Not for the faint of heart

Navigating the self-publishing maze, that is.

Createspace, Amazon’s self publishing platform to be the easiest. I did run into a few snags. Especially when I wanted to make changes. But I don’t want to get into that now.

However, Ingram Sparks is all together another matter. I so understand why there is a market for professional who will do the work for the writers. After 6, yes 6 tries I finally submitted my small manuscript successfully. Or so I thought, keep reading.

I cannot imagine what it would’ve been like if my manuscript had been 300 pages. Lord help me, I might’ve ended up bald.

Of course, maybe I just made it harder than it actually was.

Upside to Createspace is it’s free and everyone knows Amazon.

The upside to Ingram Sparks is libraries and bookstores order through them.

The down side to Ingram Sparks is it’s not as user-friendly as Createspace and it’s not free.

You must buy an ISBN (Createspace provides it free) plus a cost for the catalog. I did get a special title set up for free, apparently there is usually a charge for that too.

So while Ingram Sparks can cost a little to get started, that is not what bothered me. The cover template was a bear to work with. I was so frustrated trying again and again to get it right, I almost gave up.

But, I did get it done! Whoo hoo!

Unfortunately, the proof arrived today and it is all in black, white and shades of gray!

Give me a freaking break!!!

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Oh well, back to the drawing board, I mean back to the Ingram Sparks website. Sigh….

I agree with Debbie Young in her article – Opinion: Is it Time to Drop the S Word?

I didn’t want to use my name as the publisher. Having a publishing house name seems to give more weight to the book.

What do you think? Any tips to help a girl out?

Do you think it’s time to do away with the self-publishing label?

Want to avoid some mistakes? Check out this video.

The easiest thing I’ve done to date was setting up my DBA and publishing company logo. Funny, I thought that would be difficult, but it wasn’t. Go figure.

If you want to find my books, click on the logo below.

Look for me on Twitter @jeancogdell and on Facebook at jean.cogdell! And don’t forget, pay it forward with a click and share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.