Self-Publishing Goons: Yep, people buy it!

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > Self-Publishing Goons: Yep, people buy it!

newts: Oct 10, 2012

I found beta readers on https://www.reddit.com/r/BetaReaders/. Yes, I know it�s reddit, but they were actually very good. And quick. Your blurb needs to be interesting and the readers skew towards fantasy/sci-fi genres, but it wasn�t hard to get good responses.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2021 23:47

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 18:57

newts: Oct 10, 2012

You are making me never, ever want to self-publish anything. Which is probably what�s best for everyone :ohdear:

# ¿ Apr 30, 2021 14:09

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Megazver posted:

If he's the one who wants a print edition with a back cover, tell him to make time for it or shut up, lol.

Uh, yeah, absolutely this. I�ve done plenty of covers and the back was always quick as long as no one wanted any new art. He should be able to fit it in.

# ¿ May 1, 2021 16:15

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Grand Theft Autobot posted:

I appreciate the recs.

Here's the pitch from my query letters/in person script:

Flint, the son of a feral cat chief, is doomed. Assassins hired by rival heirs hunt him; a doomsday cult, the Golden Circle, summons terrors from a dead future; and the American Civil War descends on Flint�s city, Vicksburg, Mississippi.

In the middle of a Union naval raid on the riverfront, assassins attack Flint. Kulke, an old war ally, saves him. To pay his life-debt, Flint enlists in Kulke�s religious order, the Ratkillers, for a mission beneath the city, to disrupt a Golden Circle summoning ritual. Flint, Kulke, and their allies fail their mission. Monsters embodying the horrors of Late Capitalism�global warming, white supremacy, the surveillance state, among others�emerge from the underworld to destroy the secret societies of cats.

Flint�s conscience won�t allow him to flee Vicksburg alone, but time is running out on the doomed city. To save his family, Flint must return home to face ruthless political enemies. To save his best friend, he must join the war against the Golden Circle and their army of drowned dogs, possessed rats, and insane cats. To save a love lost to the cult, Flint may have to become a lost cause himself. To save them all, he must find the one force that can contend with the madness of the cult: Solidarity.

SIEGE CATS is a gritty, urban, left-wing Warriors, with a mature style like The Wicked Deep and The Night Circus, where cats battle time-traveling forces of Late Capitalism, connecting readers� experiences of contemporary issues with the enduring legacy of slavery.

Okay. I missed the fact that they were cats at first and was very confused.

This doesn�t read like a YA pitch to me at all. It reads more like a political allegory. But with cats. I�d be expecting something more like Animal Farm. I can�t see how this would appeal to a YA audience. I probably don�t know what I�m talking about, though, so feel free to disregard.

# ¿ May 10, 2021 20:55

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Leng, I�m enjoying (sort of?) reading about your struggles. Very informative, if daunting.

I�m also thinking about covers. Considering drawing my own for my crappy novel, even though illustrated covers are not the genre convention. Unless it�s a book featuring a witch protagonist in a cozy mystery, which mine is not. I realize that�s probably shooting myself in the foot. Maybe I�ll just draw it and see if I hate it.

# ¿ May 27, 2021 15:41

newts: Oct 10, 2012

ravenkult posted:

What's the genre?

I�m actually not sure of the right genre yet. Paranormal mystery? Psychic detective? Sci-fi mystery? Mystery? Police procedural? It doesn�t fit neatly into any of those, although there are very similar book series in each of those categories.

Still, none of those have illustrated covers as the norm.

# ¿ May 27, 2021 16:22

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Dumb question incoming�

Is there a way to see what keywords or categories people are using for their books on Amazon? I�m trying to figure out keywords for mine and it�s a confusing mess. Like, there are some appropriate ones if you search in the kindle section, but not in books, or vice versa. Some books that are very close to mine have seemingly nonsensical tags or categories: �Vampire Fiction� for a book with no vampires in it, for example. If I search in books for �psychic detective� I get a few books like mine, but if I search in kindle for �psychic detective� I get nothing but erotica shorts (not even paranormal mystery, just random erotica, no psychics, no detectives).

I knew this would be a slog because I already have trouble searching out books I want to read on Amazon using keywords.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2021 14:28

newts: Oct 10, 2012

DropTheAnvil posted:

Launch day is in a few days for me. This was very much a first-time publishing thing/vanity project. Would there be any value in me posting my thoughts/processes here?

Yep, go for it.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2021 23:35

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Okay, guys. I haven�t posted in here before because I haven�t had a reason to. But I wrote a book. Now I need a cover for my Mystery/Detective/Sci-Fi novel. It�s the first in a series. Please tell me how much it sucks.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2021 21:52

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Yeah, my series name is just a placeholder. No robots in this book�it�s more AU than sci-if, I guess.

Any font suggestions for main title and subtitle/author name?

