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So today is what I had planned as the launch day for The Gift of the Bad Guy.
As you might guess from that sentence, it isn't any more. I just finished sending an e-mail to all the pre-buyers to let them know I'm pushing it back. I'm really, really glad I did that because it gave me another chance to review the email addresses in the list I had set up. I hate delaying it, because I'm excited about this story and I want it to be read, and because while it's not available for sale it's not making any money... but, well, I looked at it like this: I could spend the entire day Monday, from the wee hours right up until midnight, scrambling to get everything perfect in order to send it out at 11:59 P.M. and technically fulfill the original date... or take the time to do it right in a way that's not going to sap my spoons for the rest of the week for a product that, under the circumstances, would probably have some pretty big flaws.
I can do some great writing under the gun, but great formatting and clean-up and such? Not so much.
As my first serious e-book e-ffort (the existing Tales of MU ones are just PDFs of the files I used to make the print editions, which themselves aren't terribly impressive), there's been a lot of "figuring things out" involved in the making of The Gift of the Bad Guy. If I could go back in time and do it all over again, I'd... well, I'd take advantage of everything I've learned to do it right from the start. But if I could only send a short message back in time to myself, I'd tell myself to start with converting the first book of Tales of MU or The 3 Seas rather than learning as I go on a brand-new project.
When I set the roll-out for March 14th, I thought I was being conservative. I thought I'd have everything set up and ready to go with a few clicks at just after midnight. For a long time I'd planned on doing it on March 1st. I gave myself an extra two weeks, "just in case".
The book is finished. It's compiled. But there's some formatting stuff that's still not 100%. The PDF is mostly there. The EPUB isn't quite. I have some help lined up for that, though.
I have a tendency to beat myself up over these speed bumps, but in the grand scheme of things this book is going to be available forever (or as long as I'm around to sell it, and as long as other people keep circulating it)... whatever necessary roughness occurs during its launch, once it's out there it will remain out there. That's both all the more reason to get it right and all the more reason not to worry if Book Launch Day isn't quite everything I was dreaming of.
So, anyway, while I'm going to be continuing to work on the writing of the second part of The Gifters Saga, the next book or two to come out on the LitSnacks site are probably going to be largely collections of already written material given a polish and re-package, so I can hone my polishing and packaging skills.
Lessons Learned:
As you might guess from that sentence, it isn't any more. I just finished sending an e-mail to all the pre-buyers to let them know I'm pushing it back. I'm really, really glad I did that because it gave me another chance to review the email addresses in the list I had set up. I hate delaying it, because I'm excited about this story and I want it to be read, and because while it's not available for sale it's not making any money... but, well, I looked at it like this: I could spend the entire day Monday, from the wee hours right up until midnight, scrambling to get everything perfect in order to send it out at 11:59 P.M. and technically fulfill the original date... or take the time to do it right in a way that's not going to sap my spoons for the rest of the week for a product that, under the circumstances, would probably have some pretty big flaws.
I can do some great writing under the gun, but great formatting and clean-up and such? Not so much.
As my first serious e-book e-ffort (the existing Tales of MU ones are just PDFs of the files I used to make the print editions, which themselves aren't terribly impressive), there's been a lot of "figuring things out" involved in the making of The Gift of the Bad Guy. If I could go back in time and do it all over again, I'd... well, I'd take advantage of everything I've learned to do it right from the start. But if I could only send a short message back in time to myself, I'd tell myself to start with converting the first book of Tales of MU or The 3 Seas rather than learning as I go on a brand-new project.
When I set the roll-out for March 14th, I thought I was being conservative. I thought I'd have everything set up and ready to go with a few clicks at just after midnight. For a long time I'd planned on doing it on March 1st. I gave myself an extra two weeks, "just in case".
The book is finished. It's compiled. But there's some formatting stuff that's still not 100%. The PDF is mostly there. The EPUB isn't quite. I have some help lined up for that, though.
I have a tendency to beat myself up over these speed bumps, but in the grand scheme of things this book is going to be available forever (or as long as I'm around to sell it, and as long as other people keep circulating it)... whatever necessary roughness occurs during its launch, once it's out there it will remain out there. That's both all the more reason to get it right and all the more reason not to worry if Book Launch Day isn't quite everything I was dreaming of.
So, anyway, while I'm going to be continuing to work on the writing of the second part of The Gifters Saga, the next book or two to come out on the LitSnacks site are probably going to be largely collections of already written material given a polish and re-package, so I can hone my polishing and packaging skills.
Lessons Learned:
- No matter how much is written and how little is left to write, don't consider the book to be "practically done" unless it is in fact done. Pursuing publishing options, working on formatting, arranging proofreading and art and such, etc. is all not writing and won't bring the book any closer to being finished. I don't want to sound like I'm saying a one-person operation is impossible, but there are good solid reasons why specialized divisions of labor are standard. Do the writing first. All of it. Be a writer. Then put on the other hats.
- Don't budget time for publishing based on how long you think it might take to figure out how to do something. Figure out how to do everything, then budget time based on that.
- Offering multiple font/file formats is not a bad thing, but it can lead to a cluttered shopping interface and more complicated logistics. E-books are tiny files, relatively speaking. Just offer the whole thing as a package.