First Novel Being Published on Amazon

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**Moderators - I cleared this with Helen before posting**

My first novel is set to be out on Amazon within the next day or so--it is in the approval process now. It started with an idea that I had way back in 1982 and sat dormant until 2012 when I "re-discovered" the skeleton of a manuscript while cleaning out some old files. I had just completed my MSCIS at Boston University and I needed a new challenge, so I decided to complete it. There were many lessons to be learned along the way and it turns out that writing the novel (for the most part) was easy as compared to finding a good graphic artist, editor, photographer, and book formatter. In the end, I was fortunate enough to find all of them. The initial offering will be Kindle, followed by paperback, and eventually (provided it does well) hardback. I hope it is good enough to be picked up by a commercial publisher at some point.

Thoughts and comments are welcome!

Tagline:

The year is 1815 and pirate Jean Lafitte is offered a deal to either fight alongside Andrew Jackson to defend New Orleans against the British or face the gallows and certain death. Lafitte chooses to fight, but shortly after the war, he is summoned to France by none other than Napoleon Bonaparte to provide passage for exile to the United States. Ten million in French gold coins and personal effects are loaded into Lafitte's ships, but Bonaparte is subsequently trapped behind enemy lines and the ships set sail for America without him.

Lafitte then meets his final fate in 1823 and the location of gold remains unknown. Fast forward 150 years to the aftermath of a hurricane when a young boy catches a fish with a gold coin inside which has the initials "JL" engraved into it. A decade later, a new storm passes through and another fish is caught with an identical coin inside. Convinced the two coins are not a coincidence and eager to unravel the ancient legend, Rex Rhineheart searches to discover clues and solve the mystery of the whereabouts of the gold. It is a race against time as he begins one of the grandest adventures of all—the unearthing of Jean Lafitte's buried pirate treasure.

Front Cover:
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Rear Cover:
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That book sounds pretty interesting and I like the front cover.
 
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Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Any idea whether this will be offered in the free lending library? If it is, I'll check it out.
Yes; it should be because I added it to KDP Select.
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Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
**Moderators - I cleared this with Helen before posting**

My first novel is set to be out on Amazon...
For those interested, it is now available on Amazon for Kindle. A Spanish version of Kindle to be available soon as well as the paperback.
 
Congratulations, 2015_PSD! The cover and the blurb both look great, and very intriguing.

Considering the way traditional publishing has been going in the last few years, I've begun to think I should go the self-publishing route myself. How long did it take you to find your graphic artist, editor, photographer, and book formatter?
 
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Congratulations, 2015_PSD! The cover and the blurb both look great, and very intriguing.

Considering the way traditional publishing has been going in the last few years, I've begun to think I should go the self-publishing route myself. How long did it take you to find your graphic artist, editor, photographer, and book formatter?
Many thanks! Of the lot, finding a good editor was the hardest part--some want to edit without reading the book and others want to turn the story into "their" creation or put their "spin" on it. I will PM you some information in a bit that will help you get started.
 
Thank you, sir. I'm an experienced editor myself -- not only have I been a member of a local critique group for a number of years, I edited our self-published anthology, A Shotgun Blast to the Side of a Barn, a few years ago, and edited Professor Arturo's Jazz Stories (Margaret Media, 2015): http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Jazz-Stories/Professor-Arturo/9780692473832

Of course, no matter how good you are, it helps to have another set of eyes on the project.
 
Congrats on getting published - hope it's a success!
 
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Jean Lafitte is an interesting character who is a bit lesser known than the more famous privateers.


Good luck with the book!
 
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Any idea whether this will be offered in the free lending library? If it is, I'll check it out.
Yes; it should be because I added it to KDP Select.
cheers3.gif



Sweet! Congrats, by the way.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Any idea whether this will be offered in the free lending library? If it is, I'll check it out.
Yes; it should be because I added it to KDP Select.
cheers3.gif

Sweet! Congrats, by the way.
Thank you!
 
Nice going there PSD! Congrats on your launch and getting ink!

I too have a core story I wrote about 10yrs ago. Non-fiction. Took lots of research. Decided to leave it for awhile.
 
Congrats 2015_PSD for not only being a accomplished writer but also a wonderful and generous person here at BITOG. Nice front cover good sir
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