In my opinion, Amazon is the place to sell online. Your market, no matter how niche, will most likely be on there.  In addition you get to take advantage of their social ratings features (essential to buyers in their decision making process), their established online order and payment systems, their inventory and fulfillment software, tax documents, and more.

I had NO idea how to do this or all the steps involved.  So, here’s what I discovered and what I did:

The first thing you want to do is set up a business account at your bank.

Next, create an LLC with your state.  To do this, go to the government site for your state and search for LLC (limited liability corporation).  I’m in Wisconsin, so I went here:  http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/byb/LLcompany.html.

Wisconsin charges a one-time setup fee.  You “could” use various online companies (like legalZoom.com or Rocketlawyer.com) to do this for you. Most of the time they provide an online wizard to take you through the questions you would have answered yourself on the form. I didn’t want to pay additional fees to a company to play a middle-man.  But, I also felt comfortable answering the questions and had previously read books like LLC for dummies.

Next, go to the federal government and apply for an EIN (employer identification number).  I went here: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-(EIN)-Online

This is what you’ll need for taxes and the like.  It’s a simple process, and can be done online in minutes.

Then go to the Amazon marketplace and register.  I went here: http://services.amazon.com/content/sell-on-amazon.htm/ref=footer_soa?ld=AZFSSOA.

They have a great process with clear steps to setup your company.  They ask a ton of questions, including your bank account, Federal EIN, and more.  It’s all required and important.

Once you’re in, you’re ready to add your first product (printed book or ebook).  Keep in mind that each product you plan on selling (and each format of that product–for instance one book may have a printed copy and ebook–that’s TWO different products according to Amazon), you will need a unique ISBN number with EAN 5 extension.  The best place to get these codes is here: https://www.myidentifiers.com/.  I’d go with a 10 pack, as buying them individually is cost prohibitive and if you really love writing or plan for multiple product formats you’ll eat them up anyway.  What’s an EAN 5 extension?  Well, it’s the part of the bar code that contains the cost of the product. Most places are looking for these to be included with your ISBN, especially printed on the back cover of your physical book.  The great things about this particular site is you can both purchase the ISBNs, manage your data about those numbers, AND get a graphic file to put into your book cover art for production (with the EAN5).

You really need to have all the information ready for your product.  It includes the following:

VITAL INFO

• Title
• Publication Date
• Series title
• Required Contributors
• Foreword
• Contributor
• Edition number
• Binding
• Publisher
• Number of pages
• Language
• Volume #
• ISBN-13/EAN or ISBN number or UPC

OFFER

• Seller SKU
• Condition
• Condition Note
• Your Price
• Sale Price (and date to start and stop sale)
• Quantity
• Start selling date
• Restock date
• Import designation (Make in USA, etc.)
• Country as labeled (if imported)
• Shipping method (you, or done by Amazon)
• Shipping Options (standard, expedited, two day, one day, international, expedited international)

IMAGES

• Product Images (cover, back, spine, etc.)

DESCRIPTION

• Product Description (2000 characters)

KEYWORDS

• Subject keywords (up to 5, 50 characters each)
• Search terms (up to 5, 50 characters each)

MORE DETAILS

• Language
• Package dimensions (L,H, W, weight)
• CPSIA Cautionary Statements
• Subject

Now go back to Amazon Seller Central: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/ . This location is different than the one you used to register.  Pick “New Product” from the “Inventory” tab (first one in the navigation).  Follow the wizard and put your information in.

The product will now show up in your inventory listing.  Keep in mind that using Amazon’s infrastructure does NOT come free.  They were going to take a $3.60 cut of a $6.99 book (my original book price before I realized this).  I didn’t recall Amazon warning about how much they were planning on taking.  In fact, most times I saw a “$1.00 per sale” cost.

That said, it forced me to print books in large enough quantity to bring down the printing cost to make this platform viable.  I still believe it’s worth it 100%.

Make sure you get a business CPA to make sure you do your taxes and planning right.  Here’s a helpful link: http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/gettingstarted/a/choosingacpa.htm.

And there you have it!

Good question!

A number of people have asked me what my process was and how to go about it. I’ve attempted to stub together some thoughts and considerations. It’s by no means an exhaustive list of things to do or consider, but it gets the process going. At the very least it will help an aspiring author to think about their brand and have information to bring to the agent, publisher, or visual designer if going it alone. Good luck!

