AN INDIE AUTHOR’S JOURNEY – Page 3 – Story Catcher Publishing

An Indie Author’s Journey: The Cost Of Book Publishing

July 16, 2018July 16, 2018Donna L

I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

After almost five months of struggling to get the manuscript file and book cover files to be accepted by IngramSpark, a miracle happened Saturday night and EVERYTHING magically fell into place.

LUNADAR: Homeward Bound ebook edition is being distributed to over 20 online retailers, including:

24Symbols    7Switch    Amazon Apple    Baker & Taylor Blio
Barnes & Noble Bibliotech Bookmate    BookI have Shout (Rethink Books)
Booktopia Ebooks.com    FeedBooks    Gardners Glose
iFlipd    ITSI Kobo    Libreka    Libri
LIX    SpoonRead    Redshelf    Rockstand    Vida Global

The print edition is being distributed to over 39,000 retailers (bookstore chains as well as independent bookstores), libraries, schools and universities in the US and all around the world.

And the cost?

I did a lot of research before I started on this journey and I read about books costing everywhere from zero dollars (CreateSpace or Kindle) all the way to $10,000 or more just to get that first book printed.

Now that my book is officially in the production line, here is the breakdown of what it actually cost me to go from an idea to a printed book:

Book Design Template ($15)…This is a software program costing $119 which converts my Word document manuscripts into a book formatted template I am able to upload to Ingram. I know I have at least 8 books scheduled for publication over the next 3-5 years, so my estimated cost per book for this program is $15.
Ebook Creator ($99)…The regular price through Bowker is usually $129, but I got lucky and they offered a special one day so I grabbed it!
Book Promo & Trailer ($34.98)…I found a company making lovely 3D promo book covers and book trailers. I bought one of each and will upload the book trailer on YouTube once Amazon loads the ebook version.
Editing (Free)…I used free grammar and spelling programs. Then I sent the manuscript out to various beta readers who challenged me to strengthen the story. Finally I sent the manuscript to Steve, a Canadian friend of mine who has edited a number of novels. He was not afraid to slash and question my plot, characters, and overall structure of the manuscript to tighten everything up.
Book Cover Design ($100)…I knew this poor gal’s budget couldn’t afford the average graphic design fees of $500 or more for a professionally made book cover, but I didn’t want it to look like a 3rd grader had created it either. So I called my local university’s art department and placed a free ad in the school paper. Kelly Moore, a junior majoring in art and graphic design, answered my ad and the rest is history. My cover is gorgeous and perfectly represents LUNADAR.
Artwork Conversion (Free)…Kelly and I fought with her artwork file for almost four months, getting frustrated because neither one of us could figure out why IngramSpark kept kicking the file back to us. One of my Taekwondo students who is very good with computer programs, but no graphic designer, took Kelly’s file and in one afternoon converted it into the required format Ingram finally accepted.
LUNADAR Map ($20)…I drew the map of Lunadar one afternoon and spent the next few weeks struggling to align it with the book template. I sought out the help from a parent of another one of my Taekwondo students and she was able to adjust my artwork to make it work.
Bowker ISBN & Barcode ($29.50)…I knew I was going to purchase a block of 10 ISBN numbers for $295 and the required barcode was going to be another $100 or so. Fortunately, just when I was about to make my purchase, Bowker offered a bundle special and I basically got the barcode for free!
IngramSpark upload fees (Free)…Usually they charge $49 for the print edition and $25 for the ebook edition but this year is their five year anniversary. They are offering free title setup fees through the end of July.
Copyright fees ($40)…The only thing I have left to do is file for the copyright and my book will be officially born!

Total cost for everything from start to finish is $338.48 to bring LUNADAR: Homeward Bound to the marketplace. Yes, I could have gone the freebie route, but I wanted the best quality product I could afford to produce and it was a personal challenge to see if I could do it.

Only time will tell if the world thinks I did a satisfactory job…

LUNADAR cover jpg

International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy) is scheduled to be released in ebook edition by the summer of 2018 from Story Catcher Publishing, with the print edition hopefully coming out late fall 2018.

