My short story, Storm of Stone, is finally in print and available on Amazon for both kindle and physical. It's been a long, long process, but in the end I think it was all worth it. I'm really fortunate to have found my artist friend and be able to commision them to do the art. The formatting in Adobe Indesign took a while because I hadn't used that program since freshman year, but I picked it up fairly quickly, and was able to do things that I didn't even know were possible in the program. Probably the hardest part though, was actually getting it on Amazon, not because the process of doing so is actually difficult, but mostly because I didn't actually know what I was doing. The kindle version was especially hard to figure out, because you can't just upload the PDF file straight to the site for some reason, so I had to try and copy and paste the entire book into a word document. When that didn't work, I eventually figured out that Amazon made this program called Kindle Kids Book Creator, which even though it's primarily designed to create picture books, it can also turn your fully formatted PDF files into ebooks that look the exact same. I've sent a lot of copies out to family, friends, teachers, and even several of the LGBT centers in the state due to the subject matter and the characters in the book being who they are. I'm currently writing the full-length SKINWALKER novel, which naturally takes place before Storm of Stone. SoS was 19.3k words in total when I finished it, and SKINWALKER is already larger than that in half the time because SoS allowed me to grow so much as a writer.
Some things that helped me out Kindle Kid's Book Creator How to use Kindle Direct Publishing CreateSpace Formatting
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After almost three months and several delays, the project that I've been working on is finally almost fully complete. My part of it has been done for a while now, but the person I've been collaborating with has been having problems. First with their internet, then with their computer itself, and I'd be lying if I tried to say that I haven't been frustrated. I only need one more thing from them, and if everything goes right, the project should be done by the end of the week. I'm extremely proud of it to be completely honest, and it's actually given me confidence to continue in the field that I want to pursue. I refuse to spoil what the project is until it's actually done, because I've learned in the past that promising people that you're going to make something and hyping it up only leads to them constantly pestering you about whether or not it's done, and I haven't been in the mood for that kind of badgering for months. Getting this project finished will be a life-changing experience for me, especially once I start marketing and spreading it around. Even if it doesn't reach huge amounts of success, it'll still be enough to reaffirm the idea to myself and anyone who may have doubted me that this path is actually right for me, and that's something that I think is incredibly important.
Some things that helped me do research on my project Flaws to make a character realistic Bad writing index Formatting tutorial So, I commissioned my friend to draw the art for the big project I'm working on, and it's been an eye-opening experience. The first and most important thing that I think I've learned so far, is to set deadlines way in advance. This will save both you and the artist from a lot of headache. The second thing I've learned is to figure out your artist's schedule, so that way you can actually set reasonable deadlines around it. The art is coming along pretty nicely now that the most complicated pieces are done, so it shouldn't be too long until all the rest is finished too. You should always be extremely specific with your artist on what you want them to draw you, and provide them with appropriate references to make things easier on them. For example, if you want your artist to draw a unique monster that's never been seen in any other visual form, you should provide them with multiple images of characters with different aspects of that creature that you want them to mix together. For example, I sent my artist Japanese manga and American comic book artwork so that they'd know how I want them to draw a big, buff character with four arms. It also helps if you're friends with the artist beforehand, because then that person will have an easier time knowing what you want, and won't be afraid to constantly keep contact with you in order to see if what they drew is up to your specifications.
Some Videos I Watched to Learn Commission Etiquette: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5k7KWZo00U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVyArmfx4Xo |
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