When I meet with authors who are thinking about self-publishing, I ask a lot of questions. I need to find out what their goals are, and how they expect to achieve them. This talk is very useful for the rest of the project of getting their book into print. If you're thinking about self-publishing for the first time, you can have a little "consulting call" with yourself. I've … [Read more...]
Why I’ll Never Send an Unsolicited Manuscript
Years ago I had a publishing company. When it was new, I eager and optimistic. I had left my day job, I had an investor and new work spaces in our spare bedroom, thanks to a carpenter friend. I owned a new fax machine, and I happily began building our new publishing company. I acquired our ISBNs from RR Bowker, listing with them and in other publishing trade references. We … [Read more...]
Book Editing for Self-Publishers
New self-publishers are often confused about the editorial process. This schematic is intended to be a simple "map" to the journey from manuscript to printed books. Manuscript: Developmental Editing The first kind of editing an author will encounter is developmental editing. Developmental editing helps develop the concept, the scope of the book, the intended audience, … [Read more...]
Making the Most of Your Book’s Title Page
The title page of a book announces identifying essentials of the book: title, subtitle, author, and publisher. It may also include more publishing information or descriptive text about the book. Illustrations can also be found on title pages. While this page primarily provides book facts, it is commonly also the most decorative display page in a book. As the rest of the book … [Read more...]