I know there are a few published authors on here, including Mr. Dobbins and his late father.
I am in the midst of writing a non-fiction book. Targeting 250-300 pages.
Also planning a science fiction novel next.
Since (I think) the pen and quill forum is reserved for storytelling and not how to's or craft improvement stuff I'm putting this here.
What's your process?
Do you use a professional editor?
Anybody use Amazon KDP?

Etc, etc

PS, I'm far too much of an amateur to write anything educational about trapping. My first book is a process mapping exercise for work LOL

I have written and published 19 books and 1000 magazine articles and also been the editor of 6 magazines. But I have done very little fiction, other than a few magazine articles so I won't speak to that.

What I will speak to is Amazon. I sell my printed books on Amazon and also Kindle books. It's a good place to sell books, but I will say that Kindle has been very disappointing and I don't think it's become anything near what people were predicting even 5 years ago. A few years ago, I took some of my published magazine articles and grouped them into 4 or 5 that were similar, such as How to Hunt Rubs and Scrapes During the Rut, Best Places for Big Bears, How to do a DIY Public Land Deer Hunt, you get the idea. They hardly sell at all. My monthly income from Kindle is usually under $20, so I'm not even sure it was worth the effort to upload them. In my opinion Kindle has bombed, big time.

People once said that the printed word is dying, but my experience is that the magazine business is still fairly strong, and the drop has leveled off, so most print magazines are still profitable, although nothing like they were 25 years ago. Book sales are still strong. MOST people prefer to hold pages in their hands over reading off a screen. Will that change? Who knows.

If you are going to self-publish your book you will need to hire an editor (I'm an editor and I know that even editors need editors). If you try to sell your work to a publisher and just take a royalty, an editor comes with the package. Unless you are an amazing talent that's been flying under the radar, it will be difficult to even get a publisher to even read your manuscript. It's a tough business.

Hope this helps.

Bernie B, this is exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for.
Thank you

You certainly need an editor. There is an author who wrote a really good rockhounding book. He decided that he did not want to spend the money on an editor for his second one and tried to be his own editor. The second one is full of mistakes and just plain poorer than the first one. Some of his mistakes that would have been fixed by a good editor could get someone hurt or in at least one case, shot for trespassing.

I don't know much about it, but I do know good editing is key. You can sure tell the difference between good and poor editing when you read something. There is one guy putting out some trapping books that are so poorly written they are annoying to read. A little editing would make them so much better.

I have published nearly 100 scientific articles in professional journals and book chapters, published about 30 articles in popular magazines (Fur-Fish-Game, etc.) and have self-published 3 books. I have had a book that was accepted by a big-name publishing house, but I did not go with that option; their editor wanted changes and additions to the manuscript which would have radically changed it (for the worse, in my opinion). As others have suggested, I would encourage you to obtain the services of a professional editor/proof reader. To make it to the big time as an author, my impression is you need to have an editor, a publicist, an agent, a lot of money for advertising, a willingness to attend "signings" and a good product. I suspect that very few of us have the kind of money it takes to get to "the bigs". Indeed, I do use Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. for marketing my books, although I don't spend any money on advertising.

I encourage you to stick with the writing and don't get discouraged. Hang tough!

Jack

The last book I put together, which was mostly dad's writings, was Learning New Ways. I had a professional proof read it. The cost for that service was right at a thousand dollars. It was worth it though.

Great stuff guys.

Draft to chapter 3 complete today and motivation remains high. 8 pages of an estimated 250-300.

Trying to decide whether to include images or just let the text do the talking for me.

I've had some minor things published mostly as a lark, hunting stories, trapping stories, long newspaper editorials on subjects.

Never had an editor check them out, was not worried about making money on them.

But do have a suggestion about writing, chose something that you are really interested in as a subject, something you learn more about as you create stories for others to read or listen to, which is a whole different realm of preparation. This enhances your continued salability and interest in your craft.

Things that people have no care about but try to write about really shows the incompetence of consistency in characters, and story telling. Good editors will see this immediately, usually telling one directly what the problems are, waste of an editors time mostly. Editors after a check will drag this out with continued instructions and changes until it no longer becomes anything but a bill to you !
Good Luck

Where’s James on this?
Good stuff there Jack.
Osky,

I think James voluntarily took his leave of this place.

Very interesting thread. I am currently finishing a nonfiction book about finding fishing lures which people have lost. It is currently 128 pages. The plan is to self publish sometime this year.

One small thing I would add from my researching - hire someone to do the cover art. It can make a big difference on how well a book sells.

In this business it's word count not pages.

Your best bet is to go with a Vanity publisher or better yet a print on demand service.

The first one will definitely be a vanity publisher or print on demand type thing. It is only intended as a handout for new hires and training material for existing employees.

This will reveal the depths of my nerdiness, but it's a bit of a love letter to my profession and an acknowledgement of just how grateful I am to have found my niche despite decades of struggle with undiagnosed and untreated ADHD.