Tag Archives: iTunes

In The Flesh Now On Nook and Inspiration for War In Flesh

  By K. L. Zolnoski | June 3, 2013 - 12:01 am | Author Updates
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This weekend I finally decided to enter the jungle of self-publishing head on and get In The Flesh uploaded to the various distributors for the Android (Kobo), the Nook (Barnes & Noble) and iPads/iPhones/iDevices of all sorts, which meant iTunes. Since I was doing the full tour I decided to take this opportunity to correct the cover art for my POD (print on demand) version, this of course meant wading into the formatting bog of Createspace.

So with editing machete in one hand and FAQ’s in the other, Google my faithful guide I set forth into the tangled undergrowth of formatting and uploading, verifying and proofing that I knew from previous attempts to penetrate the labyrinthine depths awaited me. True I had been defeated before by clunky, if not impossible to follow interfaces and failures of proprietary software to verify and validate but this time I would prevail.

To my surprise Barnes & Noble had updated and simplified their self-publishing interface and my ePub uploaded with nary a hiccup. Unlike last time when the same file type crashed and crashed and crashed, leaving me no choice but to retreat, defeated and discouraged. My confidence bolstered by this unexpected reprieve I moved on to Kobo. To my growing delight, once I found the way to login to where I needed to (which took an hour but now I know how to find it so it’ll be a piece of cake in the future), the upload of my ePub went as smoothly as a cat drinking cream.

This left my self-publishing nemesis, iTunes. I went ahead and downloaded iBook creator and spent two days loading my novel into it. This should produce the kind of file iTunes will accept. It did produce a gorgeous format for my novel and I will be putting all of my future work through it for that reason alone. It took some doing and some tweaking of the cover art but it seems to have worked. I’ll know in a day or two.

So, gentle reader, as you may have noticed I now have links to In The Flesh for the Nook, Droid and Kindle. This is very exciting. The formatting of the POD version is such that the print copy will cost $17.99. It is a trade paperback. I couldn’t get it down to paperback size.

Also, because that is not enough exciting news there is more involving War In Flesh. I finished the editing, formatting and uploading around 11pm Saturday night and no sooner had I pushed the last “submit” button then inspiration struck. I spent a couple of hours writing an entirely new first chapter for War In Flesh and it is excellent. I even got started on a new second chapter Sunday. As always I hope you enjoy reading what I’ve written. K.

In The Flesh Soon To Have Wider Distribution

  By K. L. Zolnoski | June 2, 2013 - 2:06 am | Author Updates
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After having given up on Barnes and Noble for several months I went back today to see if I could figure out how to publish In The Flesh for the Nook. They changed their self-publishing interface in the interim and the new one is a breeze! I wish they were all this straight forward. Good job Barnes & Noble!

I have a very small ad appearing on the 7th and I’ve been making sure I get In The Flesh polished and uploaded everywhere I can. I just uploaded a revised edition to Kobo for the Android. I corrected the cover art for print on demand through Createspace and I’m just going to take a look at the Kindle version (which has been my go-to this whole time) to make sure I didn’t change anything while I was using it to update everywhere else. (Don’t ask, you don’t want to know.)

I have to say that not only do I love, love, love my new MacBook Air but I put In The Flesh though iBook Creator and wow did it pretty it up. I also, thanks to my wonderful husband, got Word to produce a table of contents so the Print On Demand version has that little nicety now too.

The Kobo self-publishing interface is a real pain, but not as bad as Createspace once you figure out the trick to it. As soon as In The Flesh is live on Barnes & Noble and iTunes I’ll include links for easy clicking. K.

A Day Derailed and Prayers for Boston and all my Runner Friends

  By K. L. Zolnoski | April 16, 2013 - 4:41 pm | Selfpublishing, Uncategorized
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Hopefully it goes without saying that our prayers are with the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings and we wish Godspeed to those in law enforcement who are seeking the insane individuals behind it.

Most of this blog was written before the horrific events in Boston hit the 24-hour news cycle. I’m including the original here because to do otherwise would be to let evil win out. These things happened and these were my thoughts and actions before I learned of what had happened.

