Edit: Previous title was called 'do people seek out feedback before publishing' have changed it as really I am trying to get advice on publishing on kindle. for now I want to publish 4000-5500 word short stories for 99c each A question is- do I have to get it copyrighted before I do it, or the minute it's published on kindle, is it already copyrighted? question two- is it really as really as uploading a manuscript onto your account, and they put it on? Thanks, and sorry for the change of title, I didn't want to waste two separate discussions. ---- Original question: I plan to self publish a book of 8 or so short stories on Kindle. How should I go about getting some people to read it and give some feedback, before doing so. Or should I just put it up without the feedback? Thanks.
There are some rules, but you can request some feedback on here. I think you need to have critiqued two pieces for every one you submit. You can also look into beta readers. There is a group on Goodreads. I am not sure what their rules are. I am sure there are other sources for beta readers, but I am not familiar with them. I would definitely suggest you get feedback before publishing.
Please, please do. Almost every time I beta or read a contest entry here I find something out of place. SPAG, word choice, character names or descriptions changing mid-story. And y'know what? I've been teaching English at a university level for over ten years, and every time I put something up for beta or critique, somebody finds something that I fucked up. I don't think there's anyone whose work couldn't do with a second set of eyes before being released into the wild, especially if you're hoping to get paid for it.
copyright depends on where you are - if you are in America you ought to register it, if you are in the UK you don't have to (if you are elsewhere it varies) In terms of uploading the manuscript you can upoad a word document but the formatting is usually shit - better to use a converter like D2d or Jutoh (I use vellum but that's an expense not worth it for a few short stories). You also need a book cover (front cover only) Feedback - yes definitely , and potentially an editor, and a proof reader (the good news is that most editors charge by word count so a short story will cost less to edit than a novel) Also I'd advise putting all 8 in to a box set/collection and listing it at say $3.99 as well as doing them singly. (the real challenge is getting eyes on your work- and its very difficult to make ads give a positive return on 99c units … hence i'd suggest a compilation and advertising that)
Do people really buy single short stories? Especially, if a writer is unknown? Even a collection of self-published short stories, I imagine is a hard sell. You might be better off really working each story and trying to sell them individually to magazines or journals. They will pay you and the rights come back to you after publication. At that point, you can still decide to self publish them if you want. I'm just not sure how great the potential reach or financial return is going to be if you just put them up on kindle. How many individual short stories have you bought that were self published on kindle? Even short story collections that were self published? I read a lot of short stories, but I find there are plenty of better places to come across good works to read. Just something to think about.
I appreciate your advice. you are perhaps right. it is more about me wanting to be a published author, which I am now! I have just published it and it is on Kindle now. The short story is called 'The Bereft Woman' and my author name is Rohan Artemis, if anyone wants to read it. It is 99c. I'm trying to find a way of making a location independent income from writing (preferably fiction). Just trying to find out the best way of doing that
I have two books published on Kindle, both non-fiction. Both have done moderately well. I see e-publishing and Print-On-Demand as conveniences, allowing me to provide them to people without using conventional printing or fulfillment businesses. The downside is that, without a publisher, it's up to you to do all the promotion and publicity, and find your readership. If you think that your stuff might be subject to plagiarism, I would definitely copywrite it. It's really your only protection. And I would also get an ISBN for your book. Yeah, it costs, but it allows you to transport the book to another e-publisher if you decide that Kindle isn't for you. This doesn't have to be done right away, but if your book is selling well, it's worth the expense. (But if you change formats, like go to print or illustrated, you'd have to get a new ISBN, I think.)
Its copyright and you own it as soon as you write the book... in the US it is worth registering copyright (in the UK there isn't a service for it and the website that pretends to be one is a private company with no official standing - UK authors can register in the US if they are selling into the American market.)
I just want to say that I NEVER buy individual short stories on kindle and even more so if the writer is unknown. When I first started coming across these 10 page books they were selling on amazon I would laugh about it with people I knew because I thought it all some sort of bad joke, and then I got annoyed when I realized how serious it was. I try so hard to filter out the unknown short stories when I'm searching for books. No offense to anyone who writes and publish those but that's the truth.
I'd certainly get someone to read your work first as some form of critique and once you're satisfied with the layout, SPAG and contents, perhaps you'll need to look at a cover design. KDP offer some bland template examples, but you're probably better off with something original. I uploaded my first fiction book to KDP last month and was pleasantly surprised at how simple the whole procedure was.
Unless you've got design experience I suggest buying a decent premade … I do my own but I have twenty odd years experience with photoshop Whether you buy one or make one it needs to be decent even for a novella or short story... if you make your own in word or paint or similar you may as well not bother publishing