“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
Socrates
You’d think after publishing one book that everything would get a lot easier the second time around. Well, that’s not how it turned out. Yes, many things were easier the second time, but overall, it was just as hard as publishing the first book.
What was easier:
- Knowing what steps to take – but only because I’d been documenting the process for a couple of years.
- Formatting the book’s interior was easier because I documented most of the steps the first time around (e.g., how to do headers, footers, page numbering, chapter header formatting).
- Some of the setup was easier (library cataloging information, establishing pricing, creating the front matter, font selection).
- Getting the copyright and ISBNs. I got those the first time around, so I didn’t have to mess with them gratefully.
- Social media. If I had made a positive step-change in this area, this work step would be in the harder grouping. But I’m a Luddite and can only work on so many improvements at a time, so all I’ve done is practice what I started with to get more comfortable and faster.
- Marketing. Oh, wait. I haven’t started that yet. I plan to start marketing my books in the next few months and get serious after I launch book 3, The Sangreal, in the fall. This is a choice, in part because I can only handle so much, and in part because of the streaming mindset – that people don’t want to stop watching/reading once they get started on a series/show.
- That’s about it. It wasn’t a lot of items, and there are a couple of things I haven’t tried to get better/do yet.
What was about the same:
- Developing the cover art. As I noted in my last post, it was just as terrifying and difficult as the first book. I’m hoping the 3rd cover will be easier.
- Editing the book. This took the most time, but it’s also the most fun/rewarding. I’ve been itching to start work on book 3, but I’m forcing myself to finish publishing book one revisions and book two launch (that plus taxes and outdoor work).
- Writing the blurb. I’ve already grumbled about this item.
What was harder:
- Creating the back matter. I realized that the back matter is an opportunity to market my books, so I had to rethink what I included in the back of the book.
- Raising my skill level in Word and formatting documents. I made some progress, but I feel I still have a long way to go.
- Embedding fonts so I can publish on Ingram Spark. I made some progress on figuring out how to do this and managed to embed all fonts on two versions (I realized that the issue I was seeing was due to copyright issues of the fonts). But just when I thought I had mastered this, I had problems with two other versions. I even learned new Word tricks (finding fonts in a document), but eventually, I had to ask my younger sister for help again.
- Publishing a second book created new problems, forcing me to learn how to link my books and series (I haven’t mastered this yet).
What I left undone:
- In short – all my marketing efforts. I’m waiting to give my books a push not only because of the reason I mentioned above (what I describe as the Netflix streaming effect) but also because I have so much to learn, and I want to master the basics. I’m in this for the long haul, so I’m not worried about my sales yet.
- I postponed two book research trips because of the pandemic (to Blackbeard Island in Georgia for book three and Greece and Italy for books 5 and 7). I’m hoping to get those done this year, though.
The picture below is of me standing inside a giant Ciba tree roots inside the park in Tikal, Guatemala, on my first book trip. I choose this picture because it reminds me of how I feel about the whole publishing process – it’s ginormous!
(By the way – I highly recommend going to Tikal if you’re ever in the region. The combination of stunning Mayan pyramids and the jungle made me feel like I was in an Indiana Jones movie at times.)
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