final agenda for the ebook ms

Left to do:

1. final proofreading/editing/formatting
2. figure out a dang title
3. write a preface/foreword
4. bang out the front matter, including the table of contents
5. write a bio/acknowledgments/afterword
6. design a cover
7. convert all to Kindle format

—and all will be done!

As it is, the main ms is around 450 pages long. Because each chapter is a movie or book review, though, the book can be read out of order, so consider this "bathroom reading," although some chapters may be long enough to require several terlit sessions depending on how fast you read. (I'm on the slow side.)

And as I've told others: Because this is a Kindle ebook, you can purchase it, and if you find errors in the ms, feel free to notify me via email, and I will make changes, then re-upload the ms. What happens then is that the Kindle ebook you've purchased will also re-update with the new, better content. No need to re-purchase. Win-win!

I'll start working on the above remaining seven to-do items today (after I visit the police station again), but I'm going to take time out, starting this Friday, to do a walk from Incheon to Yeoju City (150-some km). I'll return to the Geumgang path (which I tried and failed at earlier this year) later this fall, schedule permitting.

And once the ebook is totally done, I'll turn my attention to the dead-tree version, which will, alas, be substantially more expensive due to printing costs, etc. At 450-some pages for the final product (6" x 9" format, perfect-bound paperback), I'm guessing there'll be around a $5-$10 base cost for a paperback of this size and page length. Since I need to make $3-$5 off each book (a guy's gotta eat, pay rent, and generally survive in this rat-race environment), the markup will make the final cost around $8-$13 or so.

The Kindle ebook, meanwhile, will be priced as low as possible since it's all just weightless 1s and 0s anyway. I think the absolute minimum I can charge for the ebook is $2.99, and the promise I make all my customers is that I will never charge more than that for an ebook unless Amazon raises the minimum price. So my suggestion is to buy the ebook unless you don't have either a Kindle or a Kindle app for your phone. Much cheaper than the paperback.

Okay, all for now. 

I'll be off to the police station around 2 p.m. to make sure I'm past their lunch hour. (If it's anything like the Immigration Office, the police-station staff will all take lunch at the same time. Bureaucracies. Gotta love 'em.)