Here in Australia it’s December 1 already, so Nanowrimo is over for another year. I didn’t even come close to winning Nano this year, but my heartfelt congratulations to all those who did. 50,000 words in 30 days is a great accomplishment, so well done. π
For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, Nano is still in its final hours, and I imagine a lot of you will be furiously writing to catch that November 30 deadline. I congratulate all of you as well. No one can ever take this achievement away from you, but memories fade, so I suggest that you print the page that contains your 50,000th word and frame it. I did that with my first Nano; the word was ‘gut’. Not exactly poetic but hey…-shrug-
And finally, a word for those who didn’t make it. I know you’re probably feeling pretty disappointed at the moment, but you have to remember that winning Nano is not the end, it’s just the beginning. Your writing doesn’t have to end on November 30. Use what you started as the jumping off point for the story you’ll write all through 2019.
Win or lose, this next bit is for everyone. When your Nano story is polished to perfection, you will probably want to publish it. If you decide to self-publish your work, you will have a number of options:
- publish as an ebook
- publish as a paperback
- publish as both an ebook and a paperback
If you decide to go with options 2 and 3, then I can help. ‘How to Print your Novel with Kindle Direct Publishing‘ is my step-by-step guide to publishing a paperback with KDP. In it you will find information about trim sizes, bleed, PDFs, formatting, Amazon distribution, royalties and heaps more. Each step is illustrated with screenshots and examples, close to 150 of them so even complete beginners can follow the instructions.
To celebrate the end of Nano 2018, I’ve made the ebook version of ‘How to Print your Novel with Kindle Direct Publishing’ free for one day on December 1, 2018. [Click the link to be taken to the Amazon page or click the image of the book on the sidebar].
Due to timezone differences, the guide will become free on Amazon at about 6:00 pm, Australian Eastern time. For Northern Hemisphere writers, it will be free from midnight.
This is what the guide looks like on the Kindle Fire 6:
Because the ebook is in colour, and fixed format [so the layout of each page is controlled], you will only be able to use it on the following devices:
If you need the free Kindle Reading app., you can get it from here:
Clicking that link will open the following popup:
From this popup, you can select the device on which you want to use the app. I’ve only done it for the PC, but I think it should be fairly easy for all devices.
So there you have it, my free guide to printing your finished Nano Novel. Even if you don’t intend to publish for some time, download the guide now and save yourself some money. π
cheers
Meeks
December 3rd, 2018 at 4:31 am
A wonderful pep talk, Andrea, and generous offer. Nano is great, but it doesn’t always happen at the right time in a writer’s or a book’s life. There are times when writing needs to be slow and careful (forming), and times when writing can speed along (storming). So I’m with you on congratulating all those writers who gave it a go, “win” or not. Happy Writing!
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December 3rd, 2018 at 8:38 pm
I really like the idea of ‘forming’ vs ‘storming’. This nano was definitely a forming one for me, and very valuable for that reason. Mind you, I wouldn’t have minded a bit of ‘storming’ as well. π
Happy Writer to you too, my friend. π
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December 2nd, 2018 at 1:31 am
Congratulations! I used NaNo to write a mere short story, so I won on my own terms. π Just the camaraderie of NaNo makes it easier to buckle down and work. We also had a week-long write-in, and everybody got a lot done then.
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December 2nd, 2018 at 1:24 pm
lol – congratulations to you too! And I completely agree re the camaraderie. π
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December 1st, 2018 at 3:08 pm
Congratulations to everyone! I can’t imagine the dedication needed to just write everyday in a month, much less achieve a word count. As you say, it would be a fantastic foundation to build a writing habit on. More power to everyone’s finger tips!
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December 1st, 2018 at 9:44 pm
Thanks Anne. You put your finger on the heart of it though, nano has to become a writing /habit/.
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December 1st, 2018 at 10:04 am
Just the idea of TRYING to do 50,000 words in a month is daunting. Congrats on the effort alone!
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December 1st, 2018 at 1:25 pm
lol – thanks, I did try. In previous years, the story was much more character driven and so it really flowed. This one seemed to be all tech and didn’t. I’ll just do what Elizabeth suggested and let it percolate.
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December 1st, 2018 at 9:30 am
Reblogged this on Cage Dunn: Writer, Author, Teller-of-tall-tales and commented:
This may be next on my list – a print book!
And you – do you want to do a KDP print of your book? Read on …
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December 1st, 2018 at 1:26 pm
lol – thanks Cage!
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