Publishing Mistakes of an Indie Author: Print size.

It's now just over a year since I ventured in to the world of becoming an Indie Author. For those not sure what that term means it's 'Independent Author' as in Self Published with no Publishing House backing. Let me tell you, I don't regret a thing.

I made mega mistakes in that first year:-

1. PROBLEM
Paperback no. 1 was printed in such a tiny font, it couldn't even be read with an eyeglass. I'm talking not even no.6 font, it must have been something like no.2 font (if there is such a thing).  I hear you ask, Why didn't Amazon realise this? Well, in this business you are mainly alone. They check for certain things, but that obviously wasn't one of them. I had many headaches trying to work out what the problem was, it seemed alright in the e-version,

SOLUTION: I finally tracked it down. I had let someone else download my book for me, because I was too nervous to do it myself. Turns out I should have had more confidence in my own abilities. After checking all the settings, I realised the margins were totally incorrect on the original downloaded version. It had been downloaded as if it was an A4 sheet. Easy mistake when you have absolutely no publishing experience whatsoever.

LESSON LEARNED:  Now, as I write on my computer, I set the margins so I'm actually working on the same size page as I type. If the e-version proof for my paperback indicates the text has gone over the lines, I simply go back to my computer and alter the margins, usually making them larger. Then download again onto Amazon.

Fortunately, no one but me had purchased the book (400+ pages), so no harm done in the public eye.

In my next post I'll tell you about my Editing issues.