Notes on Publishing

formatted manuscript

A lot goes into being a publisher. Layout, formatting, cover design, back cover design -- all of these things take a lot of time and effort. First you edit the book, format the book, and design a cover. Then you obtain the ISBN number, ISSN number, and proofs. Creating an ebook is an entirely different beast. Wow, text can become super unstable. On occasion, two words become inexplicably smooshed together, or periods go missing, or whatever else. Double check those ebook file conversion or prepare to be embarrassed. Eeek! Then there's the marketing: Viral Cat depends mostly on word of mouth via online social networking sites.

It all comes down to traffic and building a sturdy network of links. The more incoming and outgoing links a book has, the higher its google search rank. Every time a book is mentioned online, it creates a link in the chain. When I look at it that way, it becomes something of a challenge, but one that can be conquered with baby steps.