Making Your Own Cover - The Book Designer's Cover Templates - A Quick Review

Covers sell books. It is that simple. After good editing, a great cover is essential and in the case of marketing, it might be one of your most essential items. The cover has to grab your potential reader's eye in about two seconds. This is even more difficult given how small the images Amazon and other online retailers provide.

One of the easiest ways to spot a self-published book is its cover. Bad covers on self-published books not only hurt sales, but give the legacy publishing crowd food for their arguments against self-publishing and serves as further proof that Indie authors have no business publishing.

CreateSpace and Amazon's KDP both offer cover templates which are better than what many authors come up with left to their own devices. I have used these for some of my books and these covers were "OK" at best. You can tell they are templates and having used them, I can spot with ease covers using these same templates just by browsing Amazon.

The good folks at The Book Designer now offer a solution to the problem of creating your own cover and having it look like an expensive custom designed cover.

The image above shows the design I came up with for my next book. Now, you might not like the looks of the cover and that's fine, but DO NOT hold it against The Book Designer. Any design issues with the cover are because I have very limited talent for this sort of thing.

I was able to calculate and set the width of the spine, enter all of my back cover information and quickly insert the cover image in about 20 minutes. I spent another hour creating different versions by moving text boxes, changing text color and fonts. 

All told, in about 2 hours I read the directions and created 20 different possible versions of my cover. Granted, the time invested did not include writing the back copy or selecting the my photo from my collection.

The best part was I did not lose my temper once, feel the need to threaten my computer or feel my blood pressure increase, all of which are normal when I have to learn how to use new software or a new item on my computer. That's how easy the directions were to use!

You may purchase a license for a single-book, multiple-book or a commercial license, just like with their interior design templates. Purchasing several templates at a time will also allow you to take advantage of a significant discount. Two templates will garner you a 25% discount and three will earn a 35% discount. You can save considerable money by getting your cover and interior templates at the same time.

The cover templates come in a variety of common book trim sizes and designed for use with CreateSpace, IngramSpark and Lightning Source.

This neat tool also allows you to do some neat design tricks such as using a "wrap around image" on the cover. It comes with some 20 loadable custom fonts to allow you to create just the right look with your text.

I will be taking advantage of this great tool to revamp several of my less than desirable covers in the not too distant future!

 

Using Pictures and Images in Kindle Books - Review of Aaron Shepard's New Guide

Aaron Shepard is still one of the leading authorities on the physical design aspects of self-publishing. As a result of rewriting his guide on creating Kindle books from Word, Aaron realized he had expanded the project beyond it's original scope. 

The result, a new Kindle book on how to use images in Kindle books! 

Since most of my non-fiction books have photos, line drawings and graphics, I quickly purchased a copy Pictures on Kindle.

I am going to have to read this book multiple times and sit down with a project file and play with inserting images before I attempt to do this for real.

Please note, the reason for the above statement is NOT because Aaron does not do a good job of explaining things. Aaron writes in a clear and easy to understand style and provides plenty of information to accomplish the task of using photographs and images into a Kindle manuscript for digital publication.

The only other self-publishing authority I am aware of who understands the design and production aspects of crafting a self-published book, I am talking about the nuts and bolts of the process, is Joel Friedlander.

Aaron covers the basics of photos in detail including color photographs. There are a wide range of ways to "measure" color in a photograph for publishing and Aaron covers them all.

Also covered:

• selecting photographs
• editing photographs
• photo file formats
• scanning
• design aspects of placing photographs
• testing your final version by previewing
• HTML and photographs in Kindle books

This is a great book for authors who need, or want, to produce their own files for their self-published Kindle books. It is understandable for a layman like me but has the info a technogeek will enjoy.

The price is right as well, just .99 cents for now.

All I need to do now is finish my current project with one of the Book Designers new Word templates, use the one of the new Kindle templates to convert work, and then with the help of the info in Pictures on Kindle, insert all my diagrams and photographs. I have my first week of vacation from school all planned.

Book Design Templates for Microsoft Word from the Book Designer - a Review

Joel Friedlander, the owner of The Book Designer, is the creator and driving force behind this new product, interior design templates based on Microsoft Word for self-publishing authors to design and complete their own book interiors.

I was not sure what to expect when I downloaded my template. It was easy to download and open, something I cannot say for many varieties of software. 

