Category Archives: E-Publishing

Paperback edition out now – at last

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Well, after 14 attempts (and several shouting matches with my computer screen) at converting my proof manuscript into a pdf that looked right in the CreateSpace digital viewer, I’m pleased to say that I’ve finally managed to get Message Bearer out and available in paperback as well as Kindle.

I don’t expect many sales from this version, the price required for PoD (Print on Demand) seems a bit on the excessive side to be cost effective, but at the very least I get to own a few “real” copies that I can share with friends and family.

Also, I learned a few lessons formatting the word document to be fit for use on CreateSpace, and found a few good links in the process which I’ll add to the blog later as these proved to be a godsend! I thought I knew MS Word until I encountered this particular challenge!

Anyway, I digress, the link is below. If you prefer your books in dead tree format then please take a look 🙂

PS – I need to link the ebook and paper versions together on Amazon, as at the moment they don’t appear as alternate options for the same book. Yet another challenge on this self-publishing roller coaster!

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

AuranChronicles_CVR_LRG

The proof has arrived!

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The proof of Message Bearer arrived this morning courtesy of CreateSpace. I’m very chuffed, it’s great to see it actually “in the flesh” for the first time rather than existing out there in the digital ether!

I might have to tinker with the chapter heads slightly (they appear too far up the page for my liking) but aside from that I’m very pleased with the outcome!

Cover_real

It lives! The Auran Chronicles: Message Bearer is out now

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At last, Auran Chronicles: Message Bearer is alive and well on Amazon after 18 months of hard slog.

For those who may be interested, the Auran Chronicles is a series of Urban Fantasy novels that can be best be described as a mix of a gritty, older Harry Potter-type story mixed with the Matrix and some quantum physics thrown in.

Book 2 is well underway, and will be out 1st half of 2016.

Blurb…

‘You were drawn. I can see it. You are Latent.’

For reasons unknown, Seb is constantly drawn to random places without meaning, following an instinct he doesn’t understand.

One night that instinct lands him in trouble when he encounters Sarah, a young woman hunted by a fiend that can only be described as the stuff of nightmares. Against his better judgement Seb attempts to intervene, only to nearly get himself killed in the process. Before she passes, Sarah transfers something to him, an arcane knowledge that gets buried deep into his subconscious.

Rescued by the Brotherhood warrior Cade, Seb’s life takes on an unexpected turn when he is told he is a Latent, able to manipulate the very energies of reality to his own devices. He is brought into a world within our own where the Magistry and its allies engage with the demonic Sheol in a timeless conflict that has traversed entire universes.

A world where he, and he alone, carries the message that could change the course of the conflict forever.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0184PNP22?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Cover artists, any recommendations?

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Well, the time has come, the final draft is complete, only 12 months behind schedule(!), and I’m now looking to get this thing in a shape fit to enter the (eBook) indie publishing foray.

One of the things I did consider was doing my own cover, but after a brief effort I realized that my skills lie far, far away from that particular area, so I’m looking to hire a freelance to do it for me.

I’m going to be looking around the old t’internet to see what I can find, but if anyone has any good recommendations for a cover artist please let me know. Specifically, the novel is an urban fantasy along the lines of the Dresden Files or Stephen Mchugh’s Crimes Against Magic series – so I’m thinking a cover that’s moody, urban, with a good bit of mysticism thrown in. Nice and clear, right? 🙂

Any recommendations please fire them over!

Formatting your eBook for publication

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As well as getting your actual manuscript in good nick for publication and also finding/designing that perfect cover, one thing I hadn’t considered was how that nicely formatted word document  needed to be modified to ensure it was fit for submission to Amazon (kindle) and other formats, via Smashwords.

Thankfully, both sites have their own eBooks that serve has handy guides to getting your manuscript in a fit state for submission on an “E” format.

For kindle, go for this book.

For Smashwords (so basically all other formats), use this.

Hope this is of use to someone. For me, I found out that I now have to remove all my tab indented paragraphs and replace them with first line indents. Doh-ville!