AN OLD DOG LEARNS NEW TRICKS

This morning I told my husband I felt like I was back in school again. This preparing for a totally new venture in writing is hard. For the past few weeks I’ve been studying to begin my entry into the world of E books. I know the E isn’t supposed to be capitalized, but it looks better, more important, and since it’s a difficult learning curve, it should appear to be important.

First, I’m grateful to everyone who has been helping me as I claw and scratch my way toward getting my first electronic publication online. Writers are such marvelous human beings, and probably the most generous of any profession. Most don’t hesitate to lend a hand when the word help shows up in an email or on a social network.

I’ve learned a lot, but am by no means ready yet to take the plunge. I’ve learned there are tutorials for publishing to Kindle, a directory for converting short stories and books, information on Google that helps, and the list goes on. A thorough list includes places to market, the most important being Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Good Reads to name only a few.

Early on, it never occurred to me that book covers would have to be designed for E books. Online they simply look like a photo. And no, if it’s a book that’s been published, you can’t use that cover. You see, it belongs to the artist who originally painted the picture that became your book cover. So, if I don’t have the talent of a graphic artist, it might be a good idea to pay someone to design my covers. And I don’t.

I have six books in a back list that I hope to publish to Kindle and other E book readers such as Nook. Can I afford to pay someone to design the covers? Friends have sent me names of several artists who may be able to work with me for what I can afford. I promised to share these names with others, and I will do so by email.

I haven’t been in touch yet, so I am not able to vouch for them, but I’m sure each has great services to offer. I also learned there is a site online posted by a male cover model. He offers a huge selection of covers for romance books.

As we embrace this brave new world of publishing, I wish us all the best in conquering the learning curve so that whatever we dream of can come true. I understand that the sales in the E book market are growing, but am told the most important thing to remember after we get our quality book out there is it takes a lot of promotion online to bring about those sales. But hey, what’s new about that? We all have had to promote our work over the years, this is just a brand new world with lots to learn.

Get in touch if you’re experiencing the same things, and maybe we can help each other, or at least be supportive.