Hellooo! I hope this September Saturday morning brings you sunshine and coffee and all things awesome. Huzzah for having a whole weekend ahead of us!
Last May I ordered paperback copies of my novels -- first draft versions. I wrote a whole post on that and the process. I 100% recommend doing this, and I enjoyed it so much that I did it again. :P Today we're touring the new versions and why I redid them.
I included a selection of photos in this post, but ultimately I felt like it would be easier to showcase the books in a video, so I went ahead and recorded a video. I kept the video under eight minutes so I don't waste a huge chunk of your day (more time for writing and editing!). But if you're not a video type of person, there's a short overview of the books below.
So I guess today is a vlog and a blog post. It's a vlog post! (ha... ha... ha... :P)
[enjoy my excited rambles about books! And maybe it's just my computer... but the automatic playback quality is super low so make sure to adjust it if it looks horrible xD]
"So why order new copies, Katie, if you already bought some?"
Good question. BECAUSE LOOK AT HOW GORGEOUS THESE ARE.
Now for a real answer.
- I really love the clean and minimalist design
- these books are a matte finish which looks (and feels!) a lot nicer
- EVERYTHING MATCHES!
- even the interior matches. same font, same size, same color, etc.
- when sitting on the shelf, it's more obvious that I wrote these, and they're not just a really bad collection of self-published novels :P
- someday I'll publish one of these books, and the professional copy will be so fun to compare to the plain white version!
- I also wanted these books to be smaller (5x8 instead of 6x9)
- there were some formatting mistakes on my other copies, so I knew what I had to do differently for these!
Most of the interior changes were nitpicky little things, but I did add headers to my novels! As you can see above, I inserted the title on the top right of the page, and (below) my name on the top left. I suppose there's not much point in doing this, because I'm the only one who will ever read these hideous versions... but it looks nice and professional. xD
The only text I put on the back of the book was how long it took me to write them. I forgot to put the date on my newest novel. -.- I was a sad human the moment I realized my mistake. *sigh* Oh well. It's a first draft, so the cover might as well display the true state of the inside -- imperfect.
(and by imperfect I mean very, very, very imperfect. I fear for the person who accidentally peeks inside one of my firsts drafts and passes out from the mere shock and horror of it all. xD)
Last time I ordered my books using Lulu, and this time I chose CreateSpace. They both work super well, but I chose the latter this time because CreateSpace has a matte finish option.
(and by imperfect I mean very, very, very imperfect. I fear for the person who accidentally peeks inside one of my firsts drafts and passes out from the mere shock and horror of it all. xD)
Last time I ordered my books using Lulu, and this time I chose CreateSpace. They both work super well, but I chose the latter this time because CreateSpace has a matte finish option.
Thanks for reading and/or watching! Bit of a shorter post, so I want to hear what's going on with all of you guys! Any plans for today or the weekend? Any good books you've read recently? I stayed up past midnight last night reading Electric at the Midnight. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. <3 <3
And to any of those that are being impacted by Hurricane Irma... be safe. I'm sending some prayers your way.
<3,
katie grace
I LOVE IT ALL AND VOTE FOR MORE VLOGS!!!!!!
ReplyDelete*cough*
That is all.
I LOVE ALL OF YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT AND EXCITEMENT AND AM SO GLAD YOU'RE MY FRIENDDD <3
DeleteI LOVE THIS POST. Where's the link for the people who create these beautiful books?!?? I WANT ONE FOR ME WHEN I FINISH FORGOTTEN. (But holy crap, the editing that this novel will require...*cringes and passes out from the amount of edits needed to make my novel anything even remotely good*
ReplyDeleteI'm watching a show with the fam right now, but I'll be watching the video later because you're so fun to watch and your accent is adorable. <3
AH SORRY I EDITED IT IN! Last time I used Lulu, but this time I used CreateSpace. ^.^
DeleteAww yay! I'm excited for you to watch it. :D
Oh cool. ^-^
DeleteThe vlog was great. I love how you kept dropping the books, like you have no idea how relatable that is. Dropping books is something all book dragons understand.
GAWD those new minimalist covers are gorgeous. I know they are probably not everyone's thing but I would for sure have them on my shelf any day.