An Indie Author’s Journey: My eBook Is Here! Sort Of…

July 9, 2018July 9, 2018Donna L

I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

Despite the fact my book cover designer is still having file formatting issues with IngramSpark, she is working to get it resolved so I’m crossing my fingers things will be resolved soon.

In the meantime, my interior pages file was accepted by IngramSpark, which means as soon as the book cover file is fixed, ebook and print editions are back on schedule.

So, how is your ebook here then you might ask?

Well, I’ve decided to go ahead and share my ebook proof with my LUNADAR Street Team. They will get to read about Ariana’s adventures in the young adult fantasy world of Lunadar in advance of the official release, but will have to wait a little bit to be able to leave their reviews.

There will also be a drawing for some cool prizes for anyone who joins my street team and leaves an honest review on a social site like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, personal blogs, etc. once the ebook goes on sale.

Wouldn’t you like to step through the portal and join the growing LUNADAR Street Team? Team members receive a copy of LUNADAR: Homeward Bound in exchange for an honest book review. They are also entered into a drawing for some cool prizes. To join the team, just leave your name in the comments below, send me a message on Facebook (www.facebook.com/donasdays), or drop me an email at [email protected].

“Ruler by day, reluctant pirate by night, 18-year-old Princess Ariana fights for her subjects in the waterfall city of Lunadar. In a kingdom surrounded by mermaids and fairies, and ravaged by deadly Drundles, only a chosen few are trusted to guard her daughter, Candra, as the secret heir to the throne.

But it only takes one ill-fated meeting for Ariana to suddenly be plunged into an escalating web of secrets found in her father’s journal, a deadly kidnapping, and an ever weakening resolve to turn her back on the call of a merman’s song.

With Ariana’s world falling apart and the future of Lunadar at stake, how will she bring her father’s murderer to justice and fulfill a deathbed promise to protect Lunadar’s legacy?”

donna

AN INDIE AUTHOR’S JOURNEY: Perfect Timing

July 2, 2018July 2, 2018Donna L

I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

This week has been an incredibly busy, frustrating one. My full time job of running a martial arts training facility kept me occupied for at least ten hours each day, Monday through Friday.

I then went home and put on my publisher’s hat to do battle with trying to upload my book cover to IngramSpark’s website. But every time I tried to upload it, Ingram kept kicking it back, saying the file itself was not acceptable.

My very talented cover designer, Kelly Nicole Moore, worked tirelessly (even from another state while visiting her family this week ) to address each error message. First she changed the size of the finished file. Then she changed the type of artwork file she used. It seemed every time she sent me a new file to upload, Ingram would find yet another issue preventing them from moving forward with my production schedule.

Writers who only choose traditional publishing may never get to see the “behind the scene” struggles a publisher has to go through just to push their current project to the next level. Self-published authors get to see it all, have their hands in all levels of creation, and are at the front of the line when it comes to frustration over production delays.

My lowest point came yesterday after Kelly sent me yet another book cover version to try. She was at the point that if her latest effort didn’t work, we would be dead in the water until a miracle came along…or I learned how to use Adobe Acrobat.

Then it happened.

The clouds of doom drifted away, the heavens opened, and an angelic chorus announced the latest file was accepted by IngramSpark! Well, that’s what it felt like when I FINALLY got a thumbs up approval for Kelly’s artwork file and LUNADAR has now gone on to the proofing process. I even managed to find an online coupon I used to waive IngramSpark’s $49 set up fee so it didn’t cost me a penny!

I’m now crossing my fingers…and saying a few prayers…that IngramSpark won’t come across any other issues before moving forward to my print edition release date of 9/27/18.

I’m still having some issues with the ebook formatting but have someone looking at that as well, so hopefully it will all come together soon.

I just need to say thank you, Kelly, for all your hard work and for believing in LUNADAR.

LUNADAR full cover.jpg

So what do YOU think? Did she do a great job on my book cover, or what? Let me know in the comments below…

AN INDIE AUTHOR’S JOURNEY: Round Two?

June 25, 2018June 24, 2018Donna L

I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

I’m about to start round two…or is it three…or four? I’ve almost lost count. I have been trying different ebook formatting software, but none seem to be giving me the results I’m looking for.

