This post by Rob MacCavett originally appeared on The Editorial Department on 2/6/14.
And so as the sun slowly set over the peaks and valleys of composing a first book, I bid a fond farewell to creative writing as I prepared to travel through the shadowy and murky land of self-publishing. I found this part of the journey to be challenging too, my creative side forced to give way to the business world of production, marketing and sales. Some of this I did not like. I mean, why should I have had to tote this lumbering commercial baggage? I was clearly an accomplished author now!
One of the first of those bags was the legality and proper identification of my efforts. The Editorial Department’s Morgana Gallaway (I told her that her name sounded like that of an Irish flutist) led me through the maze of copyright, to ISBN’s, to forming my own publishing company—Whooping Crane Publishing. Why did I name it that? No, I’m asking you: why did I name it that? Never mind.
This might be a good place to mention the notion of using friends and family to help with chores your book has generated, like proofreading or editing. It might work for you, but it didn’t for me because (a) it’s a big, big job that (b) requires a certain expertise, plus (c) they don’t want to hurt your feelings—I paid TED to do that. Something to think about.
Click here to read the full post on The Editorial Department.