Bargain eBook - Murder Along the Blue Ridge

Murder Along the Blue Ridge is available today through Thursday at the bargain price of $0.99. This is 75 percent off the normal price of the Rachel Christie murder mystery that takes place along the Blue Ridge Parkway in which two people die from cyanide poisoning--a runaway bridegroom and an informant for narcotics officer Deputy Skyler of the Stone City police. When a bag of cyanide crystals is found in Skyler's home, the state police arrest him, saying they have more than enough evidence to put a noose around his neck for the crime.

Skyler claims he was framed by one of his many enemies and begs private detective Rachel Christie for help. Rachel dislikes Skyler because of their history and refuses the case even though she doesn't believe he's guilty.

Skyler says he has no motive and no connection to the runaway groom. Or does he? An indiscretion and cover-up fifteen years ago may be at the bottom of it all, but no one is willing to talk. With the dead bodies mounting, Rachel still refuses the case. Finally, Skyler's eleven-year-old daughter steps in and Rachel can't say no.

Although this is the sixth in the series, it can be read as a stand alone mystery.

Happy Reading!

New Book on Amazon Kindle

New Book on Amazon Kindle

Today, "Murder Among Friends," the seventh in the Rachel Christie Murder mystery series was published on Amazon. Although it is number seven in the series, it is a standalone private detective story. Rachel takes on more and more dangerous cases since moving to Stone City at the base of the Appalachians.

In this new novel, a secret, known only to a group of seven, rocks a nursing home with murder. It's a secret the members tell no one, except someone does know. That someone is ruthless enough to kill frail, suffering, defenseless people, preying on their vulnerabilities to get the secret.

When the Sheriff of Stone City asks private detective Rachel Christie to find his mother-in-law, who has been missing for three weeks, Rachel fears the worse. Her partner Cody has a friend connected to the murders and wants the agency to help his friend. Rachel only hopes that she can unravel the crime and save the others before all end up dead.

Editing of New Book

Editing of New Book

I just received my latest book in the Rachel Christie series back from my editor today. Now, I will re-read the book to see if I agree with his comments and see if I will either change my book or argue. He usually has good comments and his changes and recommendations are accepted. But, each author has the responsibility to keep their book their own. My name is on the book and it has to be written my way. If the book is bad, I have no right to blame the editor.

The one good thing about my editor is he helps with keeping my characters in character, always checking for inconsistencies.  Rachel Christie is a strong woman, but not too strong. She never curses and she doesn’t take advantage of anyone. She has honor and respectability, mostly. She is also a woman with many different feelings. Since she doesn’t curse, I have to find other ways of showing how upset she is. So that has to be taken into account. Other regular characters in the series have their own characteristics and they must be consistent, too. Each time I write a book in this series it is like getting together with a group of old friends. Comfortable, but challenging to keep each one individual.

If one character, who is normally a calm person, all of a sudden becomes excited or extreme in his thinking, that has to be explained. From experience, readers will pick up on inconsistencies right away and know that something is wrong. I know I do not like inconsistencies in the books I read.

In my last book, “Murder of the Innocent,” my editor intentionally put in several words to make sure that I was reading every single word he had written and not just skipping through. He wanted to make sure I was doing a good job of final editing. He should be paying me. Of course, I picked up on it. I’m not sure if that pleased him or not.

With any luck, my latest book will be available to the public in early November. In the meantime, my other four books are available at Amazon.com or at Barnes and Noble. Those books are: “Murder by the Clock,” “Murder in Emerald Hills,” Murder by Lion” and “Murder of the Innocent.”

New Book Published - Murder of the Innocent

New Book Published - Murder of the Innocent

My new book “Murder of the Innocent” has now been published on Amazon and Barnes and Noble as an eBook for $2.99 and as a paperback on Create Space for $9.99. It is the fourth in the series, but is a standalone mystery as well as are all the others in the series.