And even though I have a brand new computer, my internet connection is still pretty basic so I’m running into problems trying to download Kindles ebook software. And every time I try to convert my manuscript into an ebook, the sentences get all messed up…breaking apart into some weird formation…and the end result is more like a scrambled jigsaw puzzle instead of an actual readable story.

So, here I am…still in the fight…with a few more bumps and bruises…but still fighting…

Wonder what this next round will bring? Say a little prayer for me, will ya?

Cuz, I’m diving in once again to this indie author publishing process…

donna

International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy) is scheduled to be released in ebook edition by June 2018 from Story Catcher Publishing, with the print edition hopefully coming out late fall 2018.

AN INDIE AUTHOR’S JOURNEY: The Cost of Painful Mistakes

June 12, 2018June 12, 2018Donna L

I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

After hours…days and weeks even…of reading and editing, and editing and reading once more…I had LUNADAR formatted and files ready to convert to both Print on Demand and ebook file. Here is the path I took,

FORMATING…

I heard many horror stories about the challenges of formatting my own manuscript. Apparently Word has issues when manually trying to format it for ebooks or print on demand books if you are technologically challenged like I am. I decided to go with Book Design Templates www.bookdesigntemplates.com, a formatting software program for everything from picture books to full length novels. The copy/paste feature made it super easy to format my Word manuscript to a PDF file I could then use for the next step in the publishing process.

EBOOK…

I chose to buy my own individual ISBN numbers and Bowker (www.bowker.com) is the ONLY approved ISBN source in the United States. They also provide other editing/publishing sources like Ebook Creator, which I used to convert my PDF file into an ebook file. I read…edited…edited again…reread again and thought everything was perfect when I pushed the send button.

I was wrong.

Shortly after hitting that button I realized I’d overlooked some grammar errors in my manuscript. I tried to retrieve the ebook file I’d sent to Bowker for processing, but to no avail. It will cost me $50 per hour per line edit if I use them to fix my dumb mistakes. A costly lesson in the finer points of self publishing, but far better for me to learn it now, rather than later when I have multiple books to convert. I needed an alternative to creating the ebook file as I couldn’t afford to go the Bowker Ebook Creator service again, and I have discovered Calibre (www.calibre-ebook.com) It was easy to install and we will see how easy it will be to convert..

PRINT…

IngramSpark is the number one distributor in the United States as well as most of the world. They will distribute all Print On Demand as well as Ebooks to over 30,000 online bookstores, brick and mortar stores, and libraries around the globe, as well as numerous ebook options. Once my formatting software program converted the Word document to a PDF format, it easily uploaded to IngramSpark’s request for print. I have offered a wholesale discount to retails interested in taking a chance on my book, and IngramSpark will take a portion of the profit for being my distributor.

I don’t plan on becoming a millionaire writing books, but would like to establish STORY CATCHER PUBLISHING as a strong, small publishing house with a good foundation so in a year or two I can expand my publishing goals (more about THAT later…)

International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy) is scheduled to be released in ebook edition by June 2018 from Story Catcher Publishing, with the print edition hopefully coming out late fall 2018.

An Indie Author’s Journey: Ebook Eeny Meeny, Which Way To Go?

May 14, 2018May 14, 2018Donna L

I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

My book cover designer just turned in the final artwork but I still have three tiny tweaks I’d like her to be able to change if possible before I proudly show off LUNADAR:Homeward Bound’s beautiful cover. Kelly did such a fabulous job on it and I hope to get a chance to interview her soon for this blog.

That being said, I’ve also finished all the final edits…just have to type them into the formatted file and my manuscript will be ready to be loaded for the ebook release. That might come as early as late next month, once I sort through the maze of who will help me get the ebook out in front of readers…

STEP SEVEN: EBOOK RETAILER, AGGREGATOR, OR LIBRARY DISTRIBUTOR?

