Three Valuable Resources for the Beginning Self-Publisher

These unpromising little sprouts will be ocotillo blossoms soon. This may not seem all that exciting to you folks, but we bought two ocotillos from a roadside vendor last summer and they've looked like sticks ever since. Seeing them come to life again has us all giddy.

This week's topic is: DIY Publishing: Best Three Resources for Success.

There's a bit of irony here in that I'm sure this is recently departed Word Whore, Carolyn Crane's, topic. I know this because she always calls it Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Publishing instead of Self-Publishing. She's also, irony-compounded, the one of us with the most self-pub experience.

In fact, my number one resource in this arena is: Carolyn Crane.

However, if you haven't wormed your way into being friends with her (involves mostly reviewing endless cover iterations and bribes of chocolate), then you might have to look elsewhere.

Now, I have self-published one novella. Petals and Thorns was with Loose Id for two years, and then my rights reverted. I had the option to leave it with them (they offered) or to take it back and self-pub. In the interests of experimentation, I tried the self-pubbing.

Because the book had already been professionally edited and laid out, my job was pretty easy. I needed to put a new cover on it (the old one belonged to Loose Id) and format for HTML.

So, for getting a cover, my #1 Resource:

Su at Earthly Charms Designs

Su is patient, creative, does fabulous work and is not expensive. (Though I see her prices have gone up, which means she's doing well - go Su!) The cover she did for me has been nominated for a number of cover design awards. She's my go-to gal.

For HTML formatting, my #2 Resource:

The Smashwords Style Guide

No, using this won't marry you to Smashwords. But Smashwords does distribute to a lot of different book retailers, so they have a really good, clear and universal style guide.

Finally, for general support, advice and comaraderie, my #3 Resource

The Indie Romance Ink (IRI) Yahoo Loop

Sorry if you're not a romance writer - this is just the one I know about and belong to. This is a members only loop and you have to request to join.

Their criteria are:

New members must be ***ROMANCE WRITERS*** who have self-published or are indie-curious. We're a genre-focused group by and for romance authors, and we do not allow self-promo. Author service providers and other industry professionals are welcome as long as they are ALSO romance writers.

If you are not a romance writer, consider the Indie Authors Forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indieauthorsforum/) instead. The IAF admits writers of all genres as well as industry professionals.

 What about all of you - got a great resource I missed?

Nail, Meet Hammer

Once again, I spaced the days of the week and tried to forget my post. Ergo, I'm sitting in a doctor's waiting room, attempting to post from my cell phone. Let me say it now. My itty bitty Windows phone is NOT anywhere near my favorite writing resources. No matter how insanely cool it is that I can even whine about using a phone to post a blog. Yes. From this statement, you may surmise the I'm a dinosaur.

This has been a week that's been deadly both to my wallet and to my to be read pile. I had exactly one of the books mentioned earlier in the week - If You Want to Write. This surprises me because I have quite a stack of books about writing. I'm a bit of a 'how does everyone else do it' junky. See, there's a saying. When all you have is a hammer, everything is a nail. Writing books give me a chance to try out new to me tools. I swing 'em around and try them out for fit. Some don't work for me and I put them down. Others fit so well, I sob in joy as I clutch them to my admittedly little bosom.

One such resource came from a two day workshop given by Mary Buckham. It's Break Into Fiction. I got a big binder from the workshop. (I'd totally link you to the Break Into Fiction website, but that option doesn't seem to be available to me on the phone...) Anyway. The binder has pages falling out, tea stains, and pages wrinkled up from an unfortunate event involving hosing out the cockpit while the porthole to my cabin wasn't sealed. Oops. What's in the binder that I can't live without? Templates filled with questions. It's that simple and that deceptively complex. The first question is "When your story starts, where is your character? Why?" You can say "Jane is at work because it's Monday", but the point is really to say "Jane is working at a job she hates because she's desperate for the money to pay a lawyer to find the baby she gave up for adoption a year ago." Breaking Into Fiction is about getting to the 'whys' behind the characters. Useless to plot driven writers. Pure gold to this actor's heart.

After that, the book I return to for inspiration and an occasional stern talking to is Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. Yeah, sometimes I need to be reminded that whining that I can't write unless conditions x, y and z are met is just me indulging in acting like a diva. Not all of the tools in the book work for me - Morning Pages where you free write three pages? Not a chance. Evening Pages, yes. But in the mornings? There's not a thought in my head to put on paper. Some of the other information has been invaluable. From Julia, I learned how to limit my exposure to people she calls 'crazy-makers.' The book was a great way into realizing I could write for more than my own entertainment. It led me a step at a time into working out my own creative requirements. I don't refer to it much these days. In fact, it's packed away in a box in storage. But my Break Into Fiction work book? Never start a novel without it.