It's Here!

My first print of the book version of Diana's Diary is here! I was hoping I'd get it before the long weekend and I'm so excited!

Already I'm seeing formatting things I want to change. That's the whole reason this first version is private, not available for anyone else to purchase. My project for the next few days (or weeks, however long it takes) is to go through and make all the changes that will make it better. Then I'll order another copy, check that all my changes look good, and then make it available to anyone who is interested.

I'm especially pleased with how my cover came out. I'm still such a novice at PhotoShop, but it came out all right:


















In all, I'm very pleased so far with Lulu, and I encourage anyone to give it a try.

Here are just a few reasons to use POD:

• It helps your editing to see what your story will really look like in print. This is great for your beta readers, or for you! Keep your POD version private, and you can still seek traditional publication.
  
• If you have something that won't be attractive to a traditional publisher (like in my case, where the whole story is available for free online), you can still make a book version for yourself, friends or family.
  
• If you've shopped your story around for awhile and are tired of waiting to get lucky with an agent, POD will give you something to hold in your hand, share with friends and even try to market yourself, if you chose.
  
• If, like me, you choose to do all the formatting and cover design work yourself, you'll learn a lot about what goes into putting a book together. Of course a traditional publishing house has specialized software to make things easier. But there are certain thought processes that are almost certainly the same-- certain ways of thinking about your end product. It's quite a learning experience.
  
• It's fun and cheap!
  

There's more to come on this topic so stay tuned!