ReplyDelete- Edie
kankensandpinafores.blogspot.com
AH THANKS! Yeah, they're probably not the greatest for published books... but I love it for these. :D
Delete*screams* ACK.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately my audio isn't working so I WILL BE BACK TO WATCH THIS AGAIN /WITH/ SOUND. XD But the video without audio was still epic. XP I got much amusement from just watching you talk even though I couldn't hear. XD
*returns* OKAY BUT LISTENING TO YOUR VOICE MAKES ME SO HAPPY I JUST WANT TO GO OVER TO AMERICA RIGHT NOW PLEASE.
DeleteAnd yaaaas. <3 Your dream bookshelf. <3 *heart eyes* That would be SO. EPIC. It must come true one day.
*screams with you* EEK.
DeleteOh my gosh you're hilarious. I appreciate your dedication to watching. XD
AND PLEASE COME OVER. I WANT TO HEAR YOUR BEAUTIFUL AUSTRALIAN ACCENT. And eat pizza with you, so.
These are so awesome! I really need to do this.
ReplyDeleteYou totally should! It's awesome. :D
DeleteYour copies are gorgeous 0.0 I would love to print copies of my first drafts someday but I feel like I'd cringe too hard even opening them? I mean, I love my first drafts and all but I don't think I'd be able to read it like a proper book, but that's just me!
ReplyDeleteYES TO MINIMALISM AND THE MATTE COVERS! And I love your vlogs you should do more of them <3 They're so entertaining!
- andrea at a surge of thunder
THANKS, ANDREA. But yeah I feel that. It's so hard for me to look inside, but it's still fun to do. :D
DeleteThanks so much! <3
It's official. You win the Cutest Human Award. 😀 I LOVE the blog! And your books are so pretty!
ReplyDelete*happy squeal* Daww, thanks so much, Alea!
DeleteOmg what the heck you are so cute and energetic, I feel enfp energy...that's me half the time, I also relate to the dropping of books all the time (well in fact the dropping of many other things as well) xD Do more vlogs Katie, no one could ever get bored of them! xox You are so cute and funny.
ReplyDeleteAnyway this was a great post because I hope to do this....*clears throat* when I finally get a first draft done.
(LIKE HOW THE HECK CAN YOU WRITE 100k + words IN ONE MONTH GAHH)
YES THERE IS SO MUCH ENFP ENERGY. Especially when I talk about books -- it especially comes out then. :P And thanks! I hope to do more vlogs in November, so be looking out for them. ;)
DeleteYES YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO DO IT ANNA AND THEN SHARE PICTURES. o.o
OH MY GOODNESS, KAITIE! This is amazing, I missed your first post so this, just-wow. Can I order them somehow? I want to read your beautiful work!
ReplyDeleteThankfully I am not near the hurricanes. Right now I have a novel idea in my head, but just bits and pieces. But it's enough that it doesn't want to go away. So I've been patiently waiting for more ideas.
~ Pip
HAHAHA. You might've missed it... but these are first drafts. So definitely not order-able. But hopefully someday the finished versions will be!
DeleteOh good. <3
The books look very lovely and I am FOR SURE going to order some ASAP because I too would like to look at my shelf and see my heart on the shelf. :D
ReplyDeleteI love your vlogs. They always make me laugh (especially the all books dropping). XD
YESS YOU NEED TO DO IT. and pretty please send me some pictures?? I want to see them!
Delete(ugh I was so frustrated by the end! My poor books XD)
YOUR BOOKS ARE SO BEAUTIFUL, Katie!!! I really need to do this when I finish my book!! *runs away and cries because I'm nowhere near finished writing my book*
ReplyDeleteI LOVED THE VLOG!!!
- Maddy | littlebitofsunshineweb.blogspot.com
GO WRITE, MADDY. Finish that thing so then you can order beautiful copies! :D
DeleteThanks so much. <3
Ahhhh!! They look so pretty and amazing and awesome!!
ReplyDeleteAww, thanks, Nabila!
DeleteAGH KATIE! I loved your video and I want to meet you in person even more now!! O_O XD
ReplyDeleteYour books are so beautiful!! I love the minimalistic look! I am working on rewrites right now, and I think once I'm done with those, I'm gonna order some paperback copies of my books. Cause it just sounds amazing and inspiring and just - oh my gosh, holding what I wrote in my hands - agh. Amazing. *dies* I also can't believe how cheap they are!! Like WHAT?! :O
Okay, you have officially inspired me to write...May The Words Be With Me - and with you. XD
~Jaclynn~
Dawww, you just made me grin. I want to meet you so badly as well! We need a teleporter. -.-
DeleteDO IT! And then you need to send me pictures of the books you order so I can properly flail over them. xD
Aww, yay! How did the writing end up going? YOU GOT THIS, JACLYNN!
