Just Published my first book on KDP: Vineyard

saoir · 09-21-2014, 07:28 PM

Hi all,

I've been hanging out here for quite a while as I wrestled with getting my first book completed and used the power of Scrivener to give me what I needed to do it. And it did exactly that.

I have now published my book on KDP http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NRUN2BO

So MANY MANY thanks to you guys here for your advice.

I still have work to do as I am not completely happy with how the KDP page looks and the pricing, but I hope I can iron out the wrinkles asap.

Howard

saoir · 11-30-2014, 02:46 PM

Hi everyone,

After a bit of feedback I decided to redesign the cover of my book (see my Avatar)

I hope people like it better ... and it sells better too

PS: My second book, a sequel is coming within the month

HarryT · 12-01-2014, 03:31 AM

Have you had it properly edited now, Howard? The problem with it wasn't the cover - it was all the errors in it. Which is a great shame, because it is a good story.

saoir · 12-01-2014, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Have you had it properly edited now, Howard? The problem with it wasn't the cover - it was all the errors in it. Which is a great shame, because it is a good story.

I have done some cleaning. But I simply do not have anything close to the resources to do it professionally I am afraid. Thank you for checking it out.

I am almost finished a sequel and will try to go back and read through it yet again to see if I can find more errors. I don't know about anyone else but I find it extremely difficult to read it more than 10 times :-) the brain goes to mush.

Also after a career in business I find that I seem to have a huge capacity to read 'through' minor typos and not even notice them.

thewitt · 12-01-2014, 08:51 PM

Consider a writing tool like Storyist. It has built in spelling and grammar checking which helps find a wide range of errors that can slip through the visual cracks,

saoir · 12-02-2014, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thewitt

Consider a writing tool like Storyist. It has built in spelling and grammar checking which helps find a wide range of errors that can slip through the visual cracks,

Thanks for the suggestion. I use Scrivener.

HarryT · 12-02-2014, 06:13 PM

The most obvious error, and one which needs no resources to fix, was that all occurrences of the possessive pronoun "its" were wrongly spelt "it's". I know that many people have never been formally taught English grammar in school, but I'd strongly recommend buying a decent grammar reference book to avoid such errors. My personal favourite is Fowler's "Modern English Usage".

thewitt · 12-02-2014, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The most obvious error, and one which needs no resources to fix, was that all occurrences of the possessive pronoun "its" were wrongly spelt "it's".

This one plagues me... Storyist flags it and even though I know it's incorrect, it slips into my writing without me realizing. It is also one of my final search and review items.

saoir · 12-03-2014, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The most obvious error, and one which needs no resources to fix, was that all occurrences of the possessive pronoun "its" were wrongly spelt "it's". I know that many people have never been formally taught English grammar in school, but I'd strongly recommend buying a decent grammar reference book to avoid such errors. My personal favourite is Fowler's "Modern English Usage".

Oh dear god Harry ... you are RIGHT.

I completely and utterly overlooked that particular spelling issue. I am pretty mortified and thankful to you for pointing that out. I have just now gone through every single instance of 'it's' and it's in the whole book and I found a ghastly 32 wrong spellings

and in doing so I also found two general typos.

Again thank you for pointing that out. You have never said if you only read the preview or the whole book ? If you bought the book I would be more than happy to email you a copy gratis, including it's glorious new cover

Just PM me.

saoir · 12-03-2014, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thewitt

This one plagues me... Storyist flags it and even though I know it's incorrect, it slips into my writing without me realizing. It is also one of my final search and review items.

I can say now that it will NEVER EVER happen to me now that it has been pointed out to me. I was able to do a complete manuscript search with Scrivener and fix all 32 of them.

issybird · 12-03-2014, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saoir

I can say now that it will NEVER EVER happen to me now that it has been pointed out to me. I was able to do a complete manuscript search with Scrivener and fix all 32 of them.

Except that it happened in your preceding post. Or was that a joke and I'm slow on the uptake?

saoir · 12-03-2014, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

Except that it happened in your preceding post. Or was that a joke and I'm slow on the uptake?

No idea ... but my point is not that I won't make the error while typing ... more that it is one thing I will be SURE to check while editing.

HarryT · 12-04-2014, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saoir

Oh dear god Harry ... you are RIGHT.

I completely and utterly overlooked that particular spelling issue. I am pretty mortified and thankful to you for pointing that out. I have just now gone through every single instance of 'it's' and it's in the whole book and I found a ghastly 32 wrong spellings

and in doing so I also found two general typos.

Again thank you for pointing that out. You have never said if you only read the preview or the whole book ? If you bought the book I would be more than happy to email you a copy gratis, including it's glorious new cover

Just PM me.

I'm afraid I only looked at the sample, and was put off by all the errors. Don't know if you've corrected this one, but in the sample, someone is getting dressed and puts on a pair of "back trousers", which presumably was intended to be "black trousers". Spell checking is no substitute for proof-reading!

saoir · 12-04-2014, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm afraid I only looked at the sample, and was put off by all the errors. Don't know if you've corrected this one, but in the sample, someone is getting dressed and puts on a pair of "back trousers", which presumably was intended to be "black trousers". Spell checking is no substitute for proof-reading!

Fixed that one and many more around the time of your post.As I said I simply do not have anything close to the resources to do it professionally I am afraid. However I believe it is cleaned up a lot since day one. Thank you for checking it out.

If you change your mind, my offer stands. I would be interested in your view of the book as a whole.

09-21-2014, 07:28 PM	#1
saoir Groupie Posts: 188 Karma: 2088290 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Ireland Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Just Published my first book on KDP: Vineyard Hi all, I've been hanging out here for quite a while as I wrestled with getting my first book completed and used the power of Scrivener to give me what I needed to do it. And it did exactly that. I have now published my book on KDP http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NRUN2BO So MANY MANY thanks to you guys here for your advice. I still have work to do as I am not completely happy with how the KDP page looks and the pricing, but I hope I can iron out the wrinkles asap. Howard

12-02-2014, 06:13 PM	#7
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The most obvious error, and one which needs no resources to fix, was that all occurrences of the possessive pronoun "its" were wrongly spelt "it's". I know that many people have never been formally taught English grammar in school, but I'd strongly recommend buying a decent grammar reference book to avoid such errors. My personal favourite is Fowler's "Modern English Usage". Last edited by HarryT; 12-02-2014 at 06:17 PM.

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11-30-2014, 02:46 PM	#2
saoir Groupie Posts: 188 Karma: 2088290 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Ireland Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Hi everyone, After a bit of feedback I decided to redesign the cover of my book (see my Avatar) I hope people like it better ... and it sells better too PS: My second book, a sequel is coming within the month

12-01-2014, 03:31 AM	#3
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Have you had it properly edited now, Howard? The problem with it wasn't the cover - it was all the errors in it. Which is a great shame, because it is a good story.

12-01-2014, 08:51 PM	#5
thewitt Zealot Posts: 129 Karma: 1135446 Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Miami, Florida Device: iBooks	Consider a writing tool like Storyist. It has built in spelling and grammar checking which helps find a wide range of errors that can slip through the visual cracks,