![]() This self-publishing thing is quite a challenge. Although Glastonbury Tor was a finalist for a major award, it was not a big seller, and my publisher was not interested in a sequel. After shopping the manuscript for Honddu Vale around, an agent advised me to self-publish. She loved my writing, but my diversity of interests would not appeal to commercial publishers. So here I am—my own editor, book designer, and marketer. I’ve had lots of help. My critique group offered plenty of suggestions along the way. My daughter is a fabulous proofreader, catching commas and hyphens and even, “Mom, this word doesn’t work. It wasn’t used until the nineteenth century.” (I’m writing about the sixteenth.) Kathleen Popa designed a striking cover based on one of my photographs of Llantony Priory in Wales. But ultimately it all comes down to me to format the layout, fix the widows and orphans, find endorsers, coordinate a blog tour, set up a book launch, etc. (I’m putting together a checklist for next time, including the wait times for Amazon and Createspace that have thrown me.) The past couple weeks have been filled with curve balls. We couldn’t get Word to leave the page numbers off the title page and verso. (My daughter finally stuck a virtual “Bandaid” over them than doesn’t show up in the pdf.) The cover printed way darker than it should have and all the subtlety of the priory stonework was lost in chocolate brown. (I overexposed the jpg and reloaded the cover. Hopefully, that will be better.) When I loaded the changes after proofreading, my computer told me, “Congratulations! Your book will be available on Amazon in five to seven days—that is, when my promotional week comes to an end! (Fortunately, since these were corrections and not the initial loading, it only took about twelve hours.) And then I got an e-mail from Amazon questioning whether Glastonbury Tor is eligible for the free promotion I wanted since it is “available elsewhere. Turns out what is available is a free sample of a few pages from Google, much like their own “Inside the Cover.” ![]() So it is FREE for now! If you haven’t already read Glastonbury Tor, you can get the Kindle version free this week only. (If they take it down, I will set the price at $0.99, which isn’t a bad deal either.) The Kindle version of Honddu Vale is only $2.99 so you can get both for under $3 and read on your phone, computer, ipad or Kindle. Bloggers will be posting about Honddu Vale all week. Check back here daily for new links. Random Thoughts from a Cluttered Mind (review) Book Reviews from an Avid Reader (review) Brenda Anderson: Life Affirming Fiction (interview) A Pew Perspective (review) Indoor Garden Musings (review) Pew Perspective (guest blog by yours truly :-) Thank you for all your encouragement over the years. I’m praying that this book will touch the hearts of readers who need a fresh vision of God.
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LeAnne
1/8/2015 06:11:30 am
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AuthorLeAnne Hardy has lived in six countries on four continents. Her books come out of her cross-cultural experiences and her passion to use story to convey spiritual truths in a form that will permeate lives. Add http://www.leannehardy.net/1/feed to your RSS feed.
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