In the book, a seven-year-old girl, drowned in salt water, is found hundreds of miles from the ocean. A Hispanic male, father of three, is drowned in salt water and his body is discovered in a landfill.

Private detective Rachel Christie must discover the connection. She finds evidence incriminating her partner Cody and pulls out all stops to find the killer before her partner is indicted as a sexual predator, and worse, a murderer. Rachel is shot at, thrown in jail, stabbed and trampled by a horse. Ron says she’ll get herself killed. Sunbeam says Rachel’s harmless to everyone but herself.

Illegal gambling thrives nearby. A registered sex offender is jailed for sending nasty emails to the dead girl. The political race for sheriff adds two more suspects. Would someone kill two people to win an election?

Too many questions. Too many clues. Too many lies. Too many suspects. Too little time.

The beginning is as is as follows:

The clouds were dark on top of dark, threatening. Not gray, but black ominous giants of wrath, poised to spew torrents of rain and a million volts of death-dealing lightning all around us. The wind's fury blew as if I were in a wind tunnel. With two steps trudged along the rushing water's mucky edge, another step was lost to the wind. The river was a murky muddy brown. No way a body could be spotted in water this dark. It would be difficult to see a body on land.

Cody, my partner, called at five and awakened me with an urgency in his voice that I couldn't ignore. Cody was normally the definition of calm. Always cool and collected. Not this morning. He called me from my living room. Maybe he thought that was the best way to wake me up. Better than his bursting in. Maybe he was afraid I might have someone with me. I must be getting a reputation in this small town. He had used the spare house key I had given him to get through the front door. I would have to rethink the option of his keeping the key.

How Much to Pay for an eBook

How Much to Pay for an eBook

A popular question across blogs and forums is the cost of eBooks and I’ve even had this discussion with a few of my friends. I have several authors who are my favorite writers and I have read almost all of their books. However, a few have released, or will release books in the near future, that will be beyond what I consider a fair price to pay for an eBook.

One of my favorite authors is now charging $4.99 to $6.99 for his older works. I consider that a good value for my money. However, when his new book debuts over $10, I doubt I will buy it. Also, another author has been charging $7.99 to $9.99 for his books. I will pay those prices because, again, I feel this is a fair price for this author. When his new book debuts for nearly $15, I will not buy it.

I have discussed this with several of my friends and find that they, too, will not buy the higher priced books. It is not that we cannot afford these prices. We can. We feel the publisher is gouging the market for these well-known authors’ books.

Good authors are out there, waiting to be discovered, only if we take the time to read the reviews carefully and read the first ten percent of the book. As seasoned readers, we can tell which reviews are genuine and which ones are not. If we follow the reviewers on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, we know which reviewers are genuine and have reviewed a number of different books. We know if our interests match theirs or not. We also have Goodreads where many readers have shared their opinions on different books.

We do not have to be taken in by outrageous price gouging. I say we stand up against these high prices and find those new gems in millions of books that are available to us.

Why Do Men Write Books About Women Sleuths?

Why Do Men Write Books About Women Sleuths?

I not only write books about a female sleuth, but I also read them. I buy new eBooks and I  trade eBooks with my friends. Frequently, I find myself asking, "What idiot wrote this?" The usual reason is that the book was written by a man. I find this amazing, strange and odd. How could a man believe that he could write as a woman? We're different, other than biologically, in the way we do things, in the way we approach problems, in the way we think, in too many ways to list. Ladies, you know what I mean. Guys, if you don't, you'd better learn.


I read a review on Goodreads that said that women characters were two-dimensional in a male author’s work and are stock characters. Could this be because men do not know how to portray the complexities that dwell within the female physche? I ask this question because I have read some good books by males who seem to portray women as this one-dimensional dimensional human being. Do men actually see women as one-dimensional? I can’t believe this is true, but the books I have read tend to support this.