# ¿ Aug 22, 2021 01:12

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Thanks! I�ll try out some of those fonts. I get overwhelmed with all the choices out there.

# ¿ Aug 22, 2021 13:51

newts: Oct 10, 2012

So, font issues�

I love the look of serif fonts and I wanted something noir-ish but modern for my cover. But it�s super easy because of the title to tip into horror or vampire-lit with a serif font. I�ve been sticking to sans serif fonts because they�re more �modern�, I guess.

The other issue is, if I stick with this image, I feel like I need a clean font to offset the blurriness of the background. Ugh.

# ¿ Aug 22, 2021 16:10

newts: Oct 10, 2012

DropTheAnvil posted:

Looks cool. Judging by the cover I believe this is a mystery novel, with a woman being a central character. Would flip over and read blurb. Send a link when it's out!

Cool! It�s working

quote:

Below is only minor nitpicks:
I don't know what "joint-investigation" is, or rather, I don't know why I should care. "A Sherlock Holmes Mystery" on the front cover tells me what to expect, and what the novel is about.

Yeah, I�m just having trouble picking a good series name�they all sound super lame to me.

ETA: Updated based on feedback:

newts fucked around with this message at 01:12 on Aug 23, 2021

# ¿ Aug 22, 2021 21:02

newts: Oct 10, 2012

ravenkult posted:

I'd make the title smaller, it's crowding the artwork. Or just move it down a bit and put the author name up top. I wouldn't let the title go higher than where the raincoat ends.

Thanks! I�ll try that out.

# ¿ Aug 23, 2021 18:34

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Author bios. If you�re publishing under a pen name, how truthful and specific do you get? Or how vague? My gut is to be truthful but not include anything really identifiable.

# ¿ Oct 9, 2021 22:39

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Now I have a new question! I�m currently trying to format my manuscript for paperback, but I�ve run into a problem I can�t solve.
I figure there must be someone else here who has formatted a manuscript for paperback using MS Word and dealt with similar issues, so why not?

I want to have a fancy first line to start off each new chapter, as you do, but Word adds extra spacing after this line, like so:

I know the issue is caused by the large font size of the first letter. And the most common suggestion to fix is to change the line spacing from �single� to �exactly� in the Paragraph dialogue box. However, no combination of lines selected, or specified point sizes seems to fix the issue for me: I can squeeze that extra space between the first two lines down, but lines further down now have huge spaces. Nothing has worked!

I realize using a drop cap on that first letter (instead of the larger font size) would solve this issue, but drop caps don�t work for me either: the letter is always cut off at either the top or the bottom. I can�t fix this after hours of work. I�m totally stuck. I�ve been all over the internet trying to find a solution to this problem, but I just� can�t. Unfortunately, I�m stuck with Word.

Anyone have any suggestions? I�m pulling my hair out here.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2021 19:19

newts: Oct 10, 2012

ravenkult posted:

Using Word for layout is an exercise in futility.

I know it is, but this is what I have to work with right now

Fuschia tude posted:

I think newts is asking, what's the morality of inventing a wholly fictional biography and persona for your penname, rather than just writing vaguely-but-truthfully about yourself?

Yeah, this. Sorry, I should�ve been more clear: Do people using pen names also use fictional biography details?

# ¿ Oct 11, 2021 15:30

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Hey, guys! I just published my book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KP5NVZ1/ It�s a Mystery/Sci-fi thing. More detective fiction than sci-fi, I suppose.

I didn�t post much in here, but the thread was an invaluable resource. I worked on this from start to finish in the Creative Convention forum, so it really feels like an SA baby :love:

Not really sure if I care if it sells at all because It�s been mostly a fun learning experience. Spent zero dollars (but not zero effort) and this is the result. Yes, I know my cover is not the best. And my blurb could be better. I�m okay with it right now.

Got a sequel in the works now, so I�ll start caring more once that�s ready to go.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2021 16:05

newts: Oct 10, 2012

DropTheAnvil posted:

Would you be able to talk more about how you formatted your ebook?

I just used Kindle Create, which worked fine for me because I didn�t have anything fancy. I basically formatted the book in a docx file, using styles for formatting, and imported that into the app, which spits out an editable file. There, you can customize it a little bit: adding drop caps, making a ToC, and changing how it looks. Not many options, but a few.

The issues with it are that you can�t preview the actual ebook on your own devices (you can use the Kindle Previewer which isn�t always accurate). It also produces a file type that�s, as far as I understand it, proprietary to Amazon, so you can�t use it anywhere else. Also, the �Look Inside� feature reads the formatting in a different way than most devices, so while it looks fine on Kindle, it looks wonky in the �Look Inside� (which is something Amazon should really get on top of).

