One of the great pieces of advice I received from one of the many independent publishing resources out there is to set indie publishing goals for myself. But I also discovered that creating a list of indie publishing goals is a great way to figure out what my goals are in terms of success.
I decided to publish wide because I wanted my book to be available to libraries and bookstores. I chose to set aside a good portion of the budget for an audiobook because I wanted a well-produced, high-quality audiobook. Sure, I want the book to find an audience and I want to sell hundreds of thousands of books—but if selling thousands of copies was the extent of my indie publishing goals, then I probably should have written a romance novel series.
The artwork came in late last night. I was working on the Sunday New York Times crossword when I heard the bling of a new email. I checked it and saw a message from Pintado and a message from 99designs. The new files were in. I should ask Pintado where he (or she) is from. I don’t know anything about the person. It was on my power list to publish the paperback books on KDP and IngramSpark, so even though it was on the late side, about 9:30 PM, I went to work.
It’s much more work to publish wide, but I gotta do what I gotta do to achieve my indie publishing goals. I started with KDP because I saw a YouTube video where they recommended starting there because KDP converts all of the foreign currencies. It didn’t really matter. I did notice that KDP was a little more user-friendly than IngramSpark, which was mentioned in that YouTube video also. I didn’t have any issues with KDP. I uploaded the print format file and cover file (the Kindle version is already online). The only snag was that my “imprint” didn’t match the ISBN. I had to change that to Matthew Donnelly. I assume that’s how it’s set up in Bowker. I noted that for IngramSpark. I previewed the book and submitted it. Now it’s under review at KDP.
I moved over to IngramSpark. I had a lot of the information already uploaded. I clicked through the setup pages and added the pricing information, referencing what I priced the book at for foreign countries on KDP. For IngramSpark, I needed to upload the print version and the ebook at the same time. I uploaded the print format file and cover file and then the ebook format file and cover file and clicked “process.”
It took a minute and then I was redirected to a page that noted two errors. The first was with my print version. It told me that the PDF was not set to the right color scheme or something like that. My PDF was black and white. There was no color. So I could process it anyway. The warning is that the color would be off. Again, no color. The other error I got was regarding the ebook cover photo. It was not 1600 pixels wide. It was just shy of 1600. So I went to the PDF I had of the ebook cover and exported it as a jpeg. That was about 1800 pixels wide. I uploaded it, processed it, and problem solved. The book now is under review on KDP and IngramSpark. Next will be to work on the hardcover version for IngramSpark. I’ll reach out to Pintado today.
I am doing my best to write every day. I am averaging about 500 words per day for The Swedish Fish. It’s not much, but it’s something. I need to do better. Ideally, I can do about 1000 words per day. I would like to have a draft done by December 1. At my current pace, that should not be a problem. If I can move things along faster, then I can finish the draft by November 1. I think I can make that deadline.
