At the top of the list of the most common book production mistakes is: 1. The book was not edited! You should ALWAYS hire a professional book editor to edit your book. Find someone who specializes in your genre. Don’t ask your child’s English teacher! An expert editor will comb through your manuscript and will let you know if you should hire her for content editing, copy editing or both. To learn the difference, click this link to go to my blog post that explains the distinction. 2. The book does not have a professional cover design. Your book deserves an eye-catching cover…
One of the hallmarks of a professionally published book is the attention to the details. When my team designer Kerrie Lian designed the interior of my client’s book, she used several elements related to airplane pilots to carry a graphic theme throughout the book. The title of the book was: If the Customer’s the Copilot, You’re in the Wrong Seat. My client, Brian Dennis used a pilot metaphor when he wrote and self-published this book on customer service. Marty Petersen, our team illustrator created the stunning cover illustration of the interior of an airplane cockpit. Here is the front cover: This is the first chapter’s title page….
Our team recently provided branding and publishing for speaker Brian Dennis. We guided Brian through the process of self-publishing his second book while at the same time created his brand, built his website and designed his marketing toolkit within a 4 month period. The expedited schedule was precipitated on an important upcoming speaking opportunity for Brian. My publishing team members edited his book, designed the book interior, finished the cover, converted it into an ebook and uploaded the files to Kindle, Barnes & Noble and Apple within 3 months. Meanwhile, other members of my team created his brand and marketing toolkit with a new…
Self Publishers Can Use Media Mail to ship books to their customers and save over 50% on postage costs. This is a special low rate the United States Postal Service offers for shipping books, CDs, DVDs, videotapes, printed music and sound recordings weighing 70 pounds or less in the USA. Computer drives, video games, or digital drives do NOT qualify for Media Mail rates. The delivery time is anywhere from 2 to 8 business days. The US Postal service reserves the right to open these packages to verify they qualify for media mail. Including a price sheet for your books is allowed, however, inserting a…
Why Use Active Verbs Instead of Passive? This is part 3 of a 3-part series by my team editor Barbara McNichol on communicating clearly and writing like a pro. During the summer months of June, July and August, I’ll post a 3-part series on helpful writing tips by Barbara. You’ve probably been urged to use active verbs when you write but do you know why? Because sentences written with active verbs: Clearly spell out the action being performed and who is doing it. Convey the ideas more quickly and directly than passive sentences. Frequently require fewer words than passive sentences when space is limited. Two clues help you identify “passive” use…
Better writing skills: My team editor Barbara McNichol is passionate about teaching self-publishers how to write like a pro. During the summer months of June, July and August, I’ll post a 3-part series on helpful writing tips by Barbara. Have you ever wondered about the distinction between “like” or “such as” in your writing? Here are two phrases to consider: . . . the answers that so-called geniuses like / such as Newton seem to embody. . . . centuries of innovations like / such as the airplane and the space shuttle have resulted. In these examples, “such as” is preferred over “like” because the word…
This month my friend, client and colleague Joe Sabah graciously contributed this article on how to create book titles. Sometimes independent and self-publishers struggle with this process, and Joe has offered some helpful tips. Even though this article was written in 2006, it is very applicable today. Why does one book become a best seller while another flops? Consider this title: Inside the Ropes. A coffee table book priced at $40 with hardly any sales. Before we go on, what do you think Inside the Ropes is about? First answer from many people would be Boxing. When the author was asked “What’s it about?”…
This month I’m shining the spotlight on a recent client project, and to explain how to make a memoir paint an exceptional picture of someone’s life. Gene Rhodes wrote a comprehensive memoir of his dad, Billy Rhodes—an adventurous spirit who passed at a relatively young age. Gene meticulously compiled his dad’s diary, letters, old photos, documents, hand written notes and log books into a 320-page record of Billy’s life. Gene came to us in 2011 for help with laying out the book interior, designing the cover and to learn how to make a memoir rise above others through excellent design and production techniques….
Self-publishers: If you’ve written a book, you may want to consider creating a CD or DVD with audio, video or e-media content to add value to your self-published book. Then you can leverage your content and double your price AND your profits on Amazon! First, you will need to open an Amazon Advantage account. This is a consignment program where Amazon requests copies of your product based on current and anticipated customer demand. It works like this: you mail copies of your product to Amazon; when a customer makes a purchase, Amazon’s fulfillment department ships it out directly to the…