My Anthology's Progress - Day 1

I'm a person who goes with her gut. I'm not saying that's always the best modus operandi, but it generally works for me. My spouse, on the other hand, likes to ponder a question to death, which drives me nuts. I've found that when one travels around in circles to reach a conclusion, that's exactly what they're doing--traveling in circles. Inevitably, they end up where they started. Thus, I eliminate the middle man.

In trying to piece together my anthology project, I needed to decide on certain elements, and not wanting to draw this project out, those decisions had to be made yesterday. (I've got enough stuff I'll need to wait on, stuff that's out of my control.)

The task I was dreading the most was the paperback formatting. This turned out to be really, really easy, after one false start. Due to my prior bad experience with KDP's formatting template, I looked for a different free tool, and the only other option that held any promise was Reedsy Studio. The app was easy and straightforward--it only asked for the same front and back matter elements that Kindle Create does; then I pasted my manuscript in, chose paperback formatting from its options, downloaded the finished product, and that was it. My quarrel with that download was that when I opened it, I couldn't tell where one page ended and another began. Certain pieces that belong on a separate page, such as the epigraph, were all crammed together with other parts. I was unwilling to take a chance of uploading it to KDP and having a giant mess on my hands.

Thus, I went back to KDP's template. I think it was easier to use this time because I only had four "chapters" to format (four separate stories, in this case). With Running From Herself I had forty chapters, and the table of contents turned into such a mess that I ended up deleting it all together. This time around, the process was painless.

Next, I went on to finishing my ebook creation in Kindle Create. I needed both a subtitle and an introduction. (No, my books never have introductions, but this one is an exception. I felt that I needed to say something about why these four stories were combined into one book and how they tie together.) As you know, AI is essentially useless, but this time I did ask it for series title suggestions, because nothing I'd come up with pleased me. For a variety of reasons, I liked Still Waters the best (they run deep and...you get it). So, my two-book series will be The Still Waters Series. As for the introduction, I kept it really brief; threw in some words about "what is home?" and declared it finished.

Ahh, but then. Before I asked GetCovers to design two related covers for me, I kind of needed to know what the second book's title would be. The first one is "Touching Home", so to be consistent, I needed a second title with the word "home" in it. Guess what? Most of the well-known quotes about home suck. And my title can only be two or three words long. I've sort of narrowed down my choices (this time AI was no help), but I'm not crazy about any of them. As it turned out, though, GetCovers only creates one cover at a time, so I've got some breathing room.

I'm familiar with the design site's parent company, Miblart, and the steps it requires in order to proceed. Unfortunately, GetCovers operates differently--quite differently. There was no "brief" to fill out--everything so far has been done via email. They still haven't asked me for the title and author details or anything about the story, unlike Miblart. What they did ask me for was comp covers. What now?

I've read a lot of Reddit posts about GetCovers and how their artists are in training, with the goal of moving up to the parent company. (Miblart, I will say, is awesome.) I learned from my reading that many authors have struggled to get the design they wanted from GetCovers, while some thought the work was just fine. I didn't know, or forgot, that the company expected the client to provide ideas. You know, if I had ideas, I'd just design my own cover. I'd also forgotten I'd read that their artists work with stock photos. But since my email correspondent only asked for "a couple of covers I like", off I went to Amazon. 

To be honest, I like hardly any books' covers. Even the trade-published ones are not to my taste. Perhaps there's some psychology surrounding "ugly", but I can't imagine what. What I did know was that I didn't want anything cutesy, which unfortunately many women's fiction covers are--illustrations of beach houses or of two Adirondack chairs. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is the GIANT HANDWRITING across a tiny illustration in the background. I struggled to find two covers I even sort of liked, but I chose these two because of the color schemes:

(This is not an endorsement--I haven't read either book.) 

My feeling was, if the artist gets the colors right, I can accept the rest, as long as it's not awful. I'm only paying $35.00 per cover, after all.

Many authors have posted that they've needed numerous revisions, so I'll know about that soon. This is not something I'm stressing out over. The covers will be what they'll be. It bears repeating that these two forthcoming paperbacks will be for me--for my bookshelf. I don't expect to sell any copies.

Some authors have posted that it took up to a month to get acceptable covers. I'm not willing to wait that long. But if the process stretches out for a bit, it'll give me time to work on the blurbs and the back cover copy.

To sum up, in a day, here's what I've accomplished:

1. One and a half titles

2. A series name

3. Composed an introduction for the first book 

4. ebook creation for my first book

5. Paperback formatting for my first book

6. got the ball rolling on the first cover 

I think that's a good day's work.