I do rather envy Jane Austen, you know. When she was writing “P&P” and all the others, she simply sat in a sunny room in Hampshire and filled pages of parchment with lovely curly writing, then sent it off to London and someone turned it into books. For me (note how I subtly compare myself to Jane Austen…), once the story is finished, the work is only half-done.
I do love self-publishing, as you know, for the many opportunities it offers, but it really is blooming hard work. You may think that there is only one “Canary”, but I know otherwise: there is the paperback, then the Kindle version, the Smashwords version, the Kobo version, the iBook version and the plain PDF. Each is subtly different (in formatting, not in words), and each has to be carefully prepared, checked and uploaded, with each publication route asking for different interior and cover files, and for slightly different information about book category, pricing structure, distribution rights and so on. As my late nan used to say (alongside “a dulage of rain”), it’s a mindfield out there.
On the plus side, it’s all done – hurrah! Now I’m just waiting for the various e-formats to appear on their sites in time for the Big Launch on Friday – although the Kindle one is already available (thanks to reader Graham for spotting it – too exciting!).