Organizing Your Thoughts

 I have a great idea for a story and my characters need to slay the bad guy, come from humble beginnings and face all sorts of adversities.  

Well, that is a good start, but you need to lay out an idea of where to start, your characters, and how your characters are supposed to get to the end and what they have to overcome to reach their goal.

My suggestion is to take this in steps.

Step One: Discover both your protagonists and antagonists. I've read many books where the main character is well flushed out, but the bad guys are just flat.  It makes it hard to get excited about the story if you know the bad guys are just going to basically role over or be the stereotypical bad guy.  Put some time and thought into ALL your characters, (maybe even some side characters) before you go very far.  At the very least, this process may help you with your outline.

Step Two:  Make a basic outline.  Characters start here---This is their adventure---This is their adversities---This is how the over come and win.  Simple at this stage is better.

Step Three: Flush out your outline.  This is where you do those pesky outlines your High School English teacher always liked you to do.  Do the major points, with some sub-headings and ideas.  Then I would suggest going back and typing in more detailed ideas.  So, for example:

1.     Tarkil meets the other members of the party.
1. Tarkil comes back from a ride with his "friends" then wants to go to a bar to relax for the night.
2. Krom meets Guthlaf on the ship to Bloodhelm, then they go to a bar to find housing for the night.
3. Kenna escapes Five Roads and makes her way to Bloodhelm, finding Duncan on the way, and they end up the inn of Duncan's friend.
4. Elly finds herself in Bloodhelm and finds an inn to stay for the night.

From there, you can add in notes below each subheading, such as Tarkil is looking for a tumble, or Duncan's wagon is stuck on the side of the road.

Step Four: Write.  At this point, you should have a good enough outline to get moving.  And don't be afraid to change your outline.  It's just a guide and never set in stone.  Maybe you write something that says "hey, the party needs to do this instead of that".  It is more then fine.  It's your story and you want it to be the best.

And this works for roleplaying campaigns, as well.  People love to think you have taken a lot of time and effort to make things fun for them.  And just like your outline for a story, sometimes things go sideways.  Just go with it!

Happy Writing!

Borrowing From the World

 As a writer, there are many ideas that influence how you write.  From the way you grow up, to where you live, even the culture you are from.  It's unavoidable that your personal experiences would influence your writing style and the content of your story.  I mean, my father came from Oklahoma, where apparently they eat onions like apples, (I always thought my father was weird, but you have to love them, right?).  How you see the world will really depend on your life experiences.  Here are a few elements to take into consideration when you are writing.

1) You know you.  Don't be ashamed of who you are or where you come from.  The idea that an inner city person is going to perceive the world way different then me, a forest raised far from civilization person, is not unreasonable.  It's what makes all of us unique.  Its fun to see other people's perspectives.  Just bare his in mind, though, when you are writing.  Not all people in your audience are going to understand mass transit or crowded cities, nor are all people going to understand Forest Service roads and large tree stands.  Take a little time to explain such things, but not overtly.  Yes, you are explaining the obvious to you, but others may not see the obvious as well.

2) Don't be afraid to use ideas of the past.  In my stories I use the Roman Empire as a background for my Empire of Ariella.  The military, the leadership structure, even some of their beliefs on how things should be run.  It's not being lazy in your writing, it's incorporating ideas from our world. It is who we are and there is nothing wrong with blending it in to your stories.

3) Research what you don't know.  Like in the first idea, I really have no idea how mass transit works. (I grew up in the woods, mass transit was when the moms caravanned to town to do the monthly shopping, not buses and trollies.)  If I were going to use that in my story I would have need to look into how that works, like bus lines, times, routes, the whole nine yards.  Don't be afraid to admit you don't know.  If you don't know what a good tree for a forest would be in a certain climate, Google it.  Ask a friend.  Read a book.  In this day and age, the information is always at your finger tips!