I am probably the least-qualified person to ask because I just chose the easiest route.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2021 18:02

newts: Oct 10, 2012

I think I read that there was a vulnerability in the acx system that allowed people who weren�t the author to claim works and submit them to potential voice actors for audiobook recording. I remember being told to claim my book as soon as it was published to avoid that, even if I had no intention of every making an audiobook.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2022 14:45

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Anyone have experience using Kindle Create here?

I know it sucks, but it�s what I�m familiar with and it (mostly) worked for me. The issue I�m having is that the �Look Inside� feature on Amazon is messed up, even though the actual ebook looks fine. Apparently this is a known issue with Kindle Create. Probably a long shot, but does anyone have a trick for fixing this? Or just avoiding it?

Ebook:

�Look Inside�, the first few lines are all hosed up:

I guess if I have to I�ll switch to a better formatting program. I was looking at Atticus. I�m just not in a place right now where I have time to deal with learning something new.

newts fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Feb 15, 2022

# ¿ Feb 15, 2022 18:49

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Oh, I had no idea the book formatting on D2D was free. I just assumed I had to publish with them.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2022 21:28

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Does Amazon allow cover images that depict smoking? I know you can�t have that in any image used to advertise a book, but I can�t seem to find anything about the content allowed on actual covers.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2022 00:57

newts: Oct 10, 2012

I�m working on the cover and blurb for my sequel, while my writing group buds work furiously to proofread my manuscript. I honestly love them :love:

I think I�ve finished the cover art (I did not paint the bricks, they are a texture):

The next step is an epic battle with fonts because I think I need to update the cover to the first book too. So that will be fun.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2022 02:43

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Guys, I have font problems.

Anyone have any suggestions for better font combos? Current choices are Montserrat (which I love, but maybe not here) and Orator STD (which I hate, but couldn�t replace with anything that looked better after a number of tries). I�m basically stuck with choosing what�s available on Google Fonts, so I�m limited. Considering just writing my own letters, for the title at least. I�m truly terrible at graphic design. I just can�t do it :smith:

Here�s the cover:

# ¿ Apr 15, 2022 01:30

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Thalamas posted:

Comment on/destroy my blurb please.

Blackbird and Memory

A terraforming accident has ruined the distant colony world Chantico, causing trillions of dollars in damage and killing hundreds. In the wake of the disaster, a boy opens his eyes, unsure of who or where he is and surrounded by falling ash on all sides.

On their way to Chantico to scavenge the settlements destroyed in the accident, Gandra of the star ship Blackbird and their first mate, Lew, try to keep fresh food on the table while avoiding entanglements with Humankind. When they meet Enrico, he offers them a job too lucrative to pass up.

Uki, captain of a Humankind patrol cruiser, is dispatched along with others to investigate the terraforming accident and search for survivors. She stops the Blackbird for a cargo inspection, an act that will have repercussions all the way back on Earth.

Without backup, Farouk hunts a threat to the galaxy that has slipped away more than once, but a chance encounter leads to the confrontation he seeks.

Obscured behind a curtain of ash, Chantico will intertwine their fates. (176 words)

Just my first impressions. I get that these are intertwined plots in the same story, but they feel so disconnected right now that they are just separate ideas to me. Is there a way you could link each of these plots a bit better in the blurb? Also, there are a lot of names but no sense of who these characters are, no personality to any of them. Like, that third paragraph introduces three characters but none of them have any description.

# ¿ Apr 16, 2022 13:54

newts: Oct 10, 2012

rohan posted:

Blurb

This reads much better already, with basically just inverting it. I think the last line works especially well as a hook.

If we�re spreading the pain around, here�s my blurb. It sucks.

quote:

A murder with no motive. An invisible killer. A detective with a talent that�s both a blessing and a curse.

Inspector Sam Rush�s tumultuous life is finally looking up. He�s got a new partner�Lucia Kowalski, a homicide detective from the human side of the city. The harsh laws that his people lived under for more than thirty years have been lifted. And the two sides of the city have been unified once again. Sure, he�s been ordered to attend therapy if he wants to keep his job. And he still has nightmares about the violent ending of their last case. But it�s only natural to be affected by everything, especially when he�s the only empath on the police force.

Sam and Lucia�s new case seems straightforward at first: an abusive man has been murdered in his own bed, and his nocturnum girlfriend is on the run from the law. But what seems simple enough soon takes a turn for the bizarre. The girlfriend insists she has no memory of killing her boyfriend. Sam knows she�s telling the truth�the real murderer is still out there. And as Sam and Lucia follow the trail of a killer through the twisting back alleys and shadows of the night city, he can�t shake the feeling that someone is watching their every move.

When the mystery threatens the fragile peace Sam has found, he will have to make a choice. Between a life with his human partner in the city he loves, or with his own people.

The night people.

