As a book formatter, most of my work involves text‑heavy adult manuscripts—fiction, nonfiction, and everything in between. Children’s picture books are a different world entirely. My experience with them is more limited, but every project teaches me something new. Recently,
Metadata – What to Gather and Why
The information below brings all your book’s essential details together in one place, helping you stay consistent across platforms and improving how readers discover your work. Every retailer requires some form of this metadata, and having it ready makes the
Authors Take Note #2 – Things to Consider When Selecting a Publisher
For authors considering submitting their manuscript to a publishing house, there are a few things to consider. For instance, some publishers might only publish romance, while others only publish nonfiction history. Maybe one wants to see your entire manuscript immediately,
Authors Take Note #1 – Select Publishers Wisely
Many authors envision writing a book and submitting it to one of the top publishers to let them take the reins—editing, formatting, creating the book cover, marketing, and distributing. Yet, the reality of that actually happening is what has made
Book Layout – DIY or Professional?
You have spent days, weeks, months, and maybe even years writing a book, and now you are ready to self-publish it. There are many steps to publishing your book (see our Checklist for Self-Publishers), including title selection, cover design, copyediting,
Updated Checklist for Self-Publishers
You are writing your first book and plan to upload it to Amazon and sell a bunch of copies. Then, you start to do a little research and fall down rabbit hole after rabbit hole and become overwhelmed. There is
Do eBooks Need ISBNs?
Most authors know that when they write a book, an ISBN needs to be assigned to it. An International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is the book’s unique identification number used by distributors, bookstores, other retailers, and libraries to purchase books
Beyond the Writing – Next Steps to Self-Publish Your Book
Steps involved to self-publish your book, such as editing, professional book formatting, cover design, book description, author bio, ISBNs, and more…
“I Just Want to Write!” [Navigating the Publishing and Marketing Steps Post-Writing]
As you type the ending to your book and decide to get it professionally edited, a strong sense of overwhelm begins to overtake you. What next? Formatting, book cover design, writing query letters, setting a price, coming up with keywords, writing metadata, uploading to sites? Take a step back and take a deep breath…
ISBNs and Barcodes
Information self-publishers might want to know about ISBNs, barcodes, and their purposes…