Things I had to Learn

There were a whole host of skills I had to learn when I started writing my first novel in 2004.  Sure, I had been writing my whole life, but knowing how to write isn't the same as knowing how to complete a novel.  I set out to learn what I needed to know and figured out POV, how to construct a scene, how to lay out the major arc of a story. 

But this isn't about those writing skills.  It's about all the other skills I needed to understand and master in order to publish my work.

So here is a rundown of what I've learned in the past 6 months:

• what the difference is between epub and mobi and which formats work with which devices
• how to create styles in a document to avoid ugliness in later conversion to ebooks
• why tabs are evil
• why the spacebar is evil
• that typography matters, even in the digital age
• why one set of typefont/leading/kearning setting are better than others (also, what leading and kerning *are*)
• how to use calibre to convert a file to ebook format and how to check those files on the appropriate devices
• what an ISBN is and why I needed one (actually two)
• how to sign up with Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords as a publisher (but not Apple, since I don't own a mac)
• how to format for a print edition and move through the process with createspace
• how to think like a publisher
• why an editor is a writer's best friend
• what *discovery* is and why it's crucial in the ebook world
• what a *long tail* is and ditto
• how to work with a cover artist and why cover art is so important
• how to find book bloggers and query them to request reviews
• how to get the word out about a release without sounding like an infomercial
• how to take a deep breath

January 13th is coming!