Self Publishing: Interested?

[A. E. Lowan]

Coming in to agree with pmmg; writers write. It's really the only rule. Writers write, and the only way to get better is to write more.

Fussing about publishing before you're ready to bring a manuscript out for public consumption, be that a reading audience or agents and publishers, is putting the cart before the horse. Publishing is for later. Now is for learning.

Let's say that again: Now is for learning.

But, you asked about what publishers can offer. Distribution, mostly, though even that's changing. Everything else, no matter the publishing model you choose, is on you. So, when the time came for my team to choose, we went indie. Attached are examples of what you can do on your own. My wife makes beautiful books. (No idea why they're rotated. Sometimes this site hates me.)

 

[Mad Swede]

Who do you go through from publishing?

My books are in Swedish and I have a Swedish publisher. They do not accept English language manuscripts. We are discussing English language versions of my books with an overseas publisher, but I am not allowed to name that publisher or even tell you where they are based.

 

[Mad Swede]

The research is already proving deeply compelling, and I have the advantage of actually being on the spectrum, myself. We're all a little different, so just because one person has a symptom or a comorbidity doesn't mean the next person will present the same way. It's going to be a fascinating challenge.

Writing this as a retired Swedish Army officer, you'd be surprised how many officers and NCOs are suspected of being autistic in some way. It's only in recent years that ASD has been seen as a hindrance to a military career, and in the days before the autistic spectrum had been defined and accepted there were probably many who got in. Message me outside the forums and I'll give you a few insights...

 

[BJ Swabb]

My books are in Swedish and I have a Swedish publisher. They do not accept English language manuscripts. We are discussing English language versions of my books with an overseas publisher, but I am not allowed to name that publisher or even tell you where they are based.

Okay thanks for letting me know

 

[Finchbearer]

Coming in to agree with pmmg; writers write. It's really the only rule. Writers write, and the only way to get better is to write more.

Fussing about publishing before you're ready to bring a manuscript out for public consumption, be that a reading audience or agents and publishers, is putting the cart before the horse. Publishing is for later. Now is for learning.

Let's say that again: Now is for learning.

But, you asked about what publishers can offer. Distribution, mostly, though even that's changing. Everything else, no matter the publishing model you choose, is on you. So, when the time came for my team to choose, we went indie. Attached are examples of what you can do on your own. My wife makes beautiful books. (No idea why they're rotated. Sometimes this site hates me.)

View attachment 3437 View attachment 3438

If she has done all of the typesetting and formatting, then yes, she does!

 

[Prince of Spires]

I don't have the time or patience to do what actual publishers do.

What do you think publishers do?

In the end, unless you're a celebrity who comes with a big enough audience, a publisher isn't going to help you finish a story. Why would they, when they can do less work by simply accepting one of the finished manuscripts that get offered to them.

To be picked up by a publisher, you need a good story, which is finished. Now, the series doesn't need to be finished. Just the novel needs to be. And it needs to be the best you can make it. You're competing for a very limited number of spots against people who've been doing this for years, and who have slaved over each word. Some of them will have paid for an editor out of their own pocket first before submitting.

I agree with the sentiment of the others. Write, improve, write more. No one can write like you can. So be the best you you can be.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

If she has done all of the typesetting and formatting, then yes, she does!

<3

She does most of it. We also use a template from BookDesignTemplates.com called 'Spark' so all of our books match. When formatting the first book, my wife took extensive notes about what she was doing and why she was doing it, including the little icons at the top of every chapter and to mark every POV break mid-chapter. It makes things much faster and much easier.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Writing this as a retired Swedish Army officer, you'd be surprised how many officers and NCOs are suspected of being autistic in some way. It's only in recent years that ASD has been seen as a hindrance to a military career, and in the days before the autistic spectrum had been defined and accepted there were probably many who got in. Message me outside the forums and I'll give you a few insights...

Knowing my dad (who was a few different things in the US Navy but some of the earliest was as a computer tech based shipboard - in the '60's - and a corpsman) and the Special Forces guys I grew up around, I can absolutely see it. The lot were brilliant, their memories were phenomenal, and they thought teaching two very small, very cute little girls (and my sister and I were stinking cute) all the fun ways to deal with an attacker with extreme prejudice was the funniest thing they'd do all week.

Swede, how long were you active duty? Are you still a reservist? What branch did you serve in?

 

[Mad Swede]

Knowing my dad (who was a few different things in the US Navy but some of the earliest was as a computer tech based shipboard - in the '60's - and a corpsman) and the Special Forces guys I grew up around, I can absolutely see it. The lot were brilliant, their memories were phenomenal, and they thought teaching two very small, very cute little girls (and my sister and I were stinking cute) all the fun ways to deal with an attacker with extreme prejudice was the funniest thing they'd do all week.

Swede, how long were you active duty? Are you still a reservist? What branch did you serve in?

Including National Service I did 36 years. Started in a nordic infantry regiment then transferred to a combat engineer regiment. Served overseas on several UN missions. Did several tours as a staff officer at tactical and operational level, always on the operations side. Did a tour with the military police, worked on war crimes investigations. Commanded in the field at all levels, including a brigade. Medically retired, so I'm not allowed to be in the reserve.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Including National Service I did 36 years. Started in a nordic infantry regiment then transferred to a combat engineer regiment. Served overseas on several UN missions. Did several tours as a staff officer at tactical and operational level, always on the operations side. Did a tour with the military police, worked on war crimes investigations. Commanded in the field at all levels, including a brigade. Medically retired, so I'm not allowed to be in the reserve.

That is extremely cool, and thank you so much for your service. After 26 years, my dad was a Chief, a specialist in nuclear medicine (bomb, not Xray) and a corpsman... and he let my younger sister get a blood draw on some guy one day.

Turns out the Navy doesn't like that.

And as for me, this is what I do. I write, I overdose on caffeine, and I know things.

 

[Finchbearer]

<3

She does most of it. We also use a template from BookDesignTemplates.com called 'Spark' so all of our books match. When formatting the first book, my wife took extensive notes about what she was doing and why she was doing it, including the little icons at the top of every chapter and to mark every POV break mid-chapter. It makes things much faster and much easier.

Wow that’s one way to do it! Sound like the system works, and a template is a good way to go about doing that. I would use InDesign as a GD for book formatting, and especially like little icons at the top of chapters.