Which route to take totally depends on what the author wants to do with their ebook. I COULD go with individual ebook retailers like Amazon, Apple iBook, Nook Press, or Kobo, but then I would have to individually load each file in either PDF, ePUB, or MOBI file (depending on each site’s requirements). Some are free but most come with servicing fees tied into the retail profits before I would get my cut. If you have the time and keep good records of all the many site you need to incorporate into your overall marketing plan, that might be the route to go. Here’s a list of the most common ebook retailers found in the US…

EBOOK RETAILERS:

Amazon (http://www.amazon.com)

CreateSpace (http://www.createspace.com/)
KDP (http://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/)
Smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com/)

Apple iBook (http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201183)

Google Play (http://play.google.com/books/publish/)

Kobo (http://www.kobo.com/us/en/p/writinglife)

Nook Press (http://press.barnesandnoble.com/how-it-works)

I’ve decided to go with an ebook aggregator for convenience more than anything else. An ebook aggregator is a company that will take my manuscript, convert it into several different formats if necessary and then forward those file to many distribution channels like online ebook retailers, libraries, and other sources. I like the fact I will only have to provide one file and THEY will do the work getting everything distributed for a small percentage of the overall profit from each ebook sold.

IngramSpark is by far the largest ebook and print distributor, so I will send my file to them and let them do the rest so I can concentrate on the upcoming marketing. Reports of ALL sales can be seen on a daily basis and my profits will be paid monthly.

Here is a list of the most common ebook aggregators in the US.

EBOOK AGGREGATORS:

Draft2Digital (http://www.draft2digital.com)

IngramSpark (http://www.ingramspark.com/)

PublishDrive (http://admin.publishdrive.com/home/)

I will also look into library ebook distributors to see if I need to focus on reaching out to any of them. Here are some of the most common library ebook distributors in the US.

LIBRARY EBOOK DISTRIBUTORS:

3M Cloud Library (http://www.bibliotheca.com/3/index.php/en-us/)
ProQuest Ebook Central (http://www.proquest.com/products-services/ebooks/ebooks-main.html#whatsnewSection)
Rakuten OverDrive (http://company.overdrive.com/?_ga=2.214516439.1543725505.1526268579-3c2898e6-197e-4aaf-84f6-f5ded66b6ce7)

Next week I will talk about the great deal I got on my ISBN numbers as well as a conversion special and even copyright formalities.

If you are an indie author, which publishing/distribution choices and challenges did you encounter? Share with my readers by leaving a comment below!

donna

International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, My Journey, My Journal, is scheduled to be released by Expert Insights Publishing in the Fall 2018.

An Indie Author’s Journey: To Market, To Market

May 7, 2018May 7, 2018Donna L

I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

Even though LUNADAR: Homeward Bound won’t be released in paperback until 2019, it’s never too early to start thinking about what comes next so…

STEP SIX: A GOOD MARKETING PLAN

As an indie author, I won’t have the support and expertise of a publishing company. Any marketing and promoting has to start and end with me. It helps that I’m usually pretty organized since there are so many avenues and different levels to cover in order to give my first book being released from Story Catcher Publishing the best chance at success. Not every author may follow this plan but I’m crossing my fingers it works for me..

Six to twelve months before print release:

Set up a website, blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc. and engage with others.
Start creating an email list and connect with followers through a newsletter.
Research my audience. Lunadar’s readers are young adult through adult who enjoy fantasy, romance and adventure. Check out Twitter & Facebook groups to connect with.
Make a list of local and regional libraries, bookstores, and groups who will connect with Lunadar’s message.
Reach out to target audience and gather a street team to give a copy of Lunadar’s ebook in exchange for honest book reviews.
Set up an Amazon author profile and sales page, as well as B & N, Goodreads, etc. and make sure those links are listed on website.

Four to six months before book release:

Start contacting book clubs, book reviewers, or interested parties for providing an ebook version in exchange for hones reviews. Provide author links for leaving reviews.
Make a list of bloggers willing to join Lunadar’s book tour. Create list of different angles and topics to be able to cover on each stop of the tour.
Research local and regional fairs or festival events. Make initial contact for scheduling booths or speaking engagements.
Put together a media press kit. Create a list of local and regional newspapers, radio, and TV stations for press releases.
Add book title and author name to Google alert search criteria.
Set up a marketing calendar to include scheduled blog posts, book signings school visits, and events.
Load ebook to Amazon’s Create Space, Nook, B&N, and Ingram Spark.
Create and load book trailer on website and YouTube.

