A New Year and Opportunities Abound

Metadata is awesome.  On Facebook once, not too long ago I saw a site for publishing an e-book, which has been my goal for quite some time now.  I had already looked into Smashwords, but my problem with that is that the formatting of the Word document is completely baffling to me.  This new site, Tablo.com, you can either pay to have someone do it for you, or you can input it into a template and it does it for you.  So that's what I'm doing.


In fact, I spent most of yesterday when I was "working" (I always love classroom files where more than half of it is group discussions, and I earn a dollar a minute to browse the internet with my foot on a pedal...) critiquing stuff on Scribophile, and doodling around on Author's Den.  Over there, at AD, it turns out they've changed the access of the free members once again.  You are only allowed 20 pages.  I've been part of AD since before and forever (I still remember the day I set my password, at the computer in the Hwy 83 house, quickly, before rushing back to the table to take my turn at the game we were playing)  I'm grandfathered in with my 160 pages, but I cannot add any more.


So I have two choices in my somewhat half-hearted plans to use my teasers on Author's Den (Writing.com really feels like a bust... more of another reviewing site, like Scribe).  I can either pull down everything that's up there and start over, which seems okay to me, but will be time consuming.  Some of those poems and stories I'm not sure that I have hard copies of any longer.  Or, I can say  "Eff it." and just leave AD hanging around in limbo-ed stasis.


I guess there's a third option, but that involves upgrading.  i don't have the money for that right now.


But then last night I logged into Tablo, where i had apparently already made a user name, and I began to lay out my first e-book.  A Study in Shade and Shadow.  Once i had it pasted in, i went through and did another edit, once again using some things I've learned from my short time on Scribe.  Even with the things i fixed, the crap i couldn't believe had gotten past me on dozens of other read-throughs, I'm impressed with the story.  I love that story.


I'm nervous to push it through... and I need a cover before I can.  I'm hoping maybe the husband will make one up for me.  something simple.  maybe an arch, with a line of fire... ooh, yeah.  i like that...


Once that's done, Letters From the Desert will be next... probably.  or perhaps i should break off and do the five Children stories first... then there will be some connection back for when Enna and Eillim mention Nessa... hmm...