Reblog: The State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing Report

This page contains reports on the state of diversity in the romance publishing industry.

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Tokyo National Museum

I visited the Tokyo National Museum while I was in Japan.

Here’s a gallery of the pictures I took at the museum:

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Here are additional pictures that I took while in Japan:

The Self-Publishing Journey (Part 2)

Self-publishing (part 1)

Step 5: Get an ISBN

Through Kindle, you can be assigned an ISBN automatically. I chose to get one from Library and Archives Canada because I want my works registered as a part of Canadian literature.

Once you get account details from LAC you can login to your publisher’s account here. Logged in, you can get an ISBN for your work within a few minutes.

See below my tutorial on how to get an ISBN.

Step 6: Get the Barcode

Kindle generated a barcode for me; I didn’t have to go out and purchase one.

Kindle has a designated area where the barcode will be pasted on the back of your cover. You can see a preview of where the barcode is once you upload your cover.

If your book is created in multiple formats (i.e. print, ebook, etc.), you need to get separate ISBNs for each.

Step 7: Registering on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)

You can sign up as a self-publisher here.

Once you sign up, you can add how you’ll receive payment and complete the tax interview.

Note: For Canadian self-publishers, you can prevent the IRS from taking 30% of your profits by using your SIN number as the Tax Identification Number (TIN) during your Tax Information Interview.

Step 8: The Cover

I used this article as a guide for writing author bios. For book blurbs, read other blurbs in your genre and get a sense of how they’re written. You can find blurbs in places like Amazon. Also browse Amazon when determining what kind of cover you want. Determine the physical length, width, and page length of your work; the designer needs to know.

Though you can create a cover yourself, I’d recommend hiring a professional to do it. You can find a freelancer through services such as Fiverr or Upwork. In terms of selecting a freelancer, check their turnaround time, portfolio, and packages they offer.

For a cover image, you can give the freelancer a picture, or you can select something within their database of stock images. You can also ask them for revisions until you’re happy with the end product.

I ordered through Fiverr. The process was straightforward, inexpensive, and took three business days to complete.

 

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Step 9: Formatting and Submitting

The manuscript itself has to be formatted as a proper book before submitting it into Kindle. Would recommend reading:

Note: After submitting your book, you may have to wait up to 3 days as Amazon reviews your work. Then your book will be public.