Publishing Question ??

[VanMan]

If any of our MOC family has any experience in getting a book published, would you please PM me? or e-mail me by clicking on the e-mail icon here or in my profile? It may be several days before I can respond, however. I have some basic first timer questions for starters. Thanks !

[CountryGuy]

You can self publish at any Kinko's, just go in with your book on a CD in Adobe PDF format. The PDF freezes the page layouts so that they will not change when the file is opened with a computer with a different printer attached. Believe me, trying to fix a formatting mess is not the fun way to spend the afternoon.

If you mean, publish like with a 1000 hard cover print run, cannot help ya.

Congrats on becoming "published".

[VanMan]

I "publish" technical manuals at work. My question is basically how one would decide if they wanted to attempt to write a novel. I don't have a passion for writing or even enjoy writing for the fun of it, but I just went through an experience which could have readers' appeal. All I want to do is write the one best seller, get some royalties coming in so I can RETIRE and hit the road like you guys. My queations are do you write rough draft first, then find a publisher, or contact a publisher with you idea first? What's involved $$$wise upfront (legal stuff, etc.)

[CountryGuy]

Ah ha!!

That is a totally different realm from what I publish, I do books for the local genealogy club, cemetery recordings, newspaper extractions of birth, death and marriages. Stuff like that. On my own, I publish family histories for families I have researched, Al's and mine, and one of his mother's cousins family. All these works have a limited interest group, therefore the numbers run are rather small, never had one over 75 on the first run.

And, I never make any $$ at it, doing it rather for love of family and to leave behind a record of the families for future generations. There are exceptions, but of course, but generally, those of us in this sport (family history) spend more $$ and time than we would even hope to recoup on a book sale.

Hey, good luck, there must be some forums online that assist and give hints like MOC, but for budding authors????

Let us know when it is published!!