Publishing my vampire chick lit.

So, here I am, having taken my first step toward publication by creating an account with Amazon. But, instead of signing up with their interior layout team I thought I'd try my hand at formatting my manuscript myself. After all, I'm pretty computer savvy. How hard can it be?

I was about to find out.

Following the instructions, I converted my Word file into pdf, adjusted my margins to fit their trim size and uploaded it. Then I sat back and waited for the result to appear on screen. Would it come back looking publication perfect, just like in all the books?
Of course not!

I spent the next two days reformatting my manuscript, staying up well past midnight - it's amazing the type of commercials that come on at that time! - readjusting my margins and even playing around with another font. All to no avail as I tried uploading it once again, crossing my fingers, toes and everything else that could be crossed without doing myself damage.
Did it fit?
Only in my dreams!

That's when I decided I'd had enough and emailed the interior layout team at Amazon to do it all for me. It may cost me around three hundred dollars, but they'll do a professional job and I'll get a good night's sleep.