Summary

FAQs

• What Do You Need to Get Started?

  1) Your finalized manuscript. The finished one. The one you're absolutely done making changes to. The "locked" draft. The manuscript should include everything you want in the book, including introduction, foreword, afterword, appendices, and so on. It should be in .docx or OpenDocument format. 2) Any pictures or other image assets meant to go in the book, along with an indication of where they're to appear. (Note: the project quote assumes very few or no images. An image-heavy project may require an additional charge.) 3) The art to be used in the cover design (in other words, the images, but not the text). This should be in a layered Photoshop or Illustrator file with each layer labeled clearly. Alternately, an Affinity Photo or Affinity Designer layered file is acceptable. If you by chance have a completed cover (including all text), I can use that, but, again, it must be in the original format. A JPG, PNG, or PDF file won't work for our purposes.

• What's the Difference Between Amazon KDP and IngramSpark?

  Both services allow the distribution and sale of e-books and print books. However, Amazon KDP is for the distribution of e-books and print books within the Amazon marketplace only, whereas IngramSpark will distribute print books everywhere. IngramSpark is not recommended for e-book production and distribution. You can do everything through Amazon KDP, but if you want to sell print books to libraries or bookstores, you should use IngramSpark for that. Likewise, the EPUB file I'll provide you will not only work in Amazon KDP, it will be compatible with all e-book distributors and marketplaces. If you have no intention of selling your print books outside of Amazon, I recommend using KDP for everything. If you'd like more flexibility with your print book sales, use IngramSpark for print (Amazon will sell books provided by IngramSpark, so that base will be covered, too).

• What is a Laminate Hardcover?

  A hardcover book with the cover design printed directly on the cover, just like a paperback book... but with a hard cover. IngramSpark also offers a dust jacket cover for hardcovers, however that's outside of the scope of this project and would require an additional charge.

• Will the E-Book Look Just Like the Print Book?

  Most e-books are intentionally designed to leave a lot of the reading experience in the hands of the reader: font size, margin size, typography, and so on. Also, e-books are designed to be read on any number of devices and applications with different screen sizes and resolutions, and even color or black and white. So, most e-books are created with a flowing layout that adjusts and changes according to the reader's preference. Because of this, the layout of your e-book will not necessarily be an exact match to the printed page. In special cases (children's picture books, for example), a special kind of e-book, "fixed layout," can be created. These do emulate the printed page, and are for books where the combination of image and text is integral to the work. Fixed layout e-books are outside of the scope of this project package, although I can create them for you.

• Why is the Print Edition Book Cover Left Until Last?

  Print book covers are submitted to Amazon KDP or IngramSpark as a single PDF file that has the entire cover, meant to wrap around the interior pages: back cover, spine, and front cover, left to right. Because we can't know the size of the spine until we know the exact page count, we have to wait until the interior design (with its page count finalized) is completed .