Choosing the Best Self-Publishing Services

With the changes in the publishing industry over the past few years, many authors were able to publish bestselling books. However, few chances are given to new authors in getting a publishing contract. Letting new authors be in the tight spot in looking for an ideal publisher and, increasingly, self-publishing became the best opportunity to get their books in front of readers. 

With self-publishing, you can become an agent of your own success!

A self-publishing company offers authors more opportunities and a wider array of options giving them the freedom to choose suitable terms for them.

What are the best parts from these self-publishing services?

•    Control

You are in complete control on every aspect of your book and its entire process like the design, graphics, cover, title, etc.  You have a greater chance of succeeding since you’re committed in advertising it rather than handing it to a publisher who has hundreds of titles.

•    Rights

You’re able to retain your rights on your book unlike traditional publishing where you have to give up your rights to them.

·         Revenues

You receive revenues (100%) from the sales of your books. Oftentimes, you get paid more quickly compared to conventional publishers where system is somehow delayed.

•    Marketing

You decide on how to market and distribute your book into stores and ultimately into reader’s hands. You also set the price of your book or the giving of discounts and giveaways. Hereby, determining how much will you earn in each sold copy. Nonetheless, you are also responsible if anything turns out the other way around.

•      Time

Since you pay for everything-design, editing printing, advertising, etc- to get your book published, so it doesn’t take that long before it gets to the market. If you work hard, then your book will definitely be in the market within months. 

Despite the good services offered, there are other self-publishing companies who are involved in vanity publishing. You should be vigilant enough and avoid self-publishing scams otherwise; you’ll be taken advantage by these scammers and end up wasting your time and money. 

Whatever path you take, it is necessary to go in with your eyes wide open. Publishing and selling your books are in a competitive field and all the means have its own boon and bane. Be clever in weighing things so you can find a way which is best for you.

Tips on Book Design and Layout

Going through a book design and layout may be such a complicated and strenuous activity for some. Upon hearing the words “design” and “layout”, it might have caused a slight headache and stress. An author won’t just release a beloved book without its wrap that binds and presents the entirety of a work of art. And just like the book contents, its design and layout is an art, itself.

As books crowd in shelves, readers find the bookcover design valuable as it tells a lot about the book’s concept. Book design does not only pertain to its cover but to the whole book with its content, style, format, and sequence of its components.

Before jumping right ahead to making an ideal book design and layout, knowing what to place it would be a better way to start off.

• ·         front cover - bears the title, author, and the illustration which speaks of what the book is about.

• ·         back cover - cannot be left untouched as it is where most readers find the book summary and in some, the biographical matter of the author.

• ·         Spine- as a  book stands on the shelf, the author, book title, publisher and its logo can be easily sighted.

Book designs and layouts have conventions to follow. These conventions are not just for uniformity’s sake but for the readers’.  Here are some tips:

1. 1.     Book division.

Use: Page numbers and chapter titles.

These provide visual breaks for your readers and give them a quick reference point for returning to the book.

1. 2.      Non-text elements. 

Use:

Consistency in numbering chapters, tables, parts and charts. Tabular figures are mono spaced.

Make it easier and convenient for readers to achieve its purpose.

1. 3.      Fonts

Use:

Serif-fonts. Fonts based on old style like Garamond, Bembo, and Caslon or the modern ones like Minion and Sabon can be opted. Minion is the most popular choice, followed by ITC Baskersville . Also, check out Palatino, Bodoni, Garamond or Book Antiqua.

Small Caps font rather than all caps.

Choose a font size between 10-11 points.

Avoid:

Bold text is non-standard. Italics can be used instead for emphasis.

Choice of Font styles should not compromise the readability of the text. Other considerations would be the appropriateness and contrast of the fonts as to put emphasis on some parts of the book .And a reminder, there are legalities required for utilizing certain fonts.

1. 4.      Spacing. 

Use:  

Increase paragraph leading (space between lines) to be 2-4 points larger than its type size..

Avoid:

Double space between sentences.

Consecutive spaces in book design.

Spaces are probably the most abused character in book design.

A good rule of thumb is to make the indent size at least as wide as the font size, but less than the leading (or line spacing).

1. 5.      Formatting.