As I see it, the answer could be two different things. First, the man could be 'a woman in a man's body,' if you know what I mean. But, even so, in a man's body, there are many differences. Strength. The perception of people around. Not the same. Not at all. Second, is the arrogance of the uninformed. If the man is a teen, then uninformed is the right word. If the man is thirty or more, he's old enough to know better. Women don't look at things the way men do just as men don't see things as women do. Before age thirty, this becomes obvious for all but the thickest heads.

Some men who write about women sleuths partner with women. A wise move. I have no problem with these partnerships. In fact, I have a writer friend who edits my books and frequently recommends changes based on his knowledge of the male psyche. As a married woman who has spent half a lifetime in a "man's" job, I believe I know men as well as any woman. But, I don't believe I could write for a man and have it be convincing. At least not to men.

The greatest advice I've seen about writing is to 'write about what you know.' I hope that more male authors will shed their arrogance and a bit of their false testosterone and admit some ignorance about the females of the species.  Come on guys. Give it up. It's way past time.

Want to Read a New Murder Mystery?

Want to Read a New Murder Mystery?

After months of hard work, my third mystery novel is finished. This book is third episode in The Rachel Christie Mystery Series. The first two are "Murder by the Clock" and "Murder in Emerald Hills." All of these books take place in small northwestern North Carolina towns. All three books are available in eBook kindle format on Amazon or paperback at CreateSpace.

In this novel, "Murder by Lion," Rachel Christie becomes entangled in the gruesome murder of an heiress and philanthropist when she takes a pro bono case from her homeless friend Joe. She gets beaten and drugged by crazed addicts in solving a murder caused by a coverup that has been simmering for the past ten years.

It is a case that plunges her into physical and emotional bankruptcy and it nearly destroys her agency. Her associate Cody is forced to choose between his family and the agency and Rachel must commit to her close friend Ron or to her life as a private investigator.

* * *

The crowd hushed. The air was thick. Not from smoke, but from tension. Then, fingers pointed. People whispered. The old bum staggered across the restaurant floor. He fell to the floor, knocking over a potted plant, but rose again before anyone could move. Two waiters ran toward him, but not before he made it to the far corner of the room. As the crowd watched, homeless Joe and I caught a glimpse of each other at the same time.

I could see things weren't right. Joe was staggering. Joe would never let me see him drunk, so something bad must have happened. Why was he here? Obviously to see me. I jumped up so fast that my chair went crashing to the floor behind me.

My wine glass fell over onto the white, neatly pressed linen tablecloth. As I rushed toward him, he collapsed and fell at my feet, dropping the cell phone from his hand. Before he passed out, he said, in a barely audible voice, "Find her killer, Miss Christie. You can do it, if anybody can."

Draft of Next Book

Draft of Next Book

Today I finished the first draft of my next book in the Rachel Christie Murder Mystery Series. Once I had written the outline, the writing was easy. I had several characters in my book who could be the guilty party and I hope my fans have fun trying to figure out who actually committed the murder.

However, the first draft is only the initial phase. Many more passes and edits will be required before the book will be ready for publication. Just running it through the spell checker will not do it. I have to double check that everything flows and that the evidence is consistent. The same was true with my first book "Murder by the Clock" and my second book "Murder in Emerald Hills."

I would like to thank my fans for their encouraging words and reviews of my two previous books.

Nightmares - Reality vs. Fantasy

Nightmares - Reality vs. Fantasy

Many times dreams transcend fantasy and reality and become almost living nightmares. When nightmares become scary is when reality merges with the fantasies from the past and the present. The woman sleuth in my Rachel Christie mystery series has such a problem. Her nightmares are a result of her experiences in the past and in the present. In my first book Murder by the Clock she has nightmares concerning the death of her fiance and in my second book Murder in Emerald Hills her nightmares from her past work experiences collide with her present investigation.

Why people have nightmares have been attributed to many things. Some say that bad movies or bad experiences. One of my favorite reasons was, given to me as a young child, eating cheese before bedtime. Another reason can be medication. Too much or too little thyroid medication can trigger nightmares that seem real.

