“The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.”
—Wayne Dick, my ever-patient and supportive husband
(who may not be the originator of this quote)
Last month I was full news about my new self-publishing imprint, acquiring a graphic artist for my covers, and updating my author photo. Among other things.
I haven’t made any giant leaps during the course of February, but I’m very happy with the latest cover proof, so that is a tremendous relief. I think that project went smoothly. Once I’ve finalized it, I’ll let you see the cover I’ve chosen.
The next step is to review my back cover copy, snag an ISBN and barcode (for which I’ve already acquired access through Library and Archives Canada), and get that onto the back of the cover.
I have opened an account with CreateSpace for the print copy of my book(s), and I will load the manuscript into that as soon as the cover is ready. Although, I could do that anytime and revisit when the cover is secured.
In my research, I’ve discovered that although CreateSpace is fine for my paperback books, I will need to use Kindle Direct Publishing for my digital copies. So I will need to create an account with KDP shortly. Please feel free to keep me accountable on what I’ve proposed to do this month.
A lot of time has gone into SEO—Search Engine Optimization— research this past month. I’ve discovered that it’s supremely important to study the genres and sub-genres in order to find the ones with the maximum leverage. I need to study genres used by books similar to mine and how well they are selling. I need to create not only keywords but keyphrases in order to optimize the sales potential. I’ve just taken a free online course by C.S. Lakin of LiveWriteThrive, which has been an informative and encouraging experience. Lakin is also offering a more in-depth course which can be accessed through her website.
Today I attempted to create an email list from my website/blog signup list. After bouncing back and forth from one to another of about eight open google sites, I closed the whole thing down in favor of maintaining my sanity for another day. Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow when the little gray cells are rested. I’m a lateral thinker, so when every option opens to a dozen more options, I become quickly disoriented.
If you’d care to pray for me on this journey, I’d appreciate it. If you’ve walked this way before me, you will understand. If you are a step or two behind me, keep tracking. It’s a fantastic adventure. Keep in touch.
Janice L. Dick 
Maybe the “eat an elephant” quote is a husband thing. Mine taught it to me, and it’s something I remind myself of regularly.
Tip on bar codes: CreateSpace will make one for you when you supply the ISBN. Your cover artist needs to leave room for it (not a blank space, just a space without text on it). Somewhere in the CS documentation on cover design, it tells how much space. With my first two novels, the artist didn’t leave enough space, and CS adjusted the size of the bar code to make it fit.
ISBN: you need a separate one for your ebook, and possibly different ones for ePub and Kindle, because they’re different formats. I still need to confirm that.
Keep chewing!
I was hoping no one would be offended by the quote, but whatever. Not my circus.
I found a place where I can get my own barcodes (have to re-check that). And I have registered for the ISBNs. I’ll download them once I’m ready for them. Yeah, I’d heard that you need separate ISBNs for ebook and print.
The artist doing my covers has worked for a small publishing company in the past, so he’s really good with how all that works. I’m relieved that he knows. The “inexpensive” cover artist I tried first would have been nothing but a headache for me, especially since I want a three-book series look.
Was looking at my account on CS recently, and apparently I have to find some tax information for them. I had a site that told me exactly how to handle that, but I have to find it in my bookmarked sites. I’m easily confused by these details.
Chewing! So good to know there are people out there who have already done this.
Great blogs, Janice. I went through CreateSpace too. Love it. So easy to work with. Took me three tries to get it right but The Bondservant is now on Amazon. It’s nice to hear someone else’s story about indie publishing. Keep it up.
Thanks, Carol. I’m always glad to know of others who have already been where I’m going. Congrats on Bondservant.
Janice