Self-Publishing Straight Talk

Comment

Comment by Theresa M. Moore on May 25, 2011 at 3:37pm

Here is another thing to consider:

http://www.weberbooks.com/selling/2011/05/will-amazons-new-publishi...

The fact that Amazon is beginning the process of becoming a large publisher spells and alarming trend. Due to many other problems with dealing with the largest retailer on the planet, I'm not sure if I will be able to compete with it for sales of my own books. Right now it has not sold a single copy since the beginning of this month. It has not made the slightest effort to promote books at all, instead promoting sales of its Kindle ereader. And it is in the market to develop a tablet of its own. Does that spell increased sales for me? Of course not.

Comment by Theresa M. Moore on May 10, 2011 at 6:20pm

It would be nice not to have to log into another site just to comment on your blog posts. That is why I will not comment on your blog posts other than here, where I am reading them.

As to the e-Reader's Bill of Rights, I agree in principle except for the fact that the e-Reader's Bill of Rights does not address the rights of the creators of the content. It is very much like the regular print book rules. Of course the owner of the content can lend or sell a single copy. It's where the owner then decides to sell and distribute multiple copies where I object. I own the copyrights to all my books and ebooks and I require the buyer to ask for permission to distribute my books. I think it is perfectly clear that the author of the Bill of Rights does not understand the complexity of the rules as they stand now.

 

As to whether self-publishers, small presses and "traditional" publishers are in competition is rather self-explanatory. However, the same rules and processes apply whether the publisher is an author, a small publisher, or a big house. There is no difference in approach. It is only the author who is at fault for the quality of the content being published, no matter what process is being used. If the content is of low quality it is up to the author to correct the mistakes. Traditional publishing houses make every effort but there is no such thing as perfection.

Comment by Theresa M. Moore on May 10, 2011 at 6:09pm

Written In Blood has been published and is available for sale. 332 pages, $17.95 or ebook for $3.99. A picaresque adventure of the 17th century featuring two of my vampires. There are interior maps in black and white.

Comment by Theresa M. Moore on April 27, 2011 at 6:34pm

I did this one in about two hours with nothing but Photoshop:

Yes, I know - red on red. It works. This is for an 8.5 x 11 paperback cover. The back cover is the same value of red with "pale blood" as the lettering color. The book and ebook are available now, along with another book I have been working on. The original cover was a sort of beige with deep red lettering, but the artist's heart in me likes this one.

 

These are the kinds of decisions which would never have been available to me if I published in the "traditional" manner. Most likely some art director yahoo would decide to use a black and white cover with a splash of read across it or some other humbug. I'm so tired of stock photos.

Comment by DLite Press on January 24, 2011 at 3:52pm

Page Layout

 

The layout of your book is very important. The average paperback book size is six inches wide and nine inches tall, which is much smaller than the average size of a sheet of an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper. This means that if you are submitting a book for printing, you will need to select the proper page setup.

 

Your page layout can be designed with any word processing software if your book is for a small audience of friends or family. Any serious work, however, should be prepared using a page layout program, namely a desktop publishing, DTP program. Book buyers will not buy a book if it does not have professional typeset. Often there are subtle differences in the typography, point type and line spacing; even line breaks can affect the appearance of a smooth and consistent paragraph. A page layout program is designed to give the user maximum control over the appearance of the page, including graphic placement and rotation, drawing capabilities, text shaping, and the position of type on the page. DTP software programs will also include tools for easy rotation, scaling and cropping of photographs and graphics.

 

In the absence of DTP software, your next best option would be to use any word processing program. After creating your page layout and formatting your document, the final version must then be converted to PDF format before submission.

 

Layout Guideline

 

Using a word processing program to create a page layout

 

A good, basic page layout is to leave a 3/4-inch margins on the outside edges and allow a 1-inch margin on the inside, "spine" edge. Think of how a book reads. Your copyright page is always an even numbered page, followed by the title page, which should be an odd numbered page. The first chapter always starts on the odd numbered page.

 

If you are using Microsoft Word, go into the "Format" menu and choose "Document." Then click the "mirror margins" option. This will change the "left" and "right" options to "inside" and "outside." (Page Layout/Margins/-Mirrored – in the most recent version of Word). Set your top, bottom and outside margins at "0.75" and your inside margin at "1".

 

Image Placement

 

If you are including images in your document, 300dpi is the optimum resolution. The images must be embedded and saved with the document. Do not include images as a links or reference. Images should be cropped, rotated and scaled to fit the page.

 

Use the picture-formatting tool to crop and align your image. Use the text-wrapping tool to wrap words around the image. ‘In line with text’ or ‘tight’ are two options, however, you can experiment to find what works best in your document. In the newer word processing programs, the picture editing tools can be used to create picture effects such as shadowing, reflection or 3-D rotation. The tools can also be used to adjust the image brightness and contrast.

 

When your image is perfectly positioned and sized, you are ready to move on.

 

Paper size and Typeset

 

Next, you will need to set your page size. In Page Layout/Paper Size, set your paper width and height. If your book were six inches by nine inches, you would set your page width to six inches and your page height to nine inches.

 

Your next step is the font size and font (typeset). The print size of most books is between 11 and 12 points. Fonts come in two basic styles: serif and sans-serif. Serif fonts typically have the decorative curly flourishes, while the sans-serif fonts do not. The majority of print books are set in a serif font for easy reading. Some basic serif fonts are Book Antiqua, Bookman Old Style, Century Schoolbook, Garamond and Times New Roman. Sans-serif fonts are best for online documents and eBooks. Examples of sans-serif fonts are Arial, Calibri, Century Gothic, Futura, Tahoma and Verdana.

 

Your font size and type will determine how many words will fit on a page. However, if the font is too small your book will be difficult to read. After selecting your font size and type, you should always print a page or two to determine readability. Each line should have 50-60 characters, including spaces. Each page should have approximately 35-40 lines. This should give you about 250 words per page.

 

Header & Footer

Your last step will be to create a header and/or footer. The header can contain your title on the left hand page and your chapter title, book title or name on the right hand page. You should also add page numbers, perhaps in the footer.

 

If your book has multiple chapters, you can use Word to create section breaks. This will allow each chapter to have its own header. To create a new section, at the beginning of your chapter, insert a "break" and choose "section break - next page". This will enable you to "turn off" the header on that page, and to create a new header (e.g., with the new chapter title) for that section. You will then need to go into the "view header/footer" menu and turn off the "same as previous" option; otherwise, your header will simply pick up whatever you had in the last chapter.

 

Your final step is to create a PDF file of your work. The web offers PDF file creation programs that are available as a free download. If creating your PDF using Adobe always select PDF/X-1a:2001 for a high definition PDF file

 

With your book as a PDF file, it is now ready for printing.

 

Visit DLite Press for great publishing deals.

http://www.dlitepress.com        E-mail: info@dlitepress.com

 

P.O. Box 1644. New York, N.Y. 10150

Tel: 646-280-8662