I uploaded it to Amazon, put in all my information, and am now working on tweaking the formatting of things while awaiting  final replies from a couple of proof-readers before I go live. Getting graphics right, bullet points, all the rest, will be interesting. Once I get these replies, and the formatting looks OK on their previewer (which, no surprise, doesn’t quite look exactly like it does on my discontinued model Kindle after going through a Calibre conversion into a MOBI file), I’ll let people know. It’s kind of funny; when I uploaded it, it was quite clear that they wanted filtered HTML, but one it’s in I was looking at their online info and it says a MS Word DOC or DOCX is just fine. Would have been nice to know. Not a problem, just more convenient. In the same vein, in several places (including their free books on how to publish for the Kindle) is says you need a 1.6 aspect ratio for your book cover, at least 1000 pixels on the short side. Then, while you are in the process up uploading, it says that “for best results use 1500 x 2550.” Uhhh… A little earlier in the process would be nice, guys.

OK, now I know. Related: If anyone want to post reviews (good, of course :-), I’d like to offer a few quick thoughts about them, having written a number of them myself with a very high percentage of people thinking they are useful. Because this is a first book by an unknown author, it’s a huge question mark, so people will likely want to know more than just your overall rating, but WHY? Please include something about what you thought about the Story, Writing, Editing, and Format. Self-published books are notorious for marginal writing and bad editing, which makes even a great story painful to read. If people are expecting a non-standard format, they are less likely to be put out by it (setting expectations and all that). Initial reviews have a huge effect on overall sales performance, and while I can’t tell you what to write, I can hope you will do you best to write accurate, helpful, honest, and good reviews.