En Route

I'm seriously considering going the self-publishing route again. I self-published two science-fantasy novels with Lulu five years ago, but didn't know what the hell I was doing. It's going to be different this time around.

1) I'm going to commision Claudia McKinney for some cover art. I found her through Amanda Hocking. McKinney's portfolio is hauntingly familiar, see my characters throughout her works. I'd also like to commission some rough black and white sketches for the chapter headings, perhaps as many as 30. The book is broken down into three acts: Purgatorio, Paradisio, and Inferno. I may very well buy three black and white sketches for each of the acts.
That said, I'm also interested in Vincent Chong, but doubt whether I can afford his services. He works with traditional publishing houses, but that's okay. I can always daydream about it. I contacted Vincent a while back, made an enquiry. He responded within a day or two. I discovered Vincent through John Scalzi's Whatever.

2) Find a reasonably-priced graphic artist to incorporate McKinney's artwork and produce a professional traditional publisher-quality layout, front, back, and spine.

3) Decide whether to pay to have it copyedited and edited. I'm in contact with a few freelance editors, looking at a couple of thousand dollars for 80,000-word science-fantasy novel. I don't have that kind of money.

4) Find someone else to do the interior design. I'm in contact with a few freelance graphic designers, looking at another grand.

5) Research book blogs and contact reviewers with published ARCs. Hopefully, someone will take time out of their busy reading schedules to read through the book. With any luck, word of mouth.

6) Publish Ophiuchi as an ebook through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and as a paperback through Lulu, though I'm also considering self-publishing through Lightning Source. The good thing about Lightning Source is that you can chose your publisher name. I'd like to publish my books under Or Books. I like the sound of it, sounds alternative.

But, of course, all this is contingent on being passed over by Angry Robot in the next few weeks.