Self-Publishing Guide to Doing It Right the First Time
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FORMATTING MANUSCRIPT ARE YOU PUZZLED BY SELF PUBLISHING? A SELF-PUBLISHING GUIDE TO DOING IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. PRINTING EDITING PROMOTION TABLE OF CONTENTS How to use this Book Copyright example page Dedication example page Prologue 9 The Process Defined 10 Your First Steps 12 - The Manuscript 12 - Sourcing Printing Quotes 13 Design and Formatting 14 - The Basics: Page Overview 15 - The Basics: Page Overview - Defined 16 - The Basics: Typography 18 - The Basics: Font Size 20 - The Basics: Line Length 21 - The Basics: Line Spacing 22 - The Basics: Choose your Binding 23 - The Basics: Picking your Paper Stock 23 - The Basics: Formatting for Print 24 TABLE OF CONTENTS CON’T Tutorials 25 - Setting your Margins 25 - Setting your Page Size 26 - Setting Line Spacing 27 - Setting Chapters and Headings 28 - Creating a Table of Contents 29 - Saving a Print-Ready File 30 - Creating your Cover File 31 Registration & ISBN 33 The Printing Process 34 Glossary 35 Notes 36 The Table of Contents gives the reader a comprehensive overview of what topics or chapters that your manuscript PRO TIP has, as well as the page number each chapter begins with. These are most common in print - electronic documents FRONT MATTER have started to adapt this principle as well. - TABLE OF CONTENTS HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Congratulations! You have finished your manuscript and have decided to self-publish your book. We have taken our 28 years of expertise and developed an easy to use guide to take you through the world of self- publishing. This guide is a reliable, practical, and straightforward reference guide for you. Through common language (or defined if we found it questionable) and conversational tone, this guide provides you with vital information about self publishing and the best practices and tips you can use for any style of books. In addition to understanding the terms and responsibilities you have as a self publisher, you will Helping you, the author, have the learn the value of knowing terminology, tips and information valuable to every self publisher. This will best experience with your current give you the confidence to bring your book to life and give you the maximum opportunity for success in your project and all future endeavors. new adventure. All of the tasks involved in self publishing from writing the manuscript to formatting and finally selling your book are detailed in this guide. By no means are we able to guarantee your success, but if you follow our tricks of the trade, we sincerely hope they bring you all the success in the world. If you’re ready, let’s get started. Together we’ll produce a great book - well-written, well-made. - From the Staff at Throughout this book you’ll see TIP boxes like this one. In them you’ll find the most common questions, concerns PRO TIP and fun facts we’ve encountered over the years. Be sure - WHAT IS A PRO TIP? you take note of them! A copyright page is extremely important for all self- publishing authors. This lets everyone know that the contents of your book is your intellectual property - and yours alone. You want to be sure to include your name, address, date and copyright symbol at the very least. PRO TIP If you’ve had your cover art designed, photographed, or illustrated. Be sure to give credit to your artist; they FRONT MATTER deserve the same copyright acknowledgment as you do. - WHAT IS A COPYRIGHT PAGE? HINT: ALT 0169 will give you the copyright symbol © ! Blitzprint Inc. Puzzled by Self-Publishing A Self-Publishing Guide to doing it right the first time. ISBN: 978-0-9938620-0-7 © Blitzprint Inc. Third Edition 2021 All rights reserved–no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or by any information storage or retrieval system except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, with- out permission in writing from the publisher. Blitzprint Inc. 3,1235 64th AVE SE Calgary AB Canada T2H 2J7 www.blitzprint.com Cover design, lettering and illustration by Blitzprint Inc. Printed and Bound in Canada by Blitzprint Inc. Distributed in Canada by Blitzprint Inc. © Copyright 2018 WE DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO ALL AUTHORS “Whatever you may have heard, self-publishing is not a short cut to anything. Except maybe insanity. Self- publishing, like every other kind of publishing, is hard work. You don’t wake up one morning good at it. You have to work for that.” - Zoe Winters Smart Self-Publishing: Becoming an Indie Author The dedication page is for those who deserve a special thanks, acknowledgment, or other form of appreciation... PRO TIP This would also be a great spot for a quote, photograph or illustration. - DEDICATION