Happy Writing

The Importance of Characters

 This should be a no brainer for a writer, but even though a solid plot is vital, characters that are loveable, or ones you just want to hate, are essential.  If you can't empathize with the characters, you won't enjoy even the best laid out plot.

I'd like to think I worked hard on my plots, but I think I've worked even harder on my characters, with a little help from those around me.  I have my main characters which I spend a lot of time molding and shaping, but I also make sure my side characters are just as well thought out.  Here is an example.

One side character I spend quite a bit of time on is Targon.  Yes, he's a god, but he's essential to the plot, even if he isn't a main character.  I make him humorous and almost "human" like to make the reader sympathize with him as he tries to save the world he loves through his rag-tag group of adventures.  He breaks rules, he manipulates his fellow gods and mortals alike, and he never apologizes for what he has to do.  I make sure he is embarrassed, helpful and God-like all in one breath, so a reader just can't forget him as they go about reading my story. 

These thoughts also work for NPCs in a campaign someone might be running.  Your players will enjoy the session much more if that barkeep who gives them a great nugget of information also tells a good story or listens to their worries.

My point is as a writer you can strengthen even the best plot, or prop up a small plot hole, with well thought out characters.  Take the time to make your characters memorable.  It will be worth it in the end.

Happy Writing!

My World of Martapa

 So lets talk about my world.

My world consists of two major continents and two major island groups.  At least at the moment.  There is some unexplored areas I could always use later if I have need to expand my universe. To give you a rough idea of what they are like lets start with Taina.

Taina is the northern continent and could be roughly equated to North America.  The west side of the continent is forest/farm land not unlike the west coast, (cough, cough, because that is what I know best), and the east would be more like the mid-west, with a little bit of coastal life on the east coast.  The northern part has harsh winters, the coasts are pretty mild, the interior of the west is fairly temperate and the east is hot and dry during the summer and cold and harsh during the winter.

Ariella is the southern continent could be equated to the African continent, with belts of lush growth and areas of arid deserts, with huge mountain ranges that seem to pop out of no where.

The Dwarven Islands could be best equated to Britain and Ireland, with highlands, bogs, and harsh landscapes.  This is a population which relies on fishing and herding of sheep and goats to feed the population, versus a lot of plant farming.

My last area is the Islands of Janesh.  I would picture these like Japan.  They have some gorgeous landscapes, but it is hard to eek out a living here, as well.  In the time of my stories, this is mostly destroyed and the remains yet to be discovered.

Happy writing!

The Idea Seed

 When writing up your companion book, have a small section in there for why and how your book/book series came into being.  It could be as simple as, "I like the feel of the world I made," to as complicated as, "I worked on this idea for years."

For me, it was very personal.  I'd been working on this world since college.  It helped this homesick, very introverted girl focus on the good stuff that was happening in my life.  I could spin things in a good light when the day was looking bad, such as I just bombed some test, or it could give me a creative outlet when the troop of boys I hung with were off doing "boy things".  It was great for me.

Over the years I dabbled with my story, but work, kids, and married life kinda got in the way.  Then my dad got sick.  He had beat colon cancer a few years prior, actually the year before my husband and I got married, and was doing well, but then it came back with a vengeance.  It hit his major organs and he was on dialysis. But he was cheerful.  He showed the family his best side, even as we knew he was in pain. One day were were talking and he asked about my writing.  I told him I was still dabbling at it and then he said something that still makes me tear up.

"Well, finish it up.  I want to see it next to my Tolkien books, pronto."  

Not only was he telling me he thought I could do it, but he was putting me on the same shelf of his all time favorite author.  What an honor.

So on those days I think I can't finish, that I will never have my book published, I think of my dad.  I can't let him down, so I will plunge ahead and finish my book, if for no other reason then to keep my promise to my dad!

Keep on writing!

