Archives for April 2015

How to Prepare Your Book for Publishing

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Book-Publishing-Preparation

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A brilliant poster at a print shop / book designer offered: “Pick Any Two, I Pick One”
It showed a triangle and on each tip had one of these words: Money – Quality – Time/Speed
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The Unattainable Triangle – Speed, Quality and Price.
Branding experts refer to the “unattainable triangle” as composed of quality, price, and speed.  All products or services have two out of the three sides of the triangle. That is to say, high-quality and fast turn-around but high-price or low-price, fast-turnaround but low-quality and so on.
The triangle is unattainable for two reasons. The first is logistical.  Providing high-quality service with faster-than-average turn-around time is going to cost you more money than your competitor who can do the same level of quality at a lower price with slightly slower turnaround.  It’s pretty much logistically impossible to maintain a profitable business that has somehow “attained the triangle.”
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, says book layout guru Joel Friedlander.
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Among others he explains:

  • An Unabridged List of the Parts of a Book
  • Book Pagination For Fun and Profit
  • Why You Need a Category on the Back Cover of Your Book
  • Book Chapters and Subheads
  • Deciphering the Bookland EAN Bar Code
  • The Elements of the Book Page
  • Self-Publisher’s 5-Minute Guide to Book Printing Processes

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 every member of your writing group, however none of this is equal to a professional final edit.

Contact editors who’s work you have seen or who have been recommended by other writers 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 one to three, sometimes even 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 doing edits.  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 (or did at least in the past):

  • Line editing
  • Content Editing
  • Copy Editing
  • Proof Reading

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The Book Cover and Title.
The correct title can enormously help to ensure the success of your book. And 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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Important for Your Book’s 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.
  • Remember: All online retailers show books only in stamp-size!

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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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Technical information can also be obtained at Basic Book Design for answers to your basic book design questions.  Joel Friedlander has a great blog post series about book layout mistakes to avoid.
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Pre-Publishing Services:

EDITING:
Traci Lawrence  http://tracisebook.blogspot.com/2015/02/freelance.html
Susan Uttendorfsky  http://www.adirondackediting.com

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BOOK COVER DESIGNERS:
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, for example Deena Rae Schoenfeldt  http://e-bookbuilders.com
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However, while your book is at the pre-publishing service providers, don’t forget to actively market your upcoming book! Prepare your author pages on Goodreads and Amazon, start with Goodreads Giveaways, if you have an ISBN and planned a print book. For e-book Giveaways use LibraryThing.com.  Get as many pre-orders and pre-launch reviews as possible, plan and invite all your potential readers to your book launch – virtual and in person.

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If you would like to get a mentor and our support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer for three months all this and more for only $179 – or less than $2 per day!  Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

To learn more about professional book marketing and publishing, please read also  “Book Marketing on a Shoestring”  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UAVL3LE

Our email newsletters with free insider tips are sent out once a month. To sign up, just go to the form on the right site of each blog post.
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How to Get Reviews Before Book Launch?

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Brand new books from trade publishers have almost always reviews and endorsement at the time of book launch.  You might wonder: How is this possible?  Publishing houses take lots of efforts to network with influential book reviewers / book bloggers, and bestseller writers as well as media book reviewers.  They start 6-8 months before book launch to send out advance copies of the book in order to get reviews before printing and formatting it.
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Check it Out!
New author-publishers can learn a lot in book stores and libraries:  Check out how professionally published books look like: Many of these trade books have either on their back cover (paperback) or on the binding flap (hard cover) several snippets of the book reviews, as well as endorsements from bestselling writers or other professionals, that were already written before the book was printed.

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Pre – Editions
The more work you do to promote your book before the publication date the more people will already know about it, and that means more sales!
Pre-editions include advance(d) reader copies (ARCs), galleys, salesman’s editions, proofs and sometimes manuscripts.  Nowadays often digital versions. Some bibliophiles even collect these pre-editions.  AbeBooks , which belongs to Amazon, is a dealer for these rare first prints and on their website you can get an idea how they look like.
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Types of Pre-Editions
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Manuscripts
They are created by the author, usually a copy which pre-dates an uncorrected proof or galley, and is often marked, unbound and sometimes even handwritten.
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Galleys
They an be digital or in paper, and are meant for review by the author, editors and others within the publishing house. They might be even uncut and unbound. The term galley proof comes from the days of hand-set typography.
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Advanced Reader Copies
ARCs, or advance review copies, these are produced privately by publishers and distributed to booksellers and journalists prior to the official release date. Because ARCs may not have been put through the entire editing process, the copy will often differ slightly from the standard edition of the book. Important: always apply the term “Uncorrected Proof” to it, or “Advance Reading Copy”, “Uncorrected Advance Copy” or “Not for Sale”.
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Dummy Copies 
Sometimes called a salesman’s dummy or publisher’s dummy, these books look exactly like the final consumer edition except they only contain a small amount of text, usually the first chapter.  Industry insiders are used to these samples of books that publishers send out as pre-publication sales materials.
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The key, and this is what traditional publishers do, is to have these ARC’s printed well in advance of your publication date in order to distribute it to book reviewers, at trade fairs, festivals, and at sites such as Goodreads approximately eight  – six  months! before your publication date.