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Before going into the cover process

– Clear understanding of your book and series themes

– Clear definition for what this book is about (not just the theme)

– A listing of key moments, locations, or characters

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The cover process includes

– Fonts

– Colors / textures

– Imagery

– Content (titles/sub-titles, review quotes/awards/ratings info, author name, back cover text, UPC & EAN5 codes, illustrator name, site url)

– Series logo design

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Explore your genre

– Create a list of all most famous book sold in the genre across the last 15 years

– Provide special attention to detail on the biggest hits in your genre in the last 3 years

– Examine the covers and look for patterns:

– Position and size of series name

– Position and size of book title

– Position and size of author

– What key visual elements are presented (what are the elements, visual style used in depiction, what is the size and position, common themes?)

– How is additional content presented and where (quotes, sales info, awards)

– Examine the spines – How much information is represented on the spine? – How is the book series and title represented – What type of visuals are used

– Examine the back covers – How much space is used for reviews – How much “back cover” text is there about the book’s story – How much space is the UPC/EAN5 taking up – How much visual design is really present for the back cover versus front

Trend

– How much cover space is dedicated, on average, to visuals versus text?

– How much is the author spot-lighted (if it’s a new author, if it’s an established author, etc.)

– How much series branding is present in the visual presentation (e.g. size of series logo, etc.)

– Colors used (backgrounds, copy, logos, etc.)

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Creating your logo

– Remember, there are people that do this for a living (it’s not easy)

– You’re going to have to do a ton of them

– Review your series’ themes

– What do you want to embody when someone sees the series logo (intense, scary, happy, epic, etc.)

– Do you want something more iconic versus a wordmark? What images may conjure the essence of your theme?

– Based on your theme, genre trends, etc. what type of font would work best (sharp, flowing, scripty, block style, etc.)

– Remember this needs to be striking, memorable, and be able to both stand on its own, and be represented in sizes ranging from 60×60 pixels to billboard size

– The design must look good when in black-and-white (grayscale), and color

– The design must be able to be placed on my types of backgrounds and still be clear and visible (patterns, dark, light, etc.)

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Creating your paperback cover

– Review your series theme

– Review what THIS book is about

– Review the listing of key moments, locations, or characters

– Assemble your content (series name, book title, quotes, author information, supporting copy, logo, no images yet)

– Review your research, especially covering the past few years. You want your cover to pattern after what’s contemporary because it’s what your readership expects (and is looking for)

– Make a listing of things that visually represent your theme (colors, images, textures)

– Determine what your most important information is for your cover (maybe author name, maybe series or logo, maybe key image)

– Remember you have seconds to engage the reader, and only seconds to present key content. If they’re interested, they’ll pick up the book and read more on the back cover. Don’t over-stuff your cover designs.

– Think of how a reader will look at your cover, what is the hierarchy of visual elements (What they see first, second, etc.), and how the eye will move across the cover. Top-down, left-to-right is the traditional western reading approach. Eyes will lock on images before words, especially faces (it’s how our brains are wired).

– Following your visual theme, create the primary visual element(s) (this in itself could be multiple rounds)

– Following patterns from your genre research, and leading with your identified most important information, begin laying out cover elements

– Adjust the element sizes to create the intended visual heirarchy

– Apply fonts that align with your theme, reflowing text as needed based on presentation differences with fonts

– Apply final colors to copy

– Additional enhancements with textures or visual treatments (like antiquing an image, etc.)

– Print the color cover, put it on the wall 10 feet from you. Does your most important information pop out at you? Is there an easy flow of visual elements and information? What do you notice first, second?

– Again, use your printed copy. Shake it up and down so it’s blurry. What do you “see” when you’re doing this? What information and elements are still visible? Is your most important information still showing? When there’s a lot of distractions, people will see basically what you see when shaking your printout. Keep that in mind.

Creating your spine

– Very little information goes on a spine

– Review the design you presented on the cover

– Following your genre research package your spine material

– Print it out, look at it as you’d see it on a bookshelf. Is it readable? Even at a passing glance?

Creating your back cover

– Recall the purpose of the cover is to provide more information about the story (no spoilers), and clout (recommendations, quotes, etc.)

– The majority of content will be the teaser for the core struggle presented in the book

– The second most important space is for quotes

– Back covers are traditionally very bland – the UPC takes up a huge amount of space on traditional paperback books

Getting feedback

– Beyond your friends, post to your fans, get feedback from your printer company, post to your blog

– Compare your design to the books published this past month (on amazon or other key outlet)

– Take it to your local bookstore and ask the owner or clerks there (they see tons of books)

Make revisions

– Don’t be surprised if you make 3 or 4 rounds of changes

Notes: Don’t be afraid to make a few cover versions and test them against each other with with your community, book review team, etc.