Last night I had such a dream as in Murder in Emerald Hills and I will relate that in the next book I write. It becomes scary when, after having that nightmare, you awaken and are not quite awake and feel that it is actually happening. People who write some novels and movies must have some weird horrible dreams. I can relate to that. Putting it on paper for me has to be as soon as possible, otherwise, I will forget it. And that, believe me, is a good thing.

The Power of Mindless Activity

The Power of Mindless Activity

Since publishing my book “Murder in Emerald Hills,” last week on Create Space and Amazon, I have been relaxing and enjoying reading and doing some yard work. Both of these activities are good in preparation for my new book.

Yes, I already have the major plot outlined, but I have a few minor subplots on which I need to work. Giving my mind time to relax by doing mindless activities helps me to hone those plots.

Since my first book Rachel Christie book “Murder by theClock,” I came up with several plots for my next four books. As I mentioned, I just completed book two and published it on Amazon and Create Space. I started writing one of the other books but realized that particular book needed to be around number five in my series. Since then I started putting the plot together for book three and have, actually written the first three chapters. However, before I continue this book, I need to finalize my subplots. That is where I started this post. Actually, I have come up with some small subplots. I guess my mindless activity is paying off.

Murder in Emerald Hills

Murder in Emerald Hills

A Rachel Christie Mystery 2

After many months of hard work and months of editing by myself and others, I have finally published my second mystery novel “Murder in Emerald Hills.” This is the second in the Rachel Christie Mystery Series with the first book in the series being "Murder by the Clock."

The heroine, Rachel Christie, is a mechanical engineer turned private detective. Her years as an OSHA accident investigator have prepared her for her new life investigating murders. She also brings a lot of baggage to her new job in the form of bad memories of failed relationships. She moved to a quiet town in North Carolina to get away from her nickname “Jinxy.” But it isn’t working.

This novel opens with the heroine, Rachel Christie, in a dark hole. A real hole - a well. Thirty feet deep. Her assistant Cody is nowhere to be found. Her cell phone doesn't work. Her radio doesn't work. Her screaming doesn't work. She can't climb out because the well is too big and a pipe fell on her shoulder. Who did it? Who sent her a bomb? Who filled her desk with black widow spiders? It began as a case of land fraud in Emerald Hills. The chief suspect couldn't possibly do it, says Rachel's friend Ron. Sheriff Hayley has carnal knowledge of Ron but likes Rachel so much she deputizes her. There are too many pieces and they don't fit together. Who will Rachel believe as the bodies begin to stack up? Somebody's a murderer, a clever murderer.

Value of a Free Book

Value of a Free Book


Over the last several months, I have downloaded a number of free eBooks onto my Kindle Fire. I read all but one of them and found that one in five were worth reading. The other four out of five were a waste of time. I've decided to stop reading the free books. Why were these books a waste of time? A big reason is the lack of editing. Too many distracting errors interrupted the flow of reading the book. If people aren't willing to spend the time to edit their book, I'm not willing to spend the time to read it. Free or not.

After reading a lot of posts on forums, I believe that the reading public has come to the same conclusion. In addition, I've seen a number of posts saying that $0.99 is the same as free. Also, a number of posts say that authors should not sell themselves short. How many times have you gone to Wal-Mart and been given a free hammer? People say, if you give away one book in a series, people will buy the rest. But Wal-Mart is good at selling things and they do not give away a hammer to get you to buy other tools.

I have decided not to give away my books or sell them cheap and I've decided not to waste my time reading free or $0.99 books.

Decline in eBook Sales

Decline in eBook Sales

I’ve been reading quite a bit on the Amazon KDP Community that May is a terrible sales month for eBooks. Many have blamed the glut of free eBooks offered by independent authors in the KDP Select Program. While this contributes to the decline in sales, I also believe that, as others say, it is the economy.

