In Emily's Head

Discovering the Inner Control Freak

Posted on September 8, 2014. Filed under: Cancer |

Self-publishing my first book of poems and paintings, Lending Color to the Otherwise Absurd has revealed my inner control freak. True to control freak nature, I decided to self-publish because I published two books in the 1990s through publishers and would prefer a bigger piece of the pie. Since I have the resources to design and lay out a book, what can a publisher offer me? OK, maybe if a publisher is super respected, my book would magically fly off the shelves at Barnes & Noble, but that’s a long shot and frankly, I don’t have time to keep sending it out before someone says “yes.” I’m getting old. Plus, this spring I received a grant from the City of Chicago to produce the book.

I reveled in assembling the manuscript and working with designers to come up with a great cover, which is often out of your control when working with a publisher. BookBaby.com seemed like a cool place to send my files. So far, they’ve been fine to work with. They’re able to get me a coveted ISBN number and the book should be available through all the usual avenues, such as Amazon and others. They’ll also create a mobile version.

After about seven rounds of proofing, I decided I better just let go and wait for the one proof copy to arrive. By then, I’ll have fresh eyes for one last and final round of changes. I’m sure I’ll find something!

 WhooHoo! My poetry manuscript is in production. Now it’s time to clean my desk! Stay tuned.

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