It just gets better from there. Joel offers a downloadable 55 page instruction manual with each template. In fact, you can obtain one for free prior to purchasing your template. I appreciate this feature a great deal as I still prefer a paper manual when I am trying to learn how to master a new skill, or in this case, software. I like to be able to write notes in the margin or highlight information I will need to refer to on a regular basis. Make this another big plus for this product.

If you can use Microsoft Word, you can use this product. It is that simple. Should you run across something you don't know how to do to create the look you want in your book, you will be able to find the information you need in the downloadable PDF manual.

Why invest in one of these templates? The entire book is already laid out for you! This starts with the front matter and includes the author page at the back of the book! Everything that goes in between these two items in a book is included. 

All I will have to do is cut and paste in my manuscript, enter my own headers and footers, table of contents, etc, and my book interior will be done. 

The sample I am experimenting with is for a 6x9 interior but 8.5x11 interior templates will be available. eBook templates are also available and I am excited about learning to use one of these in the future.

Joel offers a wide range of design options for book interiors. Samples of each template are available for view at The Book Designer.

It gets better still. Full support for the templates is offered by The Book Designer. My experience with Joel has been he and his support staff are very easy to communicate with and always want to answer your question and make sure you are able to use the product or service you paid for. In this day and age, customer service can be iffy at best so this type of product support goes a long way with me.

Will this template produce a book interior exactly like one produced by a professional book designer using software designed specifically for creating book interiors? No. It can't because Microsoft Word was not designed for that purpose. 

What these templates can do is create an interior file that has all of the needed information for a print book, interior designs that every bit as professional in appearance as designs crafted by "pros" (by the way, Joel is one of those pros who does interior book design), and is easy to use. The cost and steep learning curve of the professional software is removed for an author who plans to self-publish.

Will an interior produces by one of these templates match up well against a traditionally designed interior design? Yes. It just won't be as "perfect" as one done using the pro software.

I can live with these differences, mainly because I cannot find them, and I believe most readers won't notice the differences either. I say most because a reader like my grandfather, who was a professor of journalism, a newspaper editor, typesetter and author of historical biographies, would. Gramps was one of those individuals who would be defined as a "pro" who would be able to pick up on the minor details. Collectors of books and aficionados of fine editions would be able to discern the differences as well.

So long as your audience is not geared for this small group of readers, I doubt any of your readers will be able to discern the interior of the book was created by the author. These templates are that good!

Finally, I can create a series of books that have matching interiors. Since I write non-fiction and my books are often in a series, this is a great feature for me. I am sure this holds true for fiction authors who have recurring characters in a series. Having identical interior designs is a great touch.

I have spent a lot of money on a wide range of products in my quest to learn about self-publishing and to build my tiny publishing empire. A considerable portion of that money was wasted. 

Authors who self-publish must always consider cost. Covers and editing are two areas where money needs to be invested. While you have to purchase the template, the cost is very reasonable for the product and you, the author, do the work of creating the interior. 

The design work has been done. If you can use Word, you can use this product. There is almost no learning curve and we all know time is money. Here is a great way to save money by doing it yourself and having the finished product look professionally done!

Money spent on these templates won't be. I strongly recommend you visit the site and investigate these wonderful templates. Here is a quick summary of why you should take a look:

• low cost of each template
• wide variety of design templates in a variety of sizes 
• more designs and size are in the design and production process for future release
• everything that needs to be included in a book interior is included
• free manual describing in detail how to use the software/template
• great customer support
• based on Word, a software nearly every author already knows how to use

My next experiment will be to write one of my next non-fiction books directly in the template as I go! Imagine, you save time and get to see what your finished book will look like as you write it!

Click here to learn more!

Self-Publishing School - Great Blog Posts From the Past Week!

Excellent posts I have come across this past week about a range of topics related to self-publishing. Check them out, but please find time to return to The Self-Publisher's Notebook!

From Writer's Beware by Victoria Strauss

Publishers Settle With Google - But What About Authors?: A quick summary of what is going on with the class action lawsuit against Google for violating copyright by scanning in copyright books.

From The Creative Penn by Joanna Penn

Lessons Learned from One Year as a Full Time Author Entrepreneur: A great post about about making a living, running a business that is, as a self-publisher! Hard learned lessons are the best and Ms. Penn graciously shares these in this post.

From Self-Publishing 2.0 by Morris Rosenthal

Entering Stealth Blogging Mode: Mr. Rosenthal is a bit irritated with Google. I don't blame him. As authors we rely heavily on our blogs as a key component of our author platform. 

