Wrapping up a Dream

                I think I will make this the last posting about The Zealot and my journey and about publishing in general, traditional and indie.  I could go on and on, but there is no need to.  As time moves on from this point and I begin to self-publish The Zealot, I will keep you abreast of what is going on.  Next week, the group is going over the final chapter of the novel.  After that the real fun begins.  Without going into a lot of detail, I have much to do.

                The novel has to be formatted to be able to work in any kind of e-book format.  Let me give you an example.  Do you, when you type, hit the tab key for the start of a new paragraph?  I do.  Not good for an e-book.  That has to be changed on EVERY single paragraph of the book.  The indentation has to be 2-5 spaces.  There are other things that matter as well, such as chapter headings, spacing between the chapter heading and the first line, etc.  I am pretty much fine on everything else except for the tab thing.  I have decided that as I do my formatting I will do my final reading at the same time and make some final changes and additions, plot-wise.  They are very minor, but necessary.

                Once I have done the changes and formatting, I will be hiring a line editor to look over the manuscript for typos and grammar, etc.  I haven’t said anything to Heather yet (hint, hint), but I might need a little help from her on a quick read in relation to simple ellipses.  I really have trouble with that.  When do you use dot dot dot and when do you not.  Color me stupid.  When that is all done, I hope my cover design will be done and I can throw it all together.

                One thing I have noticed as I have studied indie publishing is just how much does it cost to publish a book?  No one really says.  I know there are factors that can fluctuate the cost.  The cover design is a big one.  The cost of that can vary greatly, depending on who you use.  A very good art student or a relative with a gift can save you a great deal.  Another big money consumer can be editing.  There are lots of different types of editing.  What I am going to have done is the cheapest kind of editing, but I have been part of a wonderful critiquing group that literally tore the novel apart twice over the years.  If you don’t belong to a group like ours, it makes sense to have more advanced editing done on your work.

                As I move along with my project and keep you informed of my moves, I am going to do something that I have not heard of before.  I’m sure someone has done It on another blog, but I just haven’t heard of it.  When I have finished publishing The Zealot, I will post on here an itemized list of just what it cost me to publish it.  Again, the purpose of this blog was to help writers like us.  I want to help others who are thinking about self-publishing and for you to consider doing this, you need to know what it will cost you.  If you would like to dig into the world of indie publishing further, go to the link we have on our cover page, marked The Creative Penn.  Joanna Penn will take you a world of indie publishing you have dreamed of.  Every question will be answered.

                Well, there you have it.  Again, I could have gone on for a lot longer.  I believe I have covered the major points and as I go through the publishing process myself, I am sure I will come across things that will prompt me to write a post to you all.  For now, I go back to regular writing, whatever that is.  I have been on this project, writing about this novel since last June.  I hope it has been helpful and a little bit entertaining.  I have no clue what in the world I’m going to write about next.