I survived the Smashwords Meatgrinder
Sounds ominous, doesn't it? Going through a meatgrinder is never a good idea (although I can remember several deadlines in journalism that definitely qualify). But to publish on Smashwords, I had to go through the Meatgrinder. It's a tough-sounding term for a friend to anyone who wants to self-publish.
The Meatgrinder is Smashwords' whimsical term for the program that will take a full manuscript and convert it into an ebook that matches the company's parameters. The Meatgrinder is painstakingly detailed. Mess up on those details and the Meatgrinder can turn your precious work into pulp. Here are some convenient tips for anyone who wants to publish on Smashwords or simply wants to know the process.
1. Read the Smashwords Style Guide. Follow the guidelines religiously. The Meatgrinder likes those who follow the guidelines.
2. Make sure your manuscript is a Word.doc file and not .docx. The Meatgrinder rejects .docx.
3. The biggest time consumer I faced in following the Style Guide was looking for hidden coding. My biggest friend in this is the little paragraph mark at the top of the Word page. Hit that and all the coding in a manuscript pops up. I was shocked to see how many paragraph returns were placed within my writing. There could be several paragraphs in which all coding was proper, then there would be one paragraph with returns after each line. There were multiple paragraphs within my manuscript that had these paragraph returns. I had to go page by page, paragraph by paragraph. It was good to have a copy editor's mindset when going through that process because we're accustomed to looking for and correcting little errors. (Just FYI, it took me a few sessions over three days to correct everything.)
4. Learn to create new codes that fit your self-publishing needs. I used a Centering code on four or five sections with certain chapters. I also made little changes in the existing codes to produce the look I wanted. For example, I wanted to get away from the standard centering of chapter headings. I wanted them flush left. Modifying those are easy, and the "how-to" is contained in the Style Guide.
5. The Meatgrinder works quickly, so don't submit your manuscript and go out to lunch. I was No. 7 in the queue for the Meatgrinder when I first submitted. It was finished in about eight minutes!!! A manuscript then goes through an AutoVetter, which is an automated program that looks for issues that violate the Style Guide. I passed that phase with ease.
6. Don't relax because there's another important step. A Smashwords employee will look over your finished product and look for errors. The employees are stricter than the AutoVetter. That passing grade from the automated review can be overruled by the humans. That happened to me. About two-thirds through my manuscript, I had a line of black dots that went from margin to margin. This happened only at the end of four chapters, and I figured it wouldn't be a game-stopper. The human review felt otherwise. I had to make those changes or else my novel wouldn't be accepted in the Smashwords Premium Catalog. (More on that later.)
7. Make the changes designated by the human reviewer. In the case of the line of black dots, I did a Google search. I tried to rid my manuscript of those lines earlier, but never found the right combination. I highlighted the lines and hit Delete, and that did nothing. My Google search led to a forum about Word that said my problem involved the Borders designation on the Word home page. I simply had to get into the paragraph before the line of dots showed up, click the Borders icon and go down to Remove Borders. Voila! End of problem.
8. I had to resubmit my corrected manuscript, but I couldn't do it by going through the Meatgrinder again. I had a book designation on my Smashwords Dashboard after making it through the Meatgrinder, and there is a button there for Submit a New Version. I did that, passed the AutoVetter phase again, and waited for the human reviewer to do his/her work. I waited for two days, then sent a message to Smashwords (there's a ? icon on the website for asking questions) and asked why it was taking so long. I got a reply soon after that said all corrections were accepted, and my The Search For Circe was now in the Premium Catalog.
9. Do the happy dance!!! Being included in the Premium Catalog opens the door to every ebook seller with which Smashwords has a deal. I see The Search For Circe listed in the Apple bookstore. It's on Barnes and Noble and several other sites. It is distributed in the U.S., Canada, Europe and parts of Asia. Time for more happy dance!!!
10. Stop the happy dance and face the toughest part of the self-publishing process, marketing. This is hard work. I go to my Facebook friends (I have nearly 450 of them) and hope they rally to my cause. I put out messages on LinkedIn. I put out cute or challenging tweets on Twitter. I keep an eye on my email and my Smashwords Dashboard because those are vital links to track how my book is selling. Any sale through smashwords.com is followed by a personal note to me that there has been a sale. Sales through Apple, Barnes and Noble, etc., don't result with a direct email, but those results will eventually show up on the Smashwords Dashboard. Do a happy dance with each sale! Don't get complacent because marketing needs more work. This is your life now. Do it every day.
