A writer's life

On this day, St. Patrick's Day in the year of our Lord 2019...

It's finished. A work that has taken much too long to write has been wrapped up. The timeline was long due to many issues; jobs, health, family matters. Life does actually get in the way of things. Battle Wagon, the third book in the sci-fi Home World series has had the final words imprinted.

But it really hasn't.

Hasn't what?

Hasn't had the last word typed. 

But you finished it...

Sort of. It's sort of finished.

A writer's life isn't just writing the book. In the world where you are an independent there are many other things an author has to do to complete the book. It needs editing. Why? Because there are likely small mistakes along the way. Unless you do it  yourself which is very difficult, because you tend to read what you think you typed and not what you actually typed, it costs money to have someone look over all the words to make sure there aren't mistakes. Spelling is only one form of editing. There is also content editing where you have someone read the book to make sure you don't have a cluster of mistakes along the way that you didn't catch yourself.

How is that possible you ask? Well, there are all sorts of details that you forget along the way even if you take exceedingly impeccable notes. But even then, things crop in. Since I am not published by one of the large book houses, I have to do it all myself. You'd be surprised how many mistakes there really are in traditionally published books.

There's also formatting. Huh? What's that? Well, that is how you line everything up so it reads the way it should, so it looks like is should whether you are reading a paperback book or you are reading it on an electronic device (ebook). Each of those is formatted differently. If you don't know how to do that, guess what...pay someone.

Then there's the cover...

You guessed it, if you don't do it yourself it costs $$$ to have someone design your image. This image is only for an ebook. You need another cover for a print book. Why? Because you have to have a back for a printed book. So now you have two covers.

These are just some of the issues writers face when writing a book. Some do it for the money. Some do it for the love of writing. If they never see a dime, they're okay with it. I'm kind of a blend of the two. I'd like to make a living from my efforts but I have an overwhelming desire to put words down on paper ... or an electronic device. It's a passion.

So, the next time you run across a book don't flinch at the price. Most indie authors don't charge more than a few dollars for their efforts hoping against hope that a lot of people will buy it and love it. Most books cost less than a 'frappy crappy-chino thingy' at the local coffee shop. You drink it once and it's gone. A book, well, it lasts forever. (And don't forget to leave a review. We get noticed that way 😎 )