Experimentation and Exploration.

-detail from cover of 'Heaven Is Too Far Away.'


by Louis Bertrand Shalako

c2010

All Rights Reserved


Right now it looks like there are two books processing through Google Books.com; and I can't see how to upload a new version until, er; 'something happens.' One of the things I can tell you about a Google site is that it is all very consistent, where no one thing stands out from the page...you really have to read around in there.

(I'm sure I will find it...)

Over at Myebook.com; I have uploaded an improved version of 'Heaven Is Too Far Away,' which had the title page mucked up for some reason. That particular cover image has been the bane of my existence, and it appears too small in this context. I can't get it to go any bigger on one of my blogs, either. That one baffles me.

That one is done processing for the second time. It will take a day or two for all of this to shake down. I am not super impressed with the Myebook reader, because the text is just too small. That being said, I had to try it. At forty-nine cents, it's a pretty cheap read, although you do have to sign in and become a member. On the plus side, the customer doesn't have to worry about downloads. It's a toss-up. The link-up to Paypal was easy enough, as I had all the data required from a foreign sale, which as I recall was an electronic deposit.

In a few days, I will attempt Borders, as well as Barnes & Noble, which as the reader may recall requires a US bank account. If there are bugs, you can send e-mails back and forth, and the thing will get resolved. So far there are no sales to worry about anyway, at least on Myebook!

At this point, I could cancel the Myebook account and consider myself truly blessed, for I have learned much.

That is the benefit of exploration and experimentation.

By looking at the two books in the Myebook reader, I noticed the cover art is too small for 'Heaven Is Too Far Away,' and then decided to follow the advice of a guy called Viktor Oey, who is an advocate for a common literary format for e-books.

Someday I will figure out how to insert links into blogger! But here is the URL.

http://www.planetebook.com/mainpage.asp?webpageid=176

He's talking about professional standards, and while the formatting for other e-book readers is different, it still requires technical accuracy.

For that reason, in twenty-four hours, I have opened the account, published and deleted the two books...and now both books at least have an extra blank page in between the copyright page and the first page of the text. Incidentally, there was a lot of angst as I recall, back in August or September about properly page-numbering the Pdf's. Page one is actually page four or, um; five of the book. Right? No one wants to see 'page one' on the front cover.

No honest effort is truly wasted. Just for the record, in order to take those Pdf's to a printer and make 'real' books, I would still have to insert a couple of more blank pages appropriately, come up with rear cover art, and make new Pdf's. This is immediately obvious in the Myebook reader system. The picture and blurb at the back of the book is fine for 'interior of rear cover copy.'

(Why in the hell won't that link work? Argh!)

UPDATE: I have just been reviewing Smashwords' 'Distribution Channel Manager,' which I knew about but seems hard to find unless you look right where it is...anyhow, soon I will have a couple of more outlets. Or maybe not, Applestore and somebody else.

What strikes me is that I have put in at least ten hours at the computer, and on the face of it, have accomplished little more than this blog entry. I still don't know what's going on in Google Books, or if maybe they send a link to activate or something. Tommorrow's another day!

And I still have to attempt the US big-box (and hopefully big bucks,)bookstores.