CreateSpace To Do List

So here was my To Do List:

– Final edit on Word File/apply editor’s corrections
-Write author’s bio
-Learn InDesign
-Format file in InDesign
-Figure out page # of final document to calculate cover art template
-Find or ReDo cover art
-Upload interior PDF and cover art PDF to CreateSpace

And here’s what I have left to do:

– Order Proof copy
– Correct Proof copy
– Upload corrections
– Go live with print book

Yeah, that whole “Learn InDesign” took a wee bit longer than expected. Go figure.

I took a crash course by signing up for a month’s worth ($25) of training videos at Lynda.com. I watched hours worth of videos and followed along on my own files. Great site, it saved my butt.

Also, I never did find my file for the cover art for the print book (which, unlike the ebook cover, included the spine and back copy). I had to redo it. Fortunately, I did still have the front/ebook cover.

Now I’m waiting to hear back from Amazon to hear if my PDFs were formatted correctly. I hope they were, otherwise, I shall have to redo them AGAIN.

If I were reading this as someone considering publishing through CreateSpace, I’d be thinking, “Wow, this sounds like a lot more work than I want to do.” And I would be right.

Realize, however, that I brought a lot of this on myself. I hired myself as cover artist, so I had to do that job too. Then, after looking into some professional book interior designers, I decided to hire myself to do that too. I wanted to do a professional job on each one, so I used the tools I would if someone else were paying me (Adobe Photoshop, InDesign). But basically, this meant I was trying to do three jobs (author, artist, designer), all the hard way.

It has never been conclusively proven that I am sane.

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Um, and at some point I need to smack my blog in the face with some Pretty. ‘Cause right now it’s pretty far from Pretty.

Whew…I think….

I think I did it… I actually managed to format my book in InDesign! Yeah! More on that tomorrow. Plus, maybe another Intrepid Writer comic.

I now have a clean PDF file for all of you who want a free copy to review.

I’m looking forward to taking a break from formatting and ISBNs and all that good stuff and having time to catch up on all the blogs I haven’t been able to read in the last week.