Yeah. I'm writing a collection of short fiction--drabbles, short stories, poems, and songs, primarily. I've written a lot of them, so I figured, "Why not put them into a collection?"

Then one of my family members kept pestering me to self-publish it, so I decided to do that.

Thing is, the only time I self-published something, I had a lot of problems, primarily with the cover and the interior formatting.

So, I was just wondering if any of ya'll could help me out. Just like talk me through it or give tips or something--I wouldn't want to take up too much of your time.

Where are you self-publishing? I'd be happy to help you in any way I can!

Can you explain what exactly self-publishing is? I kind of skimmed what Wikipedia had on it, but it still confused me.

*comes out of the shadows*

@Balec: Self-Publishing is, instead of going to a publisher, you choose to having a company print your book (in the most simple terms).
Instead of dealing with rejection letters, getting an agent, having to work with an in house editor, and the rest of things you go through with traditional publishing, self-publishing allows you to get your book printed by simply sending a company your formatted manuscript and cover file. Self-publishing has drawbacks in the marketing department since you're on your own. Normally your publisher will help out with that (some). Additionally, you won't be able to stock your book in stores like Barnes and Noble (though local stores might let you stock them).

*stops self from rambling*

@Renna: I've done a good bit of formatting and cover designing. Most companies are pretty good at publicly posting the information you need to do both. My previous work has been with CreateSpace (just to let you know). Sadly (at least... perhaps sadly), I do not format with MSword, OpenOffice or Gdocs. The program I use is Adobe InDesign (which I love and am convinced that it is the perfect program to format with), but few writers have access to it. I do know some of the formatting details of MSword, but you'd probably want to talk to Aubrey Hansen about that kind of formatting (she's done it multiple times).

I hope to get the collection self published by February 10th, at the latest, Rebekah.

@Balec: I think Vili explained it quite well.

@Vili: Yeah, I use CreateSpace. I'm not sure, but I never found any information pertaining to formatting on CreateSpace; maybe I just missed it, I'm not sure.

This is CreateSpace's general page on formatting: [click]
This is the page that talks details: [click]

If you scroll down on the second page, you'll find downloadable MSword templates you can use for formatting (just find your book size and make sure you adjust for how thick it will be in the end - see the table near the top on the right for margin adjustments).


There's also this handy-dandy page about covers: [click]

Okay, thanks. Sorry to say I don't have much knowledge on this end of things...

Someone mentioned formatting with Word? *slips a cupcake to Vili under the table* What did you need help with in that regard?

@Balec: That's fine, we all learn with time

@Aubrey: Ooo! *munches on cupcake*

Hmm... well, I was mostly just searching for advice. I have a few more stories to write and some editing to do. So I don't need any help with anything specific at the moment.

Okay. Just drop me a PM when you get to the formatting process and I'd be happy to help, as needed.