AGH, yes!! Why can't they be real? O_O
DeleteI will definitely show you the books whenever I order them and have them in my hands! XD
IT WENT GOOD!! I worked on rewriting my book and then later I started exploring a new idea for NaNoWriMo and I'm like so excited about it!! :D
~Jaclynn~
YAY! Ooooh... when do I get to hear about this new idea? O.O
DeleteLOL! Well.... In short it is about elves living in our world on the brink of extinction. I would say more, but there's so much and I'm terrible at explaining my books to people without giving everything away. *hides behind blanket* XD
Delete~Jaclynn~
THESE ARE SO PRETTY!!! I really want to print my novel now...
ReplyDelete*whisper* Do ittt.
DeleteI absolutely LOVE the new look. Like you said, so minimalist and aesthetically pleasing! I want to pet them. :P
ReplyDeleteYour voice is seriously the cutest. I love it when you do vlogs because you always sound so chipper and are such fun to watch/listen to! ;)
Oh, how a shelf of one's own work would be beautiful. (yours are just so. stinkin. pretty. :P) I've been reassessing my writing recently because of some big life/time changes. It's a pretty long story, but for now I'll just fangirl over everyone else's books. :P
Ack, but that dream of having a writer friend bookshelf... <3 That's GOING to happen; I will have all the Katie copies once they are published. ;)
I totally petted them. XD Someday we can meet and you have permission to pet all of the copies. :P
DeleteDaw, thanks! It helps that I'm talking about something I'm passionate about. :P
Aww. *hugs* I hope they're good life changes? I've been meaning to send you an email just to catch up but I keep forgetting until I see you pop up in the comments. It will happen soon. *nodnod*
AWW. And if you ever publish... I'm definitely going to have an Emily book on my shelf. <3
I honestly admire your dedication to continuing to holding those books ��. I would have set them on the table by the second time.. Ha! They look great, and your vlogs are always cute!
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm glad someone noticed that. My arms were getting sore by the end but I didn't want to let them go. xD
DeleteOOHHH MYYY! KATIE! THIS HAS BEEN SO USEFUL!! I PLAN TO USE THIS! I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT CREATESPACE AND I'M GONNA GET DOWN TO IT RIGHT AWAY! THANKS FOR THIS POST! Oh, and your copies are gorgeouuuss!
ReplyDeleteDO IIIT! Make sure to share pictures if you end up printing them out, because I want to see!
DeleteThis is such a good idea, they look awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Skye!
Delete#somewhatjealous XD
ReplyDelete#whoopssorry (psst one way to cure the jealousy is to go order your own ;)
DeleteDIS IS FABULOUS AND I MIGHT STEELE IT see what I did there lol no I'm not funny
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAH I chuckled at that. Good one, Rachael... good one. :P
DeleteYou are literally the coolest human! I LOVE the black and white minimalist style, they look super cool. :) This is such a rad idea - they seriously look amazing! THAT MATTE FINISH THOUGH. You are going to go far with your writing!! :) <3
ReplyDeleteNahh, I think that title belongs to you. But thanks, girl! I'm super excited about them. :D
Delete*squeals because of Katie Grace's voice and Katie Grace's face and Katie Grace's personality and Katie Grace's adorableness*
ReplyDeleteemilyywrites.wordpress.com
SHHHH. You're basically a ray of sunshine, Emily, and I'm so thankful for it. xD
DeleteOh my goodness! I love the physical copy of your books! They look so cool! :D I so wanna do that whenever I finish a first draft of an actual book. o.O Sometimes I forget I still haven't reached that point yet. -.-
ReplyDeleteOoh, YES I READ "Entwined" by Heather Dixon AND IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. I loved it so hard. XD LOL!
-Emma-
YOU NEED TO. Go write all the words and then print them out and stare happily at them. xD
DeleteOoh, I've heard of that one! I'm glad you like it. :D
first off, THEY ARE SO CUTE (honestly you are inspiring me with something with a black cover and white font?? I'm such a minimalistic person at heart also :P XD but sadly, I already have plans for my novel's cover. sometimes I feel like making covers for nonexistent books XD)
ReplyDeletesecond - OMW KATIE. YOUR FACE WHEN YOU DROPPED THE BOOKS. WHY CAN I RELATE SO MUCH
basically these are so cool and you are so cool and yep love this post <33
EEEK THANK YOUU. Part of the reason I got the minimalistic versions is because they're honestly so pretty, but also because I'm lazy to create fancy covers because I know they'll never be good enough. XD
DeleteHAHAHA. Yup. It was an epic fail.
