S. A. Scarlet
After wanting to write a novel for 20 years I finally made it happen, but then had to ask myself, "How to I bring this to market?" I had read that Stephen King once used to put his rejection letters onto a nail he had driven into his wall. Over time, so many were added that the nail pulled free of the wall...then he got a bigger nail. One admires his tenacity, but did I really want to waste my time trying to convince traditional publishers that my writing was of some value? Or did I just want to take control myself, be my own boss, and have complete control over everything? I decided that I did. It did not take me long to come across Standout Books. It was nice that Standout seemed to cover every aspect of what I needed: editing, cover design, web design, and proofing. In checking around I found that their prices were reasonable and comparable to elsewhere. So I dove in and have been really satisfied in every instance. The quality of the editing was top notch. I got a developmental edit by Kate, which was really helpful at identifying problematic areas, both in my story and writing. I then had final proofreading edit done by Kelsey to eliminate any grammatical errors and typos, to check for inconsistencies. Again, Kelsey's work was invaluable to me. And between her and Kate, my manuscript was much more improved and professional because of their competent hands. While the editing was going on, I began my cover design. They asked me for story plot details, which I gave because they give you a few cover concepts based on this, but I had specific ideas for my cover design so I gave them some examples of what I wanted and then waited. It wasn't long before I got a sample covers back. Their covers based on my story elements were quite good, but they really nailed my concept design that I had supplied and executed it better than I could have hoped. The designer gave me exactly what I wanted which looked really good, but then they did a spin on my concept that was even better. This new iteration was so good that I decided to keep it and use it for the hardcover and ebook cover (my original concept that they did so well, I kept for my softcover.) The only thing I did not have them do was the lettering, which I had done by a professional calligrapher (though the Standout Books designer did an amazing job of implementing it well.) Now that all these elements were progressing nicely, I submitted my final draft for formatting and requested that work be started on my website. In short order, both things were complete, with my book formatted which looked way cool, and my website was setup. Rita did a killer job at designing the site. I only gave her a few ideas and what she came up with really fit my design sensibilities and also worked well with the theme of the book. Overall my experience with Standout has been very positive and they helped me reach a goal I've been striving towards for a long time. Thank you for making The Witches' Hollow a reality! You guys are awesome!!!
4 years ago
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