T-6 Days for the publshing of “Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Career.”

Well, tonight I go and see if I can get the Kindle and ePub formatting together.  Applying all my hard-won past lessons (when the flashbacks weren’t too much), I actually got things working pretty well.  The latest version of Jutoh runs smoothly, and if all goes well I’ll end the evening with two rough formats.  The Kindle one should be good, the ePub may need slight tweaking depending on some Lulu ISBN changes.

The PDF?  That’s easy.  Worst part there, ironicaly, is regular formatting to make it fit, well, the standard format.

So wish me luck.

I’m also getting review requests!  So if you want to review the book, contact me and let me know about your website, etc. and we’ll talk.  Heck, I might have a Kindle/ePub version ready for you . . .

I also like the review requests as it keeps extending one of the awesome parts of doing this – meeting amazing people.  It’s not just people to review my books, it’s meeting folks with similar interests.

But now, I walk into the Valley of Formatting . . .

- Steven Savage

Well, toaday gets interesting as I work on “Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers”

First, last night I figured out formatting  . . . mostly.  I’ll actually do my formatting by hand simply because it gives me more control than the unsurety of using new conversion tools.

And I got an inquiry by someone wanting to do a review, which is awesome, though I’ll have to make sure they get something in a reasonable format.  More may be pending based – email is coming in all the time.

So it’s accelerating towards October 4th.

Next up, putting a few things in order, and then running the final conversion for ePub and Kindle, and then PDF.  I do PDF last because ePub and Kindle conversions help me find any last errors.

So, here we go . . .

- Steven Savage

8 Days until “Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers” is out!

So today, I ask myself – how I’m going to move to eBooks.

PDF?  Easy.  Open Office does it a treat, compatable, simple, effective.

ePub or Kindle?  Well now we get into crazytown.

As noted earlier, Lulu and Amazon now allow one to convert documents, which sounds great, except I would have to learn new systems.  And test the results.  And possibly redo things. And . . .

I went through conversion engines a few times, and beyond Smashword’s Meatgrinder, I’m not exactly happy with them.

But . . .  well I have to look at them in case.  To see if they’ll work.  If they’ll make things easier (especially at Lulu, which has expanded their eBook opportunities).  Just to be sure.

The odd thing is that this is easier because I like to write, so I’m always tweaking things or putting books out.  I’d hate to think what’d happen if I did this, say, yearly.  I’d go through rampup each time.

So, onward, I got some conversion packages to examine . . . you know.  In case.

- Steven Savage

So the book is edited and just waiting to be formatted, and now it’s on to the cover.

The problem of course is that the cover is for an eBook, and the rules are a bit different.  The cover’s really only going to be seen as an icon or a blurb on a screen people go through, so I’m not going to an artist.  If I do a print version, that’ll possibly have a new cover, but right now I have to make something that shows up on the eBook stores.

This isn’t always as clear as it seems, and it’s a strange balance:

• You have to make it clear.
• You have to make it interesting.
• You have to make it readable.
• You have to do it in the small space that will appear on people’s screens.

My previous self-made covers have been mixed bags, so I’m sticking with my retro interest and going for abstract, somewhat colorful, and clear text.

Wish me luck.  Nine more days.

You can find more about the book at the website.

- Steven Savage

And the editing of “Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers” is done.   We have ten days until launch of the ebooks.

I want to note I hate editing.

Oh I don’t mind the act.  It’s very important.  In some cases it’s quite insightful.  In all cases it makes the book easier to read.

The reason I hate it is that it is hard to stop.

If you have ever published anything, from fanfic to a public book, you know that you are never satisfied, ever, with the results.  You can look at that book or document or whatever and keep finding mistakes until the apocalypse.  You will never be 100% happy with it.

I of course try to make it perfect, and know I can’t.

So what I actually do for my editing is set boundaries.  I edit “X” amount of times, I take my editor’s comments, etc.  At a certain point after enough actions or iterations I declare it done and move on.

Why not try to make it perfect?  Because I won’t.  A book that looked perfect to me today will look flawed tomorrow.

