I spend a fair amount of time preparing a cover; my first book cover was made for me. But I have worked on the later books myself. I believe they could have been done better, and I have enjoyed doing this work. I may ask for a professional cover designer to help with further books, but not while I enjoy putting them together.
The title comes to me as I write the story, and I believe the title I end up with is better than the one I started with.
My first book was a group of short stories; I found publishing expensive. However, for the later books, I used Amazon self-publishing; the cost was free, but I missed the help and advice I got from the publisher with my first book.
My first book resulted from writing with a group that met in my kitchen once a week. We read each other's short stories, suggested improvements, and gave encouraging comments.
I later had some of my stories published. That was twenty years ago. Since then, I have treated writing as a hobby and have returned to it on a few occasions.