The Writing Bug

 I'm finding as my kids go three different ways to Sunday and I become my mother and mother-in-laws intermittent care takers, and throw in a family farm, writing doesn't get done as much as I'd like.  But starting this week I plan on making sure my "butt is in chair" at least for 15 minutes a day.  What, you say, just 15 minutes?  Well, here is the thing.  I say 15 minutes, but it could be longer.  The 15 minutes is a start, it's a carved out time for ME.  I say, "go away world", and give me 15 minutes.  I hope that I will be able to write longer, but I will take what I can get at the beginning.

My point for bringing up my struggles is to give you hope.  You, too, can try this method and find some writing time for yourself.  That is the biggest issue with all would be writers.  You make excuses, "It's a hobby" or "I'll do it later when things slow down".   But things never slow down.  I know retirees that are busier then me!  If you truly want to let your writing bug do it's magic, just do it.  Give yourself that time, give your creativity an outlet!  Be you and express yourself!

Happy Writing!

A Different Way to Spread the Word

 Hopefully you have thought about your author page, but there are other ways to spread the word about your book.  Some people like Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, etc.  Other ways are a Blog or a Website.  I'm going to focus on the latter two.

The Website and Blog allows you to expand and show off your world, (take my blog for example).  You can give all sorts of information about your books, where to get them, your world, even about yourself.  Here are some things you might think about putting on the pages of your website or blog.

1) Your book titles!  I'd post cover art and titles, once you have them for sale, so it's easy for a reader to find them. And don't forget to post where to find them!

2) A little bit about yourself.  People like to know about the people they are reading about.  I'd stay away from politics and sensitive subjects, but you can talk about your hobbies, why you like the genre you are writing in, even where you live, if you don't mind sharing.

3) Talk about your world/setting.  For some people, the world will be here and now, but there might be twists, so don't think you shouldn't talk about your setting even if it is set in the here and now!

4) Pictures, maps, and concepts.  Maybe you like to doodle and you have maps or character sketches. Maybe you can do graphic art on the computer. Here is the place to share them!

5) Links to your favorite authors and movies.  This gives the reader an even better idea of where you are coming from or maybe they will appreciate some new reads that you like!

Happy writing!

Spreading the Word!

 So now you have your books and source book all ready to go.  How do you tell the world all about it?

If you are self-publishing on Amazon, there is something called an "Author Page".  There are some real good guides on what you need to do to set one up and attach them to your books you are trying to sell, so use Google to find one that works for you.  Here a few things you will need when you go to do so:

1) A good biography.  People like to know about the person writing their awesome novel!

2) A list of books.  There may only be one, if it's your first go, but make sure to get all books, even if you are just publishing book three in a series.  If someone likes one of your books, they might be more willing to buy another from you.

3) Website and blog info.  How can they learn more about your world/novels/you?  The author page is great, but you can't really go into your novels. (Friday I will talk about websites).

4) Book trailers.  This is a newer thing, where you actually do a video about your book.  It can be you talking about your book or even a movie trailer type video.  Your creativity is the limit!

5) Author photos.  This is up to  you.  You probably had at least one on your book cover, but it really depends on how much you want to show the world.

6) A follow button.  When you post new stuff you want readers to see it, especially it is about a new release!

Keep on writing!

The Mundane Made Fun

 Hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break, if they are around that age or have kiddos that age!

So how do you make the mundane of your world, important to how your world works, interesting to your readers?

I have a chapter, soon to be written, on the bits and pieces of the world, the glue you don't see, but many people who like your stories want to know!  As a roleplayer, I like to know these things, and I think this is where you will have your most interest.  Not only them, but the deep dive people who really get into your stories.  I read everything on the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffery, to the point I at one point knew all the wyers and major houses by heart!  In a chapter like this you want to bring in that sort of information you think is just a side description but is very important to your story world.

Here are a few things I thought of putting in:

1) Holidays.  I'm going to stick to the major ones, but it makes your people of your world seem more real.  Just think of how important holidays are to our world.  To know what your characters find important in holidays can be interesting.

