In April, I wrote that my book was almost done. I thought it was true because the first round of editing was done
Man, was I wrong. After those edits, I went on Fiverr to find a book cover designer. I thought that process was going to be quick and easy, but it took longer than it should have because of me.
First, I had to produce back cover content. That was the first requirement for the project. I quickly whipped up a piece, and my friend, who is an editor, edited it for me.
Second, I had to decide on images for the cover. I had images, but I wanted something different. So, I got new ones made. This was the biggest delay. I was very picky with the images being made.
Lastly, I had to select fonts for the cover. Have you ever looked through a site with tons of fonts? That was fun and overwhelming.
While the book cover was being created, the second round of editing was done. That part was quick and easy. I have almost selected a specialist to format and design the inside of the book and am researching book publishers.
Like any author, I want maximum sales and profit with little onsite inventory. I want customers to purchase books from my sites and the company to ship them. If you know of book publishing companies that provide this option, let me know. Before I can set a price for the book, I need to know the actual cost of publishing and shipping books.
My biggest challenge throughout the process: the desire to keep editing. The temptation is real. While reviewing the final edits, I decided to revise the preface of the book. It reads so much better. And then I found additional information about roller skating in the Black community from my research stuff that I felt needed to be included. Would you like to know the names of the first Black national roller skating competition winners who won nearly fifty years after the very first contest?
Following are other things needed for a published book:
- Purchasing an ISBN Number. These are the numbers on copyright page inside the book and on the back cover in the lower right corner.
- Purchasing a barcode. This tool is used to track book sales and inventory tracking at bookstores. It is also located on the lower right corner with the ISBN number.
- Copyrighting your manuscript, book cover or entire book. Visit copyright.gov to learn all the benefits of copyrighting your work, as well as the process and prices of doing so.
- Compiling references and bibliographies, if this applies to your project. ChatGPT has been a great help in organizing and listing over the 500-plus sources I used for my book.
Here’s the catch-22 of using AI for your projects. As a writer, I use it to make statements sound better or ask for alternate ways to say things. On the other hand, I’m overly mindful of what I input into the system because it collects and keeps the information, and will use it in the future.
That’s the status for now. I would like to share more but I have to be protective of my work because people are using things I’ve published as their own.
What About You?
Are you working on a project or nearing completion? What’s the status of your project?
Image credit: Markus Winkler on Unsplash