Going into January of 2013 I fully intended to only release an ebook. The idea was I would attempt to build an online following, and then go after a literary agent after I had established sales. I was told that since I didn’t have lots of writing credits or awards to my name I had to do this to get the engine turning.

I did my research, figured out how to launch an ebook on Amazon (THE place to be by the way), and then something unexpected happened. I had recently purchased my ISBN numbers, and it somehow put my contact information out into the wild. My guess is the ISBN place sells access to their new customer listings.

I received an email from Mira Smart publishing in St. Louis. Allison and I talked about my project and my intentions. She warned me that reviewers avoid ebooks like the plague. I already knew this from the exploration and research I conducted when trying to queue up reviews for my story. It’s true, ebooks are of little interest to “real reviewers.”

She said I could use the physical copies (and advanced review copies) to more convincingly approach professional reviewers, I could also submit to contents, and gain valuable insights from book stores and consumers.

She quoted me a great price and, before I knew it, my entire focus changed from being an ebook to a printed edition. Suddenly I wanted nothing more. However, an ebook is a glorified PDF (or Microsoft Word document). It was going to fairly easy to convert.

But a PRINTED book, now there’s an entirely different beast. There was typesetting, cover, spine, and back design, book size and format, paper stock selection, and the list goes on and on.

Then they gave me the price. It was totally affordable.  It became an instant “no-brainer.”  It took about two months to adjust and have everything ready for a physical book.  I worked with Mira to pick the book font, but I personally worked on the series branding and visual design.  I wrote the back cover description, directed the development of the cover (which I’ll talk more about in another post as that experience alone needs to be talked about), did the desktop publishing for the complete outer shell of the book.

When it came to formatting the inside of the book I took around ten fantasy and science fiction titles and looked at their structure.  Some of the things I examined were:

1)      The title page

2)      The copywrite page

3)      The table of contents

4)      The author notes/thank you

5)      How the prolog was positioned

6)      How the epilog was positioned

7)      Chapter divider presentation

8)      Blank page usage (e.g. all chapters began on the right-hand page)

9)      Inner-chapter topic breaks (the permutations of “***”)

10)  Page number size, font, and placement

11)  Author name usage and placement

12)  Book title or chapter use at the top of pages

13)  Where and how an author bio was used

14)  Book gutter margins and outer margins

It was interesting looking at additional books from a particular publisher or author, spotting the trends in how “that brand” presented their content. In the end I created what I felt was the best hybrid across the various styles.  I felt the result was very professional.  After all, I referenced the biggest and best authors out there—it should be!

I sent over the Microsoft Word document, along with a PDF output of the cover from Photoshop. I have to say; when the box arrived with my printed proof I was elated and terrified.  My book was REAL!  My hands shook carefully opening the box, worrying I’d cut it as I sliced through the packaging tape.

Holding the book in my hand, my eyes madly looking over the vivid cover, was a surreal experience. I thought it looked great—good enough to be side-by-side with any other book at Barnes and Nobel.

In the end 75 copies were printed, ten of which were Advanced Review Copies. We’ll talk about why ARCs are important in another post (so many topics to discuss).

Not only was this an incredible personal boon, but it allowed me to all the things I had hoped: the ability to send “real” versions to reviewers, to enter contents, to show potential book store owners, and get buzz going.

When I started writing D’mok Revival I had literally binders full of maps, background stories, character shorts, etc.  Recall that it was supposed to be a pen-and-paper role playing game initially with the intention of converting into a computer based RPG later. With RPGs your players make decisions and the game master tells them how “the universe” responded. A novel doesn’t have the flexibility, it needs one track. I wondered the best way to take all the possible game modules and make them a linear story.  There were so many combinations! Nukari encounters would become more difficult as time went on—regardless of the order in which the worlds and supporting characters were picked up.

I decided I would just listen to my instincts, and simulate player decisions selecting “one path” through the game.  So, I played a virtual game with myself, documented out the direction, and then started writing out the prose form.

When I completed the first manuscript, like any newbie, I thought it was good.  In fact, I had no idea what I was doing.  To make matters worse, I didn’t even follow a traditional novel style for formatting.  I actually used more of a movie script style.  In essence, it was awful.

The ideas were good, but the presentation and execution needed a lot of refinement.  That was okay, I expected that.

I knew this story was important, and that I wanted to share it with people (or rather it wanted to be shared).  So I sought out an editor.  I trolled the Internet for recommendations, processes on how to find one, read warnings about those that would seek to take advantage of the newbie masses.

