Back to Writing and Publishing Tips Table of Contents

How to self-publish a book

The workflow and production process
The production process for writing and self-publishing a book in Australia goes somewhat like this:

1. Write first draft
2. Self-edit, rewrite until satisfied
3. Share work with others, especially someone you know who will give you honest feedback. If it’s non-fiction, try to get a foreword written by someone prominent in the field you are publishing—someone influential. This gives your book credibility if you are not as well known and might interest media later when sending review copies.

      Read More

Copyright in Australia

Intellectual Property incorporates patents, trademarks, industrial design rights, trade secrets and copyrights eg. on music, text and creative works like paintings, photographs, digital art, computer-generated imagery, fiction, poetry and sculptures. By extension, copyright also applies to conglomerative works like books, magazines, newsletters, movies, TV shows, computer games, software, multimedia CD-Roms, PowerPoint shows and websites.   Read More

Can I design a book in Microsoft Word? WHY IT IS BETTER TO USE PROFESSIONAL BOOK LAYOUT SOFTWARE AND A DESIGNER

Yes, you can use Microsoft Word to design a book, however it will be:

• Painstaking, especially if you have images and tables.
• Unprofessional (in most cases it will look like a Word document, not like a book)
• Inconsistent and difficult to manage the flow across pages>
• Slow, especially if you have a large book with lots of high quality images
• Poor quality, as Word does not allow you to manage colours as effectively as proper layout software does.

  Read More

Do-it-yourself graphic design and typesetting

Sometimes you just cannot afford to outsource certain graphic design projects or you just need to get creative yourself and give your idea a try, whether it’s a new website, banner ad, email blast or print newsletter. Below are some of my tips for amateur or would-be graphic designers, including what software you can use and what resources and copyright awareness you may need.   Read More

Self publishing services, marketing and media packages

I got asked recently about a business that claims to publish and market books for a reasonable fee. A customer of mine mentioned that they can send a media release to people in the media in the US, Australia, UK and more.

I nearly ran down the road screaming, “Don’t Do It!”. For two reasons. Firstly, I would not recommend this business or any of its affiliated companies even if I weren’t in the industry myself (wanting the business for myself). Secondly, media releases for new unknown authors are usually a waste of time.   Read More

Making the most out of digital publishing

There are a number of fundamental differences between print and digital books.

• Digital books don’t take up a lot of room, you can carry as many of them as you like and will fit on your device.
• Digital books can be retrieved instantly. No heading down to the bookshop, or running home to grab the book you forgot to take with you.

  Read More

What are the different types of ebooks?

• PDF
• EPUB

1. Standard ePub (reflowing, universal support on devices, links, pics, no video, no ‘pages’)
2. Fixed Layout ePub (fixed pages, beautiful design, limited support from devices, links, pics)
3. Enhanced ePub (Can include audio/video/javascript)
4. Enhanced Fixed Layout ePub (Can include audio/video/javascript)

• MOBI

1. Standard Mobi (reflowing,supported by all Kindle devices, links, pics, no video, no ‘pages’)
2. Fixed Layout Mobi (Also called KF8 for Kindle Fire - fixed pages, beautiful design, supported by Kindle Fire primarily, links, pics)
3. Enhanced Mobi (As above but can include audio/video, which will work only of Kindle Apps installed on devices that support video - not Kindle devices themselves)

• IBA

1. Multi-touch (Apple only. Landscape, designed for iPad screen – multi-choice questions, audio, video, interactive animations and more)

Do ebooks jeopardise selling hard copy books?

I feel a little bit sorry for writers who have gone ahead with printing hundreds of copies of their book (whether self-published or vanity) only to find they have no idea how to sell them. I say "a little bit" because in this day and age with the Internet there is little excuse for not realising that books won't sell themselves. Indeed there are countless resources and books for learning how to market and sell books. There is no magic bullet, however. And getting a sense for what could become a best-seller is something that takes publishers (the people employed by Publishing Companies) decades to develop. And it is usually only these top sellers that keep a typical Publishing Company afloat.   Read More

Book Publicist Wanted: But not just ANY book publicist

I am looking to hire a book publicist, so this post is sort of a job posting. It is also a blueprint and discussion paper for other writers who are looking for really effective people to help them promote their books, and it is a primer on the state of the industry for people starting out in the book-promotion business.

In future (starting now, for some of us), a freelance book publicist will be one of the two truly essential members of an author’s team—the other being (of course) the editor. Soon, great book publicists (like great editors) will only represent the books they love and believe in, and the fact that a specific publicist has taken on your book will act as a credential for the quality of the book itself.   Read More

Back to Writing and Publishing Tips Table of Contents