Take Two! (Blog Book 2) Redone!

       OMG, I am so silly. Yes, there are those who can figure things out the first time, and then there are those of us who screw up, face it, realize we're nincompoops and we move forward! Nothing to see here, just me, raising my hand and shouting "MY BAD!!"  I do that. I have no problem whatsoever admitting it. If I am wrong, I know it. I am the hardest person on myself. I don't mind making mistakes if I catch it soon enough, but damn - - this was NOT one of those times.

    So, I published a book titled "Jude's Almost Daily Blog Book 2" and I really really hope no one has purchased it yet because I found not only interior issues such as spacing, and whatnot, I also (and I can't believe this actually happened) realized that I published the book using someone's copyrighted cover photo. I think the back photo was OK, but the front cover was definitely not a freebie. I didn't know that because the word "Pro" on the Canva site was really hard to see; and the first time I used the cover art I must have missed it. This time, when I was making a correction, I saw it...and I dropped my cookies!

    I think the book was up for about one week, and I'll know in a few days if anyone besides myself and Mom happens to grab one, I apologize in advance.  When Ingram Spark sent the galley or the eProof for me to download and approve it looked fine. You can't see how it will look in book form when it's on the computer's screen. You can imagine, but you can't know; at least I can't know. I decided to buy a copy for myself, and one for my mom, so she can go through it and find errors. Before she even got her copy in the mail I was fussing at myself. WHY??? Why am I so scatterbrained sometimes and so on-point at other times? I have (seriously) no idea.

    I got the book, and immediately, just from the packaging, I could tell it was too thin. I wanted a thicker book. It was only 262 pages, but when the pages are 6x9 vs 5x8 you can tell the difference. It's too thin in my opinion, and if they're charging people $15 I don't like that. I want people to feel comfortable buying a book for $15 that will be worth the money they are paying for it. I opened the book and noticed three issues; again, almost immediately. These are issues you can't see when they send the eProof to you online. 

• The spacing between the lines was only single-spaced even though I know I had formatted for 1.15 spacing. 
• The space between the header and the first line was too short as well.
• There were spaces between some paragraphs and not others!!! OMG!!! 

    That last one did me in for sure. I was shaking my head and outwardly complaining, but you couldn't hear me. I uploaded a few blogs at the end and hadn't taken the time to go through them page by page to check the spacing. I did check the size of the font, the justification of the pages, and all that, but I didn't check the space between the paragraphs and then I had to go through the entire thing and remove space before and after paragraphs, and most of the time it worked in my favor, but there were one or two I had to fight with. HATE that. I'm such a dork. 

    

    Well, when I'm writing blogs for the computer (this Blogspot) I space out my paragraphs, but when I add them to the books I don't. I try to stay consistent with what is expected by publishers, and readers alike. I did my research and decided to make the spacing 1.15 and no spaces between paragraphs, only intentions. When I tell you there are so many rules to remember, there are too many rules to remember. It's great to know I can do this on my own now without paying someone, but the burden of knowing what to do is in fact, ON ME. I have failed, but I relish in my failures, as they are stepping stones to my intended success. It will happen; someday.

    

    Someday, after  I have sold countless copies of my books (plural) people will then begin to come to this blogspot to read more about what is going on in my little life, and they'll see that I've come full circle with the whole "I can do this" adventures of writing and publishing books without costing myself anything really. I mean, I do have to pay for the copies I order, and the postage to send them to myself. I think I could probably order them for my friends in the UK, but I'll have to check to see what the postage will be. I don't want to volunteer too much!! I'm a sucker for saying "Sure, anytime!!" when I should be saying, "Oh, I don't know, let me check that."  If you know me you know.

   

    Well, that's about it, I have the new cover designed and I'll post it here. It's different. I wasn't expecting this one to pop up, but it did!!  I like it. I have to go back now and check out the other book covers I've made to be sure I didn't do the same thing!! OH...MY...GOSH, I would die. LOL

    

    

Photo Credit: Me