So this past month I attended a writer’s conference where
the main gist of the panels and discussions was self-publishing. Self-published
authors passed around their books, both picture books and novels and had the
audience excited about skipping the traditional route and self-publishing their
works.
These authors left thinking it was as easy as uploading
their manuscript in a Word document file to Kindle Direct, Nook Press, Kobo,
CreateSpace and Smashwords. And sure you can do that if you want your e-book to
look like this:
arring crash rocks Knottingwood Manor, from the slate roof
tiles to the stone cellars.
ted out of a deep sleep, I jump from bed, wide-eyed. My
heart beats like stampeding ses in my chest.
her’s antique mirror had tilted to one side of the mantel,
knocking two of my paper ns into the hearth and the sheer drape on my harp, in
the corner of the room, thered to the floor.
WHERE IS THE LEFT HAND MARGIN?
Or this:
There were once a man and a woman who had long,
in vain, wished for a child. At length it appeared that God was about to grant
their desire. These people had a little window at the back of their house from
which a splendid garden could be seen, which was full of the most beautiful
flowers and herbs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared
to go into it because it belonged to an enchantress, who had great power and
was dreaded by all the world.
EVERYTHING IS RUN TOGETHER. NO
INDENTATIONS. NO NEW PARAGRAPHS.
Or this:
Today’s
the first day of eighth grade and I should be happy.
This year, my best friend, Annie, and I get to
rule the school. Annie
and Frannie—Double
Trouble. But I’m not ready for school. I want
summer to last so
I can daydream about the Beatle’s concert I went
to last week.
Paul’s dreamy. John’s sexy. George is cute and Ringo’s
funny. I’ll never
forget the night of August 28, 1964.
EXTRA WIDE MARGINS, LEADING TO A
LONGER BOOK.
Or this:
… end of
chapter 1…
“I’m not insane, but I know what I saw,” she said to herself as she
jolted down Finnerty’s rickety garage steps and burst through the hedges into
her own back yard. Her high heels hindered her movement, but she reached the tree,
as the door was about to disappear. Sticking her hand in the opening, the door
opened once more. Not thinking twice, she followed her son and Alex into the
unknown.
Chapter 2
Snowbird
This trip to the parallel world
was nothing like the last. Al heard Alex gasp for air in between screams of
exhilaration, as the velocity with which she fell was remarkable. Looking down he barely made out her
pink-capped head in the darkness of the root tunnel, as that is what it seemed
to be. Gigantic tree roots reached out from the earthen tunnel, sometimes
stopping his descent, and holding him stationary as he watched Alex plummet full-speed below.
ALL ON THE
SAME PAGE. NO CHAPTER BREAKS.
So what is the correct answer? I would suggest that anyone who is
considering self-publishing a novel or picture book to research FORMATTERS on the web and hire one
before you upload your story to one of the online venues. There is a specific
way to do it correctly and you should leave it to the experts.
I strongly recommend------
They are professional formatters, very helpful and experts at what they
do. You can’t go
wrong working with them. So remember before you self-publish…………..
FORMAT
Next up on the Author’s ABC’s… Ghostwriter
