David Bareiss
The Greatest Arizona Adventure Novel has not yet been written. But it could be the one that’s been floating around in your head for the last 50 years. Now that you’re retired in one of the greatest active adult communities in the world, it’s time to finally get that story out of your head, written, and published. However, if you are unsure about how to accomplish that, the Quail Creek Writers and Poets Club is ready to assist.
We are sure that you have considered taking advantage of the many TV ads that offer to help you publish your book. You know, the ads go like this: “For the amazing low, low price of only several thousand dollars, we will help you write your novel, edit it, prepare it for print, design the cover, and publish it.” If that amazing low, low price is the only thing holding you back, consider the zero-dollar self-publishing route. We can show you how to self-publish for the fantastic low, low price of a $20-per-year club membership.
How can that be, you ask? The answer is partially in the way modern publishing works. Throughout most of the 20th century, books were laboriously offset printed in large lots. Authors were required to come up with an advance payment to cover the setup, printing, and storage costs, necessary for an efficient production quantity of books.
Today, no finished books are inventoried. Manuscripts are electronically stored and sent to modern printing equipment when a customer orders a single book, much like ordering a copy from FedEx. Orders for books are accepted in any quantity, starting with one, and are immediately shipped as orders are received. The author’s cost for a 200-page self-published copy is less than $5. It’s a little more for hardcover.
However, there is a downside to the new system. To publish without costly professional help, authors must present their manuscript to the printing company in a specific computer format. Converting the manuscript into that format is a daunting task for most casual computer users who have always done their writing on the default 8.5 by 11-inch letter size.
Unfortunately, books that are 8.5 inches by 11 inches are large, unwieldy, and only meant to lie on coffee tables. Along with changing the paper size, the interior margins must be larger than the outer margins, and a heading section must be added with separate page numbers. Then there are chapter titles in a separate font. But the most daunting task is providing usable cover art in the required format.
However, these tasks can be mastered with a bit of help from us for the unbelievable low, low price of a $20 bill for a year’s membership in the Quail Creek Writers and Poets Club. Check us out for free by logging into qcwap.org and selecting the red Self-Publishing button at the top of the page. While you’re there, click on Who We Are, then select Published Works to see books self-published by our members.
The club meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 1 p.m. in the Kino Center Conference Room. Your presence would be most welcome.