ERMEHGERDNESS THOSE ARE SO AESTHETIC AND MINIMALISTIC AND FABULOUSSSS. i want itttt. (and i'm not even a writer somebody help me *sweats nervously*)
ReplyDeletebut honestly, i can see why getting entire copies just for your first drafts is a good idea, cuz then you can look back and see where you came from and what you can fix in the future and so forth. and yes, i watched both the video and read the post because it be just so great. me loves <333
HAHHA. Now I will convert you to becoming a writer just for this reason. XD
DeleteEXACTLY! Yes it's so awesome and I can't wait to read back on them sometime soon. And thanks for reading/watching, Suzy! I don't think I've seen you around my blog before... so welcome. :)
*flails* They're so PRETTY!!! Agh, that's so awesome! Holding your finished draft in your hand in bookish form. *squeals* :D SO. GRATIFYING. :D Even if they're riddled with typos and all that. It's still amazing. ;)
ReplyDelete*flails with you* YESS IT'S SO AMAZING. The typos make me grin because it reminds me of the first draft craziness. xD
DeleteACK, ASGLGAJSGF, THEY'RE BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE THEM. (also how about you just send me one so I can read all the Katie-words. I NEEDS THEM xD)
ReplyDelete~ Savannah | Scattered Scribblings
NOOO SAVANNAH IT'S A HORRID FIRST DRAFT HOW DARE YOU EVEN SUGGEST THAT. xD Someday you will have a finished version in your hands... but... *shudder* Definitely not yet. :P
DeleteFirst of all, please do more Vlogs because you have so much AMAZING CREATIVE ENERGY that just FLOODS THROUGH THE SCREEN and makes me want to go do writerly things and be productive and I love your voice.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, YOUR BOOKS ARE BEAUTIFUL. I love the simplicity of them.
Okay, I need to go off and finish writing all of my many first drafts right now so I too can do this.
Way to go Katie!
~Mira
AHH OKAY! I've been thinking of doing some more for NaNoWriMo so I'll have to follow through on that. :D
DeleteYes! Go, Mira, go! You go this. :D
So, I saw the white covers, and my immediate thought was, "You could use bright pens to draw on those! o.o"
ReplyDeleteo.o
Deleteo.o
o.o
... remind me not to let these books into your presence. o.o
*evil snickering*
Delete*flails* These are SO PRETTY!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are like a ray of sunshine Katie!!!! <3 <3
How did you make the covers on CreateSpace?
Thank you, Desiree! <3
DeleteOnce you upload your file onto CreateSpace, they'll give you dimensions for a cover. I downloaded their cover guidelines and then edited it in PicMonkey. It's kind of confusing, so if you have any further questions you can definitely send me an email. :D
OH MY GOODNESS THEY ARE BEAUTIFULLLL.
ReplyDeleteI remember that first post! Ever since then I've wanted to print out my books too, so thanks for reminding me! Maybe I'll use that as motivation to get through my first semester. Or to write my Five Poisoned Apples entry. Or something. XD
Anyway, you're adorable and fun and I was laughing every time you dropped your books! XD
EEE YES YOU SHOULD. *gasp* You're going to enter the FIve Poisoned Apples contest? o.o Okay, that's awesome. I really hope you make it in. xD
DeleteEhehe, yay? XD
I REALLY WANT TO. Yes, that's the olan, anyway! I'm...eheh...only 670 words into it, but I hope to crank out a lot more in the near future. :P Oh my goodness, thank you so much!
DeleteThey look so nice!! GAH I can't wait to do these for my stories.
ReplyDeleteDO IT! Make sure to send me pictures if you end up printing some out. :D
DeleteWill do :D
DeleteI want to read them so bad!!!!
ReplyDeleteAwww! I hope someday that you can!
DeleteI'm honestly so so jealous. This is something I want to do so badly. Maybe someday it will happen.
ReplyDeleteI love love your blog and I hope you can check out my new one over at Lauren Elizabeth if you have a moment. (I used to blog on Victory).
They are SO GORGEOUS KATIE. I LOVE THE VLOG AND THE MINIMAL LOOK AND EVERYTHING!! I am seriously tempted to do this for one of my novels. (Once they're done. Hehe.) Just the thought of having your own books on your own shelf is just... ahhhhh. Amazing.
ReplyDelete(The problem of printing them would be that my family would want to read them. #help)