ABPA Hosts “Speed Publishing” for Self-Published Authors Event

If you need to get “up to speed” fast to publish your book, consider attending this event, hosted by Arizona Book Publishing Association in Phoenix:

June 30, 2010

Radisson Hotel Phoenix Airport North
427 N. 44th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85008
Phone: 602-220-4400
North of Van Buren; south of 202. For the the exact location, visit Mapquest.com

Program (includes dinner) 5:30 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Early Registration (by June 24): $25 members $35 non-members
Late and at the door: $35 member $45 non-members
Advance payment is required for registration; no refunds after June 24, 2010.

“Speed Publishing for Self-Published Authors”

Need to know all about publishing fast? Want to know what steps a self-published author needs to take to get a book done? Worried about how to find the experts you need to help you? Join us on June 30 for “speed publishing.” Like speed dating, you sit at your table, and the experts come to you in rotation to discuss what you need to know fast. It will be fun, plus information packed. Be sure to mark June 30 on your calendar as a cannot-miss event!

Featured will be the following topics:
Writing and editing – how to get started, how to prepare and format your manuscript properly both for the editor and for the next step
Book layout – the key things to remember when working with a book designer on the interior layout and structure of your book
Cover design – basic design elements that can make or break the success of your book, from the spine to the front cover and back cover copy
Printing – finding and working with the right printer and how to determine the number of copies to print and type of paper to use

Meeting Format

The format will be similar to the popular “speed dating” setups, in which participants will remain seated at a table while the experts rotate every 20 minutes. Participants will be encouraged to follow up individually with the speakers after the conclusion of the meeting if they have additional questions.

Experts

In a Sea of Sameness, Quality Book Design More Important than Ever

Competition is good. It keeps us on our toes. The prospect of winning a job from a field of qualified competitors keeps us from becoming lazy, sharpens our wits, and urges us to improve our skills every day, right? Yes, but suddenly there’s a new challenge to that philosophy.

In my wildest dreams, I couldn’t have predicted that at this point in my career, I’d have to spend so much of my time fighting off mega companies who have completely abandoned the standards of quality book editing and design. Companies who tell…no, encourage…authors to upload unedited, self-designed files and sell their books directly to the public.

Now, I’m all in favor of freedom. But with freedom comes responsibility. When we spend money, on anything, we want to feel SAFE. When a publisher hires a team of experts to craft a quality book, they do so not just because it’s the right thing to do for themselves, but because it’s the right thing to do for the buyer. That’s why, in the sea of sameness ushered in by the template approach to design, it’s more important today than ever before for serious publishers to invest in quality.

Many of us have adopted a new attitude about money and spending since the “meltdown.” Let’s face it, the ground underneath us just doesn’t feel as solid as it once did. And that’s exactly why the concept of quality, in book design and in every other area of commerce, should be revisited, not abandoned.

Why? Because we’re all being careful with our money now. Time was, I’d hear about a product and impulsively purchase it. Not now. Today, I want to be convinced that I’m getting value for my dollar, that I’m spending my money wisely, and I believe a lot of other people feel the same way.

No matter how much self-esteem an individual author may have, the plain fact is that without the help of editors, proofreaders, and designers, the resulting book will not be as good as it can…and should…be. No matter what the mega companies say. That’s not just an unsupported opinion. It’s backed up by our experience working on more than 1,000 books.

Book buyers look at a cover for only a few seconds before deciding to buy, or not. In that quick flash of time, a publisher must send a strong subliminal message…”this book is good, this book has information you can count on, this book is what you need, this book is going to help you, this book is worth the money.”

While it may be tempting to bypass quality book cover and interior design, editing, and proofreading in this financial environment, publishers do so at great risk. A book cover that looks ordinary and text that is poorly crafted will not send the right message to your prospective buyer. It will say, instead, “I’m just another book, nothing special, better hold off on spending for now.”

Would any publisher who hopes to succeed willingly communicate that message?

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design

Get The Most From Your Book Design Dollar

The mantra “Plan Now or Pay Later” is true in just about every area of life, but especially so in book design. Professional design and typesetting help your book stand out and sell better. Book designers and typesetters want you to get the most for your money and need your help to deliver a top-notch product on time and at a reasonable price.
The most important thing you can do once your manuscript is complete is STOP. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done, but please don’t send your book in for typesetting until you, your editor, and all your friends and relatives have read the manuscript as many times as necessary to make it perfect.

