I’m not sure what happened but my post on Scribus is nowhere to be found. No time for posting it again, so here we go with the truncated version.
For those who want a link to the developers and a place to download it, here it is: http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus
And a link to a great book on Amazon about 1.4.1 which appears to still apply (Disclosure: I’m an Amazon Associate so I get a little money if you click on the link): http://amzn.to/1F1Nk0Y
And a link to an online guide: http://en.flossmanuals.net/scribus-2/index/
(Update: I’ve since discovered that it’s not gone. It’s just not showing up in my blog’s timeline. Again, I don’t know why. But here’s the link for those who want to read it.
As soon as I know why it exists but isn’t on my timeline, I’ll update this post again.)
Summary of missing post: Scribus (ver. 1.4.5) is a great alternative to the fairly pricey InDesign. For indie authors, especially those who use LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice, it’s a pretty fantastic resource for making print-ready PDFs, especially given the fact that it’s free. Really, you can make some beautiful layouts with this program. Just be aware that large files (like an extremely long book) may cause the system to crash, especially if you’re using the text editor. Import if you can, save often, and refer to the links above if you have any problems.
Now for general updates.
The first book in my space opera series (which marks the first time I’m not using my own name) is almost ready. I had to fix a major issue with the plot, then go back and fix the fix. Today, I’m going to add the last two key scenes, then read through it one more time. After that, it’s off to my helpful proofers.
Once that’s shipped off, I’m going to get back to editing The Castle in the Story. From what I can see, most of it is good and will only require a little tweaking here and there. But all that’s dependent on how things go with the first fifteen chapters. It’s a monstrously huge book compared to the other ones I’ve written and those first fifteen chapters have so many things that make me cringe I’ve decided to redraft the whole of the beginning, then stitch it back into the rest. If I can. We’ll see.
I’ve also been working on writing flash fiction and sending it out whenever I have a spare moment. I’m trying to follow Heinlein’s Rules (focusing only on fixing and not rewriting the thing to death when it comes to Rule #3) and I’m not sure what’s going to happen. But it’s keeping me writing while I do all this editing, and it’s fun.
Oh, and in line with that, I’m using Holly Lisle’s How to Write Flash Fiction That Doesn’t Suck to figure out how to tell a story that tiny. More on that later, but for now, it’s helped. And it’s free. So if any of my readers want to take a look, here’s the link.
http://howtothinksideways.com/shop/free-three-week-flash-fiction-class/
(Unlike the Amazon link above, I get no reward of any kind for referring people to Holly Lisle’s courses. I’m just sharing something I think is useful.)
Amy Keeley 