Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers (Mostly Free) | Part 3: Producing & Creating – Self-Publishing – a Book

*This is part 3 in the series Awesome Tools & Resources for Writers (Mostly Free) and is cross posted from my site Ladies Who Critique.com. Find part 1, Writing a Book here. Part 2, Querying a Book here.*

3. Producing a Book (for independent & self-published wannabes)

The independence that self-publishing has created is wonderful. Many companies and services have jumped on the bandwagon trying to sell their services and help converting and producing printed books and eBooks. While there is some merit (and certainly convenience) in these services it is possible for those on a tight budget to produce both paperback and digital formats. Here are some great links to get you started:

1. Print on Demand Companies: (e.g. Createspace, Lulu, Lightning Source) Print on Demand (POD) services allow you to print as many or as few copies of your book as you like, have it dropshipped and therefore eliminate the need for a publisher or physical stock. The most common and well regarded companies are:

- Createspace (My preferred POD company)

- Lulu

- Lightning Source

Great How-To:  How to Publish a Book Using Createspace, by Karen McQuestion

2. eBook Conversion:

Sigil: “Sigil is a multi-platform WYSIWYG ebook editor. It is designed to edit books in ePub format” For Kindle, and it’s FREE!

eBookburn: “eBookBurn.com is a full-featured eBook creation tool that’s also simple to use. Sign Up Now! It’s Free! No Programming Required”

Kindleprocessor: Kindle formatting conversion for 99 cents.

3. Book Cover Design: I strongly suggest hiring a fantastic book cover designer to produce a cover that looks as professional and pleasing as possible. For great tips on what this involves, get familiar with Joel Friedlanders site, The Book Designer. For those who have some graphic designer skills and/or really cannot afford a professional’s help, royalty -free/ low cost images are available from:

Graphic River.net

istockphoto.com

Dreamstime.com

Bigstock.com

The Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog

4. Publishing Digitally

- Publishing on the Amazon Kindle: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin

- How to Publish on Kindle (by Amazon) You Tube Video

- Publishing on Barnes & Noble Nook: www.pubit.com

- Smashwords: For publishing on other eBook retailers and platforms (Kobo, iStore, Sony and more) I suggest converting your manuscript for Smashwords (the infamous meatgrinder is notoriously difficult to format for, but please see below for “easier” guidelines) http://www.smashwords.com

- The Official Smashwords Style Guide – http://www.smashwords.com/books/download/52/1/latest/0/0/smashwords-style-guide.pdf

- The Shorter, Easier, Non-Migraine Inducing Version of Smashwords Style Guide (by Catherine Ryan Howard) http://catherineryanhoward.com/2010/09/06/how-to-format-your-e-book-the-non-migraine-inducing-way/

- Catherine Ryan Howard An eBook Checklist – amazing!  – http://catherineryanhoward.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/ebook-checklist.pdf

As always, let me know if I missed anything!

What are Galleys (ARCs) & What are they good for?

What are book galleys? Let’s ask good ol’ Wiki for a straight up definition;

 Galleys are primarily created by publishers for proofreading and copyediting purposes – to send to the author and editor for a final fact check and seal of approval. The content of galleys generally can’t be changed, but small details such as spelling mistakes or typos that are picked up can be.

They are also used for promotional purposes and reviews - and this is their primary purpose for us self-pubbers. We want feedback in the form of blurbs, endorsements and reviews so that we can build buzz around the launch. Using galleys is a great way of doing this well in advance of publication without having to rush the cover design and typesetting process. Since reviewers and blurbers generally take a couple of months to get back to us, this is an efficient way of working.

Above: Galley’s from Doug Gordon’s ‘The Engaged Groom’. Doug was kind enough to endorse my own wedding planning book!

Galleys are AKA Advance Readers Copy/ Advance Review Copy/ (ARC) as well as Advanced Uncorrected Proof, but ARC’s tend to be slightly more polished – basically a final copy with a makeshift book cover to cut down on printing costs. 

Compare Doug Gordon’s ARCs (above) to the final version:

If you plan to make galleys then here’s what you need to know.

Galleys are black and white and unformatted – basically just your manuscript (imagine a printed out PDF) – and do not include typesetting, illustrations or layout. They should however follow these basic rules;

+  They should have ‘Galley’ printed on the front and back covers

+ The cover page should state ‘Uncorrected Proof. Galley Copy Only. Do not quote without prior permission from the publisher’.

+ A galley insert sheet should be taped inside. Written on this – Backmatter, Appendices, Index (to show what is to be added at a later date.)

+ Galleys should already have been edited (but not yet proofread)

+ Unless the book is an illustration or photography book, illustrations should not be included, but the pages that they are going to be featured should be indicated.

+ They should be clipped together/ stapled/occasionally bound (this can be done at Kinko’s and other printing shops)
+ Galleys should be sent to blurbers and reviewers around 3-4 months in advance of publication

+ Accompanying the galleys should be a sheet of paper including the following information;

• Authors name
• Publication date (Intended – Month/ Year)
• ISBN (If you already have one)
• Price
• Trim size
• Hard or soft cover?
• If the book includes illustrations, how many?
• Number of pages
• Name/ contact info of publisher (or yourself) – include phone number AND email
• A brief description of the book including but not limited to: intended audience and synopsis
• Author bio including credentials and other books published.
• Send a cover letter with the galley.

Other Tips!

+ Your galleys should look somewhat professional. They don’t need to be expensive or fancy, but a few details can help make them look more appealing. I printed mine from my computer and printer at home, and then used a nice clip and folder to “bind” it.

+ Send your galleys to review publications that accept self-published books. Most review sites ask to receive the galleys 3-6 months in advance of the publication date. (For a list of publications that accept self published books for review, see here).