Some people will inevitably take anything free. I have to say that I have downloaded some free eBooks by indie authors. This is only after I have read the excerpt from the “Look Inside” feature. Most of these eBooks have been very good. I have to say that I do not understand why these good authors are giving away their free eBooks. Is it a lack of confidence in their work or is because they feel that this is the only way they can get the public to read their books?

A few of the eBooks I have read, after reading the excerpt, have disappointed me. Sometimes the first few chapters are very good and will grab my attention, but once I get into the book, the book fails to follow through on its promise. From my experiences, I would say that some readers are refusing to go through some bad books to find the books that are worthwhile to read.

Some readers will eventually go back to reading the well-known authors and give up on the indies unless they have found one they like. Then they will return and read other books written by that author. However, some indies have only written one or two books. By the time another book is released the readers will have gone on to other authors or to other books recommended by their friends. I have to say that I have reverted to buying older books by well-known authors and will read other books by those authors because I know they have other books out there.

As I said in the beginning, part of the decline in the sales of eBooks is because of the stagnant economy. I went to dinner tonight at my favorite restaurant in town. Since I live in a small town of ten thousand, I do not have many restaurants from which to choose. However, the manager and the waiters know us at the local Ruby Tuesdays. The service is excellent. However, our favorite waiter moved to the capital city because of cutback in hours. It seems like the people are eating out less now than they were a couple of years ago. People are getting more for less. They are paying less when eating out, which also translates to paying less when reading. For some, free books are better than $0.99 books, $1.99, etc.

If the economy does not recover, or authors finally realize that giving away their eBooks is ridiculous, then the decline of eBook sales will continue. Unless all authors stand up and say I am not giving away the toils of my labor, then sales will continue to decline.

Editing New Novel -- Second Time Through

Editing New Novel -- Second Time Through

I just finished writing my next novel today. I am far from finished. I don't know about other authors, but different phases of writing a book brings out different feelings. For me, that definitely is the case. This was the same with my first female sleuth novel, "Murder by the Clock."

I first start by coming up with my idea. When I write my book, I find that I deviate from what my plot was intended to be. The guilty party sometimes changes. I want to give the reader a chance to figure out who did it by the clues I give. I have always hated reading and then, at the end of the book, the author throws out who did it and nothing in the book has given me a clue that it was that person. He just pops up out of nowhere and confesses, "I did it." That's frustrating.

Sometimes my characters want to take control of my book. That's good to a certain point. However, my characters have to be consistent. If a character is unsympathetic toward his fellow man, it is unbelievable when he admits that he loves children or dogs.

My second time through my book requires a thorough understanding of my characters. Consistency is the key.

I find that, as the book progresses, I am more concerned with getting the plot and my ideas written than I am with style or anything else. The second time I concentrate on expanding on the thoughts I have written and in filling in description of the places and events.

I have many more read-throughs before my book will be ready for final editing for typos, consistency in names, spelling, etc. For now, I am satisfied with just reading through my book and making sure that the plot and characters are consistent.


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Writing New Novel

Writing New Novel

I have finally begun writing my next novel. After getting my novel "Murder by the Clock" published, it took about a month before I finally had the plot for my next book finalized. By finalized, I mean the major plot line completed. All of the minute details of the plot are still being formulated as I write the book.

As you can guess, I prefer to have the plot done before I start writing. Many writers begin writing and their plot develops as they progress in their writing of their novel. My mind does not work that way. I need to formulate my plot and the story line before I start writing. That way, when I do start writing, my novel progresses at a fast rate, without getting writer's block. I still find that a few of the major points in my plot require tweaking, but that is an enhancement that I make as I go.

I once saw a Hercules Poirot story where an author wrote Hercules asking him to figure out the ending. Hercules finally and grudgingly solved the author's problem, but most of us don't have Poirot to call upon. I always need an ending to my novel or, at least, two endings before I begin.

