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, promotional text, marketing, and manuscript formatting.
One aspect of self-publishing is DIY. Doing it yourself allows you to control every step of publishing your book. And, it is by far the least expensive option, money-wise. However, it’s important to remember that your time is also worth money, and every one of the steps mentioned above requires a fair amount of time and expertise. Rushing through these steps or lacking the necessary skills could lead to a less professional end product.
Regarding book layout, you might think there isn’t much to it. Slap some page breaks in, throw in some page numbers, and voila, you are ready to go. Certainly, if you are writing a fiction novel, that might be all you need, especially if you are just doing an ebook version. Google Docs, Word, Vellum, and Atticus—to name a few—will most certainly satisfy this basic layout.
If you have images, figures, tables, and multiple subheadings, you might consider having it professionally formatted. If it is an illustrated children’s book, it is its own animal, and I strongly encourage you to find a service with extensive experience formatting children’s books (they aren’t as easy to format as it would seem).
What needs to be taken into consideration? Page size, margins, gutter margins, CMYK vs. RGB, widows/orphans, page breaks, headers, footers, table of contents, indexes, right side vs. left side, location of page numbers, fonts, justification, and more.
Have you ever read a book where elements on the page were more distracting than the words you were trying to read? Maybe you couldn’t see some of the words because they were falling into the crease of the book. Perhaps the page numbers were on the inside instead of the outside. Maybe the font was obnoxious, or the paragraphs weren’t well-defined.
Hiring someone to do the professional layout for you will free up your time to start the marketing process. Marketing your book through social media, email, and on a website takes a lot of time and needs to begin before you upload your book to retail and distribution sites (such as Amazon KDP and IngramSpark).
BookLayoutPro.com (Karen) has over 29 years of formatting experience. A visit to my portfolio will show you the types of books I have formatted—from fiction to business to technical, print and ebook, hardcover and paperback. And I provide personal service. There is no need to operate within a confined email protocol like some sites. You will work directly with me via phone and direct email. Please read some of our reviews on our homepage. Contact me with any questions.
Leave DIY to home improvement, and give your book the professional polish it deserves. A professionally formatted book looks better and enhances the reading experience, making it more likely to be well-received by your audience.