One to four months before book release:

Contact radio, TV, and newspapers to send media kits and book copies for review. Add any featured review dates to marketing calendar.
Send press release kits to interested bloggers and book reviewers, along with ebook or paperback copy for review. Add any featured review dates to marketing calendar.
Schedule book launch party.

Book release:

Update website, and social media site with book release info, along with book purchase links.
Provide newsletter with book release info to email list.
Drop blog post of book release.
Run a series of contests and giveaways through website, blog, and social sites.

After book release:

Review and Google alerts for information to add to media/press kits.
Remain active on social sites, connecting with others, and thanking anyone leaving book reviews.

As you can see, there is a lot involved in book marketing. It will certainly keep me busy over the next year. Is there anything I overlooked? If you did something different, please leave a comment below…

International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, My Journey, My Journal, is scheduled to be released by Expert Insights Publishing in the Fall 2018.

An Indie Author’s Journey: Judging A Book By Its Cover

April 29, 2018April 30, 2018Donna L

I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

My final edits are coming along so now it’s time for me to focus on:

STEP FIVE: A QUALITY BOOK COVER

There are many options available to indie authors for book covers…some as cheap in its quality as its price. Others have mid-range pricing, offering the indie author the opportunity to give their readers a better quality cover if their budget can afford it. Then there are the high end designers who charge a hefty price (some as high as $4.000 per book cover) who work for larger publishing houses if an indie author chose to pursue traditional publishing for some of their books.

When it came to my book cover for LUNADAR: Homeward Bound, I knew two things…

I wanted the best book cover I could possibly afford.
I couldn’t afford to pay much since I had to factor in other publishing expenses against my poor gal’s budget.

I knew I had to be creative.

I posted an ad on Fiverr and even received a few responses, but in the end, I didn’t quite connect with any of the designers who wanted to work on my book cover. There was even a time when I began to wonder if my vision for LUNADAR’s cover would ever become a reality.

Then I met Kelly.

I decided to reach out to the art department of my local university and the director graciously agreed to run an ad in the student newsletter advising I wanted to commission an artist for my cover.

A few students responded, but there was something about Kelly’s artwork that connected with me. It also helped she had previously worked with another local children’s book author, so she understood the basic process. Kelly was also the only artist who asked for a contract which showed me her level of professionalism.

I already knew what I wanted for my cover, having found a picture in the public domain arena back in 2015 which became my muse for the story line of my young adult fantasy novel.

Kelly quoted me a commission rate of $50 up front and $50 upon completion, and I quickly drew up an Artist/Illustrator contract.

Here is an early proof Kelly sent me. I think she has captured the spirit of what I want in this book cover. I made a few changes (along with providing her the book blurb she will include in the top box on the back cover) and now I am impatiently waiting to see the final artwork…;-)

What do you think? Would you change anything?

Lunadar Book Cover Proof.png

Next week I will talk about making a marketing timeline for promoting my book…

International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, My Journey, My Journal, is scheduled to be released by Expert Insights Publishing in the Fall 2018.

An Indie Author’s Journey: Editing & Accounting

April 23, 2018April 23, 2018Donna L

correcting

I’m delving into the world of indie publishing. Some authors go the quicker route and use a source like CreateSpace or Kindle Direct to immediately get their books out there.

There’s nothing wrong going that route, but I’ve decided to take a different path.

I’ve finished all the first level revisions of LUNADAR so now it’s time for…

STEP FOUR: EDITING AND ACCOUNTING

After finishing the first draft, I set my manuscript aside for a few weeks before starting any revisions. I needed time and distance away from LUNADAR so I could look at it with fresh eyes and a new perspective. But after revising my story as far as I could go, there still comes a point when someone with more editing experience needs to look at it.

Professional editing services vary depending on what type of editing is needed. Basic proofreading averages $1,200 or more for a 100,000 word manuscript, with copyediting averaging over $2,000, and developmental editing costing up to $9,000 or more.

What’s a poor gal to do?

I started out running my manuscript through the basic editing algorithm for Word and then ran the story again through Grammerly’s free program (www.grammarly.com). I then requested the help of beta readers to work on the developmental editing arena. Finally, I received the special help of a friend of mine who offered to line edit my manuscript for free. I’ve known Steve for over ten years and with him having a background of reading and editing numerous fantasy novels, I felt confident he would be able to point any plot holes needing filling.

