Last update on the book publishing update was that I had found a brilliant copy-editor. My book came back proof-read and polished like a real book – not to say that it’s not real, but as I get closer to my goal it just feels more and more surreal. Enough of the real/surreal thread…

The next step is to get your book formatted in formats you want to upload like .mobi for Kindle, epub for  Sony. And if you want a print copy that’s different formatting.

There are two main categories:
1. E-book formatting: This requires a simple front cover and manuscript can be formatted in .mobi/.epub/.doc/.pdf/. There are two main ways to upload your book a)Amazon b) Smashwords, which will actually upload your books to various other sites. However, if you sign up for Amazon KDP [Kindle Publishing Select] then you have to exclusively publish your book on Amazon for three months before you can publish your book on other sites.
2. Print on Demand [POD]: This requires a back/front cover and spine of the book too. If you recall the old paper books had a spine. And this formatting is different from the e-book version which is modified to suit all screens. Amazon owns createspace which lets authors print books on demand.

[Here’s a quick preview of my back/front cover]

The good thing about indie [independent] publishing is that any individual can publish a book now, no more sending manuscripts to publishers and waiting for one of them to agree to print your book.

I chose Cyber-witch for formatting simply because she had a good and complete package and I liked her no-nonsense style. We exchanged emails and money. Last week I became the proud owner of my .mobi and smashwords formatted manuscript. And when I opened it on Kindle it looked so real – unbelievable.

If you are wondering what are the next steps after book formatting – watch out for my next blog in this section.