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    The Learning Curve of a First Time Self Published Writer On-Line
    The Learning Curve of a First Time Self Published Writer On-Line
    The Learning Curve of a First Time Self Published Writer On-Line
    Ebook124 pages1 hour

    The Learning Curve of a First Time Self Published Writer On-Line

    By Michael J. Flagg

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    About this ebook

    This second book by Michael Flagg, is a sequel to a first entitled From Punch and Judy to Haute Cuisine-A Biography of the Life and Times of Arthur Edwin Simms 1915 to 2003 ISBN 9981456782658 was published in November 2011.
    The writers experiences are used as a basis to forewarn and forearm budding writers of some of the frustrations and pitfalls they might encounter when self-publishing. That a writers original aims and expectations might surprisingly be only illusory leading to disappointment. Eventually prompting the need to move on to other projects like this and a biography of a London West End theatre manager, to be available within the next year.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXlibris UK
    Release dateNov 5, 2014
    ISBN9781493142569
    The Learning Curve of a First Time Self Published Writer On-Line
    Author

    Michael J. Flagg

    Michael Flagg a retired university lecturer, continues to dabble in live theatre and has throughout his working life. His first book researched over eight years, sought to gain national recognition for a mentor of hundreds and a presumed captive audience eager to know his life time achievements. A copy was donated to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11’s Royal Collection in Diamond Jubilee Year 2012. Chapter 1 mentions 1930’s audiences of royal children for Punch and Judy at Buckingham Palace and the book’s subject and his renowned father, the performers. The book featured as a blog in January 2014 at the British Library, Euston Road London England.

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      Book preview

      The Learning Curve of a First Time Self Published Writer On-Line - Michael J. Flagg

      Copyright © 2014 by Michael J. Flagg.

      Library of Congress Control Number:   2014905763

      ISBN:                      Hardcover                   978-1-4931-4254-5

                                       Softcover                     978-1-4931-4255-2

                                       eBook                          978-1-4931-4256-9

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Rev. date: 11/03/2014

      Xlibris

      0-800-056-3182

      www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk

      522792

      CONTENTS

      Prologue

      1. Introduction—Choosing your Subject for a Biography

      2. Who do you choose as yo ur publisher?

      3. Researching and Gathering the Material

      4. Other determinants of the dimensions and size of the book

      5. Reconsidering the Market

      6. Some Current Feedback from Reviews for a new Marketing Strategy

      7. Some of the Author’s On-line Experiences

      8. Don’t forget to note the correct font, pagination and text editing otherwise your rendering is unacceptable!

      9. Photo’s and Pictures

      10. Not Only Definition but Picture Size

      11. Copyright and Gaining Permission

      12. Rationale for seeking Volunteers for Proof-reading

      13. A Web Page as a contribution to marketing

      14. Choice of a Title

      15. Cover Design

      16. First Draft Submission for Editing

      17. Scanning the chapters

      18. Sending the First Draft on Line

      19. Creating the Introduction and Conclusion

      20. Creating a Glossary

      21. Congratulations You Have Published!

      22. EMAIL -The First Marketing Campaign.

      23. Expectations of Reviewers

      Prologue

      This little book could be viewed in some ways as a sequel to a previous biography which is a colour book of 473 pages entitled ‘From Punch and Judy to Haute Cuisine- A Biography of the Life and Times of Arthur Edwin Simms 1915 to 2003’ and this author’s first experience of using the self publishing industry. Although this second book is very much smaller by comparison, it is intended to be of some value to all new authors contemplating an uncharted self publishing route for the first time. Here you will find some anticipations and frustrations experienced whilst searching for material, trying to decipher on-line ‘self-help’ instructions and after eventual publication, the real challenges of marketing and selling the entire effort.

      This author’s first book was unypical of many because it involved a large amount of research and the use of over 200 illustrations. However he believes this experience could be useful to the increasing band of people today who see themselves as self published writers and some of the challenges they might encounter. Accounts of experiences traversing the self published route can be accessed in profusion on the internet, but this is intended not only to forewarn but also to forearm.

