right margin cut it half.

     Back to the drawing board. Or should I say Word options menu? Finally, after sharing the failure with Kate, she told me to go back and look for paste options once again. In her PC it was named one thing. In my iMac I finally found an option entitled "Paste and Match Formatting" hidden away up under the edit pulldown, unlike the "paste" and "special paste" options that came up with the normal window along with "copy".

     I am pleased to say that I'm halfway through the new template and the margins and text are all working well. (That is being said with my fingers crossed, toes crossed and the dragons watching over me vigilantly. Let's not tempt fate any more than I can bungle up things myself.) 

     I've been playing with the cover program in CreateSpace as well. That actually seems to be going well. I drew some sap buckets covered with snow on a maple tree and placed a cloth background with somewhat fantastical snowflakes to use as a cover. I'm going to use the "you-do-it-yourself" option for that as well. It rejected my author picture of myself, not a sharp enough image (I've thought that about myself for quite awhile), but Kate, once again my Irish fairy Godmother, sharpened that up for me as well. I'm going to have a white cover, with blue type and the pic of the maple tree and sap buckets as the cover, instead of the lovely winter scene I used for the e-version of the book.

     So, here I sit, precariously in the midst of a rather bumpy and tumultuous adventure. The hole I'm digging is now deeper, but I have widened it (or perhaps I should admit to Kate widening it for me) so that it's a good deal less claustrophobic. Today I will try and finish the last half of the copying and pasting (matching the formatting, of course) and then work on transferring it to pdf. Then the cover will come next and finally taking it all through the step-by-step tutorial on CreateSpace. (That sounds far too easy, right?)

     I will admit to truly wanting to get the first solid copy in my hands. I have 22 e-books at the Amazon Store at present (working on 23) and I enjoy them all...but it will be another hard fought major goal to hold a solid copy in my hands.

     There are times I really wish that some clever and perceptive agent had picked me up as a client and that I had been spared going through all this digging to simply get my stories out into the world. But things are what they are, and I know that in the end, I will have more skills, I will be a more determined person and I will truly enjoy the day-to-day triumphs that come my way.

     If you are going through what I am, take heart, it is doable. If you are a reader of my stories, take heart as well...hopefully they will be out there fairly soon in paperback! There really is a light at the top of the hole! Now if I could just be sure it's not a meteorite rushing down to bury me. I'll let you know how the hole progresses. May the dragons watch over you all...

Digging a Deeper Hole...

     When I retired from being a school principal, I was excited that I would finally have the time I needed to write. Don't get me wrong, I always wrote. I had several novel manuscripts already tucked away and a rash of short stories, but I had only seriously tried to publish any of them a couple of decades earlier. So, when I retired and my wife and I moved to Florida, I thought to myself, "Okay! You have the time, you have the desire and you have the opportunity. Now all you have to do is write!"

     Most of us have several sets of 'famous last words' that we regret uttering either to ourselves or to others over our lifetimes. Those particular thoughts were certainly some of mine.

     I wrote and wrote and wrote for about two years while sending out samples, resumes, chapters and query letters/emails. Nothing. A few responses, some rather hopeful, but it seemed that every agent either had his or her allotment of writers, wasn't taking on any new writers or needed something slightly different than what I was offering. Eventually, I said enough. The stubborn Scotsman in me growled and picked up the challenge. The hole was beginning to be dug. 

     I started publishing on Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. From the very beginning, it felt right. Except now, instead of just writing, of telling stories (that, in essence, is what I am, a storyteller) I was designing covers, (thank goodness for myecovermaker.com!) editing, proofreading, writing blurbs and posting ads for my books on an ever growing number of FB websites. The hole got infinitely bigger and deeper. My breath began to come in short gasps as I toiled to keep up.

     As the number of books mounted up, I was told by other writers that I should start an author's page. So I did. Then came a blog. Then came a Twitter Account and a Google page. Then the number of FB pages I advertised on grew and grew and grew as I tried to reach a bigger audience. I even participated in a blog hop the other day, and have been on Kate Eileen Shannon's wonderful page (kateeileenshannon.com) twice. Now the hole was over my head as I stood in it, with me shoveling stuff out as fast as I could and my arms were getting very sore and weary.

     Now, after 14 (working on the 15th) The Falls small town mystery series volumes, 6 volumes in the Dragon World Series, a collection of short stories and a child's book, I am working on turning my first mystery, The Falls: In the Dead of Winter, into a paperback by utilizing the CreateSpace service, another of Amazon's myriad companies. Thankfully, a writer friend of mine helped me out by creating a template for me to use to format the book. (I am still sadly bereft of technical skills in some areas) But I am in the process of working through the template and creating a cover that has front, back and spine. Thank you Kate for all your help. (i.e. The ebook covers only needed a front cover.) Once again, the hole is expanding. I have a hard time seeing any light at the top of the hole at times, and the dirt keeps falling back making me cough...but I have faith that I will eventually dig my way out.

     However, for an old storyteller, who just wanted to weave stories, it is all a bit overwhelming and just a tad scary. But I have a two handed Claymore, and I'll use it if I must. (Yes, I have a kilt, bagpipes and a sgian-dubh) I have every faith that one day, after learning all the technical and publishing I need to know in order to basically publish my stories, I will look back at this and smile. Well, perhaps cringe just a bit as well.

     So, the hole is deep and wide and my arms are weary and my breath is short...but my mind, my heart and my soul are alive and well. May all writers, dreamers and storytellers say the same...

     May the dragons watch over us all...