I have had the story of The Dukarian Legacy in my head for years before I finally decided to write it down. And I finally did write it down about ten years ago. Yes, ten long years ago when I was working as a 911 operator. It started out as one book, but then turned into three. The story has now grown to nine. Only three are written, but I have good detailed outlines of the next six.
So why aren’t my books published yet? After I wrote the first book, The Third Dragon, I tried to go through a literary agent. After about four years of paying thousands of dollars, I realized I was being cheated. So I started looking for other avenues. My stepfather wrote a book and published it at Lulu.com. Sounded great to me, but I wanted to perfect my book first. I spend another few years editing and revising the story. I have also spent time writing the two sequels, The Raven’s Fire and The Dragon and the Lion.
Now, in 2011, the editing is finally done! Now what? I have a book called, Start Your Own Self-Publishing Business, and started reading it. Within a few chapters I realized that I still have a long way to go. I still need front matter like a dedication, acknowledgements, and forward. And I still need back matter such as author bio and possibly an afterward. I also need to consider design elements such as margins, chapter heads, font, etc. And, due to the expensive cost of printing a book, should I consider an e-book instead of a full-fledged paperback?
There are so many things to think about and I am not sure where to start. I suppose I will read the Self-Publishing book in its entirety first. Then work on some of the important elements like front and back matter.