Use: 

‘Justified’ text-alignment

Wider Margins. It brings not only visual harmony to the page but provide space for annotation

Avoid:

Tabs in the beginning of paragraphs.

In layout, keeping in mind these four basic principles will help in making a good layout: contrast, alignment, repetition, and proximity.

As exemplified by J. Peppers Bryar’s Undaunted: Five True Stories from World War II, designed by Portugal, designing a cover should be by thinking like a reader, not like a writer.

There may be some conventions to follow but it does not mean to limit one’s creativity. To design and layout a book is part of the whole process. The task may be hard at first but it is said that, “that out of the overflow of the heart, it comes out from the mouth.” By this, let imagination connect to desire. It may be that the best design and layout is yet created.

The Good Side of Self-publishing

After all the writing done, writers would love to see it come to life and be published. Yes, published! And wouldn’t it be ideal to have all the rights of the book? Sounds good? That’s self-publishing.

In self-publishing, the author is in control of everything in relation to the book. The author gets the book published without the involvement of an established third party publisher. The price, distribution, formats, marketing and publicity can be can be made by authors on their own or outsource some or the entire process to companies who offer these services but still with the author’s upper hand.

The self publishing company gives all the rights of the book to the author. Entailed with this that authors can terminate the agreement they have with the company anytime since no duration is specified in the contract. All because every single piece of the process is owned by the author.

There are different types of self-publishing. There is the POD or the Print-on Demand, a type where printing is of high quality and more economical than printing a hundreds or thousands of books all at the same time. There is, also, e-book publishing where various formats can be used to create one. The most popular formats are .mobi, PDF, HTML and Amazon's .azw format. Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. For self-publishers, e-book is popular since there is no per- book costs.

The process of self-publishing does not stop on publishing alone but the book also needs to be marketed. This is how self-publishing services can be of assistance to authors.

According to a source, in 2008, for the first time in history, more books were self-published than those published traditionally. In 2009, 76% of all books released were self-published, while publishing houses reduced the number of books they produced.

Authors who self-published include , Martin Luther, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Jane Austen, and Derek Walcott. Contemporary writers, J.K. Rowling had her Harry Potter series sold through e-book versions. In 2013, James Altucher's Choose Yourself sold 44,294 copies in its first month, is a Wall Street Journal bestseller and debuted at #1 on Amazons top non-fiction list.

More options to writers in publishing books entails freedom to your work of art. It doesn’t stop in the writing process but continues until publishing it. Self-publishing is a wonderful opportunity to be in the best shape to fulfill what the heart desires the most. It’s all in your hands. Put the book to life and make the most out of it.

Finding Joy in Writing History Books

Reading a history book sounds dull and mind – numbing for majority of the readers.  Among all books, history book appears to be least interesting and attention – grabbing.  Where could have this trend entrenched? It could be because of uninteresting issues in history or perhaps, from the writers’ tedious presentations of these historical themes.

History itself is not boring but sadly, its presentation often is. This statement of an anonymous author tossed a challenge for both expert and novice writers, and those who still consider writing one.

 

The story and theme the book has – it may be a fictional love story, a science – fiction story or a historical narrative – is one way of drawing the readers into choosing a book to read. Nevertheless, the writer’s style and way of writing plays a more prevalent role in influencing his readers to either love or hate his book and continue reading books with the same feature.

Thus, making the readers love a book of their least interest may mean suicide for the part of the writer. Writing something with no assurance of either hitting the reader’s attention or getting one’s book marketable is like joining a war with no guarantee of winning. Nonetheless, when one conspires with excellent warriors, there is a great chance of winning the battle.

 

Same with book writing, one may does not possess enough skills in using words creatively but one may consider having a partner towards tidying one’s manuscript – copy editor as we call these helping agents. Nowadays, varied copyediting services are obtainable offering intelligent copy-editing, development editing, book critiquing and more services. These services would surely help an author in attaining a clear, accessible, interesting, and effective manuscript. Also, copy editing services aid in making sure that the language used is of a good standard.

Writing a history book then, among all types of books to write, upholds a big challenge for all writers. The challenge is – bridging the past and the present leaving gasp among readers. This may sound tough yet possible if writers will be creative in their presentation and be wise in choosing the best copyediting service.