Between two birthdays this week, visiting relatives and friends along with the holidays; this week has been busy busy busy! Also been cramming to finish my classes, I might add. Along with that, I've been slaving away to create eBooks and find distribution channels and all of this other stuff! I've been pretty constant when it comes to using Lulu, and Createspace has always been somewhat difficult to navigate. Though, today I gave it a go. The previews actually looked
better and were
more comprehensive than Lulu. I also took the liberty of using their cover template to make my own savvy cover using both paint and Ribbet. (Excellent photo editing website. Mom is an avid photographer and uses it frequently). The best part is, I could customize the back :) I never really got to do that before; not with the Lulu cover creator. I would always put the front cover picture on with the neat font I put on there, but the back would be some awkward looking description with a font that was one of the built-ins on the creator.
The downside with Createspace, though, is that unless you want a really really really basic looking cover (I'm talking like, "I can totally tell this is self-published," bad), you really have to figure it all out on your own. I'm not sure if the measurements are right or my proofs will be accepted (which is an upside and a downside to the process, as I constantly have found myself forced to go back and proof again and again and never reach approval. But, the upside is that it won't come looking like a piece of crap like my Lulu books have in the past because the proofing process is so blind). I spent many hours today editing away. My parents had to pull me off of the computer at 5:30 because we had to leave for my brother's birthday. I'm glad I got a break from it - albeit a break spent in an arcade with preteen boys - otherwise I may have gone insane from overworking myself. I've done it before. More than once, actually.
Another upside may just be that one of my brothers friends said I was "so much nicer than his sister."
See, bro? I'm not a mean sister. I'm a nice sister. A
very nice sister. Remember that the next time you're playing electric guitar at 7:59 am on a Saturday morning in the room right next to mine. I am a nice person. But when you wake me up too early, I am a monster of myth and legend. As is dubbed in my book, I am one of the
monsters of old. Eh, I'm a pretty pathetic monster, though. I bark but I don't bite (most of the time).
Anyway, I've worked long and hard on this, and it feels like I'm inching my way to the finish line. I have to keep in mind, though, that I've had this same feeling so many times. "I'm about to make the big finish!" I always tell myself. "I'm nearly there!" Then I realize that there are ten more miles to run, then a hundred, then a thousand. I know my work will never be perfect, but I wonder if it's truly soon until it has reached that prime level of worldly (and otherworldly) satisfaction. Am I nearly there? Nobody knows. I don't even know. It's like a baby waiting to come. It's been growing for some time, and every so often I think it's going to come sooner than ever. But, it fools me. False labor, I suppose. Is this false labor, or is it the first sign of new life? Only time can tell.
As of now, I have a very imperfect eBook for sale on Lulu. It is imperfect in only a few ways that I've noticed (because I often end up submitting my "final" copy, then when formatting additional media come across small things that need to be changed. Luckily it's gotten less and less as time has gone on). I would say it's 98% itself. Though, the number probably varies a lot more in actuality. I know nothing of how factual this statement even can be. It's just my opinion as the author. But, if you want to take it, know that there is security in this version upholding the integrity and intended quality of the work! You can buy this version if you have a Nook or any device that uses the ePub file format. And it's only $2! The proceeds will go towards my college education, as is the money I am saving from my musical endeavors as well.
Midnight's Song eBook (Nook & ePub Devices)
Anyway, I got to go. The whole house is in a ruckus because my wallet is lost and as everyone else started a search for it I forgot to look and started blogging. That's what it's like to be a disorganized, artsy-fartsy type.
