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Beanie Blog #9
February 22, 2022 Prisoner of Technology aka old person:
I’m writing this blog from Tech-prison—granted it’s a
prison I can leave at any time, but while I’m in it, it holds me hostage and I
can’t navigate my way through.
As an Indie author—technology is a crucial part
of creating books. I’ve had crash courses in formatting, framing, shape and
size, spacing, indentations, font size, inserting text and photos, justification
and a thousand other things. Then I entered into the world of conversion to
other formats (my nemesis) and creating book covers. More than once I ended up
in tears and walking away from the computer.
I worked most of my adult life in offices as a
billing clerk, secretary, and finally a Docket Clerk for a judge. I considered
myself pretty tech savvy and managed to produce newsletters, reports, graphs,
etc. and anything my boss asked of me—which only gave me a false sense of my
ability when I ventured into book publishing.
Creating a novel that reads well and looks
good is a whole new frontier. I love the writing part—writing is food for my
soul and unleashes my creative side—but creating the book is another world to
me. I don’t even mind the endless editing—it’s a necessary evil but the result
is a book that appeals and engages readers. But then comes the publishing part
and everything I thought I knew goes out the window. Why do there have to be so
many different formats? Can’t we go the way of the phone charger and settle on
just one kind? Apparently, not.
Recently, I discovered a group on facebook who
create professional book covers and I felt like it was Christmas. Most graphic
designers out there charge BIG bucks for a cover, and I never considered paying
that much. Then I found MiblArt and they created my paperback and Kindle cover
for a reasonable fee. I was so happy to pay them and save myself literally weeks
of frustration. (It took me three weeks to create the cover for Jillian Boone)
Even though I was happy with the Jillian Boone cover, I am now
considering pulling it and letting a pro re-do it. Everyone in my writers’
groups on facebook will tell you the cover sells the book.
In closing, when faced with challenges that
take the joy out of what you do—seek out help and focus on the part you love to
do. I will happily keep writing (book #4 is almost finished) and leave the
technology to someone more savvy than myself. They win and I win because my
sanity is worth a lot these days (post covid, it’s actually a sacred thing) and
now I can look ahead and tackle social media…..wait, there’s facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, and... NEVERMIND.
Yours sanely, Sabina (Beanie) Boston
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