ETA: Here�s the cover art without the text on it, if anyone wants to suggest or play around with fonts. This is not a book about vampires, I swear!

newts fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Apr 17, 2022

# ¿ Apr 17, 2022 14:19

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Icon-Cat posted:

I think the Montserrat looks nice� not the Orator. Too "techy" for your handmade image, to my eye. Some Google fonts to try instead of Orator: Oswald, Bebas Neue, Anton, Barlow Condensed. And try them in all caps, not small caps.

Thank you! I�ll give these a shot.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2022 00:26

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Okay, after trying another 30 or so fonts, these are the few I liked best.

Barlow:

Cambria:

Averia:

Seeing them as thumbnails, I think I like Barlow the best. I�m tired :smith:

# ¿ Apr 21, 2022 21:11

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Icon-Cat posted:

I personally like Barlow best of those, but I tend to gravitate toward sans serif.

I wouldn't go with Cambria in any case. It's one of the Microsoft Word default fonts or something like that, it has the same made-on-a-home-computer vibes that Times New Roman would.

One vote for Barlow wins at this point. I�m just so tired of looking at fonts. Thanks for the suggestion and the help.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2022 01:30

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Megazver posted:

And if you wanted a little extra spice, perhaps something like this would work:

I believe you can fiddle around further with it if you click here:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAE-m3...rce=sharebutton

Oh, I like this. Now I have some new ideas. Stop making me think thoughts!

Bobby Deluxe posted:

That's almost perfect (I did think it needed more of a margin) but the fact that 'night' and 'people' aren't the same width is very grating.

Heh. Same. I fiddled with text on mine until they were exact even though I knew I�d probably be changing them..

# ¿ Apr 22, 2022 14:08

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Doesn�t bother me at all. Mess away! I think it looks amazing, btw�I love it!

Now to see if I can recreate this in PSD because I have another cover that has to match.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2022 16:53

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Megazver posted:

The .psd version on the right with the name fixed:

It looks incredible! I love it!

# ¿ Apr 22, 2022 23:52

newts: Oct 10, 2012

I don�t have books to compare myself, but I�ve noticed a lot of people complaining of the same thing lately in many of my writing groups. More than usual, anyway. Some are speculating it�s just the �post�-covid �everyone�s tired of sitting at home reading� phenomenon.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2022 13:49

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Megazver posted:

Really cool design stuff

Megazver, I�ve recreated your cover design in PSD and I�m going to use it because it�s awesome. How would you like me to give you credit? I don�t have pms, unfortunately, but I�d really like to make sure to include you in the acknowledgments. And thanks again! I love it.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2022 14:41

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Megazver posted:

You can just put 'A thanks to megazver for the cover ideas' or something similar on the credits/thanks page, I suppose!

You're welcome. Good luck with the book!

Done! Thanks again.

And� it�s published! The Night People I�m not going to spend money on advertising until I get the third book done, so this will probably just sit on Amazon. I did make the first book free starting tomorrow until Friday, which is my only promotion right now.

Also, forgot to put my little �please review� blurb at the end, so I�ll need to upload again.

# ¿ May 1, 2022 13:46

newts: Oct 10, 2012

Has anyone used Fussy Librarian to promote a free or cheap book? If so, how did that work out for you?

# ¿ May 12, 2022 03:28

newts: Oct 10, 2012

freebooter posted:

They're one of the few non-Bookbub mailers I regularly still use (alongside Robin Reads and Free/BargainBooksy) but I've noticed all three giving increasingly lower returns, to the point where they're only barely giving ROI. Having said that I'm promoting the same old backlist, so YMMV.

Thank you! I was just curious because their prices for some of the genres I�d be using are much better than BookBub�s.

# ¿ May 13, 2022 13:39

newts: Oct 10, 2012

freebooter posted:

Bookbub isn't what it used to be but it's definitely still the king, hence why it's so expensive (and competitive).

I get the impression that all the free/discount mailing lists in general have started to lose a bit of their power compared to four or five years ago, though I'm not entirely sure what they've lost it to. The only answer I can think of is Amazon/FB ads, but when I've dabbled with them I've personally never found them to be very cost effective.

I�ve heard a lot of people express the same thing. Maybe the market is oversaturated? It will be a couple years at least before I have enough books to make it worth the cost for me. Who knows what the state of things will be then. Although, I should probably start trying to get a deal now because it could take ten years to get one.

To those who gave me advice and help on my cover, thank you so much! Paperback looks pretty sweet:

Megazver, you got a special dedication. Thanks so much for your help�I did my best to replicate your cool design. I think I got it mostly right.

# ¿ May 19, 2022 00:12

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 18:57

newts: Oct 10, 2012

divabot posted:

oh that cover works so well on the paperback!

Yeah, I really like it. It looks a little washed out because of the matte finish, but I don�t mind much.

# ¿ May 20, 2022 00:12

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > Self-Publishing Goons: Yep, people buy it!

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