Each version of the book paperback, hard cover, epub, mobi, pdf, audiobook, etc. Test your pdfs cover and interior at amazon first but dont publish. All authors must receive and approve a print proof before a book can be put on the market. These arent difficult to apply to most files and the software you use. This book has helped thousands of authors choose the right selfpublishing company and avoid the ones with unfair contracts or lowquality services. I used the latest tools to publish pdf books, ebooks and print books. Bookbaby writers can now publish and sell their ebooks and printed books in the worlds biggest bookstores.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the fine print of selfpublishing. Upload your pdf and get a link you can share and use online. This book analyzes over 40 self publishing companies and is a wonderful resource to. A primer on contracts, printing costs, royalties, distribution, ebooks, and marketing sixth edition by mark levine is a must read for anyone thinking of selfpublishing a book, or who has already published and wants to consider other options not only does the primer cover the basics described in its title, it reveals the stark financial realities. The fine print has helped thousands of authors understand self publishing companies services, contract terms, printing markups, and royalty calculations. You will still need print ready pdf files for pod printing so please consult with the printer to make sure the files are submitted. She is the publisher of the hot sheet, the essential newsletter on the publishing industry for authors, and was named publishing commentator of the year by digital book world in 2019 in addition to being a columnist for publishers weekly. Are there any specific rules i can follow to avoid any possible issues in printing. Self publishing book printing book self publishing. Prepare your files for printing publishing xpress website. Printondemand technology has come a long way and it is now an efficient alternative for selfpublishing authors to print and distribute books with no upfront fees, without compromising on the quality of the book. Selfpublish your tarot or oracle deck edelivery of digital pdf files only the lessons learned handbook u. Originally, only sold as a pdf remember it was 2003, the fine print quickly became established as a goto book. How to set up your file properly for book printing.
Why we chose both ingramspark and amazon kdp for printon. Nancy starkman is a book selfpublishing expert as well as a book printing broker and book designer. Lulu has a set of rules we need files to adhere to. Book printing is an area where these companies make a lot of money off of unsuspecting authors. Spb works with self publishers in the usa and other countries to print and ship books worldwide. This book has helped thousands of authors choose the right self publishing company and avoid the ones with unfair contracts or lowquality services. Mark levine minnesota entrepreneur about mark levine.
The problem with that approach was that many of the specific service offerings, namely publishing packages, changed in scope andor price by the time the book came out. Free download of the fine print of selfpublishing by mark levine. The pdf will automatically be resized to fit whichever of these sizes you want to make. So whether you just want a few copies of your selfpublishing book in print for friends and family perhaps or would like to see your book for sale on the likes of amazon, cmp book. With the native document open in the application you used to write your book, select file print. Nancy starkman is a book self publishing expert as well as a book printing broker and book designer. Indesign excels at handling all these kinds of files, and at giving the layout artist tremendous precision and control. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Originally, only sold as a pdf remember it was 2003, the fine print quickly became established as a goto book for authors deciding which selfpublishing company to use. These are called source files, which is not to be confused with a pdf. But you still had to take your computer file a pdf to a print shop, where it was. Many of todays ebook publishers use pdf format for publishing. Levine wrote the first edition of the fine print of selfpublishing, a popular book analyzing the services of 78 self publishing companies.
Create a paperback pdf file self publishing amazon. If you follow the tips in this book, and your book takes off through your marketing efforts, you can pull it from the selfpublishing i. Creating a print book requires that you format it to standard print book. We do a lot of work on your files before they are readytoprint, and this takes time. As evidence, online publisher thorpebowkers research shows the number. Only then do you truly get 100% royalties which is 100% after the distributorretailer takes their cut, of course. Members of our team have up to 30 years of experience helping people get their works into print. Angela hoy is the publisher of, the author of 19 books, and the coowner of one of the original pod publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month, print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self publish, and abuzz press the publishing coop that charges no setup. Print on demand pod publishing, which means print runs can be as small as one copy, has revolutionised selfpublishing. A true selfpublisher if you are a true selfpublisher, you enter into contracts with a printer, distributors and retailers directly. Selfpublishing packages includes 25 printed books 300 pg, 6x9, softcover, black interior, which are perfect for author signings. Try to give us troublefree readytoprint files from the beginning. The format of the book has expanded to cover ebook publishing and book marketing. The fine print of selfpublishing order the complete book from.
