The Next Step for my Book ???

How would you like TB's OOP book to be reincarnated?

  • Convince a new publisher to print it.

    Votes: 6 10.9%
  • I like to turn paper pages; please POD it for me.

    Votes: 28 50.9%
  • Electronic format; Kindle, Nook, etc. works for me.

    Votes: 21 38.2%

  • Total voters
    55

Disa

It is a book, and the same quality as other books.
Now that books are printed from digital files, and it is no longer necessary to typeset before printing, a writer can have a small quantity of copies printed when he needs them.
So - no longer the nightmare of hundreds of books stored in your garage that are not selling.
Or that other nightmare - having hundreds of copies printed, only to discover that there is a mistake on the first page (with POD, you can update the files for the next batch so at least they no longer have that mistake).

Thank you for this info! :)
 

tarotbear

My GOODNESS the input!

I appreciate everything everyone has told me, both here and in private IMs.

Has anyone done any of this and had a BAD experience that we would all like to know about?

Truth is ~ I need to keep my book up and available as I am trying to teach Tarot classes again. Funny thing - once my book was published ~ I never had another Tarot class! :bugeyed:

Also - I still have my second 'Men's Tarot' manuscript, so if I can get 'It's All in the Cards' back up and running, most likely I would just turn around and self-publish the men's manuscript, too. :thumbsup:
 

tarotbear

The poll is running neck & neck here!

Some updates and some thoughts.

I have looked through and watched the tutorials on Amazon for both Creatspace and Kindle; neither of them sounds quite as intense as I thought, which is a good thing. However, I went into my hard drive today to see what I actually had in manuscripts. I have even sent an email to my ex-publisher to ask if they have my manuscript (with illustrations) in electronic form - but have yet to hear a response.

So far - I have several renditions of the final manuscript for 'It's All in the Cards.' However, even the ones where I corrected the typos still have all those printer notations in the (electronic) margins that tell the printer which font for what and which size, etc. I am guessing if I uploaded those to Createspace or Kindle that those notations will also get printed in the final book? LOL!!! :D So, does this mean I should probably end up creating a completely new file to upload to them? My second book is closer to the original, plainer format, and would be easier to make changes to.

Secondly - my hard drive does not reveal the RWS images anywhere. :( So, I am hoping I still have a hard-copy print of the Giant RWS deck and can scan those images in myself. I also have an email out to US Games to see what cost obtaining the images for the second book will set me back. I have an understanding that as long as I do not change the title of Book 1 that I have the rights to use the images forever (with a disclaimer crediting USG, of course).

So - at the moment I am looking at having to possibly re-create my original manuscript without the printer's notations but with the images included. I am also looking at having to pay for the rights to use them in my second book ... and I believe I paid USG $250 for the rights last time ... that is more than I get in Food Stamp allowance per month. :(

At this moment it does seem that I can create both a POD and an e-book for both of them - better for everyone! As always, I appreciate your thoughts before I start down the re-write road.
 

tarotbear

Are y'all sitting down?????

According to my contact at US Games, 'permission' to use the RWS images lasts only for 3 years at a time, which I guess means that my publisher was paying for them between 2004 and 2009 when they stopped publishing my book. :confused:

Unless USG and I come to an agreement about reprinting 'It's All in the Cards,' I will have to re-buy the permission (and renew every 3 years), and also buy & renew for the second title, too, at the cost of $500 APIECE! :bugeyed:

:bugeyed: I THINK IT'S TIME TO DRAW MY OWN DECK! :bugeyed:
 

gregory

You should self publish. Probably through Amazon.

You can do ebooks for the kindle and physical books through createspace.

Then, when someone orders a physical book, amazon prints one for them and sends it out.

There are other platforms as well as amazon, you can do all of them, but currently amazon seems to be the most popular.

As for the formatting, loads of people do it for themselves, no reason you couldn't. I reckon I could. Both for ebook and POD. One is simple HTML, and the other is just making a pdf.

Illustrations can be put into ebooks. But they might need to be black and white, I'm not sure, but I think most kindles are black and white.
Also, with the POD, colour illustrations would probably hike the price up too high. So B&W there too, I would think.

And you are not tied to any contract. They take a percentage of both ebook and POD, but that is for the service they are providing, not because they own any part of the rights to your work.

GOOD point ! I voted PODS - I will NEVER get a Kindle or whatever. Books are BOOKS. Luckily I already own this one, so I needn't worry - but please make sure it is available in paper as a FIRST call....

What a PIA with US Games though - I thought the copyright ran out this year no matter WHAT. You have PM....
 

WolfSpirit

So far - I have several renditions of the final manuscript for 'It's All in the Cards.' However, even the ones where I corrected the typos still have all those printer notations in the (electronic) margins that tell the printer which font for what and which size, etc. I am guessing if I uploaded those to Createspace or Kindle that those notations will also get printed in the final book? LOL!!! :D So, does this mean I should probably end up creating a completely new file to upload to them? My second book is closer to the original, plainer format, and would be easier to make changes to.

I guess that would depend in what kind of file the manuscript is ?
Maybe it is possible to just remove all notations with one click, or to set them to only show up on your screen, not in print ? Maybe they already are.
Well worth checking that first, might save you a lot of work.

According to my contact at US Games, 'permission' to use the RWS images lasts only for 3 years at a time, which I guess means that my publisher was paying for them between 2004 and 2009 when they stopped publishing my book. :confused:

I guess every company makes its own rules.
My boyfriend bought a photo of Fabergé eggs for the cover of one of his books, and I believe that is for 500 copies (with no time limit). That seems to make more sense than a period. Also, he thought that the museum he bought it from would not keep track on the sales of a Dutch writer anyway; unless he became really famous, in which case paying for the photo would not be a problem, lol.
Anyway he has not sold close to 500 copies yet :neutral:

If the copyright of USG indeed runs out it may be worth it to wait for a bit.
 

tarotbear

Today I started working (re-working) the manuscript for 'It's All in the Cards'. I have to re-format my old manuscript to be a new file to download, and had to filter it through 'Keep Text Only' to delete the publisher's printing notations. Now I am physically going through the entire manuscript line by line to make formatting corrections. It is almost like rewriting the entire book all over again! I will still have to compress some sections of it, but have to wait until there are actual illustrations to finalize anything spacially. It's what I am working on while deciding what to do about the illustration copyright snafu.

This is quite a trick for someone like myself who has a little but not exemplary WORD skills. :bugeyed:
 

WolfSpirit

Editing is tough, good luck !
I am editing a translation I made and I have to stop myself from doubting everything I wrote earlier.
 

tarotbear

Time for a change

SHOULD I CHANGE THE TITLE? :bugeyed:

After all, it's a new release. :confused:

Originally, I wanted a slightly different title for my book. However, the publisher has control over that, not the author. They did, however, name it too closely like another Tarot book out there - it is my subtitle that changes things. I am thinking maybe I should go back to my original title because it will still pop up on a search: "It's All in THEIR Cards."
 

tarotbear

One hand washes the other ...

Does anyone have a Tarot deck that they have designed that I could use for the images? Nothing too Goth, Angelic, or cutsey but still RWS compatable? In exchange we can come to a mutal agreement to let me use your deck as free illustrations, and my book contains a page of free advertizing for your deck?