Publishing Series: #15 A Closer Look at the Page

Let's take a closer look at preparing the pages for print.

Hopefully, you've been working in Word, since that is the most flexible program when it comes to formatting pages for a book. You've probably been typing in 8.5x11, but if you look under "layout" in the top toolbar, you will see the icon for changing the size of the page. Depending on the publishing program you are using, find out the size options for your published page. These are usually about 5x7, but they vary slightly. It is important that you know the exact size the published page will be.

At the bottom of Word's layout dropdown menu, you will see "more paper sizes." This will allow you to type in the exact size of the page you need. When you apply to the entire document, you will magically see your book in real book size! This is a very exciting part of the process!

Start to visualize your pages as you would a book, with a left page and a right page. The next thing you will want to do is to adjust the margins for the entire document. You have probably been using Word's default margins, which is one inch all around. Book margins are not that big. Start using a well published book from your bookshelf as a model. Bring a few samples to your workstation as references. The outside margins -- the one on the far left and the one on the far right of the double page -- should each be about a half inch, maybe even smaller depending on your preference. The two margins that meet in the middle of the double page -- the gutter, however, should be larger because space is needed for the bend of the pages as the reader opens the book. If this inside margin is too small, the words will flow into the crease formed by the meeting of the pages and your reader will struggle to read the story.

Once the margins are applied to the entire manuscript, it will really start looking like a book! These measurements are not set in stone. They can be adjusted during the process, so experiment until you are satisfied with the appear
ance.

Next Time: A Closer Look at the Front Matter

Publishing Series: # 14 They Will Judge!

There is an old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." But they will. Your cover is your book's best advertisement.

At this point in the publishing process, thought should be given to your cover. There are many options. If you are using KDP or a similar independent venue to publish, you will have to figure out how to produce a cover. There is help on the KDP website to pull together a cover on your own, but you have to be realistic with yourself. Do you have the talent to produce a good cover? You can also search the web for people from whom you can purchase cover making talents. You can purchase art and do the layover of the type yourself.

Sometimes you know a talented friend. This was my luck. My first two covers were designed by Aaron La Porta, who is a professional graphic designer. He was knowledgeable about computer layout, so that he could help me produce a cover that fit into the dimensions required by the program.

For my latest project, Periphery, I am embarking on a new venture, which is truly exciting. I will be working with artist Erin Ruffino. This is a totally new experience for me. Erin will be producing the art for the cover and, hopefully, Aaron will once again be adding the graphic elements to produce the cover. Erin and I met virtually last week and began talks so that she could begin to see the characters and fantasy world I've spent two years creating. She is an amazing artist and I can't wait to see the results, but I expect it to be quite a process. I'll keep you posted!

Publishing Series: #12 The Difference between Indie and Self-Publishing

We've been exploring publishing options now that you have your book crafted. We explored traditional publishing in the last entry in this series, and there are two other options: Indie Publishing and Self-Publishing.

There is a huge difference between these two methods of publishing your work.

With self-publishing, an author finds a printing house, usually a small one. This printing house agrees to publish the work, but the author will have to pay to have a certain number of books published. This will usually cost the author several hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for a run of, say, one thousand books -- possibly more. After paying the agreed amount, the publishing house will print the books and deliver them to the author. It is then the author's responsibility to sell this inventory of books. He might talk bookstores into purchasing them, or he might sell them at author signings. Usually, the author is left with a large number of boxed books that he doesn't know what to do with. This method is also often referred to as being printed by a "vanity press."

Independent publishing has one major difference from self-publishing. It is a print-on-demand process, so that the author never has to carry an inventory. There are several ways to indie publish, but I'll probably talk a lot about Kindle Direct because that is the method I use and that I am most familiar with. Kindle Direct is the independent publishing arm of Amazon. When one of my readers purchases one of my books through Amazon, their copy is printed just for them. It's not pulled off a shelf somewhere. Amazon pays me my royalty. I am also able to purchase a small number of books, say 20 or 30, at a low author cost, when I have an author signing, so I never have to worry about boxes of books that I have to store. I also haven't invested a ton of money.

To me, this is a no-brainer. But it probably also depends on the type of book you are publishing. Explore the products of each method. Look at the quality. What do you want your book to look like? You want your name associated with the best-looking product possible.