Bits and Pieces: Covers and ISBN Numbers
People will judge your book by its cover. Believe it. In my totally opinionated way, I’m going to say this: Don’t use a pre-made cover. If you don’t know enough about the art of creating one, hire someone to do it for you. I did. My experience (so far) can be found here.
As I mentioned in Part 3, it took me a while to realize that there was a difference between publishing an e-book and publishing a paperback. I assumed that Amazon used one service for both. Kindle and CreateSpace are not the same. CreateSpace is the service used for the paperback, and it’s the bits and pieces of the learning curve that have me wistful for the innocent days when I thought that writing the novel was the hard part.
It’s not difficult. Really. But it’s new, and the idea of making a mistake sent visions of error-filled pages swirling around in my head. Fortunately, there’s a solution. Have someone there to hold your hand while you read the instructions out loud. In my case, I was on the phone with a fellow writer who kept me calm while I kept muttering, “What does that mean?” as I filled in the information. While she didn’t know all the answers, it was a great comfort to know I wasn’t alone in the maze.
CreateSpace offers four ways of obtaining an ISBN number. It’s tempting to use the free version, and if funds are tight I can see people using that option. But it can be used only at Amazon and the imprint title that will be listed in the information section will say: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with this. Just be aware that when someone sees this, it will be obvious that the book is an indie. And unfortunately, that might make a reader pause before deciding whether to buy or not.
I’m paying for the custom universal ISBN, which is the more expensive option. (Currently it’s listed as $99US.) This version will allow me to use the ISBN number with any publisher. I haven’t decided yet if I will go elsewhere as well but I want to keep my options open.
In fact, I was all set to order the ISBN number prior to completing this entry but got stopped short when I realized that I needed to come up with a distributor name. My “publisher,” so to speak. Oy. I finally decided on a name but felt pressured to do it in a hurry. Give yourself time to come up with something, and don’t forget to run a search online to make sure no one else is using it.
There are always bits and pieces that need attention when publishing indie but I think I’ve defined the important basics. So, are you ready to publish indie?
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