I found a site the appeared to provide some qualified recommendations. I ended up working with a wonderful lady from Atlanta.  Keep in mind, the manuscript was MASSIVE. 286,000 words or so.

Her first comment to me was, “as a first time author no one will publish this. Maybe if you were Steven King…”  I never forgot that.  Of course, she’s right.  In fact, many literary agents will tell you the sweet spot for first time science fiction authors is somewhere between 80k-100k words.

There was no way the manuscript was going to get edited down to that. So the approach was to review the entire thing and see where it ended up.  She provided great feedback about story pacing, character development, and grammar.  She even made some direct suggestions about evolving some dialog to add more personality to characters.

It was important for me to keep “my voice” in the story. What I mean by that is how the characters came across to me, and the way I felt they wanted to be presented. That said, there were many suggestions by my first editor that remained and shaped the future of the story.

In the end there were two massive books, with a number of big chapters removed. I created new outros and intros between books one and two. Then I tried to pitch the books to publishers (BIG MISTAKE—DO NOT GO DIRECTLY TO PUBLISHERS) without success.  In fact, once a publisher rejects your book they BLACK LIST IT so a future literary agent representing your work will have NO TRACTION with that publisher.  It will be a dead work to them.  So, heads up on that mistake.

Eventually I decided they modules that were removed were too important to character and plot development to take out.  So, I worked them back in.  Then I recombined them into one massive manuscript, and divided it into the first three books.  After more edits creating new intros and outros between the books, each was around 80-90k words.  The trilogy was born.

Sure, I went through all three books tweaking and rewriting segments.  But there wasn’t any major movement on trying to bring it to Market.

Eventually I wrote a fourth book (subject for another post). As I started a fifth, actually the first book in a spin off series that started as of the end of the fourth in the main series, I decided it was time to bring the story to market.

I attended the Milwaukee Spring Writers’ Conference hosted by the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.  I met great people, and even paid for an hour of review by an editor.  The entire conference was great.  It provided insights on the publishing (and self-publishing) market, let me network with other would-be authors, and introduced me to literary agents.

The time with the editor was especially important.  Though he only reviews 20 pages of my story, I felt he provided some great feedback. He called out issues I was concerned with (without prompting), and presented some solid solutions.  Eventually I contracted with him to do the entire book.  He really pushed me to make sure that, despite being a trilogy, the first book also had a solid story arc that could conclude. He also said that Rhysus, the protagonist, always seemed to come up with some ability just in time to save himself or others.

I explained that I was working off the Japanese model (mostly from Anime) where emotional outbursts or dire situations are the catalyst for new abilities emerging.  He said in the states it comes across as too convenient. But more so, he said that he knew Rhysus would come up with some ability and save things so there was little true tension. That particular comment really hit me.  I could see that.  Okay, sure, it’s Rhysus to begin with, he’s the main character, so of course he won’t die or whatever.  But I did see his point that there was little tension.

So I went back and modified the manuscript.  I made him more vulnerable, and less “powered up.”  His big guns really don’t out until the end now. It actually forced me to make him rely on his other teammates more.  In the end, I really liked it.

I think the revised ending to book one has much more of an emotional gut-punch as well.

Of course, my friend Yana, Michele, Pat, and sister Elizabeth were also key factors in the editing of the story.  They read (especially in Pat case re-read and re-read and re-read) sections always providing feedback on the changes I made.

Pat in particular is a living encyclopedia of movies and video games.  He was quick to say “this was done in XYZ” or “is very similar to ABC” or “man, this is totally cliché.”  I LOVED THAT FEEDBACK.  It forced me to try and put a fresh spin on things, or just stay focused in on how the D’mok characters would genuinely react to that situation and not just lift something from somewhere else.

Pat, ultimately, was a game changer for me and D’mok Revival.  It’s also why the first book is dedicated to him.

My advice for other new writers, write your pieces. Get everything in you out on paper (or computer). Have friends review it, rip it apart. Seek professional editing.  Even get a book writers circle going where you can review one another’s pieces (though that can be difficult to hold together if writing styles and topics are too diverse).

Listen with an open mind.  I didn’t make every change suggested. You won’t either. But it did provide insights as to what the readership may think.  Sometimes I changed other parts to make the troubled spot make more sense and smooth it out.

My style is always evolving. It always will.  My challenge now is I’m 4 more books ahead in my style.  As I work on bringing book two to market, I’ll have to update it with my new style.  That’s fine, it will be stronger for it, but it will be work!

Regardless, I love writing!

It all began with a short story.  I was home, listening to No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak” song and this powerful short story ran through my mind.