2) Languages.  Some of this will probably be covered in regions or race areas, but to talk about the languages all in one spot is also a good idea.  If you are Lord of the Rings fan you know how much time Tolkien put into his language stuff.  I'm not going into that much depth, but I like to talk about the languages.

3)Money types.  Just like our world, my world has different coinage.  This is a small interest to most readers, but for roleplayers this is pretty vital.  I have this in pretty good detail because we did use my world for roleplaying.

4) Trade routes.  This is for the detailed orientated people, and roleplayers.  If roleplayers use the world for being trade merchants/mercenaries knowing what they are hauling would be a great idea. 

To make it interesting and not dry I plan on using quips from my bard narrator or even little stories to get the information out.  And I also plan on relating it to some of the issues my characters have in the books, such as language issues.

Happy Writing!

How to Make History Interesting

 With many fantasy books and sourcebooks, there is some sort of timeline in the front of the book.  Generally, it's there to give the reader an idea of where the story is taking place in the "world's" timeline.  For me, a timeline was important so I knew I was getting everyone to the right place at the right time, plus I could talk about distant events and make sure I was consistently keeping the times the same.

When writing a sourcebook you can expand on this short, (or not so short), timeline and maybe give a little life to the dates in the book.  In roleplaying books they sometimes give a short timeline, then pick out some important dates that shape the world you are roleplaying in.  For roleplayers, this important so they can feel as if their character truly lives in this world they are in.  For readers, this allows them to see some more depth to the world they have come to enjoy.

For me, I am going to have a chapter on history, but not make it dry.  That is a tall task, I'm sure.  So I'm breaking down my chapter as follows:

1) A short timeline.  Here I will hit all the major points in history in a bullet point list.  I will start with the creation of Martapa and finish up with the current date of the High King's Sword.

2) I will take each bullet point and explain them a bit.  At one point there is the comment that the dragons disappear from the world.  Here I would explain the reasons and speculations by historians.  The speculations is what will make it not just dry  history.  It's fun to see ideas of why they think the dragons disappear instead of a "just the facts, ma'am" kinda of article.

This doesn't seem like a lot, but once you get going this could be reams of paper.  Make sure to hit the most important points in history and if these things didn't come up in the book or you plan on filling them out more in a later book, be vague, it's okay.  If done properly, it will bring your readers back for more!

Happy writing!

Oh The Places I'll Go...

Though not as apparent to the importance of a story, places and locations are a vital cog to your story.  And, thus, they should be a very important part of your sourcebook!

You can make this section as detailed or not detailed as you feel necessary or want to work on.  For me, I like to give lots of details, so I will have to hold myself back if I don't want to have 300 pages of area descriptions!  For some people, it may be a little more difficult.  Here are some ideas of what might work for your sourcebook to get your creative juices flowing!

1) Name your area.  Are you going to do a small section of the world, a continent, or just the whole world and pick a few choice places to describe?  Myself, I'm going to break my areas up by ruling areas.  So, in my case, I have Western Taina, Eastern Taina, the Tsalagi Mountains, The Dwarven Islands, the Ariellen Empire, and the Southern Reaches.

2) What is the important features of this area?  I would describe the major terrain and weather patterns for your area you are working on.  For the Tsalagi Mountains I would say they are a mountain range from the north part of Taina to the southern part, effectively cutting Taina in half.  I might mention there is a lot of snow in the winter, lots of rain the rest of year, and not fun to cross in the few passes that exist.

3)What are some important places in this area?  For my mountains, the passes would be the big features.  So I would mention how they are protected, any cities there, any problems for that area.  The biggest pass is Devonshire and I would mention this is also the site of one of the biggest battle in the War of the Chosen.

