Self-Publishing "The Magic Paintbrush"

     Before scouting for people to work for me, I had to decide first where to have my book published. I had a few choices and then I trimmed it down to two print-on-demand printers - Lulu and Createspace. After reading some articles on the internet, I ended up choosing Createspace.

     Here's one of the articles that helped me in my decision. Next time I will provide more links for you to read and help you decide on your own.

    http://gretavanderrol.net/2014/01/27/createspace-lulu-which-should-you-choose-for-your-print-books/

     So where did I find my editor, illustrator, and Createspace formatter? odesk is the answer! This was where I hired two musicians for my poetry projects so why not search for my dream team here? 

 

      I was able to post the job, state my requirements, set my own deadlines, interview prospects, negotiate fees, hire, and request for revisions whenever necessary.

1. Hiring an editor to check typos and grammatical errors was a practical thing to do. With a minimal price, I learned where I made some mistakes. I accepted most of her revisions and did my own on some parts that I thought needed more revisions. My original story was written with no illustrations. Since I wanted to create an easy reader book with illustrations, I had to delete a few sentences.

2. After the editing (revisions didn't stop until the very day I sent it to Createspace), the illustrator and I worked closely together for the whole month of August on how I wanted each illustration to look. She executed each image better than I expected her to. I was so fortunate to have found her!

3. Final step was with the formatter. I decided to hire one to avoid headaches. There was no way I could learn in such a short time. After I submitted it to her, she worked on it for a week. Then we went back and forth a few times till we got everything right. She was also a gem! She made sure she did all the changes until I was satisfied.

     If you want to save some money and be able to select among a list of qualified freelancers, try odesk. Outsourcing is the way to go to cut down on your cost and to utilize untapped talents and skills in the job market.