Wow, its been an amazing two plus months here at Findlay Books! Not only have we self-published 29+ ebooks on Amazon for Kindle, we have set up a website (this one), a facebook page (www.facebook.com/findlaybooks), a twitter account (https://twitter.com/#!/FindlayBooks) which, by the way I never wanted to start on, and we have had so much encouragement from so many people, friends and family, and others we do not know – it has been amazing.

It’s been a steep learning curve too. I've had to learn so many things, like: 1) three new programs – desktop publishing, document, and HTML editor; 2) Facebook business page and Twitter; 3) publishing to Amazon – which includes correct formatting of each ebook; 4) royalty payments and international tax information; and 5) I had to learn which of my gorgeous ebooks actually sell, and which don’t sell so well. Amazingly, my Rocket Boy ebooks, both series, didn’t sell that well to begin with, and much to my disappointment I must admit. I loved those books so very much, but it appears that not every mum and dad out there is as much an astrogeek as I am, I guess. Although I have to admit, the Venus Transit event that took place earlier this month boosted my Rocket Boy book sales almost 200%! Crazy, I know.

Tip and advice for new ebook authors out there:

Find a fantastic editor – and not just someone who is good with words, but someone who can tell you if a page/story/illustration doesn’t work. My editor is fantastic, and I'm not just saying that, because he is also my HTML editor, technical advisor, computer technician and husband!
Not everyone is going to love your ebooks like you do. And a few nasty reviews is a given if you are going to put your creative work out there publically. Take it in stride and respond with grace and humour. For some idiots out there... well that is all you can do really.
Find a group of writers and/or illustrators who can give you much-needed advice on your writing. They come in really handy when you want to see if your work really is worth the hours you are putting in.

Don’t forget to research all the legal stuff before you publish your work. Images have to be copyright-free or you will need wirtten permission to use them. Tax information is hard to come by if you live outside the States. Whether to publish DRM free or not – well I'm still fuzzy on that question, but my hubby is certain that its better for all to not get sticky with the DRM stuff. [Ed note: DRM is probably blog-post-worthy in itself. Generally though: avoid it.]
Formatting – well that is just a pain in the rear end if you don’t know what you are doing. There are style guides and getting-started guides out there that help with how to format your ebook for publishing, but you basically need to either upload a .DOC file, or, in the case of Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, a .MOBI file will work too (that is where my amazing hubby comes in!) [Ed note: there is a Kindle MOBI converter, if you’re savvy with HTML and the command line, or willing to learn them, which is not as hard as it sounds.] But basically, formatting an ebook is different from formatting for traditional paper-back publishing – for one, ebooks don’t have page numbers!

If you are interested in learning more about getting started in the area of self-publishing/ebook publishing/indie publishing, feel free to email me at info@findlaybooks.com. I would be most happy to help answer questions you may have, if I am able.

So, from one newbie ebook author Mama to another, have fun out there!

- Joy Findlay.