The word editing can strike fear into the heart of authors. We’ve all heard stories of authors who had battles with their editors and even cases of authors being driven to suicide over artistic differences with their editor. New authors, self publishing or not, who may never have met an editor are understandably wary of scrutiny by the perception that editors are part of a rather carnivorous literary elite.
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We quite often receive typescripts and print-ready PDF files where the order of the front and end matter appears to be rather random. If you’re submitting a typescript to us or any other publisher the publisher will sort it out but if you are submitting print ready PDF files to a self-publishing service you may find that the self-publishing service won’t bother to correct this. That won’t happen with us but sometimes these corrections can be difficult to do or introduce new complications, for...
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Although writing can be great fun, it can also be a lot of hard work. Here are some tips that we have collected from writers over our years in self-publishing.
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If you’re an author who is new to the field of writing and you have yet to see some success in your sales figures, read on. We’ve got some insight to share with regards to writing style and what the most popular books have in common.
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Even if you’re one of the best writers in the country, people won’t buy your books if you don’t give them what they want. Read on to find out how you can produce books that people want to read.
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If you are preparing your own cover file PDF you will need to know how thick the spine will be. We can tell you this when you know how many pages are in your book. We can confirm the spine thickness to you and give you a template for your cover design, but there are a few other factors to take into account.
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An aspect of book production that sometimes causes confusion is that the term “print on demand” can be used to mean different things. At the Choir Press we use the term specifically to mean a service where we fulfil print orders for one or more copies from print ready PDF files we have previously prepared. Delivery of these orders can either be to a consumer who has ordered the book from a bookseller or directly to the self-publishing author or even a third party. What’s more we can offer thi...
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When preparing to self publish your book a little bit of planning ahead can save you a great deal of time and help eliminate errors. When you send a typescript to us it’s helpful if you submit it as a single file. If you can’t do this separate chapters are acceptable but be sure to number them in the correct sequence. The pages should also be numbered consecutively and double line spaced. If the finished book will have a contents page you should draft this although there is no need to insert t...
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One of the most effective ways for self-publishing authors to sell their books is through the virtual book tour channel. This will usually mean that the author makes a guest appearance on a blog site, a book review site or in a forum. If you’re a member of Good Reads, I’m sure you have been invited to send in questions for any authors that you follow. A book tour can also involve appearing on radio shows, pod casts and teleseminars.
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One of the ironies of being an author is that you are likely to need the help of an artist or graphic designer in order to sell your work. The reason for this is that readers do judge books by their covers and if the cover has been well-created they will have a lot of helpful information with which to do so. If your budget really doesn’t stretch to hiring a professional, then it is crucial to create the best cover you possible can and to avoid these five major errors.
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