Shorts - from concept to publication

Getting from a concept to publication om KDP Amazon in both hardcopy and eKindle has been what can best be described as "quite a journey" but I have done it.

There is a bigger book in the work in progress folder but the reason for preparing "Shorts" was to learn how to work through the Amazon platform and produce a book in both paperback and eKindle format.

Having the idea was the easiest part of this whole process as I have a warehouse of stories that I have written that I could draw down from to make a compilation of twenty plus short stories from with a word count of approximately 16,000. Pulling these stories together was the second easiest part of this journey and involved my favourite method of writing; pen and paper to rework the stories chosen for inclusion.

IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA DO NOT HESITATE - JUST GET ON AND WRITE

These were then consolidated on to a Word document which I proof read at least three times before sending it to a friend who is a published author. The manuscript was returned. All of the corrections were actioned and I read through the whole document at least three more times before telling myself "There is nothing more to do, move on".

PROOF READ PROOF READ

USE EDITOR ON WORD TO PICK UP ANY ERRORS

GET SOMEONE ELSE TO PROOF READ

ACTION THE CORRECTIONS AND GUESS WHAT? PROOF READ AGAIN

For aspiring self published authors signing up to the Amazon platform was straightforward. There are the usual questions to answer about who you are and where you live. In addition to those basic ones there are also some questions about your identity in terms of where you pay tax. For UK residents Amazon want and need to know your National Insurance number.

Loading a manuscript for the electronic version of your book is quite easy and the system has both a preview and edit facility to allow the user to configure the manuscript to show it off on screens used for reading electronic books to the best advantage. My advice is to really take your time to learn properly how to do this properly. The system will reject your manuscript if it does not meet the standards required in terms of layout not of content.

I managed to get my manuscript loaded for the electronic version after three attempts, including the front cover.

Getting the hardcopy manuscript was a bit more difficult.

There is a facility for creating your own cover using either stock images available or designing your own. I tried using the stock images but they felt too generic for me. Instead, still within the platform, I loaded one of my photographs and then overlayed it with my own text using a text layout facility. This took a while until I was satisfied with what is now the front cover.

The back cover was not difficult and only took a couple of attempts.

The problems came when I tried to load the front cover. The system rejected my design as it was not "300DPI". To get over this problem I sent the image to a friend who is a graphic designer to adjust the image.

COVER IMAGES MUST BE 300 DPI

My first attempt to load the text was a disaster but a good point from which to learn about the system. The margins were wrong for the book size, none of the pages were numbered and I hadn't set a "gully" width This is the margin between the spine of the book and the text.

To fix all of these issues took about four attempts but each time I reduced the number of reasons for rejection I felt the scales coming off of my eyes.

My first hardcopy submission was made on a Friday and the rejection email was received on the following Wednesday. I completed the corrections by the close of business on a Friday and received an email on the Saturday confirming the book had been published.

My preference for marketing my publication was to not do any until both versions were available. Otherwise, to launch the electronic version without the hardcopy version feels, to me at least, like doing half a launch.

DO ADVANCE MARKETING BY ALL MEANS BUT DO NOT INCLUDE ANY DATES FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL AMAZON HAVE CONFIRMED THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE

And if this is your first ever self published publication I cannot adequately describe the feelings I had when the following email arrived in my inbox less than 24 hours after resubmitting the manuscript:

Feelings of excitement, relief and total satisfaction that finally here were my words in print with my name attached to them behind this front cover:

And the final proof that I am now an author: