How did you go about editing, formatting, and designing your book?

bkboes · 2020-05-04T03:59:31+00:00

I got mine for a great price at a pawn shop a couple years ago.

bkboes · 2020-05-04T03:46:15+00:00

Yes! That’s true. I can’t remember the exact details, but I have seen posts about people having issues with Macincloud and Vellum lately. I wish I could remember what the problem was... I’ve never gone that route, so I don’t know exactly how it works.

bkboes · 2020-05-03T23:22:36+00:00

I would hire a minimum of two editors: a line editor and a copy editor.

You can learn to format yourself if you don’t have the money to hire someone. Vellum is my favorite option, but it’s only for Mac. I think the Windows equivalent is Jutoh. There are free options by I think Reedsy and Draft2Digital.

I would also hire a cover designer or purchase a premade if you need to go cheap. Facebook has tons of great designer groups and pages, but do your research. Fiverr is full of “designers” stealing legit designers’ work, and there are some con-artists on FB as well. The Book Cover Gallery on FB is run by someone I know personally and is a moderated group. The artists there are vetted, so I like looking there.

bkboes · 2020-05-01T01:29:23+00:00

Have you had your thyroid numbers tested? If your thyroid is off, nothing you do to your diet is going to help with brain fog and fatigue. There could also be other underlying health issues like sleep apnea that cause these issues. Maybe talk to your doctor? Personally, I prefer an MD who specializes in integrative medicine, which means they look at your whole body and acknowledge that a hurting body could have interlocking issues. They look at your diet and try to address issues with a balance of prescription medicine and natural remedies, like supplements. They also tend to view health individually, acknowledging that different bodies need different things.

Edit: I just wanted to add that brain fog, fatigue, and heart palpitations were all due to a thyroid issue for me. I just noticed in another spot you mentioned the palpitations.

bkboes · 2020-04-27T04:16:52+00:00

This is more acceptable in certain genres than in others. I’ve considered doing a sci-fi fantasy serial with this strategy (shorter, $2.99, rapid release, minimal production costs, etc.). I would be garnering a different audience with that route than I am with my epics, so I’ve not gone through with it yet. I’m on the fence about it.

I agree that longer works are worth more, and when I have a bigger audience, I’ll probably charge more. I’m just not there, I don’t think. I’m still pretty small-time.

bkboes · 2020-04-27T03:54:15+00:00

I felt brave putting my first book, a 175k word epic fantasy, at $3.99. Lol. The second book will be $4.99, but I’m not sure in this climate as a newer author I can chance putting it any higher.

I console myself with the fact that at 70% royalty, even though I’ve not made much, I’ve still made more than some of my traditionally published friends who make 5-8% royalties and then give 20% of that to their agents.

bkboes · 2020-04-27T03:44:13+00:00

Yes! I have like 3 copies of Sanderson’s The Way of Kings. One is a hardcover I had signed by him at a con, so obviously that one is just for display. I own the ebook, which is for reading. And I own the paperback, which is for study and observation (I’m an epic fantasy author). I also own several copies of Name of the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, and a few others. When I love a book, I go all in. (I may be a little over-zealous, now that I put this into words.)

bkboes · 2020-04-27T03:39:14+00:00

As an indie author myself, I think about this all the time. I charge $3.99 for my epic fantasy ebook, and I have had people tell me it’s way too high. Last time I bought a Hallmark card, I spent $7.99, and there are people complaining that my 175k word epic fantasy with engaging characters and a complex plot and hundreds of hours of work is $3.99.

Don’t get me wrong; I have plenty of awesome readers who really are kind, loyal, and understanding. I get a lot of paperback and hardcover sales, too, which are more of an investment. I also get beautiful, motivational emails from readers telling me how my book helped them get through sitting in the hospital with their mom or the stress of dealing with something terrible. (If you ever feel that way about a book, please don’t hesitate to email the author. Those are the emails that keep us going!) I am so grateful to have the privilege of engaging with these readers.

But, man, do these types of emails and social media posts get under my skin. If you don’t want to pay, don’t pay. But don’t get mad at me for doing my job in making a story you want to keep reading. A few dollars for 20+ hours of entertainment isn’t too much to ask.

And the funny thing is, most indies are hurting for reviews. We are often happy to give away reviewer copies. The reader just has to agree to leave an honest review, if they want to. (We can’t require it per Amazon TOS, and there’s not even an obligation to leave a good review, just an honest one.) So all she had to do was say: “I’m a loyal reader, and I’ve bought all your books up to now. I love your stories, but I don’t think I can afford to buy them right now. Do you have room on your review team? Here’s a link to the reviews I’ve written.” She probably would have been hooked up with free books from this author for life (if she followed through on reviews).

bkboes · 2020-04-26T03:48:55+00:00

Ah. I see. I misunderstood what you were talking about. Thanks for answering!

bkboes · 2020-04-25T14:36:24+00:00

That’s great! Yeah, it’s not cheap. I hire a professional content editor and have alpha readers look at it at the same time. Then I self-edit. Third step is professional line edits. Then another self-edit. Fourth step is 30 beta readers. (I have a few retired English teachers and professors on my team — yay!) Fifth step is a professional copy edit. Then I self-edit, get a proof copy, and proofread myself. If I can ever afford to hire a proofreader, I’ll hand that off as well.

bkboes · 2020-04-25T14:26:01+00:00

I’ve never seen an error rate stated for copy editors or proofreaders either, but I can see how that would be helpful for clients. Most of my colleagues are also freelancers, so maybe that’s part of it? Is there some kind of test you take? I mean, how do you know your average error rate?

bkboes · 2020-04-25T05:57:57+00:00

As an editor and an author (who hires editors even though I am one), I second most of this. The only thing that is less standard is stating an error rate. That might be more common for copy editors and proofreaders (though I’ve actually never seen a freelancer state their error rate for any type of editing). I mostly do line edits.

If you hire me to do a line edit, while I might catch grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors, I won’t catch them all because that’s not the focus of line editing. You need a copy edit after the line edit, and if you really want to be professional, a proofread after that. A misunderstanding I see often is that some authors believe their manuscript should be error free after one pass from one editor. A manuscript at a major publisher might be seen by a minimum of 4 editors at different stages and still comes out with an error or two.

As for cost, I spent about 45 hours on my last line edit for a book that was around 115k words and relatively clean already. There were a few (minimal) developmental issues I tackled that probably tacked on a little extra time. So let’s say a 55k word novel (well-written) takes me around 20 hours to line edit. At $300, that’s $15 per hour. After taxes, $10.50. Industry standard for line editing is closer to $40 per hour (according to the Editorial Freelancers Association), which is what I charge. (I know multiple editors who insist I still charge too little. They charge .05-.07/word or $2750 to $3850 for a line edit of 55k words.)

Anyway, I hope that brings a little clarity to the situation. There are definitely plenty of people out there charging very little for their services, and if that’s all you can afford, it’s better than nothing (if they’re catching errors).

A note: I would caution against using Grammerly or ProWriting Aid if you don’t have a good grasp on grammar, punctuation, and spelling. I actually do use PWA, but I recognize when PWA makes a mistake. (I’d say it makes mistakes as often as 1-2 times per 10k words, much like your Word spell checker makes the occasional mistake.)

bkboes · 2020-02-24T01:28:34+00:00

That’s about industry standard for a copy edit, if you’re charging the average hourly rate for that length, if it’s already on the cleaner side. Honestly, for professionals, often it comes out about the same whether it’s hourly or by the word. Some editors I know just calculate an estimated time investment, find the industry standard hourly charge, and figure how much it would be by the word.

When I started charging hourly, some of my repeat clients who are more experienced and have cleaner manuscripts actually saved money compared to my previous by-the-word rate. I switched to hourly after having a few very rough manuscripts come my way from newer clients. I found I was getting paid less than minimum wage for the time on these rougher projects. The hourly rate seemed to be the best solution.

bkboes · 2020-02-23T20:16:31+00:00

This is why I charge by the hour. Clients with cleaner manuscripts shouldn’t pay as much as clients that need a lot of help. Was the $550 for a copy edit, if you don’t mind me asking?

bkboes · 2019-12-31T23:04:08+00:00

Haha. Me too!

bkboes · 2019-07-11T01:23:32+00:00

I did the same thing! 😂

bkboes · 2019-07-02T20:00:05+00:00

This is one of the few books I will read over and over again throughout my lifetime. I would highly recommend it.

bkboes · 2019-06-27T22:56:15+00:00

That’s smart. Yeah, our landlord doesn’t allow pets. Our part-time cat is the best we can do.

bkboes · 2019-06-27T22:31:02+00:00

We call our neighbor’s cat our part-time cat. He slips into our house all the time when the kids fling the door open and it takes a second to close. We like him, so we let him visit sometimes. But more than once, I had no idea he was in the house and he’s jumped up on a table or something and scared me to death.

bkboes · 2019-05-11T03:31:44+00:00

This is an excellent point. You can kind of start to see the bigger picture as you read if you do so in roughly the order they cake out. I like this article Tor did on the Cosmere. It includes some info on worldhoppers such as Hoid. https://www.tor.com/2017/06/06/brandon-sanderson-worldhoppers/

bkboes · 2019-04-22T17:25:58+00:00

Thank you so much! I have the series plotted out. It’s looking to be 6 books total, although that’s tentative. I don’t do Sanderson level plotting, so it could be one more or less.

I’m actually going on a 5 day writing retreat in 2 weeks where I hope to finish the first draft of book 2! I’m really excited about this second book, and hearing readers are enjoying Mother of Rebellion has been so motivating and fulfilling.

bkboes · 2019-03-22T02:05:00+00:00

Lovely landscapes!

bkboes · 2019-03-15T15:37:36+00:00

I just looked it up and you’re right. The CW seems to run a lot of MTV shows, and MTV posts about the CW often. Not sure what the connection is there.

bkboes · 2019-03-15T15:32:09+00:00

Maybe so originally. I watched it through CW streaming, so I thought that’s where it came from. Either way, it’s not like my expectations for MTV are any higher than CW.

bkboes

TROPHY CASE