Writing a Book

NaNoWriMo

Have you ever wanted to write a book?  Well, now there's really nothing stopping you!  If you have a computer, or at least a library card, you can get started right now!  If you don't have a computer at home, use your library card to reserve some computer time at your nearby library.  They should have everything you'll need and you'll be surrounded by books to boot!  Great inspiration!

What I'm going to go over will apply if you want to write your novel and submit it to a publisher, or if you want to self publish your work.  Both are equally viable options.  I've done both.  I have books published with Secret Cravings Publishing such as A Writer's Love Story...

And my self published novel Frigate: November...

A Writer's Love Story was professionally edited and formatted, Frigate wasn't edited at all and was formatted by me.  I had to learn the hard way how to format a book for the Kindle.  When I first uploaded Frigate to the Kindle store it was unreadable.  I had no idea the book wasn't formatted correctly, it came out fine as a paperback.  I don't feel too badly because when I first uploaded Frigate the Kindle was just becoming popular and no one seemed to know what they were doing with uploads.  Some of the major publishers had uploaded unreadable files just like I had.  They eventually dedicated entire departments to formatting their books for the Kindle.  But I did figure out what was wrong with my book's format and fixed it.  I had to go through over 120,000 words to fix everything, and it took me a long time, but it does now look ok on a Kindle.  And now I'm ready to teach other people how to format.

So what was wrong with my formatting?  And what did I have to go back and fix?  Well, I'm going to make a few videos as we get near November and show you exactly how to get started so you'll have everything formatted correctly as you go.  For now I'm working on a small laptop while my PC is in the shop, but I should have it back soon and then I'll get started on the videos.  

For now, I've made this simple little introduction video.  Be sure to check out the quick looks at two of my self published books in the upper left hand corner of the video.  For now, think about what you'd like to write about, or even dust off an old story you've had in your closet since high school, and we'll get started learning how to get moving in the publishing world!