What you need to know to self-publish your manuscript

We love working with authors. Writing a book is a huge accomplishment. I’ve heard so many people say they want to write a book, but few actually do the hard work of getting it done.

If you’re one of those that has a final manuscript ready to go – Congratulations! You have accomplished your goal – take a moment and pat yourself on the back and celebrate!

Now let’s get it published!

You as the author are responsible to make sure all the parts in this process are accomplished. If that seems overwhelming to you, we can help.

Becky’s Graphic Design has been working with authors for over 15 years, almost since indie publishing began in the late 90’s.

We’ve all seen poorly written and designed self-published books that have hurt the industry as a whole.

But that doesn’t have to be the norm anymore.

It’s our goal to change the self-publishing world by walking alongside you and sharing our knowledge and expertise.

We use the technology available today to make every self-published book look as professional as any book from a large publishing house.

GETTING A MANUSCRIPT READY FOR PRINT

There are six basic parts to preparing a manuscript for printing.

Writing the manuscript – Your job!
Professional editing – Check out this post written by one of our favorite editors
Illustrations and graphics created (optional) – We can help or we can work with your illustrator
Cover design – We love building great covers that sell your book!
The manuscript formatted for print in digital software such as Adobe InDesign – We specialize in book production and know how to prepare it for the publisher as a print or ebook file.
Digital files uploaded to the publisher and the book is printed – We know how to get this done right!

CHOOSING THE PUBLISHER

PRINTER/PUBLISHER OPTIONS

The process of creating a book starts with an understanding of the printing and distribution options available in the self-publishing or indie book market.

The printer/distributor is responsible for printing the book and sending it to the book retailers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBook, Books-A-Million) you’ve chosen.

You as the author can purchase the book directly from the distributor in whatever quantities you choose and pay only for printing and shipping fees.

If you choose a POD (print on demand) printer/distributor they will print and send out a book for you every time it is ordered. You don’t need to fulfill the orders yourself – no need to run to the post office!

There are many book printer/distributor for the author who wants to self-publish. These are a few we’ve worked with and recommend:

Each one of these companies specializes in different things.

If you’re just printing a paperback book, KDP is free and easy. Their focus is on digital books and trade paperbacks. Plus they already have the best marketing platform out there for you to tap into. If your focus is on SELLING your book – KDP is your best option.

For more book format options, IngramSpark publishes paperback, hardcover and ebooks and has wide distribution channels for a small fee.

You can also be creative and use two different book publishers. If you really want to have a hardcover version of your book – submit it to Ingram for POD. Then publish the trade paperback version and ebook through KDP. You’re in charge so you can decide what will be best for your book!

It’s time to think of yourself as an entrepreneur or as we prefer to say an “AUTHORPRENEUR” Find out more about marketing your book and becoming an Authorpreneur here!

It’s important to start you book publishing journey knowing what options are available. Please do your research to find what fits your needs best.

PRINTING COSTS

The cost of the book (how much it costs to print each book) is determined by a number of things.

TRIM SIZE OF THE BOOK – industry standards are less expensive than custom sizes
COVER STYLE – soft or hard cover, with or without dust jackets
BINDING – check your printer for which type(s) they offer
COVER FINISH – gloss or matte
NUMBER OF INSIDE PAGES – minimum for self-publishing is 24 interior pages, remember to include these pages too – copyright, title page, TOC and any additional pages for images.
PAPER STOCK – weight, color and finish
COLOR OR BLACK AND WHITE INTERIOR – your book is a color interior even if you want to have black type and a few color charts or photos.
QUANTITY – the more you print at one time the less cost per book or you can choose Print on Demand, which prints one at a time based on orders.

ADDING ILLUSTRATIONS

Does your book need some concepts illustrated? If you’re working with an illustrator you’ll need to discuss the following with them BEFORE they start your work. I have a post here on how to create digital images for your book.

