Books

Books
Books written by Ray Sullivan

Saturday 3 March 2012

Digital Life Form is Published on Amazon.com - Updated Blog Entry

Update 1 - 4 March below
Update 2 - 12 march below
The review of the proof copy of Digital Life Form has been completed, the electronic file rigorously updated, the page size changed to 9" x 6" (because I hadn't done that myself on the first attempt - I uploaded a Word file and Createspace did the rest) and saved as a PDF. 

Amongst the changes I discussed on my last Createspace related blog, I rejigged the front pages so that the reader knows they're entering the realms of a book, added page numbering and blasted the title to the top of every book page.  I even went mad and put some infomation about my other books at the end of the book.

I uploaded the file and Createspace checked it electronically in minutes.  I also edited the book cover - a couple of commas were misplaced and I had to at least pretend to edit it anyway - probably one of the few irritating aspects of the Createspace process is that if you upload a new inner file, you have to 'edit' the cover even if you aren't making any changes.  The reason isn't spelled out, as far as I can tell, but I suspect that when they create the cover they take into account the amount of pages to ensure the spine is the right thickness.  Although the changes I made were essentially trivial as concerns the thickness of the book I guess I could have snuck an extra twenty chapters in and I guess that affects the cover.  So, whether my guess is correct or not, prepare for having to pretend to edit your cover when you make changes to the book post proof reading.

I was given the option of buying another proof copy to check or offered the oportunity to go straight to publishing, although 'straight to' may be a tad  misleading - it takes '5 - 7 days' to be listed on Amazon.com.  Well, I've proof read this book to within an inch of its digital life (the EU preferred metric equivelant of within 25.4mm just doesn't work  for me), I've converted it to PDF and confirmed that the file Createspace have is the same as the one I sent it so I've opted to go for it.  One last check at the manufacturing costs, to confirm that they hadn't changed since the first upload, and I pushed the button. 

Then the warning that the book would be published once it had been checked by Createspace first caused an intake of breath - how long will this step take?  Will they start to carp on because I skipped a second proof phase?  Well, it took about twenty seconds, and that might be down to the Internet connection so I shouldn't complain.

So, if you pop onto Amazon.com and search for me or Digital Life Form over the next couple of days you may find the book. If you live in the UK and want a personalized copy then drop me a line and we can talk turkey (I guess I can do this for international readers but am aware that the costs are racking up). Whatever you decide, I'll let you know how it goes.

Update 1 - I'm not sure when the book appeared on Amazon, but I found it today (4 March) - it was item number 49 when searching the site for books by Ray Sullivan (currently number 29 now, or number 12 if you search for paperbacks).  Anyway, if you want to find it, do it the hard way or follow this link.


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