Why? Because laying out a book is not at all like revising a manuscript. Once page layout begins, seemingly minor changes can quickly add up to big bucks. Adding a sentence to your manuscript in a word processor takes a few seconds and costs nothing. Adding that same sentence after your book is layed out may cause all the text after it to reflow and lead to time-consuming layout adjustments.

Another way to control book design costs is to ask your designer to create a sample chapter, and work together until you’re satisfied with the type style, type size and layout. Changing this sample is far less expensive than changing hundreds of pages later.

And here’s another important money-saving tip: understand the difference between editing, proofreading, changes and corrections, and do them at the appropriate time.

Editing is the perfecting of the words that make up the manuscript. It is the responsibility of the author and should be completed before typesetting begins.

Proofreading is the comparison of your typeset pages to the manuscript, and is the responsibility of the typesetter, if you so choose. Most typesetters will correct typos or call your attention to text that sounds odd, but they are not experts in your field and should not change your content or punctuation. Imagine the havoc that would ensue if they did!

Changes and corrections sound alike, but they’re not. A change, or author’s alteration, (AA) is exactly that. A misspelled name is considered a chargeable AA, because only the author can reasonably be expected to know the information.

A correction, or typesetter error, (TE) should always be fixed free of charge. Accidental deletion of text that was in the original manuscript, or type set in the wrong font is a non-chargeable TE. Marking your proofs with these abbreviations will give everyone a sense of how the job is going and avoid hard feelings at billing time.

If, despite your best efforts, you must make changes to your page proofs, you can still save money by doing it efficiently.

First, make all your changes in one pass. It takes many hours to change an entire book multiple times. Consolidate your changes into one or two rounds and you won’t have to deal with “sticker shock” later.

Second, add several weeks to your prepress schedule for changes. It’s stressful for everyone and unfair to your typesetter to hold to the original deadline when days or weeks of work have been added to the project. If you finish early, you can celebrate.

One final tip: If you make changes, expect to pay for them. Your typesetter’s written estimate should specify how many rounds of revisions are included, and quote an hourly rate for changes beyond that. If you don’t see these items, be sure to ask. If you do see them, talk it over. Everyone wants the job to go smoothly.

Most of all, remember that your typesetter is a human being who cares about your book as much as you do. If you ask for 60 changes at midnight, it’s not helpful to point out that the typesetter must be blind for missing one.

A little planning can produce your book on time and on budget, with publisher and designer alike looking forward to the next one.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design

Book Layout: What You Don’t See Matters

We’ve heard the question many times, “Should I lay out the interior of my book myself?” Seems like a no-brainer. You have word processing software. You know how to set margins and choose a typeface. You even know about books that describe the process (written by folks who are not trained in typography by the way). So why shouldn’t you lay out your own book?

Of course you can and should use your word processing software to write your text, but interior design and formatting are best left to people who do this for a living. Why? Because there are a lot more details involved in page composition than you’d think.

For starters, word-processing software does not have the sophisticated hyphenation and justification controls that professional page layout software does. This results in tight and loose lines that are unsightly and that distract the reader. And even if you were to buy page layout software, there is a very steep learning curve. It’s a mistake to assume that no knowledge of typography or design is required to use it effectively. As the saying goes, “Owning a hammer does not make one a carpenter.”

There are several dozen conventions to be followed in book design that may not be perceptible to the reader, but when followed, they give your book a polished appearance. But it’s not only about knowing the rules, it’s knowing how and when to bend or break them on a case-by-case basis that makes the difference between an amateur layout and a professional one. These decisions must be made quite often when the words in the text don’t cooperate with the page geometry.

Quality typesetting has never been about the tools. Experienced typesetters rarely use software at the default settings. We adjust the settings for better results, sometimes paragraph by paragraph, line by line, and even word by word. Why? Because someone once trained us to see the difference between “so-so” type and great type.

For what it’s worth, only beginning self-publishers consider using a word processor for page layout. Successful publishers wouldn’t think of producing the text in this way. They know that experienced book designers bring real value to the table, offering creativity and aesthetic judgment that only comes with training and experience.

It’s been clinically proven that quality typography improves reading comprehension. More importantly, an amateur job won’t satisfy the distributors, reviewers, and book retailers, the “gatekeepers” of the book industry, who will immediately spot a beginner’s efforts and reject your book as “self-published.”

