Part
6: Publishing Group Projects:
In
this modern world, writing groups can
rather easily self-publish the work of members. We did this for Louisiana
Inklings. And there are good sides and bad sides to doing so.
We
first did an ebook only for Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, then
created a printed version about a year later through Create Space. Here are
some points to remember if your group decides to do this:
a.
First you need an editor. Since I suggested the idea of publication for my
group, I agreed to edit it. I’d had more experience than anyone else. I wanted
to publish something from every member, but in no way as a vanity
project. I wanted only quality writing.
Members
selected their best stuff, although I made suggestions. All material had been
through group review. Then I edited. Authors were informed of changes I wanted
and could respond. Some pieces went through more revisions than others. This
was by far the hardest and most time consuming part of the process. Just
creating a uniform style for the publication was a real labor. I made a lot of
notes. Your editor needs to have a lot of patience and pay close attention to
detail.
b.
Next you need a “process.” Self-publishing an ebook, a print book, or both, is
a matter of following the guidelines. If you can follow the instructions to put
a piece of furniture together, or to cook a complicated food dish, you can self
publish. And there is a lot of helpful information available. I used Create
Space for our Louisiana Inklings anthology and have been very pleased with it. They do a
good job of walking you through the process. For specific questions about this
you can email me at kainja at hotmail dot com.
Thanks
for putting up with this rather long series. There is more on the topic of
writing groups, and all other aspects of writing in my book, Write With Fire. If anyone would like a
signed copy of Write With Fire, or
the Inklings anthology, email me at kainja at hotmail dot com. The price would
be 14 bucks for Write With Fire, and
10 for the Inklings anthology, plus whatever the mailing costs would be, which
are usually a couple of bucks. By
the way, both covers are courtesy of Lana Gramlich.
Now,
any questions?
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