Here is my current writing-related to-do list:
Nothing in there about writing anything, or even revising. It’s all publishing, all the time. I suppose this is the best reason for having someone else do the publishing stuff.
I passed a major milestone on December 10th, when Islands of the Gulf Volume 1, The Journey and Islands of the Gulf Volume 2, The Treasure officially became available in print versions, joining The Friendship of Mortals.
But because I made all kinds of small changes to the texts of those two books before publishing in print, it only makes sense to transmit those changes to the ebook versions as well. Unfortunately, “transmit” means “go through the lists of edits and make them in both the Smashwords and Amazon KDP documents.” Tedious stuff, transmitting.
Then I can get on with the final book of the Herbert West Series — Hunting the Phoenix — correcting errors I have noted in my e-reader, formatting, writing the back cover description, arranging for the full print cover, etc. And finally, uploading the corrected ebook documents. The whole series will then be fully available in both ebook and print versions. Then I can finally get on with something new.
Now I begin to understand why it can take months or even years between signing a contract with a publisher and actually seeing a published book. And as my own publisher, I can’t even blame anyone else for the slowness of the process.
Audrey Driscoll's Blog 
It’s like spinning plates. All mine came crashing down about a month ago.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds like a major disaster! I hope the plates didn’t all break and that you can get at least a few of them up and spinning again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And the craziest part is we have to do it all ourselves. At least publishing companies have multiple staff members to aid in the publishing process. Specialized staff, who can do their part quickly and efficiently (at least, that’s the dream!). We have to do it all, and do it well. THE PRESSURE!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Totally true, but we get to rake in all the profits! (Loon-like crazy laugh).
LikeLike
Not for sissies, hey?
LikeLike
You do need patience and dogged persistence. Also an eye for detail and realistic expectations. Beyond that, it’s a snap! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bwahaha!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looks like I have a lot to look forward to!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s certainly true. The key is to know what you want to achieve and which parts you can do yourself. Then, once your book is published, to synch your expectations with reality.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your reply!! I think for my first novel I might try and do everything myself (at first) so I can learn what it’s all about (except I do have a beta reader lined up, can’t live without one of those!) I enjoy anything computer/internet related so I think I’ll be fine researching how to publish to different platforms etc… and there are lots of wonderful people on wordpress I can ask for help!! 🙂
LikeLike
Beta-readers and critique groups can be very helpful, if only to reassure you that what you’re writing holds together. And the writer-blogger community is great.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I absolutely love the writer-blogger community, if I had of known it was like this I would have joined years ago! Now I don’t feel quite so alone 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person