Gutenberg Would Be Stunned

The Modern State of Independent Publishing

C.S.M.

Sep 10, 2024

Hundreds of you read NORMIE, my dystopian novel, as it was published weekly through this newsletter.

While originally publishing the story digitally, the goal has always been to also have the story available in book form.

We live in an amazing time.

I was able to easily upload the full manuscript and within days it was available for anyone who wanted to order a paperback.

🐇 Physical copies of NORMIE are available now on Amazon.

Thank you to everyone who has picked up a copy so far! Your support allows me to continue writing novels. My next one, Amy on the Island, will start to be serialized in late October 2024.

I’ve set NORMIE to a discounted price of $7.99 for the initial launch period. I plan to increase the price a bit soon, so if you want a discounted copy now is a good time.

Get your discounted copy

For those who have picked up a copy already (thank you again), take a minute to leave a review if you can. Reviews really help push the book on Amazon.

In this behind-the-scenes post, I want to give you a look at the publishing process and show you just how easy it is to turn a story into a physical book.

It truly is amazing— Gutenberg would be stunned.

Let’s take a look at the modern state of independent publishing:

Things have changed…

In the mid 1400s, Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press.

The world changed forever.

You no longer had to copy books by hand.

Now you could work Gutenberg’s amazing machine to create copies much quicker.

The world has changed incredibly since the time of Gutenberg.

Now anyone across the world can turn a manuscript into an actual book without evening owning a printing machine. All you need is a computer and internet connection. The easiest way to go about it is through Amazon.

NORMIE’s Journey:

The goal was always to have physical copies of NORMIE available for purchase when the final chapter was serialized.

Even though NORMIE was released weekly, I wasn’t writing the story week-to-week.

When the idea first hit me (around early fall 2023), I started doing research, reading related stories, and developing an outline.

The first draft was written by hand. Maybe I’ll post some photos one day, but my handwriting isn’t exactly world class. That’s alright, though. The story found its way onto the page. And that’s all that really matters with a first draft.

At this point, the C.S.M. Fiction newsletter was mainly publishing writing lessons. But I was beginning to drop hints that I was developing a novel that would be serialized.

Work began on the second draft, and the story moved from my notebook into my writing software (Scrivener, to be specific). The novel still wasn’t quite in a readable form, but the story was there, and I announced the title and release date.

Flash forward a little bit of time and the book was coming together. I was happy with what I had written and the release date for the first chapter was quickly approaching.

Was the full book polished when I released the full chapter?

No.

But about halfway through serialization (around chapters 4 and 5) the full manuscript was complete and I sent it off to an editor I’ve worked with before, and will continue to work with.

Getting the Edits:

The editor I worked with for NORMIE was Danny Raye.

She’s fantastic.

If you’re looking to hire an editor for a fiction project, here is Danny’s Fiverr page.

Danny worked incredibly fast. I believe she got her edits back to me within two weeks. One of the best things about her is how honest she is. For example, I asked her to rank her favorite characters and she didn’t hold back (Jack, then Gideon, then Amy, if you’re curious).

Now that I had the edited draft, I was able to fix any typos and clarify any issues that Danny had come across.

Luckily there was a fair amount of time left until the final chapter would be serialized, which was the deadline for when I wanted the physical copies available on Amazon.

Formatting the Manuscript:

I use an online program called Atticus to format manuscripts. It was developed by Dave Chesson, the creator of Publisher Rocket, and geared toward independent authors.

Atticus lets you edit the book on one side of the screen and shows you what it will look like in the hands of your readers on the other.

Here’s my project file for NORMIE:

On the left you can see the preview panel. In the screenshot it’s set to iPad, but you can also change it to Kindle, paperback, or a number of other options.

Imagine what Gutenberg would think. He had to move inky metal type and actual press onto a page to see the end result. Today, we’re able to see the end product as we work.

Once you have your project finalized, Atticus lets you export into the two file types required for publication:

PDF for paperback
ePub for eBooks

Uploading the Manuscript:

Formatting your book takes much more time than actually uploading it and preparing it to sell online.

Amazon makes it super easy to turn your manuscript into an actual book.

Through their Kindle Direct Publishing service, all you really do is upload your book files and covers, then add information like the title and description.

If you’re looking to do this yourself, I followed the tutorial from Sean Dollwet:

There are a couple elements that I’ll get into specifically.

Description:

You have to grab readers if they stumble across your book’s Amazon listing.

Here is the description I went with for NORMIE:

Welcome to United America.

It's been five years since the White House Fire. Everything has changed. The Constitution is a relic of the past. Elections have been cancelled. The United States of America has been reborn as UNITED AMERICA.

In this dark new reality, Jack Campbell is just another cog in the machine, an ordinary office worker in the People's District—the capital of the new nation. But everything changes when, on his morning commute, he encounters a mysterious figure in a white rabbit mask. The chance meeting sets off a chain of events that shatters his routine life.

Jack inadvertently obtains secret information that could expose the regime's darkest secrets and dismantle the oppressive government. But with the eyes of the state watching his every move, Jack must navigate a treacherous path filled with danger and deceit.

NORMIE is a gripping tale of resistance in a dystopian world, where one man's quest for truth could ignite a revolution— or cost him everything.

Will Jack succeed in his fight to bring down the tyrants, or will the weight of United America crush him?

Find out in this page-turning story by novelist C.S.M.

Not too bad, right?

I think it suitably sets up the story and makes you want to find out what happens.

There’s even a Republic Serial-esque question toward the end: Will Jack succeed in his fight to bring down the tyrants, or will the weight of United America crush him?

Cover:

The front cover was easy. It’s the same as what I’ve been using for NORMIE’s initial publication through this digital newsletter.

It was the back cover that gave me a moment’s pause.

At first I wanted it to be heavily stylized and not even feature a description on the back like most books do. I thought that most people would read the description on the Amazon page and then be satisfied. But then I began wondering about people who found the book on a friend or family member’s shelf. Would they be tempted to even open the book if there was no mention of what the story was about? Maybe not, so I decided to add a description.

Once you have your manuscript uploaded, Amazon generates a template that you can use to format your full cover to the correct dimensions.

I used the website Canva to put everything together.

Here’s the exported file for the full cover:

Note: Amazon generates a barcode for you. That’s why the bottom right of the back cover is bare.

Upload Time:

Once I had everything set to go I pressed upload.

Everything was processed correctly, and Amazon told me it would take a couple days for the book to be listed on their site.

That was really the end of the story.

A couple days later the book was available for purchase.

It’s amazing really.

I did all this on a laptop and now anyone around the world can order a copy of my book.

If this was the mid 1400s, I’d have to find someone with a Gutenberg printing press to see my book in the physical form. And after that, worldwide sales would be its own (impossible) task.

The modern publishing process is truly amazing, and I really haven’t even scratched the surface of what is capable. For instance, you’re also able to offer you book in hardcover format and audio. Those other elements will certainly become part of the picture as I continue this writing journey.

As always, I’ll give you a look behind the scenes as this all happens.

Thanks for reading!

If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to ask:

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