Self-Publishing
Janice Seagraves
I started self-publishing after my first book, Windswept
Shores, rights had been returned to me. I self-published through Amazon's createspace and kindle.
And... I’m about to do it again. I had signed on with a publisher,
unfortunately the publisher decided to shut its doors, but very graciously gave
me all the edits. The editor I was working with contacted me and offered me the last edits.
And of course, I accepted.
I realize I've been very lucky, both my books are fully
edited. And createspace walks you through the process. So does kindle select. There is also a cover editor. Windswept Shores cover was easy. The cover couple I bought from fotolia. The rest was just trying out different templates provided by the free cover creator until I found just the right one.
Being an artist who has worked on the computer with a few
art programs, I decided to also tackle the cover for Matrix Crystal Hunters, a SF romance set on another planet.
I bought a wonderful photo from fotolia of a handsome man who looked a lot like the hero in my story.
I bought a wonderful photo from fotolia of a handsome man who looked a lot like the hero in my story.
And then I used photos from a trip
to Three Rivers California for the background. The water at Three Rivers had been drained so
they could work on the damn. The water ran through the old river bed that was still there at the bottom of the lake. Where I stood snapping photos had been roughly sixty feet of water. It looked
like another world down there.
I think the photos looks awesome behind the cover model.
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The two full moons are more recent. I took a walk a week ago down one of the almond orchard rows where I live and when I turned to walk back, I glanced into the clear blue sky and there was the moon. Full and in all it's glory. I hurried into the house and grabbed my camera.
It pays to have hobbies. J
Matrix Crystal Hunters, a science fiction romance, will be published in the first week
of October, in both for the kindle and trade paperback.
Have you self-published a book?
Have you made your own book covers?
Please tell me about your experience.
Have you made your own book covers?
Please tell me about your experience.
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Janice Seagraves website: http://janiceseagraves.org/
14 comments:
Kudos to you, Janice, for bringing your work to the public. It's a lot of work, I'm sure. Hope it generates lots of sales and new fans for you. :)
I've self-published my last five novels with the help of a professional editor and 3 great cover artists. While I haven't made any covers yet and plan to learn how, I have had a lot of input in the five. Your cover looks great by the way. :)
good for you, girl. self publishing would scare me to death!
I've been self-publishing since 2010. I have a terrific formatter and cover artist. I hire a great editor. Three of the four books she's edited have finaled or placed in contests. I love indie publishing and I don't know if I'll ever go back to trad publishing. Good luck to you with your books.
Love the covers (and the stories), Janice. Wishing you the very best.
Hi Tina, Thank you. :) Yeah, it is.
Hi Rose, Good for you. And thank you. :)
Hi Jean, It's not so scary once you go through the process.
Hi Cara, That's great that you can afford to have people to help you.
Hi Vijaya, Thank you so much. :)
Janice~
I have self pubbed! I had a similar experience where the books were edited, then returned to me. I have not made my own covers. I have been blessed with a great cover artist!
Thanks for sharing, Janice. I too have jumped into the indie-pool All of my titles except for a couple are now self-published and I see no turning back. I love the creative process and get such satisfaction in creating my covers. Luckily I've found an amazing editor works well with my impatience to publish my work lol
Best of luck to you, my friend. Oh, your covers are fabulous! Keep it up!
My first two books were self-pubbed; I used iUniverse the 1st time (price was only $160 back then) and was never happy with the cover. I also learned a valuable lesson about communication with edits; never assume the panel will 'know' what you're referring to!
The second time, I went with AuthorHouse, and had a better experience, though I wasn't aware 'head hopping' was a no-no.
I was picked up by a publisher in 2009 and am very happy to have good editors! Plus I think my writing has gotten cleaner, which is always a good thing:) Shows I've been paying attention during those editing sessions, lol.
The first epub I published with ebooks only, but I could do a print myself. I did the cover, and it was so ugly I would never attempt it again. I have a epub/small press publisher, and I'm satisfied to stay with them.
Hi D'ann, That's great. It always good to have professional help.
Hi Adelle, Thank you so much for the compliment. I did enjoy making the covers. Good luck with your books too. :)
Hi Molly, it also shows your maturity as a writer. Good for you. :)
Hi Sandy, I'm glad you found a home for your books.
Janice~
Good Luck. I'm going to be working on my books that I just got back and you give me hope that I can do it myself! All the best!!
Hi, Janice, actually the biggest expense I've encountered in indie publishing is the editor. My cover artist only charges $50 per cover and my formatter doesn't charge me anything. We have a barter arrangement. I line edit her books and she formats mine. So indie publishing doesn't need to be an extravagant expense. If you can find someone to barter with, that's the best way to go. Good luck to you.
Hi Melissa,
You can do it. It's really not that hard, and you can find tutorials on yahoo too.
Hi Cara,
I've looked into hiring an editor for other projects and you're right, they can be expensive. You're very smart to barter some of the work you need to self-publish.
Janice~
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