Easing Into a Book Production Mindset

Every indie author knows that there are essentially three major components in a writers’ life. Writing, producing, and marketing a book. My last Casey Holland mystery, Knock Knock, was released in November 2017.

I’m coming close to the final edit of the sixth installment, The Blade Man. An email to my editor last week marked the beginning of the production process, but truthfully, I’m in no hurry to publish yet. There’s a lot to think about regarding a book launch and other marketing plans.

Those who’ve published books, know all too well that there are a number of steps in the production process…hiring a jacket designer, acquiring ISBN numbers for electronic and print versions. Preparing the front and back matter, and of course, writing the all-important back cover blurb. As an increasing number of book reviewers require a synopsis, I’ll also spend a fair bit of time polishing a one-page version as well. There’s also the budget to work out.

It’s not all daunting, though. I use Draft2Digital and KDP to convert my documents into epub, Mobi versions, and so forth. The conversion is quick and simple for both, however, proofreading is still required as glitches occur. I haven’t quite decided what to do about preparing the print version, given that CreateSpace is no longer around. I could go the KDP route, but I want to do a little more research about the ups and downs to this approach.

If any Canadian colleagues out there, have production pros and cons regarding KDP, please let me know. Things change so rapidly in this business that I often feel that I’m starting out fresh with every published book. Sometimes the work ahead is overwhelming, but other times it’s exciting. Most of the time it’s both. Either way, I’m easing into production mode and looking forward to the future.