I spent a considerable part of my day trying to get In The Flesh uploaded to iTunes. I’m running into some real problems with that. iTunes Producer says it has uploaded my file but when I check the metadata it says there is no content. This is disturbing on many levels. I’ve spent most of my time since then trying to find out what the problem might be.

I’m using Scrivener for Mac on a MacBook Air and I’m using iTunes Producer. It shouldn’t be all that difficult. I did find one article on how to go into the code and brute force it through but I hate looking at code, I really do. I would rather do a huge thermodynamic problem than sift through code.

I’m going to keep looking. What is really frustrating is that I had no problem getting a proof copy uploaded to my iPad to read it and check for errors. Speaking of which I found a huge and strange error where it looked like some foreign word was smashed into another word in one chapter, probably the result of the jumpy mouse on that cursed Acer I had. I’ve corrected that and it is fixed on Amazon and should be on Kobo.

Since I have the ePub already compiled I might as well dive into getting In The Flesh up on Barnes and Nobel too. Between that and iTunes today will be a loss for creating new content for War In Flesh, which is a shame because things were just starting to get good there. Although, who knows. Maybe one or both will go well and I can move on.

The Geek Girl Project posted my review of Cloverfield as part of the monster movie series of reviews I’m doing as a run up to the 2014 Godzilla movie release. Cloverfield was a bad movie and my review reflects that. Look for my review of IDW’s Godzilla #11 comic this week and Godzilla vs. Mothra. I’m also working on an article about Gatcheman for TGGP and I may cross post it here as well.

I’m posting links on Tumblr for M31 Publishing and I can’t help but wonder if that is a big waste of time for me. I’ve been trying to be more of a presence on Goodreads but with my computer issues of late that’s been difficult. Because time is at a premium I really need to be careful about how I chose to spend it. Between blogging, maintaining a presence on Facebook and trying to get some actual work done on War In Flesh my day gets used up pretty quickly. And that doesn’t even take into account the day to day chores of life: laundry, dishes, getting groceries, cooking and picking up around the place. (As a side note it seems that I haven’t done dishes unless I’m wearing a half gallon of soapy water and can mop just from spillage.)

It was after all of this that I turned on the television and saw what had happened. Like everyone else my day came to a screeching halt as my heart went out to those who were so brutally violated on what should have been a joyful day. I am just heartbroken about what happened in Boston as is everyone I know. I know a lot of runners and the impact upon my friends has been huge. They feel this deeply and I with them. Even though we were fortunate that none of my personal friends was running the Boston Marathon, I know many of them secretly dream of qualifying and making it there. I ache for them and for everyone else physically and emotionally harmed by the actions of a sick few, or one.

Romance in War In Flesh, M31 Update and In The Flesh Closer to iTunes Publication

  By K. L. Zolnoski | April 14, 2013 - 3:50 pm | Author Updates
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Seashadow-500 an example of a SWATH ship which has the same basic design as the Lorelei II, the ship from In The Flesh

Seashadow-500 an example of a SWATH ship which has the same basic design as the Lorelei II, the ship from In The Flesh

Seashadow-500 an example of a SWATH ship which has the same basic design as the Lorelei II, the ship from In The Flesh

As promised I spent a good part of Saturday updating M31 Publishing so that it is all nice and pretty. I’m getting to know my way around WordPress just a bit and it is kind of fun. I still don’t know everything but I’m making progress. I do hope you like the new layout and look.

War In Flesh got a good start on the second chapter. Evadne is making her first appearance in the sequel and I’ve named the new temple. Well of course she has to oversee the construction of the new temple, that’s part of what she was supposed to do. The Lorelei II will figure prominently once again and I’m working on some tantalizing hints at their history.

Also since I now have my very own MacBook Air I spent the entire morning getting In The Flesh ready to be proofed for publishing on iTunes. I need to look it over very carefully and within the next couple of days it should be ready to upload. This is very exciting. It will take me a day or two to go over the formatting with a fine-toothed comb. I will keep you updated.

You should know that because I migrated from a PC to a Mac I had to get the Mac version of Scrivener. As a result I had to teach the spell-check all of the names I use in the Children of Flesh series. Thankfully it was fairly straightforward and I do enjoy using Scrivener.