In order to get things done, youll need to consider whether you want to sell only an ebook or prefer to offer just a print book. Your pdf will be quickly analyzed and you get an option for blurb to autocorrect your file. If you gravitate toward selfpublishing try reading the fine print of selfpublishing. Pdf self publishing faqs click here to get great self publishing content via email. Open acrobat distiller, click settings, select edit adobe pdf settings. The format of the book has expanded to cover ebook publishing and book. Sell your work on or buy the books you need immediately. Anyone considering using one of the many online printondemand pod services available today would do well to read the fine print of selfpublishing by selfpublishing author and attorney mark. With our new print on demand technology, you can now sell your printed childrens book bookbybook direct to your readers, without having to pay for large print runs, warehousing, or fulfillment. While selfpublishing has its pros and cons, it is something that pays off for a lot of authors and you may be one of them. Outskirts press self publishing packages help authors develop and publish highquality books by offering exceptional design, printing, publishing, distribution, and book marketing services.
The fine print of selfpublishing has been lauded by many experts as the. Indesign book tutorial for selfpublishers star print. When the general settings are displayed, change the default page size from letter size to custom size, such as 6 x 9, 5. How to selfpublish your tarot or oracle deck benebell wen. Macintosh users can save documents as pdf files from within most programs. Pdf developments in vanity presses, electronic publishing and social media have led to outstanding growth in the. Angela hoy is the publisher of, the author of 19 books, and the coowner of one of the original pod publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month, print and ebook design for authors who truly want to selfpublish, and abuzz press the publishing coop that charges no setup.
A valuable part of this book is his ranking of selfpublishers into the good, the bad and the ugly. Pdf we accept pdf files, but they can contain embedded formatting and images that dont convert well to ebooks. Reviewed in the united states on june 22, 2016 the fine print of selfpublishing. A printready file is always a pdf, and a printready pdf always uses the printerondemand providers specifications. That way, you are assured that fonts and graphics will print as you see them on your computer. Self publishing is the publication of media by its author without the involvement of an established publisher. The author will provide us with professional, readytoprint interior and cover pdf files.
Youll be fighting the publisher for your share of the small amount of money left after the. A primer on contracts, printing costs, royalties, distribution, ebooks, and marketing sixth edition by mark levine is a must read for anyone thinking of selfpublishing a book, or who has already published and wants to consider other options. If you do not find pdf in the list, there may be a print to pdf or pdf button in the dialog box. Selfpublishing is the publication of media by its author without the involvement of an established publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using pod print on demand technology. The fine print of selfpublishing kindle edition by levine, mark. Pdfs are the most commonly used file format to send manuscripts to the printers. They must be formatted to our specs, which are provided in step 4 of the publishing process, though you can request this link before you sign up. This latest edition includes new chapters on ebook publishing and book. Select pdf from the list of printers you can to print to. But if you want to customize your order and get more bulk printed books upfront, no problem. Self publishing packages includes 25 printed books 300 pg, 6x9, softcover, black interior, which are perfect for author signings. As a result, many authors have been able to intelligently negotiate their own book contracts without having to hire a lawyer. How to make a printready pdf lulu blog guide to file.
This book analyzes over 40 self publishing companies and is a wonderful resource to help find the best vanity publishers. The printer suggested that i send him my pdf file and he would send. Most authors selfpublish in both formats, but everyone is different. The fine print of selfpublishing, now in its fifth edition, has been lauded by industry. The problem with that approach was that many of the specific service offerings, namely publishing packages, changed in. Self publishing book printing book self publishing 48 hour book. How to choose the best method for publishing your book by. The 7 important formats and 4 things every selfpublisher must do. Pdf files are crossplatform files, which means they are able to be read on both mac and windows operating systems, as well as the new android platform found in many of todays cell phones. The fine print of self publishing pdf is mainly targeted to those readers to help them understand the selfpublishing companies, its services, its terms of contract, printing cost, royalties and. Mark levine, author, the fine print of selfpublishing. You will have to pay attention to formatting, fonts, special interactivity in your book, html5, the cover images, page sizes, isbn numbers, and much more to set. Fiction and nonfiction writers alike can create, print, and sell their books through all major retail channels.
