Having finally pulled all my stories together into an anthology, I decided it was of sufficient length to warrant making a physical edition.
I was probably too excited about receiving a physical copy of my book. Not just because it contained my writing and I could hold it in my hand (a REAL thing, not just electrons), but because I’d done everything from the cover to the layout myself too. I admit, the excitement was laced with a hint of worry. I was concerned that, after the hard work to get it set up, I had made a mistake somewhere.
It all worked out okay though, the book arrived and I poured over it.
The decision to go with the glossy cover seemed good, as did cream for the pages. The binding looks set in a substantial amount of glue, so it’s unlikely anything will come loose. The text inside is crisp and easily a match for any of my traditionally published books (better in some cases).
If I’m nit picking, there’s a ridge front and back, near the spine (presumably to do with the binding), that you don’t see on books normally, but it’s minor.
It wasn’t quite as nice as a book produced on a bulk run, the finish wasn’t quite as classy, and my formatting certainly wasn’t as good. It definitely didn’t look like something produced by an amateur, and it doesn’t look out of place next to any of the other books I have stacked around.
I’m writing up what it took to produce it, but CreateSpace certainly seems a reasonable (and affordable) way to get your work in your hands (or, more importantly, other people’s).
Here’s the result of my efforts:
