I’ve just published my thirteenth book since retiring ten years ago.  Here are the details.Back Cover Blurb

You’ve written your book.  It exists as a series of Microsoft Word files plus, maybe, some clipart, line drawings or photos you want to add into the text.  Now comes the hard part: copy editing (grammar and punctuation, consistency of style, fact-checking, possible copyright violations, etc.) and proofreading (page layout, image insertion, front cover design, etc.) before conversion into an e-book or, possibly, a printed book to be proud of.  How do you do this?  This book tells you how.

Synopsis

Do you fancy yourself as a creative writer?  Do you enjoy composing great works of literary art—meticulous texts, elegant e-mails, scathing or amusing letters to an editor, scintillating blogs, entertaining short stories, erudite reference books, unputdownable novels?  Is there even such a word as unputdownable?  (There is now!)

Is your grammar up to scratch?  Do you copy edit your own compositions?  Did you know there are no officially-sanctioned rules for English grammar?  There is, however, a multitude of opinions on what constitutes correct usage, incorrect usage, and usage that will attract attention—to boldly go springs to mind.

I use what I call the bish-bash-bosh style of creative writing: bish the words down into a Word file, bash them around, and bosh them to perfection.  If this is your writing style, do you know how to manipulate your embryonic text into its final magnificent form using the hidden powers of Microsoft Word (Styles, Paragraph Marker, Find and Replace, Spellcheck and Autocorrect)?  How about graphics?  Do you understand the copyright infringement perils of copying and using images, and text, from websites for use in your scholarly production?  Finally, when you’ve finished creating, do you know how to self-publish as an e-book, or even as a something-to-be-proud-of paperback or hardback book?

So many questions; so little time.  Read this book and gain a head start into the heady world of creative writing and self-publishing.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Grammar and Punctuation
3. The Basic Tools of Writing
4. Copy Edit: Polish, Polish, Polish
5. Copyright: the Perils of Copy and Paste
6. Publishing your Book: E-book or P-book?
7. Creative Writing: Some Final Comments
   Further Reading

Links and prices

• Amazon paperback edition, $11.99/£8.66/€9.88, click here (Amazon.com) or here (Amazon.co.uk)
• Amazon e-book in the Kindle store (MOBI), $3.97/£2.85, click here (Amazon.com) or here (Amazon.co.uk).
• Smashwords e-book (MOBI, EPUB), $3.99, click here.

Footnote

I have a few personal signed paperback copies I am willing to let go at the author’s price (lower than list) + p&p.  E-mail me if you are interested in obtaining a copy and I’ll respond with details.

From Chapter 5. Copyright: the Perils of Copy and Paste

(^_^)