Prep Notes. Checklist.

by Louis Bertrand Shalako

c2010

All Rights Reserved


Let us assume that I intend to upload a series of four e-books to Lulu.com. Let us also assume that I will pursue POD with Lulu or some other entity.

Have I read the contract and terms of service?

Let's skip the obvious and get down to brass tacks.

First I need to make sure all four cover shots are the same size, and that the size 'sticks,' and in the case of 'Heaven,' I've noted some glitches or problems.

Assuming it is a pdf-type upload, I should comb through it yet one more time for any little errors. Having caught a few, then I must upload any new file to all previous pdf-based platforms!

Everything has its logic, and creates its own workload.

Everything takes time, and four books means four times as much time.

For that reason, one might focus on one service provider, such as 'Lulu,' for example, and really try to learn your way around that site. Trying to do several at once has some obvious dangers.

(I recently discovered my 'Channel Distribution Manager' at Smashwords. Now, where the heck did that thing come from?)

The thing to do is to prep all four titles in terms of e-books, and then do the same in terms of print. At the very least, this will be a different page or set of pages in the site.

(Incidentally, I'm already signed up, which saves time later. I wrote the username and password down in my notebook! Too many freakin' accounts.)

For a print book, Lulu insists on a new or different ISBN, which is indeed free. It is one more piece of data to keep track of and quote correctly every time.

Print books would require rear cover art, (not done,) and a 120-220 word blurb describing the story and the characters to some degree. It's a hook, and it must be carefully written. (Mine need review.)

I will review the covers, and maybe try to clean up 'Heaven.' That's all I can promise.

People (Mom,) have noted that my profile picture is not the best. With a face like mine, we're just going to have to live with it. That's the best picture anyone has ever taken of me. My copyright page is not perfect, and I should study someone else's before finalizing it. There is room for some variation, but I will keep it businesslike.

Forewords, dedications, and stuff like that is all optional. I really didn't worry about it in the e-books. Print may be different, I'm sure Mom would agree. Quoting sources in the back of fiction books is kind of idiosyncratic. I was tempted once.

Once I have all four books 'perfected,' in pdf, (or whatever format,) then I'm good to go.

The one thing I would like to know before going to a lot of work is the price of the finished paperback. The way to do that research is to go in and look at a lot of other books on whatever site...right?

One thing I really, really need to do is to go through folders and discard a lot of old versions. I've been spawning old versions at an alarming rate. It's quite daunting to open up a folder and see thirty or forty of them in there.

Love the new technology. Four views this evening at Myebook.com. It gets the name out there if nothing else!