We're on Final Approach
It's Friday. For most that means it's the end of a work week and for us in the Northeast, a hectic one where we're still recovering from Hurricane Irene. For me, it means we are only five days away from the launch of As Darkness Ends.
My 'weekend' is currently Wednesday and Thursday so the past two days off were spent working on the final preparations for the book's launch. There's still a lot on my plate but it's also a waiting game as each service I'm using has different times for doing things. The book has been uploaded and is ready for me to simply hit 'publish' on Amazon and B&N. I've also made sure it's ready to go on SmashWords. Essentially, I'm "okay to go" in a staging area.
CreateSpace has been an interesting experience for the print version. After working through some design tweaks I needed for the cover, I then realized I must order a proof in order to approve it for sale. I placed an order and even paid through the nose for priority shipping but it's the only way to make sure the print copy is ready at launch or just a day or two afterwards. I'm not expecting many print sales since the book is small, prices are inherently higher due to the cost of print-on-demand and it doesn't deliver the instant gratification of simply downloading it to your eReader / computer.
On the audio front, I fired up my microphone and recorded the first chapter of the book. I want the audio to sound as professional as possible so I ended up recording in my bedroom closet while sitting on the floor. A tight space filled with sound-absorbing clothes makes a good recording studio and I'm impressed with how the audio came out. After some searching for suitable music, I mixed it together and posted it online for review. I need to make a few tweaks but I think my initial effort puts me at a 90-95% success rate. This is one time where my many years of podcasting is put to good use. I have a great microphone and know how to mix in GarageBand. I also have a few other tools to help tweak the recordings as needed.
In order to provide a quality audio book that will come out on a consistent basis, I have decided that the entire book will need to be recorded and produced before I release it to Podiobooks.com. For me, the most important part is to record certain segments all in one sitting. Simply getting up and coming back after a five-minute break can cause those second pieces to sound slightly different than the first. As I go further into this process, I'll post more insight to everyone.
So that's where we stand. I have so much going on and you can expect a deluge of blog posts leading up to launch day and the excitement to come. I look forward to sharing it with you guys.