When we show customers the difference between their attempt at book layout and our own, they are usually blown away. They’ll say something like, “Wow! I thought my layout was just fine. Now I see how bad it really is!”

Nowadays, many people think that converting a word-processed file to a PDF is all the printer needs. That’s true. But it’s not all that YOU need. Printers won’t turn away a PDF that was made from a word processed document. They’ll print your book because that’s what they’re in business to do. Their success is measured in how many books they print. Your success, on the other hand, is measured in the number of books you sell.

Your book design, inside and out, establishes your credibility in the eyes of the buyer. Buyers may not be able to pinpoint exactly what is wrong, but without a professional interior design, your book will not measure up to those that are professionally prepared. For the success of your new publishing endeavor, we hope you’ll give this issue some serious thought.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design

Enhance Book Sales with a Clear Corporate Image

A professionally-designed book cover is absolutely essential when it comes to marketing your book. If your book looks good and stands out from the crowd, it has a better chance to sell.

The same principle applies when prospective customers view your marketing materials. It’s imperative to cut through the clutter, establish credibility, and help busy prospects notice your sales message. (The next time you’re going through that pile of junk mail, pay attention to what you keep and what you toss, and why.)

It doesn’t matter if you publish one book or a hundred, customers want to do business with a company that appears to be stable. Since they can’t meet you personally, the only way to communicate that message is through your marketing materials.

Every contact you make with a potential customer, whether it is a postcard, flyer, brochure, letter or website, says something about your company. If your materials are carefully designed, you are telling your prospective customer that your company is reliable and that they can be confident when they spend money with you.

The first step to a professional corporate identity is to design a logo that reflects the vision and purpose of your company. The best logos are simple and should be designed to look contemporary for a minimum of 10 years. Ideally, your designer will present a number of original ideas (not canned graphics that have been used over and over again) and refine these ideas from your feedback until you are delighted with the results.

A logo isn’t just a design for one purpose today, but also for many purposes in the future, so there are some considerations to discuss with your logo designer as work proceeds. A logo should be designed to look good in black and white first, because that’s how it will often be seen (on faxes and invoices, for example). Color enhances, but is never a substitute for, strong design.  If your logo doesn’t work in black and white, it simply doesn’t work. A strong logo design can be printed in black and white or one color, saving you money on printing down the road.

Logos should also be designed so that they can be altered as needed for use on both light and dark backgrounds (on future book covers, for example). Once the basic logo design is established, publishers often request two or more versions of a logo — a vertical logo for book spines, and a horizontal one for brochures and correspondence.

Step two in the establishment of a professional corporate identity is to write down design standards so that all of your marketing materials will have a consistent look. These standards define the size and position of your logo, as well as type faces and colors to be used consistently, so that your marketing materials have  a “family” look that convey an image of stability for your company. Your designer can write a graphic standards manual that explains how your logo is (and is not) to be used. With this document for reference, every marketing piece you produce now or in the future will be consistent, regardless of whether it is produced in-house or with the help of an outside designer.

A professional corporate identity consistently applied needn’t be expensive. While it’s convenient to call a quick printer every time you think of a new marketing piece, planning ahead can save you significant money on printing. Designers work with larger commercial printers on a regular basis and can suggest ways to stretch your printing budget that will still allow you to update materials on your desktop whenever the need arises.

For example, if you know you’ll be sending out mailers every two months for the next year, you may realize savings by printing “shells” in color and then updating the message in-house on your laser printer.

Another way to save money on printing is to produce bookmarks and postcards at the same time that your book cover prints. Not all book printers will do this, but even if they don’t, you can get the most for your printing dollar locally by “ganging up” your printing jobs instead of ordering each project individually.

Someone once said “the most expensive brochure is the one that doesn’t work.” Reserving a portion of your production budget for professional marketing materials will pay for itself many times over.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design

How to Evaluate a Book Cover Concept

One of the biggest mistakes that new publishers make when evaluating book cover concepts is to focus on what they “like.” Read more

3 Steps to the Perfect Book Designer

Many clients tell us that they found the process of finding a designer very difficult and frustrating. Not for lack of options on the internet and elsewhere, but due to the overwhelming amount of information available. So how do you determine whether a designer is qualified or if they will provide good customer service? Read more

Espresso Book Machine

Last week at BEA, Lightning Source announced that it will allow all its publishers to participate in an Espresso Book Machine pilot program. Read more