May 31, 1911: Titanic Launch Day

Today is the centenary of the Titanic's launch in Belfast. It's also the day I had originally thought would be a good release date for my book.  Well, as you can see, when they launched the Titanic, it was far from being done. So, too, is my book.

Granted, the writing of the book is done (as long as I don't go crazy and decide to revise it again), but all that other stuff that goes into publishing is still not ready for primetime, as the original SNLers would say. I would have liked to at least be able to launch my website today, but alas, I spent too much of the holiday weekend playing and not enough working. Though I did get a good amount done yesterday. I think the design and layout is set. Now all that's left is that pesky content. (I'll also be redesigning the blog to match, so there's yet more work to do.)

Anyway, back to my original point. One hundred years ago today, the Titanic was first launched from the Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The ship's hull had been finished, but all the bells and whistles (not to mention funnels) still had to be added, so the launch was basically the first test to see if the ship would float. After that, workers took another 10 months to fit her out with everything else she would need. Still, the launch was cause for celebration, and drew a large crowd to cheer her on. You even had to have a ticket to attend. And today, Belfast is celebrating the anniversary.

So since my original release date is about to pass me by, it's time to buckle down and get moving. Finish putting on the funnels and laying carpet and painting the walls, so to speak. I need to finish the website and get it live. I need to finish the Kindle formatting and do one final pass to check for errors. And I need to start researching print options. That's a big one. It seems my best choices are either CreateSpace or Lulu, with CS looking like the potential winner. But I want to read a little more about both and get an idea of how they work, and how people who currently use them are liking them. I don't really see a ton of print sales, but since the majority of the people I knew are guaranteed sales don't have ereaders, I need print to be available. Besides, I really want a physical, paper copy that I can hold in my hands and say "I wrote this." Call me old-fashioned, but as much as I love my Kindle, I still really like paper books.

As for the ebook formats, I also need to get some research done on the non-Kindle types. It looks like if I can get my html file converted to ePub, most of the other platforms will be taken care of. I just need to find the best way to do the ePub thing. I know I can just use SmashWords, but I'm a control freak: I don't trust that uploading a Word file will result in the best possible ebook. I want to format the whole thing myself, so I can be certain it will look fantastic. Also, I've read some criticism about SmashWords being slow to make books available. I think I'm better suited to go straight to the source on the various other platforms, and not rely on a third party to do it for me. More work, sure. But I think it will be worth it in the end. At least, I hope it will.

I'm also thinking of joining a wrters' site, like AbsoluteWrite. Not only will it be a good place to find advice when I'm researching as I move forward with the self-pub journey, but I think it will be good for me to get involved in a community of other writers. I tend to be a bit of a hermit when I'm online these days. It's been a long time since I've been part of a group, and I miss the interaction. One more thing to add to the list, but at least that's an easy one. :)

Posted in: self publishing,titanic