Sunday, December 28, 2014

Writing Group Presentation, Part 6, Final Installment

Here's the final installment of the Writing Group Presentation, and possible my last post of 2014. See you on the other side of the year.

Part 6: Publishing Group Projects:

In this  modern world, writing groups can rather easily self-publish the work of members. We did this for Louisiana Inklings. And there are good sides and bad sides to doing so.

We first did an ebook only for Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, then created a printed version about a year later through Create Space. Here are some points to remember if your group decides to do this:

a. First you need an editor. Since I suggested the idea of publication for my group, I agreed to edit it. I’d had more experience than anyone else. I wanted to publish something from every member, but in no way as a vanity project. I wanted only quality writing.

Members selected their best stuff, although I made suggestions. All material had been through group review. Then I edited. Authors were informed of changes I wanted and could respond. Some pieces went through more revisions than others. This was by far the hardest and most time consuming part of the process. Just creating a uniform style for the publication was a real labor. I made a lot of notes. Your editor needs to have a lot of patience and pay close attention to detail.

b. Next you need a “process.” Self-publishing an ebook, a print book, or both, is a matter of following the guidelines. If you can follow the instructions to put a piece of furniture together, or to cook a complicated food dish, you can self publish. And there is a lot of helpful information available. I used Create Space for our Louisiana Inklings anthology and have been very pleased with it. They do a good job of walking you through the process. For specific questions about this you can email me at kainja at hotmail dot com.

Thanks for putting up with this rather long series. There is more on the topic of writing groups, and all other aspects of writing in my book, Write With Fire. If anyone would like a signed copy of Write With Fire, or the Inklings anthology, email me at kainja at hotmail dot com. The price would be 14 bucks for Write With Fire, and 10 for the Inklings anthology, plus whatever the mailing costs would be, which are usually a couple of bucks. By the way, both covers are courtesy of Lana Gramlich.
          
Now, any questions? 
-----
-----

12 comments:

Unknown said...

You are a brave man. Being an editor is a quick way to make enemies. I hope it worked out for you without much blood-letting and other hostile reactions.

pattinase (abbott) said...

My group is probably going to disintegrate as the founding members are moving. Very sad.

Cloudia said...

Hope this post becomes part of syllabi of writing groups and courses!

Groups have a life. Some long, some shorter, all worthwhile as long as they breathe.

ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
<3

Riot Kitty said...

I didn't know Lana did the covers, nice!

Charles Gramlich said...

R.T., I got fairly lucky. I didn't make any enemies, at least not that I know of. Who knows who keeps these things close to the vest.

Patti, sorry to hear that.

Cloudia, thanks. I appreciate the supportive comments.

Riot Kitty, yep. she takes such great photos.

Oscar Case said...

A How To Do It for writing groups. I think you've found a need for it, Charles. I have Write With Fire which is great info for any writer.

Charles Gramlich said...

Oscar, thanks for picking up Write With Fire. Much appreciated.

Ron Scheer said...

Very generous of you to take on that task for your group.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Charles, I learnt much from your six-part writing group presentation. I've been reading up on self-publishing about which views on the internet are conflicting. I guess that is to be expected.

A very Happy New Year to Lana and you, Charles! Hope you both have a great year.

Charles Gramlich said...

Ron, I learned a lot from it.

Prashant, thanks. Glad you enjoyed. And happy new year to you and yours as well!

Erik Donald France said...

Fascinating ~ cool deets ~!

Charles Gramlich said...

Erik, thanks man.