End result, LUNADAR went through an advance edit for FREE. For this poor gal’s budget, FREE allows me to focus my limited finances on other areas while still focusing on providing the strongest story line I can.

I also set up my basic accounting for Story Catcher Publishing to keep track of any business expenses related to my writing and publishing work. Again, I am lucky enough to have a friend who is a bookkeeper familiar with small buisness requirements so she was able to provide information on setting up my EIN as well as what I should be tracking for end of year taxes. Here are the areas I track:

Contract Labor…fees I’m paying for book cover design and illustrations.
Office Supplies…paper, pens, ink, toner, tape, folders, envelopes, etc.
Advertising…business cards, flyers, postcards, banners, etc.
P O Box fees…I use a post office box for my business mail.
Utilities…I have a separate office as well as a secondary desk in my livingroom so a portion of my utilities can be written off.
Office Equipment…my new computer, printer, filing cabinet, etc.
Interest…any interest on my credit cards where I make business purchases, or a portion of mortgage interest can be written off.
Event Expense…any entrance fees or rentals to attend community festivals, book fairs, book signings, etc.
Professional Fees…my fees for SCBWI, CBI, industry magazines, seminars, workshops, etc.
A T & T…internet fees.
Repairs…a portion of home repairs when in relation to my business office.
Book Donations…costs of books donated to school or public libraries, book fair giveaways, and donations to community groups.
Car Repairs…portion of repairs due to traveling to events, meetings, etc.
Mailing Fees…stamps, money order fees, shipping expenses, etc.
Car Insurance…portion of car insurance in relation to business travel.
Car Tags…portion of car tag expense in relation to business travel.
Tax License…any business tax fees.
Mortgage…portion of mortgage in relation to business office.
Software…all formatting, editing, book design, or other publishing software program costs.
Other…anything business related not covered under any of the other areas like mileage, gas, travel expenses, etc. that I haven’t generated enough yet to warrant setting up a separate file.

At the end of the year my friend has also offered to look over my taxes to make sure I’ve filled out all business forms like Schedule C correctly. This will greatly reduce or even eliminate tax preparation fees which puts a smile on this gal’s face!

Next week I’ll share how I went about choosing a quality book cover on a poor gal’s budget!

International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. Donna’s latest book, My Journey, My Journal, is schedule to be released in the fall of 2018.

An Indie Author’s Journal: The Roadmap

April 2, 2018April 1, 2018Donna L

road map.jpg

Eight years ago I crossed the line from amateur writer to professional author with the publication of my first story. At the time, I thought the only viable route to publication was the traditional one. I spent the next eight years in search of traditional agents, editors, and publishers. Many lessons were learned and somewhere along the way my feelings about the indie world changed.

I’m a perfectionist at heart (what serious writer isn’t?) and I began to wonder if I could produce as good a product…if not better…than some of the books I’ve seen published over the years.

So I began to do some research.

And I took the time to really think about what I wanted from this experience.

Did I want to simply throw my name on some slapped together ebook so I could tell the world I added another published book to my writing resume?

No.

So, I decided I needed a roadmap to take me on my journey into the world of indie publishing. A checklist or step by step guide to take my young adult fantasy novel LUNADAR: HOMEWARD BOUND from completed manuscript to published ebook and paperback version via print on demand (POD).

STEP ONE:

Create a strong website to support my blog, any future book releases, and my overall author platform.

I’ve been a Blogger fan for many years under www.donnalmartin.com, but it didn’t offer me all the plugins and technology support I felt I needed going forward as an indie author. I’ve since switched to a WordPress format. I paid the $100 per year to have access to the upgraded site and really like how my new website looks. Check it out at www.storycatcherpublishing.com

Next week I’ll share the next step I took on the road to indie publishing, including giving you a sneak peak of the book trailer I will use for LUNADAR. My target release date is the Spring of next year and my goal is to prove to myself, more than anyone else, that my new company, Story Catcher Publishing, can produce a great quality book on a poor gal’s budget. I’ll list my costs along the way and you’ll be the judge of how well I did once you see the finished book.

With a little luck and a lot of hard work, my hope is to continue “catching” and sharing great stories…together!