Fa la la lala la la Formatting gets easier!

As an indie publisher, I do my own formatting for e-book and for paperback. I started the formatting for paperback yesterday afternoon for Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny.  I have to say that it is going much smoother for the second book!  The first book (which was the first time I had tried to do any of this type of thing) was tough.  Some days I wanted to open a bottle of cab by 10am.  Other days, I wanted to throw a bottle of cab against my computer screen.

I am sure I will run into a few little glitches, but it is nice to see (at least so far) that this formatting gets easier once you have a little experience under the belt.

As far as formatting for kindle and nook, I have that ready to go.  That is now second nature to me (now watch the file get rejected when I decide to submit...).  I want to wait until further into December to submit, as I want to be a new release for a few weeks after people open their gifts and get those new kindles!

I thought those of you who are getting ready to self publish your first novel, and those of you holding back because of formatting fear, would like to know that it does indeed get easier after the first time.  Make sure you ask questions in the communities for the formatting you are working on.  More importantly, bookmark the answers!  You will need those the next time!

I copied the answers to my questions on a word.doc since there were various bookmarks from different days questions.  I now have that word.doc up and available on my laptop for referral as I work on the paperback formatting.

Formatting for paperback has different requirements than for e-books, so you need to go slow and be careful.  Always, ALWAYS keep a copy of your finished manuscript separate from the one you are formatting.  That way, if you really mess up you have not lost your work.

Time to get back at it.  I want to make sure that I have done everything possible to assure my readers a quality book!

Kindle Direct Publishing community board: http://forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/index.jspa

Createspace (print on demand paperback) community board: https://www.createspace.com/en/community/index.jspa