A couple of weeks ago the latest edition of my e-Book Cover Design Awards went live, and I once again had the pleasure—and the frustration—of judging a whole slew of covers. The problems come at the extremes. Commenting on the covers is fun, and selecting out the best ones is never difficult. But when it’s time to narrow it down to the … [Read more...]
As a book designer, when estimating an interior the first thing I do is look to see if the manuscript has been created with “style”. Not if it is fashionable, but if “style sheets” or “styles” were used for various kinds of text. When using a word processing program such as MS Word or Pages for Mac the default style is Normal. You can … [Read more...]
A majority of booksellers agree that the cover design is the single most important element of a book. The truth is, a book is judged first and foremost by its cover. If you want your book to have a fighting chance among the more than 700,000 new books published each year, your cover must trigger an instant response. And it's not just customers … [Read more...]
You have been working on your book forever and you are finally to the point that you are ready for someone to “make it a book”. Having answers to the following questions will help streamline the process and give your designer the information they need to make that dream a reality. 1. What is the word count of your manuscript? This will help … [Read more...]
When is the right time to start thinking about the design of one’s book and the editorial mechanics of its composition? Whether you’re going to have SelfPublishing.com help with editorial and/or design services, there are many things you can do to help your publishing process goes smoothly and cost-efficiently. When you first take fingers to … [Read more...]
The interior of your book is just as important as the cover. In fact, it just might be more important. For me, the design of the books' interior is liken to… “Getting the book to speak to the reader, while being a soundless physical page.” Once your book is purchased you’ll need to hold the reader’s attention. Certainly good … [Read more...]
[Editor’s Note: While Jonathan’s enjoying a well-earned vacation, we’re going to share one of the best breakdowns of manuscript preparation you’ll find anywhere.] Here at Selfpublishing.com we receive files every day – some are formatted wonderfully, and some leave a little to be desired. Some defy all the rules – so the following … [Read more...]
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