THE SIZE OF THE FINISHED BOOK – You need to make sure the images you draw will fit the book dimensions. Make sure the book size you’d like is a standard size with your printer or it’ll cost you lots of money to be unique!
HOW MANY IMAGES YOU NEED TO DRAW – Work with the author to create a story board of the book, so you both know exactly how many images you need to create.
BE CAREFUL TO FOLLOW PRINTER SPECS – and make sure you leave plenty of room for bleeds and don’t leave any extra marks on the drawings
SCAN THE FINISHED ARTWORK with a high-resolution printer at 1200 dpi and save to .tiff

COVER DESIGN

Having a well-designed cover is the most important thing you can do to promote and sell your book. (See the covers we’ve done in our portfolio here)

This is not the time to try your hand at design or hire the neighbor’s kid to create your cover in Microsoft Word or even Canva.

There is an art to creating a cover that will appeal to your target market, capture attention and sell your book over the competition.

But remember the front cover is only part of what you’ll need to publish if you’re planning on a trade paperback or hardcover book.

The publisher will need a complete cover file – front, back and spine with crops and bleeds. The bar code will need to be added as well.

Book publishers usually provide a cover template to use based on your page count with the spine size prepared. This template is prepared to be used with InDesign or even Photoshop if necessary. (I don’t recommend using Photoshop for your whole cover design, but it’s great for the background image design work, then the cover can be completed in InDesign)

Make sure the copy on the back of your book compels the reader to buy it. There is a science to copy writing and this is another place to make sure you get the best you can afford.

The other important piece of hiring a cover designer is their ability to create the book mock-ups and advertising you’ll need for promoting and marketing your book. You’ll need images for your social media channels, author website, printed pieces for in person networking and any other ads and marketing ideas you and your team discover!

BGD TIP: Don’t wait until your manuscript is done – find your cover designer as soon as possible so you can do all the presale marketing with the actual cover images!

INTERIOR BOOK DESIGN

Before sending the files to the designer please make sure they are completely edited. This will save you money in the long run. You will be charged by the hour to do excessive edits outside the scope of your contract.

At Becky’s Graphic Design we love using Adobe InDesign for our book production. This industry standard software allows us to create a beautiful interior including all page styles, such as the table of contents, chapter title page, headers and footer, including pull out quotes consistently.

Obviously the more page styles and special features the more time is involved and the more costly your project will be. A basic novel would not be as expensive to produce as a complex non-fiction with illustrations and endnotes.

We offer our clients a proof of the layout design, fonts and page styles we will be using for review. The design should be consistent with the cover design as much as possible. When the layout is finished we can quickly export to PDF and provide the entire book to our client or a chapter at a time for review.

BGD TIP: Make sure you arrange for your book designer as soon as possible so they can schedule your project on their calendar. A complex book can take 10 days or longer depending on other projects on the designer’s docket.

MARKETING YOUR BOOK

As we mentioned earlier – you as the author are in charge of your book and its future. This is your chance to shine!

There are lots of ways to make sure your book will meet your target audience, be found on Amazon and on popular book platforms.

Does your book speak to a larger purpose you’re passionate about?

Maybe you’d like to present yourself as a speaker, or you’re planning special events surrounding your finished manuscript release!

Let us help you brand not only your book, but yourself as an author!

HOW WE CAN HELP

Let BGD help you move forward to get your manuscript designed and published, then we will help you market it to the right audience. We offer the following services as needed for your project.

Assistance with planning for publishing
Manuscript Layout for Print and ePub
Cover Design and Layout
Help with understanding ISBN and Bar Code Requirements
Packaging the book from InDesign to PDF for Printer/Publisher
Assisting you in preparation for your book release

Check out this article about Marketing your book. We can produce the mockups of your book and help you find additional marketing and PR experts to guide you in the actual marketing decisions.

We have over 15 years of experience working with authors and publishers plus we have a wide connection of collaborative partners who are experts in their field. Feel free to check out our design packages for our pricing structure or set up an appointment with Becky and speak to her about you book or you can fill out our contact form which will tell us more about your project.