Self-Publishing Reflections: The PRINT Version

Posted on by kaisywmills

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It’s HERE!  It’s LIVE!  James and I finally announce the release of The Dystopian Nation of City-State: An Anthology in PRINT!  The paperback version is available via Amazon for $9.99:

http://www.amazon.com/Dystopian-Nation-City-State-Anthology-Corruption-ebook/dp/B00PYHAPT0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422662911&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Dystopian+Nation+of+City-State

And, as always, James and I want to share our pitfalls and peaks while storming through the rough seas of self-publishing.  Moreover, James would like to share his words of wisdom – he was the one who worked with Create Space for the anthology.  Here are the top three lessons (he) learned:

1. We have said this before – SET RELEASE DATES AND PLAN ACCORDINGLY.  With this anthology, we said, “Let’s just publish on the fly!”  Yeah, this was stressful because people were asking for the book, and we didn’t know when the hard copy would be available (because we were unaware that the cover would be a constant issue).  Always set release dates, and take your time when working with Create Space and/or Kindle Direct Publishing.

2. Use decent photo edit software – James had problems with the cover art and transforming it into the actual cover.  Using good photo edit software worked well.  Plus, for our next novel, StarChild, we will have our artist design the ENTIRE cover, not just the front picture.  Our plan is to have the picture/scene/art (whatever it will be) wrap around both the front, the spine, and the back.

3. ALWAYS ORDER A HARD COPY PROOF – Yes, spend the money and get the hard copy.  You need to see what the buyer/reader will see.  James mended and fixed about three proofs.  And with this, you can perform another handwritten edit within the novel itself.  🙂

James and I always love to provide our personal reflections and lessons learned to help other writers who self-publish.  We hope they are helpful!  If you have any other questions, let us know!  Indie writers need to support each other!  🙂

AND – if you like the anthology, check out our stand alone short story (about 3,000 words), “How to Kill Your Senator”:

http://www.amazon.com/Dystopian-Nation-City-State-Kill-Senator-ebook/dp/B00S37N67G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422663620&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Dystopian+Nation+of+City-State

And, as always, there’s more to come from City-State!

20 thoughts on “Self-Publishing Reflections: The PRINT Version”

  4. Congratulations on publishing and thanks for sharing your experience – I’m about to do the same thing so it’s good to know what to watch out for 🙂 Thank you also for the follow – I’m very happy to return the favour and looking forward to reading more of your blog!

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  5. You have a pretty impressive blog. Thanks for the follow. I would follow your blog but I can’t find the button. I liked your page on Facebook though ^_^ Good luck!

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  7. Congratulations on making so much headway in the self publishing field. I have two books on Amazon and am considering approaching Amazon KDP or Create Space regarding print books. I’m new to all this, and find it confusing, so I’ll have to look into it all, I suppose. Interesting post. 🙂

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    1. Congrats on your accomplishments! 🙂

      Yes, this first anthology is somewhat of a practice run. As you know, there are many facets to the writing and publishing world; therefore, James and I wanted to put something out there to explore this new world before our other publications. We are currently writing the first novel in our trilogy, and we don’t want to make the same mistakes twice regarding writing AND publishing – especially with our “more important” writings. This anthology IS NOT perfect, but we have learned so much from the process! Thanks for reading! 🙂

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  8. Hi! Congrats on your book! I recently self published through createspace, and initially it was totally confusing. However, I think I did an okay job for a first timer. Could you suggest different software I can use for the cover in the future? I’d really appreciate it. And congratulations again!

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    1. Thanks! Yes, we published through CreateSpace, and my writing partner almost pulled out all of his hair! But… we consider this first publication, the anthology, a practice run to get a grip on the process! Congrats to you! As for the cover, I would have to ask James (my writing partner). I think he used a few different “apps” (or whatever they are called). 🙂

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  9. Thanks for the follow and congrats on self-publishing! I’m always looking for more info and insight before I take the plunge to publish. I’d like to follow your site but I’m not seeing the follow button…

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