PAGE PROLOGUE Blitzprint Inc. is not your average printer. Over our 28 years, we have made it our mission to marry the finest contemporary printing and book- manufacturing technologies with the best in traditional, personal service. We know our clients need the speed, efficiency and high quality of state- of-the-art digital-imaging systems. They also benefit from direct and easy access to skilled, helpful and enthusiastic people. We know printing. We know publishing. And we’re delighted to share what we know. Located in the most advanced colour-digital facility of its kind in Western Canada, Blitzprint leverages decades of experience to deliver the highest standard of colour reproduction. We were the Here’s the Deal: You retain full first company in Canada to offer digital short-run book printing. Since then we’ve produced more rights to—and control over—your than 10,000 printed titles, including many best- work, and we’ll supply the right selling, self-published books. Add to that the repeat business of more than 75 percent of our clients, combination of services, expert and you’ve got a company that’s earned the trust of authors and publishers alike. support and ongoing guidance At Blitzprint, you’ll find great people who get a kick to help you succeed in the highly out of having helped thousands of new authors competitive book marketplace. from over 50 countries realize their self-publishing dreams. Our experience has shown us that 99 percent of self-publishing authors simply need a printer who is dedicated to books. So here’s the deal: You retain full rights to—and control over—your work, and we’ll supply the right combination of services, expert support and ongoing guidance to help you succeed in the highly competitive book marketplace. Together, we’ll produce a great book—well-written, well-made. Blitzprint inc. | 9 THE D.I.Y. PROCESS TO SELF-PUBLISHING Well done, you’ve worked long and hard to finish your manuscript, and now it’s time to turn that stack of paper into a finished book. The world of self-publishing can seem a bit daunting but at Blitzprint you will always have a real person to talk to that will help guide you through this process. THE MANUSCRIPT DESIGN AND FORMATTING • Writing • Deciding page size • Editing • What’s in a page • Best font choices • Optimal type size • Line height START • Ten questions to ask • Why you should get when selecting a printer an ISBN • What you’ll need to get • Copyright page of a quote your book • How much should you • Creating your charge for your book? barcode PRINTING QUOTES REGISTERING AND OBTAINING ISBN 10 | Puzzled by Self-Publishing? – A Self-Publishing Guide to Doing it Right the First Time GETTING YOUR PROOF GETTING THE WORD OUT • Reviewing your pages • Promoting your book • Checking quality • Author websites • Making revisons • Book launches and signings • Signing off • Marketing materials REPEAT An author’s work is never complete! Your book will go through many • Printing stages of shipping, promoting, reprinting • Binding and new versions until you move onto • Understanding the your next book or production scheule project! UNDERSTANDING THE PRINT RUN Blitzprint inc. | 11 YOUR FIRST STEPS THE MANUSCRIPT Once your manuscript has been written, editing is the The best writing always next step. The world’s finest authors rely on skilled editors, because the best writing always benefits benefits from a professional from a professional editor’s fresh set of eyes. We editor’s fresh set of eyes. can recommend editing professionals and publishing proofreaders who have the insight, command of language and literary skills to help you impress book reviewers and the media. EDITORS CANADA • A content editor will dig into your book and help you Phone: 1 (416) 975-1379 strengthen its structure and development of themes Toll Free: 1 (866) 226 3348 and character. Fax: 1 (416) 975-1637 (Attn: WGA) E-mail: [email protected] • A copy editor will make changes to your sentences, www.editors.ca focusing primarily on grammar, word usage, and punctuation. • A proof reader will double check the text for typographical, spelling, and formatting errors. You can find an editor through Editors Canada, the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, or ask us for a recommendation. Editors Canada will put you in touch with a variety of professionals to help you on your journey including proofreaders, copy editors, translators, and indexers. 12 | Puzzled by Self-Publishing? – A Self-Publishing Guide to Doing it Right the First Time SETTING UP YOUR PRINTING QUOTE When you are looking for a pricing quote you will need to know what the finished size of your book will be, the page count of the manuscript and quantity of books you wish to order. Because your book is now edited you will have a much better idea of this.