"I want to choose the image(s) my designer will use on my book cover. But there are millions of photos and illustrations on the royalty-free stock photography websites! How do I find the right one?" Finding the right image can be a long, drawn-out, frustrating process. Almost as bad as writing the book! Here are … Continue reading Choosing a Cover Image
Book Formats
"Which file formats do I need to load my book to vendors and distributors?" In the beginning, you needed a MOBI for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), and an EPUB for all the other vendors and distributors. Very few sites accepted Word documents. Formats have evolved since the early days of self-publishing. Let's look at what … Continue reading Book Formats
Pictures in Your Book
"I'd love to include some photos and illustrations in my book. What do I need to know before I contact my graphic artist or start shopping on a stock photo site?" In my hands, I have a 1965 edition of Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Emeralds. One of the pages has a full-colour … Continue reading Pictures in Your Book
Is It Scene Break Time?
"I just got my book files. They look great except... where did all these scene breaks come from? They weren't in the original file." In a manuscript file, a blank line shows up for two reasons: to indicate a change of time or setting in the action of a story, or it could be a … Continue reading Is It Scene Break Time?
Why Do a Print Book?
Why pay extra to have a print book formatted and covered when ebooks sell so much better? It all comes down to a story. 😉 Imagine this... You're sitting at a book-signing with about fifty other authors. The room is buzzing with excitement and energy. Hundreds of readers are strolling the room, laughing and chatting … Continue reading Why Do a Print Book?
Why Does Non-fiction Cost More to Format?
"The non-fiction price is so much more than the fiction price. Isn't a book just a book?" Yes and no. Don't you hate answers like that? Similarities All professionally-formatted print books have some things in common: praise for the author section title page copyright page acknowledgment dedication content broken into chapters about the author section, … Continue reading Why Does Non-fiction Cost More to Format?
Go with the Flowable
"The word prestidigitation is hyphenated so that prest- is at the bottom of one page and idigitation is all by itself at the top of the next page. It looks awful. Can you make it not hyphenate?" Your Friendly Formatter replies that she can't see the problem in the file previewer on her computer and assures you that … Continue reading Go with the Flowable
Print Book Parameters
"I'm loading my print book to KDP and IngramSpark. Uh... what does all this stuff mean?" The first time you load your print book files to a printer's website can be daunting; all that publishing jargon. Here's a guide to what the terms mean and the standard choices for self-published works. Trade vs Mass Market … Continue reading Print Book Parameters
How to Preview Your Print Book
"I'm looking at the pdf of my print book and there are these random blank pages in the front and back... why?" In professionally designed print books, certain pages are always placed on the right-hand side of the standard two-page layout: title page, dedication, acknowledgments, the start of the table of contents and the first … Continue reading How to Preview Your Print Book
Pricing Your Print Book
"My cover designer wants to know my list price for the bar code. Where the heck do I get that price from?" The Cast Before we begin, there's a cast of characters for you to meet. Author/Publisher: that's you. Printer/Distributor: companies like KDP Print, IngramSpark and many others. Retailer: bookstore and libraries. Reader: the end … Continue reading Pricing Your Print Book