4)How in depth do you ant to describe the places?  For Devonshire, I would mention the High King's troops manning the walls, maybe some local business, like taverns, inns, and shops a person in the world would see or frequent, and maybe some major NPC's, (Non Player Characters for you non-roleplaying people). I would put any characters from here in your character section, but don't go into depth about them in this section.

5) How is this area important to the story?  You don't have to make it tie in directly, but readers like to see the tie and maybe a little more in-depth description about the areas the characters of your story have gone.  But feel free to flesh out areas just mentioned or not mentioned as all, but make sure there is a good balance!

Hoping this helps kick in your creative juices.  Keep on writing!

The People of My World

 A story isn't a story without the people who fill your world.  In your sourcebook, you most definitely need to hit upon those same people, because your readers are going to want to know more about them.

One of my chapters will be devoted to the characters of my book.  Some time in the past I found a wonderful outline to help you flesh out your characters.  I'm not sure where, but it was just enough to get the creative juices flowing.  I figured I would use a similar format for my book, but make it flow just a bit better.  Here are the highlights I suggest you throw in about your characters:

1) Name and a short biography.  This really depends on when you make your companion book.  If it's with your first book in the series, you don't want to put too much in there.  If it's after the series is done, feel free to let it all hang out.  I mean, if someone is picking up your companion book, they've most likely read your stories and know all the plot excitement already!

2) Add statistics, because followers of your stories love that sort of thing.  Height, weight, race, age, how they look and what they wear.  Even speaking style is good.  Do they speak with an English accent or, like Krom, rolling r's?

3)Their best and worst qualities.  Elly loves animals, is a quick thinker and loves good jokes.  But she is obsessed with killing Wizards, finding out who she is and saving children.  This gives your character a little more depth, even though some of these things should be obvious when you read the stories.

4) You can also add in where they are found or how they are integral to the story.  Shadowdancer was just supposed to be a random waif that Krom uses to find some information but became an important cog later on in the series.  It happens more often then you think!

5)Lastly, add in some random facts about your character.  Elly knows how to weave, while Krom can carve.  Small things such as this make the characters a little more alive.

Keep on writing and good luck!

What is the Point of My Source Book?

 Alright, so we've determined that we want a source book for our series.  Many fine book series, like Lord of the Rings, the Dragonriders of Pern, and even Dragonlance have sourcebooks to allow their readers see more of their world, but they all do it from a different take.

What is your take?  Are you trying to just give a step by step view of your world?  Are you setting up for the use in a roleplaying game?  Or even just to fill in what you couldn't in the book?  Or even all of these?

To help you pinpoint what you want to put in you need to know your goal.  Myself, I plan as an exploration of my world as well as the ability for someone to use it in any roleplaying system.  My husband and I use to roleplay every weekend, (before kids and tons of volunteering), and were starting to again, before the Covid.  The ability to have another world to roleplay in would be awesome.  I don't need a new system, we can use what ever one we want and adapt.  But without a backbone to work with, it would be hard to game in my world.  Roleplayers like a good handle on what they are playing in and with.

So my advice is decide what your goal is before you begin, so you know what information may or may not need to be in your source book!

Keep on writing!

Happy President's Day

 I hope everyone has a chance to relax today, but also think how lucky we are to live where we do.  Yes, I know not everyone is happy with every bit of our history, but think of what we have done as a country.  Let's dwell on the positive and discuss civilly the negative and I think we can continue to have the greatest place in the world to live.

Stay safe out there and more writing on Friday!

The Gods on High

 Many fantasy stories have a higher power watching over the characters, whether known as the Fates, the Gods, or something else.  If you are working in a fantasy world of your own, you probably have some form of guiding influence and will want to add them, even as a passing footnote, in your companion book.  I am certainly no exception to this.

In my world, my Gods are integral, becoming characters of their own.  My most used is Targon, God of Magic and the Arcane.  He is a swashbuckling flop if there ever was one, riding the edge of God protocols and doing what he wants.  But how do I talk about these all powerful beings with out making them seem as just some over powerful character?