Even more exciting than all of that I got started on a version of chapter two for War In Flesh that I really like. I’m planning on getting a lot more done today, providing life doesn’t intrude. For now I must have a bagel and a cup of coffee, then music and writing, Hooray! I need to seriously start thinking about the romances in War in Flesh too. Stoic Dayyan is pining for Evadne and though she will never admit it, she is also (pining for him that is). K

Why Outlines are Important and Updates on War In Flesh

  By K. L. Zolnoski | April 4, 2013 - 3:08 pm | Author Updates, Selfpublishing
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I spent an enjoyable bit of time yesterday writing a good chunk of the first chapter of War In Flesh. Now, though I’m wondering if it shouldn’t be the second chapter. See, this is what happens when you don’t do a complete outline before diving into the work. I really should put down the chapter and write up the outline before I go any further. Then I’ll at least have an idea of what I want to have happen where and when in the book. Sure it may be more “organic” to just write as it comes but it’s a lot sloppier.

I’m still working out the details for the crisis the characters will face. I have the basic idea and some of the underpinnings for it. Lately I’ve been toying with the particulars of sub plots to bring it together and make it exciting and suspenseful.

Today, no more excuses, I will just have to get In The Flesh formatted for the Nook. I kind of put it on the back burner because it was taking up so much time trying to get everything to space correctly but now I simply must do it. I will update when it goes live for the Nook and I apologize to my Nook readers for the delay. Also I have not had the chance to borrow my friends Mac but I will try to do so this weekend and get In The Flesh up on iTunes. K.

War In Flesh has a Rough Outline

  By K. L. Zolnoski | March 24, 2013 - 7:33 pm | Author Updates
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Good news, faithful readers, I wrote up the rough outline for War In Flesh. I promised myself I could take the day off from formatting and rolling out In The Flesh everywhere I can think of and spent an enjoyable part of the day thinking up the story arc for the sequel. I do love the creative aspect of being a writer. While I find the editing tedious and formatting somewhat torturous, the actual imagining and writing is almost relaxing.

I will, hopefully, get my hands on a mac today and get In The Flesh uploaded for iTunes this coming week. Thank you for your kind interest, gentle reader. I will keep you updated and as always I do hope you enjoy reading. K

Cover Art for In The Flesh and Editing as well as Release Date

  By K. L. Zolnoski | February 7, 2013 - 4:21 pm | Author Updates
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I paid for my cover art last night and posted the banner ad the artist made for me to go along with it.  I also updated the about section of this page to have a very brief synopsis of the story.  This is so exciting.

Originally it was my intention to publish, self publish that is, In The Flesh as an eBook only.  The thing is I’ve now had two people ask me about physical copies.  One of my beta readers asked how she was supposed to get a signed copy if it was an eBook only.  That being said, and with the feedback I’ve gotten I think it would be worthwhile to make In The Flesh available for print on demand also.

When I self published The Shadow of The Hand of God I looked into publishing through Smashwords which would have made it available in many more venues than just Amazon.com.  I chose not to because it would have required stripping all of the formatting out of the book and that book is organized into discrete sections for a reason.  In The Flesh does not have that issue so I am once again considering going through Smashwords to make it available in iTunes and Kobo and many other eReader formats.

For the record, both books are very different.  The Shadow of The Hand of God is a memoir and a ringing condemnation of fundamentalism and what far right conservatism has become.  It is a cry out to everyone who has felt rejected by the modern church and a heartfelt assurance that you are not alone and not unloved.

In The Flesh is science fiction.  It is pretty hard science fiction.  It is accurately sub categorized as post apocalyptic which is my favorite genre.  It is, I hope, exciting and fun and interesting and everything good science fiction can be.  I also tried to give it the flavor of the early science fiction works from the 40’s and the 50’s but with quite a bit of updating and a modern twist.

Once I have editing done for In The Flesh I will work on a synopsis and pitch for the back cover and to use in any advertising I might do.  There is still quite a bit of finishing up for In The Flesh but I hope to have it fully ready to publish and available for purchase in March of this year.

For those who are wondering how tedious editing is—I’m going to go do the dishes.