Writing Style

I never thought much about my writing style being similar to anyone's. After receiving a review of my book "Murder by the Clock" on Amazon, I was amazed. A reader said that my book was "Definitely on an equal with a good Michael Connelly book." I was shocked. Of course, I had heard of Michael Connelly. Who hasn't? Especially those of us who aspire to be mystery writers. Sam Spade popped into my mind when I re-read my book.

Maybe I shouldn't mention it, but I had never read a Michael Connelly book. Yesterday I bought one. I have read about a ten of it so far and I can see many similarities in our writing styles. A major difference is my main character is a female detective. I read a paragraph from Michael Connelly and asked him where it came from. He said, "I don't know. Is that your new book?"

I am a quarter of the way through writing my next book and hope I receive as favorable a response to it as I did on my first book.

Final Editing of Novel for CreateSpace

I finally received my book "Murder by the Clock" from CreateSpace. I read through it again. Much to my amazement, I still had mistakes. The hopes I had of a mistake-free book was shot.

I had read and re-read my novel in hopes of catching my mistakes. I had a friend to edit my novel, too. He also found a few mistakes. After he read the novel, I re-read carefully and found a few more mistakes. Now, after the book was put into print, I read it again and, lo and behold, I found more mistakes. However, the mistakes this time around were mainly punctuation mistakes. But mistakes, nonetheless. All of these re-reads were done via the computer.

What lesson does this teach me? No matter how thorough I was in editing my book, more mistakes existed. Nothing beats reading the actual paper version of a book in order to catch mistakes.

Why Not Read an Indie Author?

Why Not Read an Indie Author?

Independent Authors are usually lumped into two general categories. First, "It's not any good because it's cheaper than the big name authors." Second, "It's not any good because it's not a big name author." Regarding this second point, I have to ask if books by the name authors can be so great when they can churn out half a dozen or more a year? I can recall one book where the author of over fifty books spent a whole paragraph describing an azalea bush. And, of course, there's the whole middle of the last Harry Potter novel where Harry and JKR were both struggling.

Some readers avoid Indie Authors like they do the dentist. However, I've never minded going to the dentist and I have recently found myself reading books written by Indie Authors. In fact, in the last three months, I have read no big name authors, only Indies.

The reason I mentioned dentists is that yesterday my husband and I visited our local dentist. (My husband minded, I didn't.) Both of our hygienists wanted nothing to do with free or cheap books. Somehow, they thought that if they read big name authors from well-known publishers, they would get their money's worth. Their money's worth being $8 to $12 for an eBook. I, for one, think this is an outrageous number. Why pay this outrageous amount when some Indie Authors produce better books for much less, maybe free? The reason is simple: laziness. Most people don't want to take a few minutes to read the first chapter before buying. That is the secret. Don't go with the crowd, find something you like. Then, when you find something good, let the crowd follow you!

The big problem with Indie Authors is that there are some bad ones out there. Thousands. Maybe hundreds of thousands. With KDP Select, many Indies are giving away their books for free. And Amazon makes it easy for writers to get their work to the public. However, too many authors have not taken the time to edit, read, re-read and re-read their works again before publishing. The spell checker does not catch all mistakes. Some books are full of grammatical errors, words missing and so many misspellings that I, as an avid reader, find it difficult to keep going. I try to avoid anything that is full of spelling and grammar mistakes. I realize that some mistakes will eventually make it into the final edition, only natural. Other books do not grab my attention by the first chapter or two. If this happens, I immediately look for another book. I always use the peek inside option. I strongly recommend it, even for well-known authors.

For the past several months, I have read nothing but books by Indie Authors from Amazon and I have reviewed all of them. I seldom give one star ratings. Anyone who is going to finish writing a book deserves better. Usually. I also do not give five stars. I have read only a few books that deserve that classification, possibly because I believe everything can be improved.