Here is my rough plan on how to present my Gods:

1) I'm going to talk about their personalities.  Are they friendly, indifferent, gruff?  Like I said, my Gods ARE very much like characters, so it is good to know where they are coming from.

2)Describe their ethos/pathos.  How does he/she like to interact ethically with mortals or just use them?

3) What is their realm of influence?  In Targon's case, he oversees the arcane and magic in general.  He effectively allows the other Gods have more or less power for their followers.  It causes friction, to say the least. But this will give the reader an idea of how they would act or control.

4) How are they related to the other Gods?  Are they all separate beings or did they create some of those who are in the pantheon? In my pantheon, most of the major gods consider Sarjon and Catiana their parents, though they aren't, because all the Major Gods simply appeared from the depths of space.  But the minor gods, most of them, were the products of major gods dalliances, Targon being the father of many of them.

5) If you are setting things up for a roleplaying help, alignment and abilities of followers would be good, as well.  In my example, Targon's followers should probably be a little chaotic and lean toward the neutral.  They would have a lot more mage spells then priest spells, are charged with passing on knowledge of the arcane, and should enjoy a good wine now and again.  You might also want to throw in what type of "vestments" priests are expected to wear.

6) How do they interact with other Gods?  In my world, it is very important.  Most Gods, even those of darkness, find Targon amusing, the unofficial God of Mirth.  And Targon has a "friendly" rivalry with Lokar, the God of Death, while loving and sheltering his daughter, Aiyana, the Goddess of Love.

Keep on writing because you can do it!

Expand That Outline!

 So you have your generic outline?  Good on you.  What is the next step after that?  Well, I suggest you slowly expand on that outline.

If you started like myself, you had what you wanted to have in each chapter.  Basically, I wrote the chapter name and a few brief notes about what I would like in each chapter.  Now lets take that basic idea and expand upon it.  Here's my example.  (Bare in mind, I'm not a professional, but sometimes you just need a little jump start to get you going!)

My chapter 7, theoretically, will be about the major groups which play a part in the my world of Martapa.  The following is all I initially wrote down:  Find the groups in my notes and make sure they are all in my list.  From there, I've written down the major groups in a list like below.

Knights of Tridon

Blades of Janesh

Wizards of Shaniko

The Kin

Wolf Warriors

The Crystal Brigade

The Northern Alliance

Snowbird’s Spellblades

Society of the King

The Hand

Disciples of the Gods

Saber’s Blades

The Shadow Gaurdians

After that, I added a few notes for what I needed to do next:

Need to describe each group, what they stand for, who is usually found there, even a few major NPCS that would be found in the leadership or in the ranks.

It's just a little expansion, but it's a start.  Everything about writing is steps.  Don't overwhelm yourself and try to do it all in one sitting.  Granted, if you can do that, good for you!  For the rest of us mere mortals, we need to take it in steps.

My next step would be to hit highlights of each group, then flush out each group completely. I say that knowing that you might decide to change something halfway through your list and that way you haven't wasted a lot of time filling out each one, then just have to go back in change it. (Granted, that will probably happen as well 😂)

And if you are just writing a campaign for roleplaying, this is a good way to start, as well.  You may not fill out the details quite as thoroughly as someone writing a book, but it's the same idea.  Don't overwhelm yourself trying to make the best adventure ever.  It will come to you and may, (and will) change over time!

Keep on writing!

Day One...

 If you are familiar with Disney's Mulan, Chi-Fu doesn't really want Li-Shang to succeed.  So his comment after the huge rice fight is to say, "Day one..." with an arrogant tone.  As I stare at my outline I feel like I'm staring at my own personal Chi-Fu, that he is ready to send off his scathing report on me for not getting further, faster on my companion book.

But I am ready to tell my own Chi-Fu to just take a hike.  I have to realize, and so should all of you working on your books, that you can't get it all done in one day.  That inspiration comes when it comes, that you will write when the the thoughts come to you.  If you force it, it won't feel natural and may not be as good as you would like it to be.