There was a man kneeling at a crude altar of stone, broken and mourning. He reflected on battles, the cries and screams of friends lost. He stood and walked to a great drop off on the side of mountain, looking down at the make-shift village below. There he saw the maimed and sick struggling with their meager existence.  Returning to the altar he recalled the words from his mentor telling him he had the power to stop this. Guilt filled him knowing he could have, if his naïveness had not blinded him to the risks their enemy presented. But he knew he could still do something–stop things from getting worse. He ran back at the edge of the mountain and dove off the side.  Rather than plummet to his death, his body radiated, and he shot into space. He traveled faster and faster, punching a hole in space. In the ripples of energy formed in his own personal wormhole he saw the face of his lost wife and son, lamenting his failure to protect them and assuring he’d join them soon.  He punched back into normal space, and an armada of ships approached him.  Despite their phaser blasts, the glow around him only grew. Arcs of power left off his body striking the ships and destroying them. He streaked unchallenged towards a planet, and ripped through the atmosphere setting fire to it.  He plowed into the ground, rock vaporizing as his drilled deep inside. He reached the core, and the planet exploded. He was dead, and the homeworld of his enemy was destroyed.

I sat down and thought, “Wow! What was that?”

I ended up writing out the story because I thought it was cool.  Though, the images never left me.  I found myself asking who was that man on the mountain? Was there a war? Why? When did his family die? What were those abilities? Who was this enemy?

Eventually new individuals appeared like a little girl assassin with a morphing pet, a techno-wizard geek gal, a woman of crystal, an obsessed warrior, and so on.  For each of them I kept asking ‘why’ over and over.  It was like tossing stones into a pond, and documenting the rings.  I gained more and more insights. Eventually they began to intersect, logical explanations of how such different characters on different worlds could possibly interact.

I couldn’t help myself. I just wanted to know more about this story universe and all the worlds and characters. I found them interesting and compelling. Envisioning scenes of them interacting was fun to experience. It became a love–an experience–that I wanted to share with people.

Originally I thought it would make a great role playing game, or a console RPG.  While that’s still true, the novel was the appropriate way to bring all the threads together into a cohesive universe.

Every minute has been incredible, and I know there’s so much more to share!

What a process this has been!  It’s wonderful, it’s terrifying, it’s going to result in what I desire the most, which is getting my story out there!

As of this moment, I’m still on my own in this process.  Here’s a run down of what I’ve done:

Manuscript

– Wrote the original version

– Contracted with an initial editor

– Broke the manuscript into the first three books

– Hired a final editor to polish the resulting first book

Branding

– Developed logo and wordmark

– Contracted with Glenn Clovis and provided direction on the cover artwork

– Developed overall visual design approach

Legal

– Created Zummo Books, LLC for sales and distribution

– Secured the copyright for D’mok Revival: Awakening

– Secured my PCN number for the Library of Congress

Sales

– Secured the ISBN, and EAN 5

– Configured the Amazon site

– Determined cost / sales projections and details

– Secured “square” hardware to do pos at signings and conferences

Printing

– Secured Mira Smart publishing to print the editions

– Determine ARC copies vs seed copies

– Created and finalized the printing proofs

Marketing

– Created the web site

– Created and updated social media outlets on Twitter, Facebook, Blog

– Solicited reviews using ARC editions

– Placed book at BookExpo America in New York City

– Booked conference appearances (E.G. Comic Con in Chicago in Aug 2013)

– Secured 1/4 ad in RT Book Reviews magazine

– Designed t-shirts

– Secured tv spot on The Morning Blend Channel 4 Milwaukee, wi

– Booked lauch party

– Determined collector’s edition package

– Designed bookmarks

My gosh, that’s a long list… And there’s still more to do.  I need to meet with accountants and plan out payments to states for future sales tax payments, play a strategy for taxes next year and what can be written off.

I have the next printing of the book to coordinate before the August launch.

Believe it or not, I’m also working on the second manuscript’s edits to prepare that for sales.  Mostly because scene updates keep playing in my mind based on edits made to book one that have ripple effects.  I know, it’s a sickness.  HA.  But I love it.

This book IS coming to market. Literary agents I’ve talked to like the book, but it never seems to be quite the fiction genre they represent. I hope to not hit any major landmines while I go it on my own.  There’s so much information out there about how to do it.  I’m also fortunate enough to have a background in communications, computer science, and marketing. That unique blend has allowed me to really move forward like this on my own.

In future posts I’ll talk more about the process, the story, and other events.

The new blog has been installed. New content will follow!