We offer editing, design services, ebook conversion. Spb works with selfpublishers in the usa and other countries to print and ship books worldwide. The fine print of selfpublishing fifth edition by mark. Print book or pdf file but so the same universal source document can be. Great for the first time selfpublisher or anyone prone to overlooking typos. Jan 04, 2016 if you gravitate toward selfpublishing try reading the fine print of selfpublishing. Get the files right, then publish at ingramspark, then come back to kdp. Anyone can make a simple pdf today, but if you intend on publishing under a selfpublishing platform or ordering a real life print of your book, a different set of considerations apply. Urgent note for authors of failed tate publishing your. We can print books from print ready pdf files, but if you do not know how to create a pdf, dont despair we have a network of people to assist with this also. If you own the source from which the pdf was generated such as a microsoft word file, we strongly suggest that you use the program you originally used to create the document to export or save the content as html.
The fine print of self publishing analyzes and critiques the contracts and services of the top self publishing companies. Download the fine print of self publishing pdf ebook epub. Pdf files are also used by businesses and individuals to distribute documents and literature. You may not need our help most of the time, but its nice to know were still here for you if you run. For a good discussion on this topic, you should invest in a copy of the fine print of self publishing. It may also apply to albums, pamphlets, brochures, video content, and zines in the traditional publishing model, in which the. When you prepare your files for printing, it must be submitted as a pdf file.
The fine print has helped thousands of authors understand selfpublishing. Heres some of the more common questions weve been asked about them. How to self publish for free, online and print on demand. The big fish in the small pond corresponds to selfpublished authors who have managed to establish. Jul 04, 2019 the digital course files youll get, part i. The text files, cleaned and prepped for import, graphics files, sized and prepped in photoshop or illustrator, standard layout elements like image files of company logos, stock photography, patterns, frames, backgrounds and so on. There are many software programs that can create a nicelooking book, but indesign has. The trim and bleed boxes should be visible so that you can see what will be trimmed off when the book is finished.
Always give yourself at least a oneday cushion on delivery. The fine print of selfpublishing kindle edition by. The 6th edition of the fine print of selfpublishing. A primer on contracts, printing costs, royalties, distribution, ebooks, and marketing is out now. Anyone can make a simple pdf today, but if you intend on publishing under a self publishing platform or ordering a real life print of your book, a different set of considerations apply. Portable document format pdf is the standard format for creating a print book and documents. Reformat your word or text file, reset your pages to book size,mass paperback 6 x 9 or whatever size you choose, adjust chapter headings, page numbers and page breaks, font size and spacing, indents, repositioning illustrations if any, add front matter, back matter, isbn from kdp or your own set up headers and footers, save in pdf file. Easily publish textbooks, course materials, and research. Additionally, the book educates authors on how to decipher the legalese in self publishing contracts. Selfpublishing selfpublishing companies publishing a. A highresolution pdf file will embed all fonts and graphics. The fine print of selfpublishing has been lauded by many experts as the consumer reports of the selfpublishing industry. Unfortunately, many people dont work with them very often so they can be confusing and hard to use. The fine print of selfpublishing, now in its fifth edition, has been lauded by industry professionals as the goto book for authors considering self publishing.
You can reupload your pdf files multiple times without extra fees. We couldnt make corrections to the file, but we could at least print it. Open your exported pdf book files to see how your book will print. Youll be fighting the publisher for your share of the small amount of money. Submission guidelines you will need to submit two pdf files, one for the bookblock or entire interior of the book and one for the cover. A primer on contracts, printing costs, royalties, distribution, ebooks, and marketing sixth edition by mark levine is a must read for anyone thinking of self publishing a book, or who has already published and wants to consider other options. Chicago turabian humanities citation style guide levine, mark l, the fine print of self publishing. The fine print of self publishing, now in its fifth edition, has been lauded by industry professionals as the goto book for authors considering self publishing.