Tales and Tribulations

~ tidalscribe.com

I have been a little distanced from blogging recently. It’s half term and I’m briefly in between visitors. This bleak time of year is perfect for catching up on creative pursuits, so I have built the Lego orchid I got for my birthday this time last year and crocheted an African Violet from a Christmas book.

For this year’s birthday my younger son sent me a Fitbit and my older son set it up. I haven’t figured out most of the functions, my main in-put was choosing the colour of the strap, burnt orange. I know my heart is beating and messages pop up on my phone and emails to reveal that since Sunday I have earned three pairs of shoes and a Marathon badge. Even as I write this it has the cheek to buzz me and say it’s time to move.

Most importantly, I have actually published my first book on Amazon Kindle since November 2019, all by myself.

My late husband never read any of my books, but he did learn from scratch how to publish them and created the covers with his photographic and digital skills. He had the advantage of never panicking with computers and not being emotionally involved with the books.

Not completely  by myself as I followed word by word a handy book I downloaded to my Kindle called very originally…

HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK ON AMAZON

and humbly…

REAL ADVICE FROM SOMEONE WHO’S DOING IT WELL

and no doubt selling more books than me!

By Sam Kerns

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Publish-Book-Amazon-2018-ebook/dp/B01M0J5KZA

I went to places on Microsoft Word I have never been before and conquered two of the fears experienced by beginners formulating a manuscript for an eBook, page breaks and even scarier, chapter headings and table of contents.

I got the message every book parent waits for, your book is live on Kindle, before I had even gone to bed. I downloaded it, but it did not appear on my Kindle, which seemed to have gone on WIFI strike. I had no idea if my book was okay.

After trying various things, I eventually hit upon an idea when I got home the next afternoon. I turned my Kindle off and on again and my book appeared instantly.  There might just be a couple of deliberate mistakes on the Kindle version, see if you can spot them.

Yesterday I ordered my second proof copy of the paperback version, all part of the learning experience… Tidalscribe Tales is another collection of short fiction, a handy volume to practice with while my next novel evolves. The challenge is to create a cover with a back, front and spine, with illustrations of some sort. You can use Amazon cover creator or have a go yourself. I wanted to use my own photos; I take many with no idea what size, shape or mysterious formats they might be in. Amazon rejected them. I tried the Amazon cover and it let me put my picture on the front, sort of…  anyway, at least my first proof copy enabled me to spot a few things that needed changing. Hopefully a future blog will reveal how I got on.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tidalscribe-Tales-Janet-Gogerty-ebook/dp/B0DWV9J83V

43 thoughts on “Tales and Tribulations”

  11. Well done indeed, Janet. Of course I bought a copy. (just now) At just 77p how could I not? (You should have charged £1.99, then you could have discounted it later if necessary!)

    Good luck with the book, and please remind me to feature it on my blog soon. You can email me at petejohnson50@yahoo.com

    Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. Thanks a lot Pete. It’s only a slim volume so I’m happy to charge the minimum price ( 99pence used to be the minimum ) as I have enjoyed lots of Indie Authors’ books for 99 pence. Anyway hope you enjoy dipping into the collection. I look forward to appearing on your blog.

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  12. Pingback: Blogger’s Books: Janet Gogerty | beetleypete

  14. This is awesome. Congratulations! It’s good to know we can still learn new things. I ventured into self-publishing myself two years ago. It wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. All the best!

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