What to expect when working with a book designer

Do you want to publish your book this year? Are you looking to work with a book designer? These questions may leave you feeling overwhelmed, especially if this is your first book. Where do you start? What questions do you need to ask? Who can help? I have worked as a book designer and producer for over 25 years. The

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How long does it take to self-publish a book?

If you decide to self-publish a book it makes sense to put together a publication plan to keep yourself on track. Writing a book can take anywhere from a few months up to five years in the case of Stephen King and IT. Perhaps even longer in some cases. But not many new writers consider the timescale for getting their

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Understanding book sizes and page layout for self-publishing authors

Why does book size matter? As a reader, you may not have considered book size or even noticed the layout. But as an author, it’s one of the first things to consider when self-publishing your book. If you scan your bookshelf you will notice a variety of book sizes. Most fiction books will look aesthetically pleasing on your shelf –

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What is typesetting?

Book Design for Independent Authors If you’re planning to self-publish a book, typesetting is a term you need to become familiar with. The artistry of typesetting is to turn your text document and any images into a file suitable for a publishing platform such as IngramSpark or Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). You may also come across the terms ‘book

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HOW TO READ MORE

We all have busy lives with work, family and friends, and many other things using up our precious time but I have always believed that we make time for the things we really want to do. So how can we make more time for reading? Here are my top tips: Some recommendations: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier One of my

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WORD SPACING

WORD SPACING SHOCK HORROR!! Some people still use two spaces after the end of a sentence. The problem is that this habit can cause a lot of problems in the readability of the text because the word spacing is too gappy.   I learned to touch type on a manual typewriter at the age of 16 – showing my age!

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HYPHENATION AND JUSTIFICATION (H&J)

HYPHENATION AND JUSTIFICATION (H&J) Most books, especially text only ones, are set with justified text. In other words, the text lines up on the right side of the page as well as the left, except for the last line of the paragraph. The first line is often indented from the left margin as well. Hyphenation and justification settings are needed

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CONSIDERATIONS before designing a book

WHAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED BEFORE DESIGNING A BOOK? I started learning about typography when I was 16. As well as my ‘A’ level courses I had ‘Typewriting’ on my timetable. I learned to touch-type on a manual typewriter where the only font available was on the typewriter bars, and several calculations had to be done to get a table

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