From Catherine, Caffeinated Guest Post by Mark Edwards

11 Ingredients of a Sizzling Book Description: Increase sales by writing irresistible book descriptions on your book's product page on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

From The Book Designer by Joel Friedlander

15 Steps to Create Great Blog Videos: Since I am in the process of learning how to do this, I thought it would be good to share one of the better posts I have found on the topic. Very helpful.

From Futurebook post by Baldur Bjarnason

Ebook Publishing Platforms are a Joke: I wrote about this recently but it is of enough interest to include it again here for those who missed it.

From A Newbie's Guide to Publishing Guest Post by Anyomous on J.A. Konrath's Blog

E-Books in Libraries - They Still Don't Get It: This guest post is written by a professional librarian. Since we would all love to sell our books to libraries, this is worth reading.

Self-Publishing Blog Posts - Sales Data, Design and Industry News

I spent the evening catching up on reading about the self-publishing industry and came across some blog posts worth sharing. Konrath's in particular is worth reading as he provides data based on his actual sales as a self-publishing author.

Here are the blogs and the posts!

J.A. Konrath provides data, based on his own experience, on why you should self-publish - Kornath's Newbies Guide to Publishing

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/09/konraths-sales.html 

A long but interesting article from Forbes titled: Publishing is Broken, We're Drowning in Indie Books - And That's a Good Thing!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2012/08/15/publishing-is-broken-were-drowning-in-indie-books-and-thats-a-good-thing/

Converting your blog into a book - Joel Friedlander's The Book Designer

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/09/blog2book/

Morris Rosenthal on fighting internet copyright infringement at Foner Books Self-Publishing 2.0

 http://www.fonerbooks.com/selfpublishing/?p=2123

White Might Not Be Right - Michael Marcus on choice of color for book covers.

http://bookmakingblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/for-book-covers-white-may-not-be-right.html

While it is from July, this post from Small Town Press is worth checking out because it actual sales data from a self-published author. The data is comparing Kindle versus paperback sales.

http://www.smalltownpr.net/2012/07/kindle-sales-outperform-paperback-sales.html

Trends, Reviews, Information and Some Self-Publishing History in the Making

I regularly read several blogs by individuals who are authorities on self-publishing, book marketing or book design in hopes of learning as much as possible. All of the individuals whose posts are referenced here and linked to are not only experts in the field, but are successful and experienced self-publishers themselves.

From Joel Friedlander's The Book Designer: The Biggest Secret of Book Marketing Success

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/09/biggest-secret/#more-23674

An interesting post about book marketing. Joel reveals the method of book marketing that will produce the absolute best results.

From Aaron Shepard's Publishing Blog: Stumbling on Hyphenation

http://www.newselfpublishing.com/blog/#Wordhyphenation

A review of Microsoft's Word 2011 by Aaron, who among other things, is the author of Perfect Pages, and extremely proficient in the use of Word to lay-out book interiors for use in POD publishing. In this review, Aaron focuses primarily on the problems with the hyphenation feature of the 2011 version of Word.

From Aaron Shepard's Publishing Blog: Counting on Amazon

http://www.newselfpublishing.com/AmazonCounting.html

For you coding fans and anyone who sells their book on Amazon, this blog is worth reading. Aaaron examines the inner workings of many of the marketing tools for authors on Amazon. A blog post well worth reading from one of the experts in book marketing using Amazon.

Morris Rosenthal's Self-Publishing 2.0:  The Decade of POD Publishing Gives Way to eBooks

http://www.fonerbooks.com/selfpublishing/?p=2101

I wrote about this post a bit earlier this week and linked to it. Thought provoking look at the changing nature of the industry of self-publishing as it relates to the technology of print-on-demand and ebooks.

From Dana Lynn Smith's The Savvy Book Marketer: Free Images for Your Blog or Website


http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/book_marketing_maven/2012/09/where-to-find-free-images-for-your-blog-and-website.html

Free is good! Ms. Smith provides information about locating images for use to improve blogs and websites that cost nothing for the user.

Sites for New and Veteran Self-Publishers to Visit

I really appreciate every author, or individual considering taking the leap and becoming an author, who visit this blog. It has been an uphill struggle to learn everything I need to know to make this a successful business and like any endeavor worth engaging in, you can never afford to stop learning.

Many individuals have taken the time to share their experiences, both good and bad, in the field of self-publishing with the intent of helping me along and to shorten the learning curve for me. I feel an obligation to do the same.

