Updates

Today I uploaded my corrections for both the manuscript and the front/back cover design. The cover design was too simplistic; I provided detailed feedback on how to improve it. The manuscript text was in general typeset and formated in good fashion. That said, I still have 14 pages of corrections; some of the errors are my fault, like the wrong tense of a verb.
 

I waited 3 weeks but the BookBaby.com proofreader did a great job with providing useful notes for overlooked English, spacing, and punctuation mistakes.

Today I finished working those corrections into the manuscript.

Next week I will meet with my Account Consultant to set up the logistics for the BookBaby.com staff to prepare print and ebook -ready proofs.

In an attempt to add realism, authenticity, depth and believability, I inserted real person, real establishment and real trademarks into the story. This even required extra research beyond just making something up.

My Intellectual Property Lawyer takes a conservative approach and advises me to substitute those real-life elements with fictious ones or with generalized descriptors and labels.

So my lesson learned is to save time on my next novel and just make up proper names as much as possible. It is faster than researching real names, saves time in editing, and lowers my chance of objections from outside parties about intellectual property violations.

 

Aim for creating a proof-ready manuscript that is the same format for the print, ebook, and audiobook versions. Readers should not have different experiences based on the medium of their choosing.

#2 The modern novel is at least 80,000 words. My second realization is this: a novella at 45,000 to 60,000 words can also tell a memorable story with a compelling message.

#1 Do not include photos, artwork, schematics, diagrams, drawings, sketches, or anything that is not text or tables. Anything color must be converted to black and white and the printers will warn you that grayscales may print with poor contrast. Printing them in the original color means the whole book is considered a color print, even for the sake of just one image. This will triple the cost of the book.

After much research, I've narrowed down my three choices to Smith Publicity, Black Chateau, and BooksForward. They each have different prospective author engagement procedures.

On November 17, 2023 after years of research and writing, the book manuscript is in the Line Editor’s hands! In the meantime, I am building this website for general book promotion, to update followers with my progress towards an official release date, to entice readers with glimpses into the story line, and to make special announcements about events or giveaways/coupons for the book.