Bit the bullet and self-published

I've participated on this site a while back and just discovered my user id and password were eliminated so I re-registered.

In the past, I got a lot of help here with my query letters and synopsis. After countless submissions with only a few requests for complete manuscripts, I have decided to self-publish. I have written a three book series that I have placed on Smashwords and Amazon for Kindle and paperback purchase. I've had a few sales and lots of partial downloads on Smashwords but nothing yet on Amazon. I call my series Erin and Craig Books. The titles are:

THE ALKANO LETTERS
THE CARTHAGE CONNECTION
CARVED IN STONE

The stories are about a female archeologist, Erin Mathews and Craig Johnson who, through the three books moves from boyfriend to husband. He has served in the army as an intelligence officer and then moved to the CIA. When he meets Erin, in the first book, he has been hired as a mercenary to help protect Erin and her team from an ancient sect bent on stopping her excavation.

All three stories involve archeological excavations that stir up more than dirt. There always seems to be some group intent on stopping Erin from making some history changing discovery. If you like Indian Jones stories you will enjoy these books.

If anyone is interested, please go to Amazon and read a sample of my stories. Hopefully the 'look inside' will intrigue you enough to buy. [B][B]

What was your username back when? Just wondered if I'd remember you. Your stories sound interesting. I am fighting with myself over whether or not to SP. Can you share with us about the process? Pros and cons of getting your manuscripts converted, etc.

I don't remember what my old user name was - sorry.

I self published on Smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com/) first. Formatting is not an easy chore depending on your competence with your word-processor. There are a few guides you can download for free on Smashwords that provide great step by step instructions for preparing your manuscript.

I use (as I imagine most of us do) MS Word. The most important thing to do when setting up your manuscript is to turn on the paragraph symbol. You must go through line by line and carefully remove all extraneous format notations. It is also a good idea to do a select all and then use the paragraph format settings to make sure everything is set properly, especially that single space is turned on and the 'don't add blank line between paragraphs' is checked. If you have any pictures imbedded you have to be careful to compress them properly. To do this (in MS Word) click on a picture. above the top tool ribbon the words 'picture tools' will appear. Left click on it and a new set of tools will appear. Left click on 'compress pictures'. In the pop-up check options and then 'okay'. I discovered that .png files work better.

I think Smashwords is a little easier that Kindle (https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin), so do that one first. The kdp site also has lots of instructions on formatting. For Kindle, you must save the document in HTML format. This will create an HTM file and a folder with the pictures. You have to create a zip file that contains both of these and submit the zip file.

You can also create a soft cover book to sell on Amazon. The site is https://www.createspace.com/. Once again, you have to work on formatting. This time for print, it is a whole different set of rules.

The good thing about these sites is that you can change and resubmit until you are satisfied. In fact, you can download the files that the sites creates and see how they look in a software generated version of a Kindle screen. On createspace site you can download and preview the book. You can also order a proof copy.

Hope this helps.