Formatting for Print

(If I could subtitle this post, it would be “I have found my newest nemesis: widows and orphans.”) The family emergency that stalled my momentum a few weeks ago finally seems to be leveling out. My mother had surgery, but is back home recuperating now, and my schedule at the day job has gone more or less back to normal. This means I finally have my afternoons back to work on my novel. None too soon, either, because things at the day job aren’t going so well right now (summer is our slow season, and this particular summer is the slowest one yet),...

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Momentum stalled

Last week, I was really moving along. I had my Kindle formatting done, my ePub created and ready for a quick scan, I’d created a Facebook page and even finished and uploaded my web site. The only thing left, for the most part, was starting the print version. I was hoping to get that done this week and maybe, finally, start getting serious about setting a release date. Unfortunately, all that momentum ground to a halt due to a family emergency, which is why I’ve been so quiet everywhere. My mother went into the hospital and needed surgery, which...

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This is where I start to freak out

I did it. I finished the website and uploaded it to the server. It’s live, which means there’s no turning back now. The blurb for DESTINED is up, along with the first chapter (I plan to add the next two in the future), so I can’t chicken out and not publish now. *deep breath* I can do this. I believe in my book, and I believe there are others out...

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ePub done! And Kindle TOC tips

Yesterday, I managed to get my book properly into ePub format. Woo! I still need to put it on a Nook and read through it (and possibly get it on my iPad and see if I can read it in iBooks), just to be sure the formatting is good, but a quick skim in Adobe Digital Editions looked promising. It was a real pain to do, partly because I’m such a control freak and had to do it all by hand, but also because, when I got frustrated with that method and actually tried a conversion program, it made a royal mess out of the whole thing. This is why I am such...

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Excerpt debate

Hey, what do you know? Two posts less than a week apart! I’m deviating from my Kindle formatting posts today to ramble a little about my stalled website design. Stalled mainly because I’ve been focusing my time on editing, now that my day job has sucked up my afternoons. But also stalled because I’ve come to a point where I don’t know what else to include. (And because I still can’t come up with verbage for the “about the author” page. I have no idea what to say about myself!) My current dilemma, however, is the book excerpt. I have a blurb written...

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More Kindle formatting tips

I keep meaning to update this more than just once a week, but right now the day job is cutting into most of my free time. If only I were independently wealthy, then I wouldn’t have to work at all!  *sigh* If only… I’ll try to keep this post shorter. For one, the last one took my entire day to write up, and I’d like to finish my edits today. And I’m sure anyone who’s reading would appreciate a more manageable length. But I have a tendency towards long-windedness, so we’ll see how that goes. Last week I went through some of the handier coding...

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Three-Day Weekend!

Usually, I use a holiday weekend as an excuse to slack off, but this weekend I’m going to have to make myself work harder, because for the next 3 weeks, my hours at the day job are being increased to cover for a manager who is going on vacation. I’m happy to do it: he covers for me when I take vacations, so it’s only fair. But part of me is crying inside at the loss of at-home writing/editing time. Though who knows, I may end up bringing my writing work with me to help fill time, so it might work out all right. Shhh, don’t tell my boss. ;) Anyway,...

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