Robert Young

Okay, maybe the worst part is over. In a previous post I spoke about getting the text right-on as far as formatting goes. It took me 10+ times to to upload text that fit the format. Finally it did, and I’m confident that the next book I do will go more smoothly. I certainly know a lot more now than I did then.

The next item was the cover – the wonderful cover – that Kurt Cyrus rendered. Kurt used the specs and formula provided by CreateSpace to get the spacing right and to make sure the lettering on the spine fit well. After a few tweeks here and there (toning down the color of the hawk’s tail, changing the font size on the back cover), it was ready to go. Kurt saved it as a pdf and sent it along to me.

Then came the moment of truth. Would the cover upload to the CreateSpace file? Would it take fourteen attempts and revisions in between each?
Nope, just one. A charm. So then, the whole file (interior and cover) had to undergo a review process to make sure the book fit the acceptable spec range.

Within twenty-four hours I had the results: Yes! Everything was a go. I proofed an online version of the book and all looked great. To be extra sure, I ordered a print copy because the gutters (the spacing on the inside of the pages) looked unbalanced to me. The only way I’d know for certain is to hold the book in my own hands. So that’s what I’m going to do before making it available to the reading public. So now, I wait. Patiently.

The journey on CreateSpace continues. As I previously mentioned, I worked diligently to get the manuscript print-ready, and was able to do this after reading, rereading, and rereading some more, along with some outstanding outside help (Cameron on the tech details, Ava on the text details). When I was finally satisfied (is one ever finally satisfied?), I started the upload. All went well, at least for awhile.

When my book file got uploaded, I received a message that there were “issues” with it. The main issue was that the margins I had selected were not acceptable. Some words were too close to the edges of the page. Okay, easy fix, right? No. Because, when you change the margins, that alters the number of words on the page and that affects where those words appear on the pages. So, you may get a page (an end of a chapter) where there is one line or even one word on it. Not good.

That means you have to go back over the entire document and check each page. While doing that, I noticed that a few pages had some extra lines spaces. They’d show up randomly, like right in the middle of pages. That required me to go back to my original document, where I found that I had made extra returns as I typed. Then the original had to be uploaded again.

To make a long story short, I uploaded the original many times (more than 10) before I got all the issues resolved. All except for one, which I’m not going to share since you will probably not even notice it in the printed (or electronic) copy.

All in all, this has been a learning experience and a lesson in extreme patience. The folks at CreateSpace, who I call often, have been supportive and pleasant. The next step will be uploading the cover, which is being completed as I type.

Just as there are many reasons to have a book published, there are lots of ways to make that happen. I have recently undertaken a journey with CreateSpace to publish my middle grade novel, Moving Targets. This is a story about bullying that I have been working on for quite some time. For awhile, I thought the topic would be exhausted, but it seems to holding its own and even gaining importance over time.

So, why CreateSpace? Well, I’ve seen books done by the company and the quality looks good. You have many choices of trim size and page count.
Best of all, it’s print-on-demand so you can order as many, or as few, copies that you want. And then there’s the bonus: the per-copy cost is consistent. In other words, you don’t have to order a skillion copies to get them at a reasonable (and salable) cost.

There’s a step-by-step process by which you create your book. I have yet to upload the text because I keep going over and over and over it. The folks at CreateSpace have informed me that the text need to be print-ready when I upload it, so I become an obsessed copy-editor. This after I have already edited the book for content. That’s been a bit easier for me. The copy-edit part challenges my attention to details. What’s really helped, though, is developing a style sheet for the book that includes punctuation instances as well as other quirky thinks I’m doing.

For example, during I use the word gonna when the kids are talking. It’s a style choice I consciously made to help make the dialogue sound more realistic. But I stopped there, choosing not to include things like wanna, coulda, shoulda, etc. Too much of that, I believe, would bog down the reader. So, it’s a matter of balance and degree.

The biggest challenge for me has been the actual formatting of margins, gutters, font type and size, and spacing. What really helped me was looking at other books – sort of mentor texts – and seeing what others have done. None of that helped, however, when I go to the very end of the text and the last line of the 150 or so pages got split, with a few words on one side of the page, and a few on the other. Hour after maddening hour I worked on that, playing with the settings, looking at online forums, using bad language, none of which helped. Finally, I called a tech genius friend, Cameron Yee, who figured it out in less than three minutes. I am continuously amazed at the knowledge and skills of people on this planet. Oh, the problem was with the justification setting.

So, that’s the extent of the project thus far. Next week I’ll be uploading the text and hopefully the cover, done by one Kurt Cyrus, another cohort brimming with talent. Until then, I will keep searching for rivers and widows and look forward to the time I push the Enter key, which will finalize the upload. If you have any interest in publishing something, check out CreateSpace. As far as I’m concerned, so far, so good. Will let you know how the process proceeds.

Got a rejection from Barron’s the other day. Nothing new there. I’ve gotten many rejections – hundreds – over the years. My very first book, The Chewing Gum Bookwas rejected by 75 publishers before it was accepted. Other works of mine have been rejected as much and never gotten accepted. That’s the nature of the publishing world: the overwhelming majority of manuscripts get turned down.

So yes, I am used to rejection. I use each rejection letter as a reality check. Okay, so this particular work is not right for Barron’s. Does that mean the work is not right for any publisher? Not necessarily, but it just might be. How will I find out? Keep sending it out. When I get to the end of all publishers, and all of them have rejected it, I have a question to ask myself: Do I have a need for this work to be published and available for people to read? If the answer is no, the manuscript gets filed. If the answer is yes, then I become the publisher. And the marketing director, and the promotions manager, and the sales team. Not the easiest route, for sure, but a way to assure that the book is born.

The letter I got from Barron’s was mostly the typical rejection letter: “we get a lot of submissions, we can’t answer personally, blahblahblah.” But there was a gem in the letter, at the bottom, waiting to be found. It was a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald, a guy who knew something about the writing biz. “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat,” he said. This is a good quote to remember, for the writing world as well as the world at-large.