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  1. DriedPen

    DriedPen Member

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    New Found Freedom

    Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by DriedPen, Oct 24, 2020.

    I have always been a wordsmith, or as I jokingly say about the hobby in deliberately poor grammar: "I could not...not write".

    I have done quite a bit of published stuff, some of which I am proud of, and quite a bit that I am not. In the printed word, I have done a memoir, a children's book, and about to finish my novel.

    The latter is interesting as I wrote it some 18 years ago, from conception to third draft even, but then my wife did not like it. We go to church, and yet, my book had a woman who was with child out of wedlock, so she was not comfortable with having the book printed. I tried for 18 years to think of a plot without her being with child, but it was the basis if the story. So it sat...for years!

    Then my wife left me abruptly.

    Maybe it is the inner husband-rebellion in me, but I realized I could make, print, and bind my own books, so I legally made my own publishing company through a spin-off of another business, and started printing my memoir, and children's book. Fiction work is new for me, so I found this site in researching improvements to my novel that I insist will get onto the written page.

    Apologies up front however, as I am a teacher and so you might see me post..."I see a teaching moment here", and then my inner teacher comes out, but I mean no ill. I love that people are writing, and only hope some of my ideas can help keep them keep writing, and perhaps as an improved writer. But by all means, I remember where I came from, so it is with my own humility that I critique others!
     
  2. Kyle Phoenix

    Kyle Phoenix Active Member

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    Welcome to the forums DriedPen. Congratulations on printing your books and enjoying your moment of literary rebellion. I hope you have a great time here. :D
     
  3. Thundair

    Thundair Contributor Contributor

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    I too had drafts of books I started back before computers and they ended up in storage for forty years. I retired five years ago and finished two of the hand written novels and am working on the third.
    You bring a new meaning to self publish by printing and binding yourself. Good on you.
    I look forward to your post and welcome.
     
  4. DriedPen

    DriedPen Member

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    It really is not that hard. You probably have most of the stuff around your house or apartment to do it as well.

    The biggest thing is getting a printer that can Duplex Print. Without that, you end up running your book through your printer twice. Once on one side, and then the other. But here is the kicker...and killer of the book...if your printer picks up an extra page by accident, as the cheaper printers are known for, then your whole book from that point on is junk. That is a lot of paper and ink to waste. You need a duplex printer that has cheaper ink, and ink toner cartridges that can print a pile of pages.

    After that, it is just printing the covers which take a printer that can print legal paper. That can be shipped out too though, to a copy shop that has a plotter. That is my next purchase for sure.

    As for the books, it is just an issue of mind over time. Print 7 books a week, and in a year you have 365 books. At $5 profit per book, you have made $1825 which is better than a rejection letter on a book that only partially resembles what you summitted.
     
    Thundair likes this.

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