I think my point is, yes, get your butt in the seat before your computer, (or notebook or scrap of paper) and try to write.  But don't be hard on yourself if you don't write Homer's Iliad in one hour.  Just take what you can get.  Maybe it's just some editing. Maybe it's an outline.  Maybe it's a little research.  It all gets you moving in the right direction and is progress.

Don't give up on yourself and keep writing!

How Should I Have My Book Edited?

So you are getting close to finishing up and self publishing.  That is very exciting! But maybe you should have someone who didn't write it, look it over.  If you are publishing with a publishing house, they will have staff to do this for you, but for the self publisher, you are on your own.

Here are some suggestions to help you on your way:

1) Ask friends and family members to look it over.  This is okay for catching spelling mistakes, layouts that just don't look good, or for, "hey, why didn't you add this", kind of things.  For actual constructive criticism this may not be good.  Unless you have a relationship like my husband and I where we are use to giving each other constructive criticism and not feeling offended, this may not be the best idea.  As much as you want your book published, losing a relationship is not worth it.

2) Join a critique group.  This can be fun and very rewarding.  Early on, when I was taking classes, I joined the local writing guild and started attending meetings. While there, they had an option to sign up for groups and I found a marvelous group of very opiniated ladies with very diverse backgrounds and writing styles.  I learned a lot and got a lot of good, constructive feed back.  I'm hoping I gave some back, as well.  Plus, we had a potluck each time we got together, so that was good, as well.

3) Pay for someone to look at it.  Again, English majors at your local college would work, but there are professional editors that will charge by the hour or page.  This is an option, but does cost money.  Check with your local writing guild, because they will have a list of local editors.  Not nearly as much fun as critique group, but if you are an introvert, this probably would work for you.

Keep on writing!

What Size Should My Book Be?

 So once you've determined content, pictures, maps and organization, what size should my book be?

In most cases, with self publishing you are auto defaulted to 6 x 9 inch.  For reading books, this is a great size.  They aren't tiny print, like the 5 x 8 inch, but not the huge size of 8.5 x 11 inch.  But reading books are a little different then a companion book.  There is a lot more information in those companion books and at the very least, the larger the map in print, the better.  

In KDP paper size and color will change the minimum price you have to charge for the book.  I'm assuming that publishers will be the same way.  Look up what size fits not only your look, but your budget.  KDP is a little confusing, because it's example of 300 pages has a minimum amount of 7.42 dollars.  I tried their little calculator for my own books and my 368 page book had a minimum of 8.79, but wouldn't get me out of the red for Expanded Distribution, (to book stores and libraries, basically), until 14 dollars.   So bare that in mind, as well.  Do you just want to sell on Amazon, or would you like libraries and book stores to be able to order it?

Keep on writing!

What Pictures Should I Use!

So what pictures should go in my book?

This is a definite individual choice, but here are some things to consider:

1) Can I put pictures in my book using a self publishing applications? I believe you can put pictures inside your book using KDP, but I'm still researching that topic.  But other publishing applications may not allow them.  You also have to consider resolution and how big they can be.  Even a publisher is going to have restrictions, so before you go all gung-ho about putting in pictures, know your limitations!

2) What do I want to have pictures of?  If you have limited space, keep to the most important ones.  Main characters are probably the most important, but small maps or images of say relics or important documents might be good as well.

3) Where do I put them in my book?  If it's a source book, as near to the information about that picture as possible.  In a reading book, I'd do at the beginning or end of the book, or maybe at the beginning of a chapter.

4)How do I find my pictures?  Well, just like maps, there are options!  There are a lot of free images you can use, but those aren't very specialized for your story.  Find an artist or draw them yourself!  High School art classes, or even college ones, have very talented, not professional artists.  Use your resources wisely!

Keep on writing!