So what I do is set that deadline and bloody well make it worth it.

Not only does it keep me from obsessing forever, it also forces me to make the time editing worth it.  Knowing I set limits in place keeps me from wasting my time.

I’m especially curious about how knowing I’m doing this as an ebook has affected my mindset.  Was I less cautious because it’s easy to correct, or more cautious because I expect greater sales and a more diverse audience?  Was the nature of the book (driven by interviews) making it easier or harder to edit as I’m using a different voice?

I don’t know, but it’s going to be fun to watch and learn.

Next up, time to format . . .we’re nearly done!

- Steven Savage

As everyone knows I go through Lulu for most of my physical books and for ePub and PDF format.  For Kindle, of course I go through Amazon.  It’s how I did Fan To Pro, Convention Career Convention, and the Best-Of Books.

So I’m going to release “Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers”

So here I am, and now?  Lulu has some new ePub converters and such available for iBookstore and Nook distribution.

I should be happy.  Hell, I’ve loved what Smashwords did with Meatgrinder.  But . . .

Now I have a question.  Do I do the ePub myself or try their converter?

See this will make my life easy – except to see if it WILL I have to try it out, and then if it’s close-but-not-quite, I have to decide how much time to put into it.

Here’s somethign to remember if you’re self-published; things are changing.  Rapidly.  YOU will need to keep up on them and pace yourself.

Me?  I gotta find another spare 2-3 hours to try this thing out . . .

- Steven Savage

Another update on my work on Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers

Well today’s the day I have to change editors.

it’s not a crisis – my editor landed a killer job interview which killed the chance she’d get to the book.  This was on top of some illness going around and the usual chaos.

Fortunately I had two other editors in the wings, and the next person in the que was up and ready to do it – at a discount.  Of course I still have one spare editor whose total dynamite, so I need to keep her in mind for yet other projects . . .

The joy of self-publishing.

I’ve learned from this that editing really is something to start much earlier, and my attempt to make a condensed timeframe made this a bit more difficult.  For my next book using this method I’m clearly going to have to rethink some of my timelines – I think I need to get things edited almost as I work on them.

Still, the book’s coming together – if I get the final edits in this weekend, next weekend will be formatting the eBooks, and we’re still on track for October 4th . . .

- Steven Savage

Latest contest is here: [link]

And our first two entries:
Dappledawn: [link]
Pony Of Legend: [link]

Keep ‘em coming!

- Steve

It’s time to “Speak Out With Your Geek Out.”

I am Steven Savage.

I am a geek.

I am a professional geek and I am proud of it.

What is a geek? A  geek is a person deeply into something and the ability to communicate it and be involved with that something.  Maybe it’s literature or games or a band.  If you are passionate and deeply “into” something you are a geek.

If you apply it, you’re a professional geek.

Geeks have always been there.  A geek was the person who obsessively chipped away at rocks to get just the right tool.  A geek was the person who asked “what does this mushroom do.”  A geek was a there to fall in love with the math that built great buildings of history.  The medicines you take, the cars you drive, even the foods you eat have been made, touched, and often improved by geeks.

Many great figures in history were geeks.  Confucius’ love of history and learning led him to formulate his philosophy.  Language geek Tolkien created a modern classic in the form of “Lord of the Rings.”  Just look at Ben Franklin and his wild, imaginative mind and you’ll see a geek who helped found a country.

These days, geek-wise . . . well have you taken a good look at the major figures in computing the last few decades?  Seriously?  Geeks – with business sense in most cases.

When someone makes a cure for cancer you can bet they’ll have a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” poster at their desk.  When we find a way to travel to the stars, the great minds behind that leap into warp drive will probably have a cache of yaoi manga in their rooms.

I am a creature of passion, information, and communication – in short, a geek.

I have applied it to my profession and my life in order to do good with this inclination.

I am proud of it.

I am Steven Savage, geek.  Professional Geek.  Geek 2.0.  Geek applied.

- Steven Savage