Tutorial for Writers, Authors, and Publishers
This tutorial for writers, authors, and publishers will help you fulfill your dreams of being an author and publishing your book.
You can do this, and I can help.
2009 Independent Publisher Award for Best True Crime (Don’t Get Arrested in South Carolina)
This was the first book I had written. You never know what you can do until you try.
Irwin Award (Southern California) Best Non-Fiction 2009
Don’t Get Arrested in South Carolina
Do you think you are an author and have a story to tell? Evidently, everyone has a story, many stories, but most are afraid to learn how to begin the process. You can become an author and publisher and control your content.
Get the story out of your head and into your fingers.
My stories are non-fiction: law, corruption, except for one; that is my dog book.
When I was writing my first book, I knew nothing about being an author. For instance, I had no idea how to publish a book; formatting, editing, registering, getting a copyright, creating a cover, and posting a photograph were all foreign to me.
Many “vanity press” publishing companies take your manuscript and charge you lots of money to edit the book. In addition, these publishers do a number of “registration-type things” of which you had never heard. So the “vanity publisher” keeps the publishing steps a mystery so you will pay them. Otherwise, you would perform the tasks yourself and not hire them.
Tips for writing and publishing
- Consider your book’s page size. It could be a paperback or a manual.
- Download the Scrivener program to help coordinate chapters.
- Transfer Word documents into the appropriate chapter in Scrivener. (You will always be able to transfer the draft from Scrivener back to Word, edit, and update a Scrivener chapter.)
- Use the same page size to create your book cover.
- Your Word product is all that is needed to publish an eBook on Amazon.
- Create your own publishing company; get an EIN and a bank account.
- Buy your ISBN and barcodes from Bowker. You don’t need to pay someone to do this for you.
- Copyrighting your book is easy. You can do it online for a small fee.
- Create your own e-book for free by using Calibre.
- Always edit your manuscript in Word unless you are making chapter headings.
Submitting a manuscript for print
In addition to the tips above, many instructional websites and YouTube videos cover Scrivener, Caliber, e-books, and other writing and publishing topics.
Amazon will publish your ebook from your Word manuscript; there is no need to put the book into a PDF unless you are printing a hard copy. Amazon will also accept a PDF.
There are options for creating an eBook. You can create one in Caliber for free. You can convert your manuscript to EPUB or MOBI (for Amazon).
If you want a hard-cover book, I suggest using POD (print-on-demand) at IngramSpark. A print book setup costs about $50.00. When you submit to IngramSpark, you’ll need both an eBook and a PDF. This can be tedious, but if you want to do it, you can.
The Events
Make a list to outline the events you want to detail. Leave spaces between the events you listed. You will remember more as you write, but you have to begin writing the events.
Always write your narrative of each event in Microsoft Word or the applicable Apple program. You will eventually convert your narrative to a PDF, but do not edit much in Adobe. It is too cumbersome, and you can always reconvert your Word product.
The Order of Your Events
A strictly chronological book narrative can feel a bit boring. Most events and outcomes result from many different factors. You will refer to past events in your story, but change the way you describe the events.
You might want to begin your story at the end, relating current conditions and referring to past events that led to the current status.
Create a timeline and chronology, and draft a list of events. By adding and subtracting from this chronology from time to time, you will have to write your thoughts. This keeps you from forgetting an event. Add events as you write, as you are sitting quietly. Separate each event in your draft and edit each one separately. Weave events into your story as you begin writing.
Font, Size, Space
The easiest typeface to use in your narrative is Times New Roman 10, with a space of 1.5. You can always increase the font size, but a 10-point font will fit 250-300 words on the page. One reason I would use 1.5-line spacing is that you might want to print your draft to send to someone, and the spacing will let them insert comments.
Writing Dog Stories
My dog, Erik, is the subject of one of my books. The dog stories were stuck in my head; however, I never knew how to write a book
Begin writing memories from puppyhood to adulthood. You have photos and probably videos of your dog, and you can create a dog storybook.
We tell dog stories and repeat them to anyone who will listen. Erik was “that dog” for me. I have had a number of dogs. All had different characters, intelligence, attitudes, and senses of humor. Yes, dogs have a sense of humor, but your dog will have a limit of patience with you. We all love to “annoy the dog” until the dog gives you the look.
Yeah, My Dog Did That, Too, is a compilation of stories. All dog owners have stories and photos of their dogs, and we look forward to publishing their stories.
We can help you from discussing the narrative to creating chapters, inserting photos, formatting, and actually publishing your book.