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10 NeutralAbout SarahD
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Definitely research publishers and make sure they are legit. Personally, I would never pay a publisher, I would expect to be paid by them, preferably with an advance with royalties to come later. If a publisher expected me to pay for services I'd rather self-publish and hire my own editors and proofreaders etc. But that might be a lot trickier with a children's book. All the best with your book!
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Good luck with your writing Vermillion. Ooh, I sound a bit bitter in that old post of mine! I didn't mean it to sound quite that bad. I would still sign with an agent if I had the opportunity. They do have a function in the publishing world. I agree about the editing. I've been using beta readers to keep costs down. But I would like to employ a professional editor when I'm a bit better off financially. It's important to make your book the best it can possibly be, and writing is a collaborative process! ---------- Post added 20-02-2013 at 15:15 ---------- I've not checked in for a while - this is great! Just be careful, there are some nasty vanity publishers out there. Maybe query an agent? They might help negotiate a contract. Good luck with it! I've recently published my second book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Vanished-Blemished-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00B76P2KO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361373119&sr=8-1 And I paid for some advertising from bookbub - http://www.bookbub.com/home/ they are pricey but worth it. I made my money back within the day. Basically, they send your deal out to their email subscribers. Have a look on their website, the details are there. Of all the advertising things I've seen for self published books, this is definitely the best one. But I think their readers are American, so it would work best for Kindle books. Hope you're all well
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Congrats! Reviews and sales are what it's all about
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October 2012 theme and competition entries
SarahD replied to Ron Blanco's topic in Sheffield Writers Group
See I have the opposite problem. I usually have to go out and flesh out my word count. Unless I'm writing dialogue, that seems to just go on and on. Thanks Dave. You should put up your longer version of the story, it sounds interesting. -
I've had a think about this and I think that I'm better off plugging on the internet for now. Most of my sales are e-books and until I've written a few more books I don't think it would be worth it. I'd have to buy a number of my own paperbacks with no guarantee of selling them. Great idea though. Good luck with it.
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October 2012 theme and competition entries
SarahD replied to Ron Blanco's topic in Sheffield Writers Group
Woohooo! Yay! It was a bit short, sorry about that. But then Hemingway apparently wrote a short story in 6 words, so maybe short and sweet is the way forward. I liked all the stories. I thought Fat Dave and Greg both brought something atmospheric, which is what you need for an October theme -
Bonfire Night and Firework Displays 2012 - Megathread
SarahD replied to sinbad's topic in Going out in Sheffield
Does anyone know if there is a bonfire in the eccy road vicinity? Do they have one on Endcliffe Park? -
October 2012 theme and competition entries
SarahD replied to Ron Blanco's topic in Sheffield Writers Group
Every month I mean to partake in this and never get round to it. Well this month I will ---- And then my soul split. They stared. The comedian cried. The snob lifted its chin. The attention seeker banged against the glass, bloodying its fists. I turned to the right and saw the slut wave. To the left the virgin sobbed. I stepped forward, reaching towards myself, fingers trembling, aching to touch, waiting for the cold feel of the glass. A high-pitched shriek of laughter caused my hand to drop and something rushed past me, knee-high, I reached down to grab it when my hand was caught. My shoulders were in a vice. I kicked and screamed as I was pulled. I passed them all: the sides of my soul, watching me watching me watching me watching me... Glass. People. Faces. Steps. Voices. "What happened?" someone asked. "I think she had a nervous breakdown in the Hall of Mirrors." Laughter. "Not again." -
Yes, it's me from AW. I can tell that you're Old Hack from your posts. Haha! Well, I'm sure you know more about the definitions and such. Even if FAR are vanity I feel they've provided a decent service for me. I'm due my royalties soon, so can report back if I have any problems. I am hopefully publishing another book soon and am considering trying Create Space in order to compare the two. The only thing is that CS don't offer as much in terms of royalties, although the fee for distribution is lower. So I'm just weighing up the pros and cons in my head at the moment. Thanks for your clarification above.
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You have to pay both Create Space and Feed a Read for further distribution so I'm not entirely sure why Feed a Read are considered vanity and Create Space are not. What I understood when signing up to Feed a Read is that if you are selling through the Feed a Read website only, there is not a fee to pay. But as I had decided to distribute further afield perhaps I misunderstood. I can only vouch for my experience actually using Feed a Read myself. The only issue with them are the sales. You only get two updates per year. The books, the royalties and everything else I've been very happy with. But, as always, you should do your own research.
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No probs!
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I wouldn't do it. Use stockphoto 123rf or something similar to get uncopyrighted images. There's a free website somewhere as well but I've forgotten what it's called.
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Smashwords is actually quite user friendly and comes with a guide. The only thing is that you need to have the manuscript formatted well ie not using tabs for paragraph indents, putting in a table of contents etc. But when you're done it'll convert the book into an epub (for Kobos and Nook), a mobi (kindle), a PDF, web copy and tablet compatible. If you want to go into their Premium catalogue it has to be perfect, and then they distribute to Barnes and Noble, Kobo, iBooks etc but if you aren't bothered about that then as long as it's okay you should be fine. https://www.smashwords.com/ The guide is quite comprehensive so I'm sure you'd be fine. There's a lot to take in about self publishing and if you're not familiar with ebooks it's a little daunting. http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/board,60.0.html is a good place to browse and ask questions. Sorry if we depressed you! When I first started I got frustrated with all the depressing replies from other writers but there are lots of people who haven't done as well as they expected (me included). But on the flip side there are people who just hit it and somehow get it right and have huge amounts of success.
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Some good advice from Gary there. I'm feeling a little disillusioned with the whole self pubbing experience. It's a slow and very long game to get anywhere, I think. Is your children's book illustrated? Only I can't imagine it working on a Kindle or Kobo if it is. Also children aren't really ebook readers. You'd need a really good printer/publisher to get good quality books to do it justice which could turn out really expensive. That's one thing to consider. You could try http://www.feedaread.com/ or https://www.createspace.com/ who provide a 'print on demand' service, meaning that you don't have to buy a bulk of books or pay money up front. They give decent royalties and take the money spent printing the book out of the overall price. But, the quality of the books are not amazing and if it is illustrated I'd definitely get a proof before deciding. Another thing to consider before self publishing is marketing, something I'm not great at. There are squillions of self published books out there and no one knows who you are. I hate to be the voice of doom but it's pretty tough! I would start researching publishers and agents. Most publishers will only accept queries from an agent so it might be best to start there. Or you could go straight to small/independent publishers. The Writers and Artists Yearbook is an essential read. Make sure you read all the requirements and follow them very carefully. This is really great section on publishers to watch out for. Unfortunately there are people out there who want to rip you off http://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=22 Good luck with it!
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Hi Graham, Congratulations on your book. I think Gary is definitely the man to talk to regarding marketing something with a local interest theme. Good luck with the book! I'm sure you've probably already thought about this, but due to the controversial nature have you thought of using a pseudonym?