Just as I was thinking that I had a handle on publishing I found myself in an interesting pickle. A couple of months ago I had serious Windows 8.1 upgrade issues.  The result:  my Surface Pro and my laptop got out of sync and I didn’t realize I wasn’t access the same version of the document on both machines..  Needless to say not all of my changes have been made to the copy of the book I thought was almost ready.  ARGGGGGGG!

I’m sure I’m not the first person that technology has failed, and I can recover, but dang… my happy meter is low today.  I figure it will take a couple of weeks for me to fix it.  I can now look forward to comparing the versions side by to determine what’s what.  I’ve made some slight content changes as well as grammar updates from my editing staff (friends and family), so it will be a detailed compare.  No shortcuts for me.

While I’m very irritated over the versions not syncing up (as I had the machines set up to do) I must admit I don’t know how I could have written the book at all without a word processor.  When I start a book I take the following steps:

  1. Write an outline.  This isn’t the outline that any English teacher on the planet would find acceptable.  It’s simply a list of  the big actions in the book.
  2. 2nd run through.  Write the story to get from action to action.
  3. 3rd run through.  Go over the story to add the details.   This is a wash, rinse, repeat task.  I go back through the story multiple times to address everything from content, to grammar, to checking facts and data.
  4. Hand it Off.  Turn the book over to my husband for the first external review.
  5. Turn the book over to other reviewers.

All those five steps show is just how much I change a book from inception to external editing.  I can’t imagine doing that without a word processor.

Technology notwithstanding, there has been progress over the past week.  I ordered ISBNs, worked on the book cover, drew maps  of my world (which I will ultimately post here) and even had a few minutes to actually start the version compare.  That’s in addition to working full time at the lovely job that pays my bills.

I’ve spent a lot of time researching creative commons and have been very happy with what I’ve found.  Since I’m a do-it-yourself type without the necessary drawing skills, creative commons is a great resource.  The legaleze is a bit confusing (no surprise there) but it’s been well worth my time to do the research.

In the final tally, technology rules.  I wouldn’t even think about publishing if I couldn’t go the e-publishing route.  Perhaps technology is grand after all.