Who to send the Galleys to?

+ Potential blurbers (make sure you have asked them first. To read how I landed my blurbers, see this post.)

+ Review publications (see above)

+ A proofreader, for fact checking and final editing.

+ Traditional publishers make upwards of 25 copies to send out to media folk and review publications. Self publishers will need fewer copies. (In my case I sent out 5 copies for blurbers, 4 to reviewers and 1 to the Midwest Book Review).

How much will making galleys cost you?

+ This depends on how you go about it. I printed out my 250 page book 10 times (1 ink cartridge = $20), spent around $20 at Office Depot on clips, folders and envelopes, and then sent them out domestically at a cost of $4 each. So… making printing and sending the galleys cost roughly $80.

Was printing galleys worth it?

It landed me 4 blurbs from fairly well-known writers and wedding folk and 2 online reviews, though I didn’t make it into the Midwest Book Review. I have used the blurbs several times over and the online reviews sent plenty of traffic my way. So I think it was worth the cost, though if you are trying to stick to a low budget, this is a step you could skip. I would however recommend that even after your final edits, you hire a proofreader to catch any last minute mistakes. In my opinion it can mean the difference between a good book and a great book.

Mistakes I made Designing my Book Cover | Book Cover Design

Today I’m going to tell you a little story of why and how I changed my book cover – a time consuming and expensive endeavour, but one I feel was worthwhile fo’ shizzle!

When I first started off brainstorming for my book cover, I searched through hundreds of book covers that I thought looked really pretty and I liked the color and art of. (Basically I went about the process ALL WRONG) Here are some examples of the covers I chose, and went on to show my book cover designer for inspiration;

I told my book cover designer how I liked the colors, the art, the playfulness of the books, and gave them a picture of me on my wedding day (since I wanted to use a bridal image but did not have the budget to pay for a model at this point) to turn into a vector art image. I also instructed them that I would like to use the color scheme white and orange.

After several revisions, here is the design that we came up with:

For a few months I was pretty happy with the design. I thought it was fun, clean, professional looking and hey, it’s got me on the cover (actually my least favorite thing about it).

Then I read a great post by Susan Kendrick on the fabulous site Wow-WomenOnWriting.com about book design and asked myself whether the book measured up to the advice in her checklist:

• Your title or your subtitle contains a keyword or keywords related to your topic

Yes & No: Bride is in the title giving me some points, but I use the term ‘big day’ instead of Wedding day. For SEO reasons (as well as showing up higher in Amazon search results), it would be in my interest to use wedding in at least my subtitle. Decided to change this.

• The title is easy to say, hear, remember, and talk about

Yes & No: I deliberately included the word Wow! to make it more memorable, but it may be too long or hard to remember.

• Your book title is clear and concise, i.e. no one who hears about it or sees it, regardless of their background, will go, “Huh?”

Yes. If you speak the English.

• The title stands out from other books on this topic because of some unique feature or benefit

Yes – The 30 day part was always part of my unique selling point. There might be other books out there focusing on bridal beauty and fitness, but these generally have 6- 12 month timelines.

• It is not already taken -book titles can’t be copyrighted, but you don’t want your book confused with another one out there

Yes.

• Experts in the area of book covers and book marketing give you a thumbs up

?? My hubby liked it… I actually never checked with an expert, but I definitely think that this worth doing. I suggest that you submit to a site like reddit and get some feedback. What looks pretty and what works as a book cover are two different things (as I will explain later).

• It will give you the flexibility to create a series of related books, products, and services

Yes. It is already one in a series of ’30 Day Books’

• Your book title captures the attention of your target audience, which you can determine either by a focus group or online tools like Google AdWords

Yes. I ran Google Adword ads (using a $100 free coupon) and the word Glowing bride was chosen by my target audience (brides to be) over ‘Perfect bride’ and ‘Flawless Bride’.

• Your book title creates a defining brand that will grow your reputation and your overall business.

I hope so! Our company is called 30 day books because we plan to have a line of books that introduce a hobby or skill achievable in 30 days.

At this point I was already considering changing certain elements of the book (based on the advice above), but then I stumbled upon Joel Friedlander’s blog and after absorbing all of his amazing advice (note to self, this research should have been done before talking to a book designer), I realised that there was a whole lot more wrong with the cover. Here were two major problems:

Problem 1: “Use the background—Avoid white backgrounds, which will disappear on retailer’s white screens. Use a color, a texture, or a background illustration instead.”

Hmmm, after a few painful hours looking on Amazon and Barnes and Noble online, I realized that Joel was absolutely right. Books with white covers just blend into the background. Slightly problematic since these are my two primary retailers, and I need to do something to grab potential readers attention.

Problem 2: “Make your title large —Reduce your cover design on screen to the size of a thumbnail on Amazon and see if you can read it. Can you make out what it’s about? If not, simplify.”

Here is the thumbnail image of my book: (how it will appear on Amazon’s search results)

Oh dear. Now I have corrected vision and I still can’t properly read the title.

With all of this new advice I had procured from the book cover design experts (thank you!!!), here is the criteria I gave my book cover designer the second time around; (note how different it was from the first time. ‘Pretty’ is no longer my priority).

• The color must stand out against an online (esp. Amazon) background
• When it is reduced to thumbnail it should still grab attention
• Text should be big enough that I can read it on a thumbnail
• Font should be easy to read at various sizes

And based on the new set of criteria, here is the final product;

And at thumbnail size:

What do you think? New and improved?

I hope you can save some time and money learning from the mistakes I made – having the cover designed twice wasn’t cheap. I’d love to hear how you went about designing your book cover and any points you may have to add. Have a great week folks!