Friday 12 June 2020

eBook To Paperback

The writer part of me is never happy unless I'm writing something new.

But when you are an author like me, who does everything from writing the book to its final publication, (except for the cover - I don't do the covers), it means much of the time, you can feel like you're not writing.

Recently I've spent over three weeks taking an eBook (a collection of short stories), published six years ago, to make it available in paperback. As I worked on it, I kept feeling that I was losing time. My friends tell me it is still writing. I know they're right and yet...

So to make me feel better, here's fresh writing. This blog is on my recent activity.

Manna For Heaven was published in 2014. A collection of 12 short stories. None of them are flash fiction, which I only started experimenting with in 2014 and therefore can be for another post :).

The cover was designed by someone on Fiverr. There are many designers on there and would recommend the site. Especially if like me, you have to watch your spending.

What I did find was that you never actually spend £5. For me it was always much more.

I liked this one very much. The hand drawn peacock was something I requested. But I soon came to dislike the font but six years down the line, I have become wiser on what I like and don't like about covers; so that's good.


This cover was designed by someone else on Fiverr. Again, I wanted something a little different to what others had out there, but I never used this. Until now. Thankfully I had this made both for eBook and paperback.

A few years ago, I downloaded templates from Createspace, (now KDP), and I still use those for my paperbacks.

1. I used the 5" x 8".
2. My eBook was in Word. Trying to put it into the template didn't work, it kept numbering each paragraph - stuff of nightmares. I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong and wasted loads of days. And then I had an epiphany! Er, not really. I just remembered Notepad.
3. I copied and pasted it into Notepad where it lost all its formatting. Then copying it from there, I pasted it into the template. It worked.
4.  Now I worked through the document. Inserted the title of the book on the left and right pages and the page numbers centre bottom. Then the main stuff. Went through the chapter heading and the body text etc. Paragraph by painful paragraph.
5. When all done, I logged into KDP, filled in the necessary information and uploaded both the MS as a PDF, and then the cover. Which was already in the PDF format.
6. I ordered a proof copy.
7. The feedback from KDP was that I had insufficient pages of text to suit the spine. Which meant I needed more stories.
8. I looked at the spine, and it was only just okay but I could see that it would benefit from a few more stories. Luckily I had some in published anthologies with other authors. So I added three more.
9. Another PDF done and uploaded. Another proof ordered. This one dearer than the first because of the increased pages.
10. Copy arrived, I went through it again - I'm amazed at how patient us writers are - and then went onto KDP and authorised the book to be available for publication/purchase.

The whole process, from start to finish took around three weeks. I've still to rework the eBook because the collection has extra stories in it.

Hearing back from readers who have really loved the characters, joined them in their adventures etc, is the most wonderful thing for a writer.  I am no different.