The first copies of the paperback edition of my book have arrived and I'm really pleased with the quality! This is probably the thickest book in my collection and on good quality white paper, not the yellow flaky stuff that many paperbacks are printed with.
The official "book registration" process is just about done. It's not difficult, not compared to the vast and bewildering complexity of registering music. First I applied for ten ISBN codes from Nielsen, the registrar for U.K. ISBN's. They entered details of the first book into their international book database. Then, got an EAN code made from the ISBN (modern ISBN codes are the same as EAN codes, so that was easy, I found some free software called Presilo to generate the barcode image), and I printed the book with the barcode on the back according to specifications on the BIC website. For the paperback edition a new ISBN is needed so I assigned a new one, and have applied to access the Nielsen database, so that I can type the publication details in myself. Next stop was to print one copy of each book to send to the British Library, which is a legal obligation.
That's about it. The website, www.pentangel.co.uk, was the final step. Soon I'll add the books to that so that people can order from it. Today I read about something called an Onix Availability Status Code, which each publisher uses to specify if a book is available, in print, on order, etc. My books will be available only from me directly because the printing costs are so high that I have no hope of selling at a wholesale price to a retailer.
The hardback will cost £100 and is limited to 100 signed and numbered copies. The softback will cost £10.99. I estimate the postage costs will be £5.99 or so. I'll have to look into that. A few copies of each edition have been pre-ordered by friends already, which was an unexpected excitement.
This, and reading "Flowers for Algernon" has inspired me and I'm 11,000 words into my novella/novel/story "The Many Beautiful Worlds of Death". It's a philosophical work of literature, but told as a fantastical adventure story. At the start George, the hero, finds that he has six weeks to live and vows to use the trans-dimensional gateway he built in his basement to visit different people and places to find a cure. In chapter 5 he visited the wisest man in the world. I'm on chapter 6 at the moment and George has entered heaven, a "perfect" society.
I'm writing late at night, between 10pm and midnight and that works best for me. I expect it'll be complete before October. I aim to find an agent for this one rather than publish it myself.
