Last Minute Tweaks for the Self-Publisher

Drawing tool box - everything I needed to make my cover!

I think I will reach my goal, or at least close enough for rock and roll.  Today I finished editing my book.  I designed the cover

The last few weeks have been busy.  Practically every day I have devoted hours and hours to editing, researching ebook conversion, and brainstorming for cover art.  Needless to say, I had a lot on my mind and it made it a little difficult to think about anything else (even my strange geographical interlude).  Even though it was hard slogging through the book again and rewriting section after section of text, I'm glad I got it done.

At this point, there are just a few things left to do.  I will go through my book one more time to make sure the formatting is correct for chapter headings etc, confirm that any references I make to other artists in my work aren't infringing on any trademarks, and maybe tie up one loose end that is nagging at me.

When the book is as solid as I feel I can make it, I will copyright my work, which requires submitting it as well as paying a small fee to the government.  After that, I will have to scan the cover art, make sure it is exactly how I want it with a few minor graphic software touch-ups, and then size it according to my conversion company's specifications.  I may decide to submit the cover art for a design trademark as well. 

Then I'm going to go with the most comprehensive and cheapest way to distribute my book - Book Baby.  I researched doing things myself, and at least in the short term, Book Baby is the cheapest. They will convert and format my book, give me an ISBN number, and distribute it to 4 of the largest ebook stores on the web for a little over $150.  This is a steal.  Most conversion services cost between $200 or $300 for the reformatting alone!  A single ISBN direct from Bowker is $125! That's not considering the headache involved in getting your book formated and submitted at each of the ebook stores, because of course, they each have their own way of doing things.   

I don't know why I'm so interested in self-publishing.  Maybe it's just because I feel like so many corporate houses are waiting to fleece me.  Maybe it's because I just can't wait to get the book out in the world and see how people like it.

I guess the next thing to do is to get it reviewed by a couple of people in different places, including sending a copy to some other young adult writers.  It's just an intuition I have, but I feel like all of this is a good idea.  It might be a little crazy, but then again, isn't every good idea?