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This gives reviewers enough time and you, as the author-publisher, can add the reviews to the book layout, while the reviewer can add their writing to your book retail websites or author pages, and write an article about your book to their blog or website.  Additionally you can use their original comments for book fairs or book signings.  It is important to make a time frame and to plan your publishing endeavor well in advance!

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Get More Tips for the Pre-Publishing Process:

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2009/09/self-publishing-basics-how-to-create-arc-cover/

http://finishyourbooknow.com/2012/06/25/creating-advance-reader-copies-arcs-and-galleys/

http://www.abebooks.com/books/RareBooks/collecting-guide/what_books_collect/advanced-copies.shtml

http://www.booklifenow.com/2009/12/critics-on-rookie-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-when-submitting-your-book-for-review/

 

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If you would like to get a mentor and support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer for three months all this and more for only $179 – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

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To get more indept knowledge about book marketing and publishing, please read also

“Book Marketing on a Shoestring”
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UAVL3LE

Our email newsletters with free insider tips are sent out once a month. To sign up, just go to the form on the right site of each blog post.

 

 

Self-Publishing? YES, You Can!

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Take the Plunge!
Today I received an email from a client that her latest business thriller  – set in the world of tax and corporate finance, a tale of murder, fraud, and paranoia – just launched.  I was happy to read in her email: “This time you’ll be pleased to know I published completely independently and what a joy it is to be in complete control!”

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Knowing that she was a high-ranking manager, I never understood that she used the services of a vanity publisher for her first book. This company had chosen a totally wrong category, wrong price and did not even correct this when pointed out. Book Marketing was very limited for this author and I talked a lot with her about the benefits of being independent and go the author-publishing route.
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What Would You Prefer as an Author?

  • Would you prefer to have 8 – 12% royalties or 70% revenue for sales?
  • Would you prefer to have control over cover art – or not having any say?
  • Would you prefer to choose the edits you want to make – or having your editor force them on you?
  • Would you prefer to being paid monthly – or twice a year (with reserves against returns held)?
  • Would you prefer to own your rights – or sell them for the term of copyright (your life plus 70 years)?
  • Would you prefer to release as much of your writing as you want to – or non-compete clauses preventing that?
  • Would you prefer to publish when you finish the book – or waiting 18 months for a legacy publisher to release it?
  • Would you prefer to sell your paper books via Amazon and CreateSpace, making higher royalties – or being on the shelves of bookstores and contend with a high book return rate
  • Would you prefer to work hard and keep control – or work hard and have no control?

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Yes, You Can!
Don’t think you’re going to become a mega-millionaire bestseller overnight. It doesn’t happen easy, and it doesn’t happen often. Set yourself smaller goals, achievable goals, and work your way up from there. Odds are, if your self-publishing efforts do go anywhere, it will be the result of years’ worth of hard work. Self-publishers need to be patient; know their goals; make their books the best they can be and network a lot to find readers.

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Don’t Worry About the Money
Tiana Warner wrote in TheBookDesigner.com: “Self-publishing does cost more money up front. You’ll need to pay for your own editor, for cover design, and other miscellaneous fees. But if writing truly is your passion then this shouldn’t matter. Hobbies cost money. Startup businesses cost money. Writing is a hobby and a business.”  And I might add: You can certainly deduct all these expenses at your next month’ or next year’s income tax.

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If you would like to get a mentor and support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer for three months all this and more for only $179 – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

To get more tips / knowledge about book marketing and publishing, please read also
“Book Marketing on a Shoestring”    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UAVL3LE

Our email newsletters with free insider tips are sent out once a months. To sign up, just go to the form on the right site of each blog post.