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Peter Smith

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I don't know if I'm breaking the rules posting this - if I am please remove it. I have just published this book which does pretty much what it says on the tin and illustrated with my own work. It is available from Amazon. 
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John Graham Inkson

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Well done Peter, it must be quite a task writing and illustrating a book.
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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Don’t worry Peter , you are sharing your own material and haven’t set a link to buying your book so I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t share it with us . Well done , you certainly set yourself a task there and achieved it magnificent, scares the life out of me thinking of writing a book ,I’m not an acrylic painter , will stick with my watercolour, good luck and I hope it sells well .

Alan Bickley

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I’m fine with it also and good luck to you. Presumably you’ve self-published which is something that I’ll probably do in the not too distant future... unless I can dig up some interest from a publisher! My book would extol the importance and virtues of keeping a daily sketchbook routine - I’ve got a wealth of illustrations all ready to go. I’m sure we’d all be interested in hearing how it goes for you, I’m certainly interested!

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by Alan Bickley

Denise Cat

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Brilliant Peter, I think it's very brave ploughing into such a task as writing your own book. I wish you every success with it. Looks full of practical advice.
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Russell Edwards

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Well done Peter,quite an undertaking but best of luck with it.
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Marjorie Firth

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Yes, good luck with it Peter. It’s very enjoyable, I imagine, to set yourself a task like this, doing something you’re really interested in.
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Peter Smith

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It's not as hard as it sounds; you do the manuscript using Microsoft Publisher, which is very similar to Word, and when it's complete save it as a PDF. I use an Amazon company called Kindle Direct Publishing (which is why the book has to be bought from Amazon) - the manuscript is uploaded to their website, the ISBN number is allocated automatically and there are cover templates to use. You can choose your page size and soft or hard cover and set the price yourself. Once it has been published if you find you've made a mistake you can unpublish it, correct it and the republish it and no one will be any the wiser!  I really would encourage people to have a go, even if it's just for friends and family as a record of your paintings. I did that last autumn before I went into hospital and I didn't know if I was going to survive...my pictures would certainly have ended up in a skip but at least the book would still be there. In the event it made a good Christmas present. There is no upfront cost, KDP take a cut when a book sells and they are printed to order so there is no pile of books sitting somewhere waiting to be sold. It is about as easy as it could be. No one is going to get rich from it but that's not the point, in my case I want something other than paintings to sell at craft fairs and such like and as the author I can order books at less than half the cover price. I have no connection with the company and would very much prefer not to have to use Amazon but that's life. 

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by Peter Smith

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Lewis Cooper

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Well done Peter.  Despite what you say, it’s a commendable achievement to put together a book, I wish you every success.

Alan Bickley

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That’s very interesting Peter, and all new info to me… let me look into that, money is also secondary to me, that isn’t the objective here!
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Peter Smith

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If you need any help Alan just shout. A manuscript is just a very long Word document really.

Alan Bickley

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Thanks Peter, I’ve had a quick glance at their website last night, but I’m after the technical details really. Obviously it’s digitally printed as opposed to lithography, more than acceptable these days with the advanced technology of these printers and particularly inks, we don’t want images fading away after a decade of course. All my platforms are Mac, my main one being a 22in iMac which has Pages installed rather than Word… although I can convert a finished document into Word. I’m assuming that the printers or their designers actually design the book, positioning text and corresponding images etc! What size jpeg files do they need? Is there a choice of fonts and sizes? There’s so many questions so I’ll return to the website and check it out again. They might have some printed literature that explains more of the details. But, I am very interested, I’ve had a look at your book on the Amazon website and looks all good!
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