No Smashwords Formatting For Moi!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

You know how sometimes you just know that spending a little bit of money goes a long way toward ensuring peace of mind? Well, I’ve come to that place. 

I went back to the Smashwords Style Guide last night and started reading. This stuff is not rocket science (nor does it seem like a fun thing to do), but I have a weird mindset. If I begin to think I can’t handle something, then that’s exactly what takes root in my mind. So after reading a few pages about formatting and knowing it would feel like torture to format my document myself, I emailed a writing buddy and asked her if she would do the formatting for me on the free story I want to publish, as well as the other book of Jamaican tales.  She said yes and gave me a reasonable price. It’s going to mean a sacrifice budget-wise, but the relief of knowing I won’t have to format for Smashwords myself made me ecstatic.

So, having escaped the study period with the Smashwords manual, I had time to edit the stories again. I missed my bedtime and was up until 2:00 a.m. getting lots done. I’ve already sourced my can of Arizona to keep me functioning at work, so I’ll make it through the day.

Here’s hoping you’re on the way to meeting some of your writing goals and if you haven’t, what’s stopping you?

P.S. If you have a minute, drop by Fabulosity Reads, where I’m talking a little bit lot about my writing with Wendy. Today, I've doing a reading from Contraband here. Stop in if you've got a minute. Thanks! 

22 comments:

  1. It's great to hear that things are moving along for you. Congratulations!

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  2. My husband did my formatting for me...:) Don't think I could manage it on my own. You're lucky to have a friend who can do the formatting!

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  3. Hmm, I might have to heck that style guide out myself. Thanks for the review:)

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  4. Thanks, Nina. Slowly, but surely, I'm moving ahead.

    Good on you, Damyanti. It's not something I would enjoy either. Give me writing and messing around with book covers, but formatting is usually an exercise in frustration for me. :)

    No problem, Mark. Even if you never need to use the style guide, it's handy for finding out how stuff works at Smashwords.

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  5. Some things are just priceless an done of them is peace of mind. Knowing your novel is going to be formatted correctly gives you that peace of mind. Well done for making the right decision for you, regardless of the cost. :o))

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  6. Good for you for coming up with a solution to move things along!

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  7. One of the marketing ideas that I've entertained has been to publish a short story that takes place in the same universe as the one in which my novel takes place that will be coming out in 2013. I really won't be looking to do this until this time next year. So I've got time to digest Mark Coker's book on using smashwords for this purpose. My short story shall also be free with links to my blog and to talk about the release date of my book.

    You are right though...it can be a better solution to find someone that already knows what they are doing and just ask them if they can help you out for a little money.

    Best of luck to you on your story Ms. Campbell. I do intend to get around to exploring some of your writing. I just need to get through some books to clear the table "so to speak".

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  8. It sounds like you made the right decision as there are plenty of other tasks to conquer. Isn't that always the way? : )

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  9. I just met a pretty big goal last Friday with the finishing of the first draft of my first Novel! Of course that was exciting but now I've got all the editing to do... yeah I'm terrible with that. And I've been staying up WAAAY too late recently writing and agonizing over my first five chapters!
    Anyway, awesome post!

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  10. I am sooo paying for it next time :) Good on you! No point wasting valuable writing time on hair tearingly frustrating formatting ;p

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  11. You’re wise to know what you should focus on what you should delegate; that’s the mark of a true leader! And now I’m off to Wendy’s blog …

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  12. Sometimes it's worth it paying a bit to take the load off of us. I can't wait to read your stories.

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  13. Sometimes, it's good to leave it to the experts :)

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  14. Hate formatting. Kindle always manages to eat my indentations for some reason, and it makes me want to scream.

    Congrats on progress! Even if it means a budget cut, having something formatted right is always more important.

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  15. I haven't tried formatting anything yet and I don't look forward to that part, but I'll probably at least take a look to see if it's something I can comprehend. It's good to have smart friends though.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  16. Sounds like money well spent. Peace of mind and getting more editing done seem like wise investments.

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  17. HUGE congrats on getting the formatting done, or having it done soon. I did my own Smashwords formating, and it took a lot of slowing down and reading through the style guide, but it did seem overwhelming at first. :)

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  18. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with me on this. It's definitely worth having more time for myself as well as the comfort of knowing that this lady knows what she's doing having gone through the process already. I don't have a lot of patience and would probably be tearing my hair out in clumps after the first couple of paragraphs.

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  19. Bookbaby.com is another option for indie publishing, especially if you don't want to do the formatting yourself.

    Good for you for getting your goals accomplished!

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  20. Thanks, Elle. Didn't know about bookbaby.com

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  21. Ugh, formatting for Smashwords is a soulsucking experience. I might have to hire the next book out too.

    Anyway, congrats on moving forward with the release!!!

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  22. I knew I was avoiding something that sounded like punishment when I opted out of formatting that story myself. Have a good weekend.

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