Update on Publishing my First E-Book: Tedious Work!

Posted on 13 de June de 2015 Updated on 13 de June de 2015

On my previous post I mentioned writing my first e-book and giving up on Textbroker. Textbroker has since notified their writers that they are changing their terms of service. The one thing that stood out after I read this is that they set no time period for review of assignments. This means that there is no way to know when I might be reviewed and possibly moved up a star rating.

I have been on vacation this last week so I have not done much to get my e-book ready for publishing. The writing part is finished but the publishing part is not. Self publishers have to do all of the stuff that the editors and publishing houses normally do. Things like fonts, links, covers, legal disclaimers, indexes, advertising, and  proof reading, have to be done by the author or the author has to hire the work out.

I am writing this first book more for the experience and gaining knowledge on how to self publish than trying to get rich. At this time I have most of the above things done. Just fixing the fonts for consistency was a chore. I am now working on an index that automatically links the words to the place in the book that they are located. In future books I will do this as I write each chapter which will make things much easier. Learning to streamline this process is a main goal and will speed up publishing future books and e-books. Social media is also very important in promoting for self publishers. I have set up a Facebook page which is linked in the right hand column. I will have to explore more ways to promote my books.

Hiring an editor is an option for future books and highly recommended by many self published authors. I have more involved book ideas that this would be advantageous. Here are some tentative titles that I am considering and I would love to have any comments on which one you think I should start next.

In the health category:

“The Vitamin D Conspiracy”: Similar to my first e-book “Resvaratrol: Just the Facts”. This book talks about the history of vitamin D and how the US government bungled the recommendations for this essential nutrient, as well as the effects on my health and how vitamin D deficiency is being studied for many health problems.

“Bipolar Disorder: The Caregiver Experience”. This is a tentative title about my families dealings with bipolar disorder and how the medical profession failed us totally.

Family and genealogy category:

“The Autobiography of Emilie Jane Butterfield Loyson”. This is an unpublished autobiography of my great great grandmother that I discovered in a library. It was being edited by my great-grandfather who died before he completed it. She was famous in her time because she married a French Carmelite Monk. This is very topical today because of the Pope’s mention that discussion should be opened about the marriage of priests. I will edit this work or try to find a publisher.

“The Widow and the Monk”: This is the true love story of my great great grandparents Père Hyacinthe Loyson and Emilie Jane Butterfield. I have been researching this for more than seven years. This is a story of personal sacrifice for true love against all odds. Both of their biographies are more than 900 pages each and his is all in French. A real challenge but such a great love story.

Fiction:

“Our Crazy Downstairs Neighbor”  A story based on real events in my life but fictionalized. The basic plot is how a downstairs neighbor, who at first seems OK, turns out to be a destructive force in the main characters life.  Here is a video of the main inspiration for this book: 

Science Fiction:

“The Ants of the Galaxy”. The story of humans from an extraterrestrial point of view. How naive we are to assume that extraterrestrial’s would act with any similarity to us.

“Warped Into the Future”. The story of a test pilot who volunteers to test the first light speed space ship and upon his return finds a much changed world.

Personal journal category:

“Encounters with Greatness and not so Greatness”: My personal and professional encounters with famous people.  Stories that are inspirational, amusing, but not necessary all positive, about the famous people who I have met because of my music career or just by random encounters.

That’s all for now and I’ll post more ideas as they pop into my head. Please help me to decide.