11. Work on your next novel and prepare to do this all over again in several months.
The Meatgrinder is Smashwords' whimsical term for the program that will take a full manuscript and convert it into an ebook that matches the company's parameters. The Meatgrinder is painstakingly detailed. Mess up on those details and the Meatgrinder can turn your precious work into pulp. Here are some convenient tips for anyone who wants to publish on Smashwords or simply wants to know the process.
1. Read the Smashwords Style Guide. Follow the guidelines religiously. The Meatgrinder likes those who follow the guidelines.
2. Make sure your manuscript is a Word.doc file and not .docx. The Meatgrinder rejects .docx.
3. The biggest time consumer I faced in following the Style Guide was looking for hidden coding. My biggest friend in this is the little paragraph mark at the top of the Word page. Hit that and all the coding in a manuscript pops up. I was shocked to see how many paragraph returns were placed within my writing. There could be several paragraphs in which all coding was proper, then there would be one paragraph with returns after each line. There were multiple paragraphs within my manuscript that had these paragraph returns. I had to go page by page, paragraph by paragraph. It was good to have a copy editor's mindset when going through that process because we're accustomed to looking for and correcting little errors. (Just FYI, it took me a few sessions over three days to correct everything.)
4. Learn to create new codes that fit your self-publishing needs. I used a Centering code on four or five sections with certain chapters. I also made little changes in the existing codes to produce the look I wanted. For example, I wanted to get away from the standard centering of chapter headings. I wanted them flush left. Modifying those are easy, and the "how-to" is contained in the Style Guide.
5. The Meatgrinder works quickly, so don't submit your manuscript and go out to lunch. I was No. 7 in the queue for the Meatgrinder when I first submitted. It was finished in about eight minutes!!! A manuscript then goes through an AutoVetter, which is an automated program that looks for issues that violate the Style Guide. I passed that phase with ease.
6. Don't relax because there's another important step. A Smashwords employee will look over your finished product and look for errors. The employees are stricter than the AutoVetter. That passing grade from the automated review can be overruled by the humans. That happened to me. About two-thirds through my manuscript, I had a line of black dots that went from margin to margin. This happened only at the end of four chapters, and I figured it wouldn't be a game-stopper. The human review felt otherwise. I had to make those changes or else my novel wouldn't be accepted in the Smashwords Premium Catalog. (More on that later.)
7. Make the changes designated by the human reviewer. In the case of the line of black dots, I did a Google search. I tried to rid my manuscript of those lines earlier, but never found the right combination. I highlighted the lines and hit Delete, and that did nothing. My Google search led to a forum about Word that said my problem involved the Borders designation on the Word home page. I simply had to get into the paragraph before the line of dots showed up, click the Borders icon and go down to Remove Borders. Voila! End of problem.
8. I had to resubmit my corrected manuscript, but I couldn't do it by going through the Meatgrinder again. I had a book designation on my Smashwords Dashboard after making it through the Meatgrinder, and there is a button there for Submit a New Version. I did that, passed the AutoVetter phase again, and waited for the human reviewer to do his/her work. I waited for two days, then sent a message to Smashwords (there's a ? icon on the website for asking questions) and asked why it was taking so long. I got a reply soon after that said all corrections were accepted, and my The Search For Circe was now in the Premium Catalog.
9. Do the happy dance!!! Being included in the Premium Catalog opens the door to every ebook seller with which Smashwords has a deal. I see The Search For Circe listed in the Apple bookstore. It's on Barnes and Noble and several other sites. It is distributed in the U.S., Canada, Europe and parts of Asia. Time for more happy dance!!!
10. Stop the happy dance and face the toughest part of the self-publishing process, marketing. This is hard work. I go to my Facebook friends (I have nearly 450 of them) and hope they rally to my cause. I put out messages on LinkedIn. I put out cute or challenging tweets on Twitter. I keep an eye on my email and my Smashwords Dashboard because those are vital links to track how my book is selling. Any sale through smashwords.com is followed by a personal note to me that there has been a sale. Sales through Apple, Barnes and Noble, etc., don't result with a direct email, but those results will eventually show up on the Smashwords Dashboard. Do a happy dance with each sale! Don't get complacent because marketing needs more work. This is your life now. Do it every day.
11. Work on your next novel and prepare to do this all over again in several months.
I was hoping you would make it sound more fun
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