Chapter 5
What To Do Before, While, And After Your Manuscript Is Uploading
The search
terms you provide are essential in bringing readers to your book site
At some time during the writing of your
manuscript, you need to set up an account in CreateSpace. It’s user-friendly.
Go to www.createspace.com and click “Sign
up” in the far left hand column. Completing all your information at this time is my recommendation.
Once you have an account and have completed
your manuscript, Log in. Click the Add New Title icon, and then follow the
prompts to start a new project. Below is a screenshot of that screen looks like
after a project is available. What
you see when you are adding a project will have empty checkboxes where you see
checks below.
If you’ve never explored CreatSpace, it’s worthwhile to
take some time to explore the links in the far left column. Exploring needs to
head your “to do list,” if this is the
first manuscript you’ve ever submitted anywhere.
After your tour of the resources available, move to the Setup column. Make sure you are
prepared by having your complete title ready. The two top links attach an ISBN
number to your title FOREVER.
Clicking Interior
takes you to the screen where you upload your manuscript in
CreateSpace—remember the file type requirements. Once you begin the upload, you
must wait while their software runs a spelling and grammar check. The
spell-checker is a good one, so be sure you review what they find. If you have
names of characters that trigger the program, checking to ignore them will
store that information and keep them from re-appearing when you make any
corrections and resubmit.
The prompt while the manuscript is uploading suggests you
work on your cover or go on to the next step in the process while the upload
continues. Hopefully, you already have your cover in place before you upload
your manuscript, but if not, you probably want to work on it then. However, I
recommend you have prepared for this “downtime” differently than by planning on
using it to finish your cover.
There are things you should have finished and ready to
enter into the appropriate fields further down the process before you begin
uploading your manuscript. There are also fields into which you can input data
while—or after—the manuscript loads. Explore. See what’s available. But plan on
using the uploading time for something besides staring at your monitor.
Once your interior and cover are uploaded, click the Review tab and follow the prompts. At
the minimum, quickly proof your book online and download the PDF at this time.
This is also the time you can order a physical proof.
The Distribute
tab is where you make decisions on how and where you want your book marketed by
Amazon. You’ll also need to determine your price for both print and electronic
versions of the book. While a bit tedious, the prompts are clear and they
programming keeps you from really goofing up.
The Description
link is crucial to the successful marketing of your book. The entire next
section will focus on that link. The figure that follows is a screenshot of the
Description window for Idea Farming.
I suggest you follow the link “How do I use this page?”
before you begin the first time.
Not surprisingly, the first field to fill is titled,
“Description”—and it’s just that. What you put here is what shows up on your
book’s Amazon page. Take your time. Remember this description is the only
chance you get to make a first impression of your book with readers looking for
material to purchase—see Chapter 6. Also consider what you have on your back
cover—see Chapter 9.
Unless you’ve worked with a publisher at some time in your
writing experience the next field, BISAC Category, is a mystery. Here’s
what you get when you click on “What’s this?”
Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) categories are used
by the book-selling industry to help identify and group books by their subject
matter. Choose the BISAC category that best fits your book.
Book buyers and sellers at the wholesale and retail level
use the BISAC categories extensively. The screenshot below shows part of the
list—specially, where you find the link to ALL fiction choices. Since Idea
Farming is not a fictional piece, my BISAC categories will not be the same as
yours.
Choose the options that provided the tightest focus on
your book’s content. This is a major search pathway for bookstores and the
starting point for almost all search engines when looking for books. Once you
get to the “end” of the trail in this listing, the software automatically adds
it to the box when you select “Choose this Category.”
Unfortunately, far too many authors skip the next
optional areas—don’t you
be one of those authors.
Begin by copying and pasting from your biography. If you
didn’t include a biography on your cover compose one now and insert it.
Chapters 7-9 describe my recommendations for completing the cover production
process—including your Author’s Biography.
Arguably, the most important field on this screen is the Search Keywords field. In case you
skipped the preceding sentence:
Arguably, the
most important field on this screen
is the Search Keywords field.
Assuming you want to sell copies of your book, the
search keywords you provide are essential in bringing readers to your book site.
Very few readers just randomly scroll through Amazon’s nearly 8 MILLION titles
looking for a book to read. People are with the process used in searching for
specific items online. The better your keywords align with the search
parameters of your potential readers…
…hopefully, you get the
idea.
What should you consider before putting up your
five (5) keywords?
That’s right. Five is the maximum number of words
and/or short phrases you can include in your keyword list. Think before you add
them. Talk to your pre-readers before
you add keywords. Pretend you were searching for a book like yours—what words
would you use to narrow your search?
If your book has a target audience, that audience
description should be a keyword. But, don’t put up a target audience unless
you’re sure it’s a match with your books content and style—word gets out if you
are considered to have misled your searchers.
Keywords for Idea
Farming, the first booklet in this series, are intentionally visible. In
case you haven’t read that book yet, it uses an analogy of different types of
farming to describe the writing process. I think the keywords align closely to
the book.
Good news is, once your book is available, you can go in
and modify keywords, if you wish. While changing keywords on a whim is not the
best strategy, listen to what people say about your book—modify when
appropriate.
Remember the BISAC descriptors? Do not repeat your BISAC descriptors in your keywords—they are
already attached to your book. You should choose specific keywords and add them
here because of what your book is about.
Chapter
5 Takeaways
·
You need to
open a CreateSpace account.
·
Explore the
FREE and “for a fee” resources Create Space offers.
·
You will
have to make marketing choices before your book is available for sale.
·
Have a
description of your book and a brief author’s biography ready to post when
asked in the Description stage of the process.
·
Five is the maximum number of words and/or short phrases you can
include in your keyword list. Think before you add them.
Next blog: Proofreading Epiphany Revealed
