Some useful tips and tools for authors

I'm on the final straight with my fiction novel, The Last British President and a couple of days ago, I reached the point of formatting the manuscript for publishing on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), in both paperback and E-book.

Microsoft Word is superb for writing and editing, but the formatting tools can be daunting. Fortunately, KDP have numerous free tools for preparing your book, one of which, Kindle Create Add-in for MS Word makes the job of margins, headers, footers, trim sizes and everything else, very simple indeed. It uses industry standard book templates which greatly ease the job of getting the book looking professional and ready for publishing. (I'll probably write a how-to in DCT when the time is right)

I also have a book cover designer lined up and so, hopefully I'll be publishing early in the new year.

Here's a training video for the MS Word add-in, which some may find very useful. I know I did.

And I particularly like this video, because the publishing industry has changed completely since independent publishing has taken off over the last ten years.

50 rejection letters and you had to wait up to 12 months for them to land on your welcome mat? And not all of them replied anyway?

Quote from Semigoodlooking

Why are you publishing direct to KDP and not looking to find an agent Splint?

You're right about MS Word, it is excellent as a document app but it is easy to get lost in its formatting tools and features.

Getting a manuscript accepted by a literary agent is very difficult Semigoodlooking

I submitted my work to around 50 agents in the UK, and over the course of about nine months, I received rejections from most of them, or at least those who bothered to reply from their so called slushpile.

About 99% of submissions are rejected. This doesn't mean you're a bad writer, either.

It's also worth pointing out that, even if you land a publishing deal, the entire process can take years. Yes, years. This is because the agent has to find a publisher who's prepared to take the risk. Furthermore, you and your work practically become their property once you've signed up with them.

The publishing industry has changed in the last few years and self publishing doesn't have the stigma that it once had.That stigma has now left the building.

This may sound glib, but writing the book is the easy part. It's the preparation that takes the time. For example, it took me nearly six weeks to prepare pitches, opening letters, synopses, taglines, elevator pitches, my biography and God knows what else. It's like preparing for an interview that you know you'll fail.

On the other hand, you have self publishing where you can pay for a publishing package and have someone do all the work for you and your book would be out in a couple of months. That can be expensive, though.

Amazon/KDP is a different animal.

It's free, print on demand and you can receive up to 70% royalties. Obviously you have to do the legwork and preparation, but to my mind, it's a much more democratic option than waiting on the whims of a literary agent.

Here's a very interesting article on just this subject.

http://authoritypublishing.com/book-publishin…nal-publishing/

Semigoodlooking

Thanks for the encouragement.

Believe me, when the book is finally published, I'll be shouting it from the rooftops!

Hello Carlos

Yes, my current book, which is fiction by the way, is based in Argentina.

My previous book which I self published in 2007 is non-fiction, being an account of my life from 2001 to 2005, taking in the UK, Spain and Argentina.

It's no longer in print because the publisher went out of business, but I do have one or two hard copies (books) left and of course the PDF version.

I would be very happy for you to read that version, so perhaps you could email me?

Quote from Carlos

To Mr. Splinter: a minute ago I sent you a message by e mail.

To Rice: I am interested in both books.

Thanks Carlos. I've just replied.

A very useful article on how to edit your book with objectivity.

Six ways to approach your edits with objectivity

Some useful tips here...

Euphemisms are so lame. For example, passed away or he passed. Wtf?

Quote

Passed away (instead of ‘died’)

After two years writing about death and end-of-life experiences, I have no tolerance for words that invite us to ignore the reality of death.

People die; it’s the only universal truth we all experience.

Speaking about it in hushed tones and with sanitized language perpetuates our fear and shame around the subject.

Some death euphemisms, like “no longer with us,” are actually confusing.

Heavenly euphemisms like “passed away” might inject values and beliefs your audience doesn’t share or understand, which makes it tougher for them to connect with your writing.

Just say “died.”

Caveat: If death-related events like “crossing over” or “being with God” are part of your reality, these aren’t euphemisms. Use them as long as your audience is on the same page about their meaning — but opt for “died” when writing about the end of a life.

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Source:

https://thewritelife.com/euphemisms-to-cut-from-your-writing

Or 'pushing up the daisies'

Some may be interested to know that Amazon have removed the Kindle Add-in for Microsoft Word and replaced it with a standalone editor called Kindle Create.

This is all very well, but many of us prefer to use Word, especially me, since I now have Office 365. Anyway, having installed the new Office 365, I also removed Office 2010 rather foolishly, thus removing the Kindle add-in at the same time. I then couldn't find the installer on any of my PCs and searched online to no avail. I then did another search on my workshop PC, finally found it and installed it again.

The add-in is very useful for preparing books for publication on Amazon as it sets the book size and many other features with superb templates.

It's quite a big file, so I'm going to upload it somewhere because I'm sure there are many people who can no longer get their hands on it.

Here it is:

Kindle Add-In for Microsoft Word.