Chapter 2: Font, Cover, Action!
“When your book gets bought by a publishing house and they need to design the cover, do you think I can design it for them?” My husband, Brett, asked one night over dinner.
Brett is an amazing artist. Of course I would want him to design my novel’s cover. How cool would that be, right? But I laughed in his face.
I may have even spurted food from my mouth, so preposterous did I find the idea.
“Darling, dear, deluded husband of mine,” I began, “there is no chance in hell that a publisher would let us do that.” I wiped my chin with a napkin and continued. “If I get a publishing deal, I think we just have to nod and smile and let the powers that be do what they do.”
Not that I am at all an expert in these things, but I do have several friends who have published books through big houses, and they did not get a say in the cover design. Barnes and Noble did.
However, six months after that dinner conversation, I began the process of self-publishing my first novel. And Brett — my darling, dear, delighted husband — got the opportunity to design the cover.
Welcome to my self-publishing diaries. The first installment explained my decision to self-publish. In this second installment, I will walk you through some of the initial steps I took to prepare the manuscript for publication. Continue reading here.