We tackle the technology for you!
Do you want to self-publish your book but don’t know how?
Do you want to celebrate the writer in your life by having their work bound into a beautiful publication?
We will take your project from manuscript to merchandise; giving you a commercial paperback and eBook product available on Amazon, using Kindle Digital Publishing.
Even if you don’t want to sell or print your publication through Amazon, we will provide you with print-ready digital files that you can take to a commercial printer of your choice.
Self-published, not home-made
Your published work will look professionally produced when printed, or rendered on Kindle eReader or tablet. The exterior cover and interior design and layout will be produced with the best tools and delivered in the appropriate file format for its final destination.
We use Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop, as needed, and have a proven track record of experience as you can see in our Illustrations Gallery.
Images of physical books, eBooks and the published products on sale
Deliverables
We will handle or help with your unique requirements, which may include:
- Scan and digitise printed, paper-copy typed text
- Proof-read and copy edit
- Create an original cover or use your own artwork
- Design and format to suit the content for print and eBook versions
- Set up royalty payments
- Complete the required information for book classification; subject, genre, type
- Deliver print-ready documents in the correct file formats to enable printing through other outlets
How we produce your book
Digital manuscript
If your book only exists as printed content, we can scan the pages and convert them into digital format—ready for Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF or other word-processing software. This is required for print and publication. Hand-written pages are more involved, but talk to us if this is the case.
If you have your work already in digital ‘electronic copy’ format, then we can take that directly on to the next step in the process.
We can proof-read and suggest typo corrections, grammatical changes and punctuation edits. We are both writers with professional experience of producing and quality checking fiction and non-fiction written content—from prose to poetry.
Interior design
Words
We will produce the fully-formatted interior design of your book. This includes typography (appealing text layout, readable font selections), pagination, chapters, headers and footers, front and back matter, plus contents and other optional layout elements as necessary.
Pictures
For an illustrated book, we will produce images that are optimised for printing and visual impact. Even if your original artwork is not top-quality, we will sensitively and expertly edit and enhance with our digital graphics software skills—as we will for the cover ….
Cover design and artwork
We will produce the front and back cover artwork, allowing your book to stand out on any bookshelf—in-store or online. We can create an original illustrative or graphical design; suggested or based on your own ideas, use your own original, copyright-owned/copyright-free art, photos or other imagery.
We will design the required front and back cover text and accommodate it harmoniously within the artistic elements and required elements, such as the barcode, working to the physical trim size and the spine width.
Biography and blurb
We can write a brief biography and back-cover blurb, if needed, or incorporate your own.
Publication data
Amazon and Kindle Direct Publishing
We will set up an Amazon KDP account for you and handle all of the settings and data requirements to get your book details completed and ready for sale. This includes:
- Title
- Author
- Description, categories and keywords
- ISBN for paperbacks
- Printing options—paper type, ink colour, etc.
- Pricing and royalties plan
- Bank and tax details for earnings payment
If you already have an Amazon account, you can do this yourself or we can work with you to input this information in a way most secure and comfortable for you. An email address is required to maintain the account and you will be able to manage the account to you on completion of the project. If you are not located close to Brighton, we can find a way to complete this task remotely.
Amazon provides a free ISBN (International Standard Book Number) for hard-copy books on sale through its international marketplaces, so there are no other administrative requirements for publication through this outlet. If you do already have an ISBN for this book, it can be used (see below).
Independent conventional publishing
If you want your book to be available through other book trade outlets, such as bookshops and libraries, you will need to buy a unique ISBN. For the UK, this is done through Nielsen. Here you can set up an account, buy an ISBN, the barcode graphic and register the book details and publisher imprint associated.
We will include this information on the exterior and interior artwork and documents.
Physical and digital versions
Paperback
Will will deliver a final author’s copy of the Amazon paperback version of your book if that’s the publishing platform you wish to use.
eBook
We can create an eReader-compatible version of your book, available through the Kindle store, checked to display correctly using the Amazon previewer. An eBook does not require an ISBN.
Book design services processes and capabilities
Costs
Contact us to discuss your self-publishing or commercial printer-ready collateral project and we will do our best to meet your needs.
In pricing a project we consider:
- The time it will take use to complete the elements of the project. This will depend on the size and complexity of the book—the number of words, chapters, sections and headings, photos, illustrations, tables, contents, index, etc.
- The amount of original artwork that needs to be created, for the cover or interior.
- Proof-reading and editing requirements. We use a cost per 1000 words proofing, which is the usual “industry-standard” way to price this activity. We are flexible with this aspect – rounding numbers withing the overall price, based on other aspects of the project.
- Any other additional material that we may need to produce, e.g., blurb, biography, etc.
We ask for a 50% payment in advance, the remainder upon delivery.
Managing your project
From contract to completion, we will keep you up to date with progress and, if you have a deadline, do our best to get the job done within your desired timeframe. A typical journey might be:
- Discuss your needs and existing collateral’s level of completeness and format.
- Sign-off a legally-binding contract to document your retained copyright of the work, specify deliverables included/excluded and price.
- Progress the design, offering advice, options and alternatives, if feasible, and finesse the final product to your satisfaction.
- Deliver author’s proof copies, as required during development and a finished, final published version of the physical book.
Cover design
We can create your cover artwork either from scratch or using your own suitable imagery. We will enhance the images to be clear and optimised for the best possible image when printed or viewed on screen. We will advise on what editing may be required to produce the best cover, whilst respecting your input.
Cover design included not only front cover image, but all text—title, author, back cover layout, blurb and essential elements such as barcode and spine text.