Of the books I have read by Indie Authors, my ratings percentages are as follows:

            1 Star               13%

            2 Stars             26%

            3 Stars             26%

            4 Stars             35%

If any mystery writers would like me to read your book, please leave a comment. I will read the peek inside sample and will pick at least ten to read. I will mention any of my three or four star ratings on my blog.

Editing for CreateSpace Update

When submitting the latest revision of my book Murder by the Clock, I discovered that CreateSpace's policy regarding proof books has changed.

Previously, a paper proof book was free, including free shipping. Now they have instituted an improved digital preview program to replace the free book. It is possible to use this program without having to produce a print book. If you choose to print a proof book, it could cost between $6 - $8.

How to Edit for CreateSpace Publication

How to Edit for CreateSpace Publication

Following is a checklist I made to help in converting a word document formatted for Amazon to a word document formatted for CreateSpace. This is the procedure I used to convert my book Murder by the Clock. I hope I haven't forgotten anything important.

Start with the Amazon eBook Word Doc File. I usually use Word in 2003 mode. Load the file into Word and do the following:

1. Delete the cover page which eBooks have, but printed books do not. It will be used later to make the book cover.

2. Insert two blank pages at beginning. Keep in mind that books are printed on both sides of the page, so to have one complete blank page in the beginning; you need two pages in Word.

3. Add the first title page. It is plain with no graphics. Just the title and author. Insert another blank page.

4. Leave the title page alone.

5. Add a blank page after main title page, after the copyright page and after the TOC. It looks nice for each of these to be on a facing page with a blank back page. Same for dedication page if you have one.

6. Go through the book putting two inches of space above each chapter title. Three inches is sometimes normal, but it looked like too much on a Kindle. Make sure that each chapter ends with a page break if you didn't have that in your eBook version.

7. Remove the Table of Contents. In an eBook you should have had a TOC without page numbers. That doesn't work for a paper book.

8. Add a footer with page numbers. It's safer to put the page numbers in the center. That way you don't have to worry about which side of the page the gutter is on.

9. Insert a new section after the TOC and restart page numbers from one.

9. Add a new TOC with page numbers. To save time later, move the tab for the page numbers left so that the numbers will be on the page when the pages are resized to the smaller size. I used a five by eight book size. If you have more than one hundred thousand words, consider a larger size.

10. Revise all graphics, including glyphs to 300 dpi and reinstall from the filename, not cut and paste. I have done it with cut and paste and haven't had a problem, but some people claim that it caused them a problem.

11. Go to CreateSpace.com and start a project.

12. Insert title, author, use CreateSpace ISBN and choose book size.

13. Choose the Guided not the Expert setup procedure.

14. Upload your manuscript DOC file to CreateSpace. Note that this was probably originally in an 8.5 x 11 size.

15. As the manuscript was letter size, CS will allow reflowing to the chosen book size. Do not choose to resize the book down and keep the same number of pages.

16. Check the automated reviewer and notice all marked mistakes.

17. Download the DOC file produced in the new size back to your computer. It should have everything correct for page size, gutter placement and others.

18. Load the DOC file into Word and revise the DOC file to fix any important mistakes found in the reviewer.

19. Go to View and set it to view two pages at one time. The page on the left is the facing page; the right one is the back side.

20. For a more professional look, insert a blank page at the end of each chapter if needed to make sure each chapter starts on the left or facing page.

21. Check to make sure no glyphs are left stranded by themselves on a page.

22. Revise TOC so that page numbers are shown on the same line as the chapter name and are not wrapping to the next line, by moving the tab stop "Small L" at the top of the page.

23. On a separate page at the end, put in any back material, such as Author bio, email address, blog address or other books published.

24. Add enough blank pages at the end to have a complete printed blank page, in other words, at least two blank pages.

23. Upload the final version to CreateSpace and rerun the previewer. If you find any mistakes do it again.

24. Download the PDF file and check it for mistakes in format.

25. Now all you have to worry about is the cover. I won't go into that, but it helps to download the template for the number of pages you have.