So I talked myself into finishing up the last edits and have launched into the exciting (and new to me) world of ebook formatting. I read a post this week recommending that writers start publishing first with Smashwords. (I can’t find the link again or I’d link to it.) I was skeptical at the time, but now that I’ve dived in I understand a bit better why the writer suggested this. Smashwords, while exacting in the details, is actually a pretty simple system once you work through it. I’ve certainly learned a lot about MS Word and how to define styles, more than I ever knew and I’ve used Word for years. In fact I’m still using Office 2000, a version I got for free back when I was writing for tech magazines. (Yes, I once wrote 4000 words—for pay—on how to use cut-and-paste in Excel. Really.)

The good news is that my beloved Scrivener exports extremely clean RTF files. I opened the story in Word, turned on the “show hidden formatting” feature as recommended in the Smashwords guide, and there was nothing mangled or extra at all. An hour spent revising my paragraph and heading styles, and I have a very clean and, if I say so myself, very good-looking short story.

Next up, though, is the need to write an author bio. It’s only a few short sentences but I have to admit I started having trouble breathing at the thought. And I turned so cold that I had to put on a sweater. My husband worried about me a little bit, but it passed. I’m afraid I’ll never be a marketing genius. So I set that aside for my subconscious to work on. I’m going back to finish the cover which is giving me some trouble with artifacts when I export to JPG format. Right now that sounds soothingly simple to work on.