      1. Introduction—Choosing your Subject for a Biography

      It was a coincidence that the co-author of my first book Geoff Felix, had some ten to fifteen years previously started research on Arthur Simms father Edwin Simms, who was a ventriloquial figure maker and a Punch and Judy performer, known in his day as ‘Quisto’ (believed to be a shortened version of ‘ventriloquist O!) In the 1920’s and early 30’s he had been assisted by his son Arthur, the subject of the biography, in giving Punch and Judy shows to the royal children at Buckingham Palace London. Geoff Felix had made a study of Quisto’s style of figure making and had become a disciple of his methods. A chance scan of the internet by the author, found the name Edwin Simms and Quisto linked to ‘Professor’ Geoff Felix, who had displayed pictures of some of Quisto’s figures on line. Quisto’s son Arthur Simms as a man became an influential figure in the field of hospitality and catering education. The rationale for the book was that the biographer and many of his former students, felt that their mentor had not been sufficiently recognised for his achievements during his lifetime, which a biography might go some way to redress. That the link with his father and Punch and Judy would be of additional interest to members of the Punch and Judy Fellowship, as it would to former students and colleagues in the field of Catering and Hospitality Management. At the outset therefore, it was assumed that there would be at least two strong markets for this book. It should also be noted that Arthur Simms took some time in deciding whether his life experiences would merit a biography as he had many contemporaries who had achieved considerable accolades. What was unusual in his case was a uniqueness in that he had dabbled in the field of Punch and Judy, in his childhood and adolescent days. Arrangements were made for Arthur Simms to meet Geoff Felix with the revelation that Geoff had previously tried to make contact with Arthur to interview him about his father. The fact that some of his information had come from an interview with Quisto’s estranged housekeeper, who called herself his step-daughter, had placed a barrier to his gaining access to Arthur Simms in person, in order to validate his research. On November 8th 2002 the biographer and Geoff Felix met at Waterloo Station for the journey to Portsmouth so that Geoff could finally meet Arthur Simms in person over a lunch for three at the Queen’s Hotel Southsea, near to his residential home. The vital missing information for Chapter 1 of the book and Arthur’s account of assisting his father was gathered through the assistance of a handy dicta phone.

      Arthur Simms had by this time been retired for some twenty five years and it was naturally assumed that a ‘captive market’, of his former students and colleagues still prevailed who would be interested in purchasing a copy of his biography once published. This was apart from some members of the ‘Punch and Judy Fellowship’, who would surely be interested in how he assisted his father’s work as a creator of ventriloquial figures and as a Punch and Judy performer to royal children. Surely this would ensure a second market? In all honesty however, at the onset the market for the book was not of primary concern which was later to prove a major oversight. Likewise the eventual size of 8.5×8.5×11 inches in order to accommodate memorabilia from former students, who would naturally wish to see it in the actual publication, perhaps a further encouragement for them to purchase a copy. However the sheer size of this book would reduce its portability and therefore its popularity.

      Emphasis was placed on the contribution of this subject’s life in his field of education, acknowledging the international links with those with whom he had been involved during his working life. Surprisingly the book itself was to take seven years of research on a part time basis, due to the work commitments of the biographer as well as the loss of a large amount of the subject’s work records, including photographs. The fact that Arthur Simms was to die nine years before his biography was published might also have effected its immediate saleability. Now in 2014 it is hard to believe that it is nearly thirty seven years since his retirement in 1977, raising questions concerning perpetuity. The rationale for the title ‘life and times of,’ as opposed to just a life story was to captivate a much wider historical interest in this book. It would also be a means to confronting some major challenges from several of his former students, that nobody would be interested in reading such a book together with the author’s reactions from his own work colleagues, such as ‘who would want to read about my life after I have gone?’ Consequently on commencement in 2002, the author felt that a timeless value should be added by emphasising that here was ‘not just another life story’, but much more. Through a background of social history was to be recorded how the achievements of this particular ‘pioneer’ could be exemplified. To be a learning curve, applicable to the world of hospitality

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