Becoming Your Own Publisher: Book Production
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Project Triangle
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Or to be more precise: Pre-Production
I saw a brilliant poster at a print shop / book designer, like the one above, it said:
“Pick Any Two, I Pick One”
It was a triangle and on each tip had these words: Money – Quality – Time/Speed
Always keep this in mind when you hire freelancer / employees or subcontractors, such as editors, book and cover designers. You get what you pay for… Don’t shop for the cheapest, rather the best partners.
We give you here just an overview whats involved in book production, there are many other tasks that are covered in a great blue print, compiled in Joel Friedlander’s really helpful blog articles
Start with his article: Why Self-Published Books look Self-Published
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The Editing process:
Even though many authors are talented writers and even spectacular at grammar, they should never be the book editor of their own project. You might have logged long hours going through your manuscript with a fine-tooth comb, read, write, delete, re-write, re-read, delete… Then, after carefully reviewing the spelling and grammar and fact-checking the document, you may have even handed the manuscript over to your your former English teacher and every member of your writing group, however none of this is equal to a professional edit.
Contact editors whose sites inspire confidence and ask about their work process, rates, time frames, and any other information you need to know. Request a sample edit from the respondents you like. Samples are often free, and around five 250-word pages.
The editing process is not meant to offend you or detract from all of the perfecting you have already done. Rather, an edit is meant to increase the quality and success of your book, regardless of subject or genre.
Choose an editor on the basis of compatibility and how well the results of his or her editing appeals to you. ask for references, but learning about the editor’s background shows you how long he or she has been in the business. It also gives an idea of how many and which types of clients have actually trusted him or her to edit. There are several steps involved in editing and professional trade publishers often employ special editors for each of these steps:
Line editing
Content Editing
Copy Editing
Proof Reading
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The Book Cover and Title
The correct title can really help ensure the success of your project. Or not… A great cover will raise the attention of potential readers. And yes, books are judged by their covers.
It must be easy to understand and speak.
It should ideally be less than 32 characters.
You must be able to purchase the exact URL for the title.
Buy your Author name domain also.
The title should clearly demonstrate to readers what they will discover in this eBook.
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Cover Design
Keep the design clean.
Use a focal point to orient the user
Make sure people can read it without glasses.
Make the design match the content.
for print:
Use the spine properly.
Include a photo of the author.
The largest font size is used on the information that is most important
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Joel Friedlander has a great blog post series about book layout mistakes to avoid
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You can learn almost everything about book design by following Joel Friedlander’s blogs and by reading his books, to be found at www.TheBookDesigner.com. Technical information can be obtained at Basic Book Design http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Basic_Book_Design for answers to your basic book design questions.
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Bookmark these sites:
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Editing services:
Lisa Costantino Editing Services
http://www.lisacostantino.com/
Susan Uttendorfsky Adirondack Editing
www.adirondackediting.com
Daniel Kenyon Editing
http://danielkenyon.wordpress.com
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Cover design inspiration:
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/creative-book-cover-story/
http://faceoutbooks.com/ (print book covers)
http://causticcovercritic.blogspot.ca/
http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/
http://bookdesigner.com/53972/book-covers/
http://bookcovers.creativindie.com/cover-samples/
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Book cover designers I can personally recommend:
Anitra Jay http://www.anitrajay.com/page:designs
Laura Wright LaRoche http://www.llpix.com
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e-Book Formatting
Another important step in creating an e-book that should be done by real professionals,
here are two proven e-book designers:
http://e-bookbuilders.com
http://ebookarchitects.com
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With 30 years experience in both, print and now e-publishing, we can provide you with many more tips, background information and support – additional to the huge amount of promotion you get in our online and off-line seminars. http://www.111Publishing.com/seminars
If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar
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Hyper Smash
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Tagged: book designers, book editing, Book Layout, book production, self-publishing tips
