Tips to avoid confusion and make for a more rewarding process. Prepare before you meet for the most productive experience communicating with your book designer.  The time spent preparing helps prevent confusion and makes the design process more rewarding for everyone. By now, if you have been following my blog, you may have a good […]

A case where size matters. Often people ask me, “It looks good on my computer. Why are you telling me my file is too small?”  File resolution is one of the biggest problems I encounter when designing indy books. And it comes up most often with the author’s back cover photo. And for that, I […]

What the heck are they, and do they matter? Book signatures, also called sigs, are large sheets of paper (parent sheets) with multiple book pages printed on them.  These sheets are folded and then trimmed to create consecutively numbered bundles of pages that can either be glued or sewn into the book’s binding. The use […]

7 tips for getting accurate book design estimates.  Design is often the biggest investment you will make in your self-publishing project. To get accurate book design estimates, it is best to have a clean manuscript for your designer to review. As a contractor, your project is important. You want to have a design that serves […]

Hiring a book designer that is right for you. When you start work with a designer, understand that it is a relationship in which you both are vulnerable. You depend on each other to make the process run smoothly. This is why it is important when hiring a book designer that you find someone you […]

Ten things to consider when deciding your book’s size. There are many different trim sizes for books, so how do you choose the right size? There are standard book sizes, but as a sell publisher, you also have some leeway. To decide the right size for your book, you want to consider your book’s genre, […]

And why won’t my designer give them to me? Who owns the source files can become an uncomfortable subject when working with a designer. Source files, often called artwork, or native files, are the editable design files. Your designer uses their source files to create the final print-ready pdf that goes to the printer. To […]

Five things to avoid common production delays Usually, I design the book cover last, but that does not mean that I am not planning it early. Here are five things that will help you to be prepared and have everything you need when it is time to design the cover. Your book cover is critical […]

Three ways to consider design while writing your book The number one way to save money on your book’s design is to consider its design while writing and editing. When you consider the book’s structure and build on consistency, it always makes for a better reader experience.  It is not nearly as crucial to maintaining […]

Is formatting my own book right for me? Many writers ask, “Do I have to spend all that money to have my book’s interior pages professionally designed?”  “There aren’t even any photos.” “There can’t be much to formatting a book with only text. Can there?” Well, you may be surprised by how much goes into […]