There are certainly readers of this blog who probably get a chuckle out of my mistakes as they are more experienced in the field of self-publishing. Then there are the authors who are new to the game and I hope they learn information of value from reading this blog. The third group are probably authors who are at about the same state I am in the learning process.

So, in an effort to share sources of information, here are a few sites I visit regularly and I have learned a great deal from.

Aaron Shepard's Publishing Blog

Aaron is the author of Aiming at Amazon and the guru of self-publishing when it comes to the business model of selling self-published books via Amazon. He is also the author of POD for Profit and the creator of "Plan B" since Amazon has revised its dealings with Lightning Source. Aaron is just a treasure trove of information and views it as both a creative endeavor and a business.

Aaron has a realistic view of Amazon, how it works and what truly drives this company. In other words, he sees Amazon's good and bad points, of which there are both.

Morris Rosenthal's Self-publishing Blog

Morris is another of the leaders of the self-publishing movement and the use of print-on-demand as a business model for self-publishing. His book Print-on-Demand Book Publishing is another book self-publishing authors should read, even with the rise of the ebook. It describes the business model of POD for self-publishing. Remember, self-publishing is a business!

Morris writes about a lot of things on his self-publishing blog, ranging from understanding Amazon Sales Rankings, dealing with copyright violations, building an author platform and some just off the wall stuff that is really funny if you get his sense of humor. I have learned a lot by reading his blog and the archived posts.

Joel Friedlander's The Book Designer

This site is a great source of information about the design end of self-publishing as well as a wide range of topics that deal with self-publishing and publishing. Joel constantly provides new blog postings addressing topics both of interest and importance to authors who self-publish. Like Aaron and Morris, Joel views self-publishing as a both a creative and a business endeavor.

Joel also provides courses designed to teach new authors and veteran authors venturing into self-publishing learn the process and business of self-publishing. Joel also designs books as a service to self-publishing authors.

J.A. Konrath's A Newbie's Guide to Publishing

Konrath is a leader among the fiction authors who have become successful financially through self-publishing, primarily via Kindle ebook sales.

I don't always agree with his worldview on a range of topics, but I always come away from visiting his blog having learned something about the publishing industry. I write non-fiction and doubt I could ever write anything fictional worth publishing.

I have learned a great deal about the ebook explosion from his blog. Like the other three bloggers I have listed, Konrath views self-publishing as a business, and this from a very creative author. I have read many of his thrillers, particularly the Jack Daniels detective thrillers, and can attest Mr. Konrath knows how to spin a thrilling tale.

Michael Marcus's Book Making

I don't quite know how to describe this blog.  Sometimes I visit and exit the blog with my blood pressure about to come out my ears telling myself I will never visit again. I always do though and I am pretty sure if Marcus could see me turn red in the face he would get a good chuckle out of it. If you already read this blog, you know exactly what I mean. Marcus loves to yank a chain, anyone's chain.

Why do I go back time after time? Because as mad as Marcus can make me, he also makes me laugh and often he writes about issues that are both important and informative for authors who self-publish.  Perhaps I just need thicker skin.

Like the other sites, I learn from the information Marcus shares and that is what makes the site worth putting on your list of self-publishing blogs to read.

In all fairness, if you wind up on the sharp end of Marcus' wit, you might have done something to deserve it. Just as quickly has he can take a poke at you, if you have done something praiseworthy, Marcus will be one of the first to point it out. He will also take a poke at himself from time-to-time.

Also, Marcus likes The Rolling Stones, The World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band. So do I.

Kindle Nation Daily

All things Kindle. If you plan on making ebooks, Kindle in particular, part of your business plan, this site needs to be on your list of blogs and sites to visit. 

The focus of late is largely on books selling well on Kindle and the technology itself. While I am not trying to compete with best selling authors, it is a way to track what is going on with different topics and niches as well as changes in the technology. Something we all need to be aware of as authors who sell Kindle books.

If anyone knows of a site or blog that would be a good addition to this short list, please share it via the comment sections for this post.

Understanding the Discounting Process for Self-Published Books

Ever feel confused about how to "discount" your book to retailers, wholesalers and distributors? It can certainly be a difficult issue to understand.

Joel Friedlander has an excellent post, with many valuable comments from experienced self-published authors on his blog, The Book Designer. To read the post and accompanying comments, click here.

Leap Day Blog Posts to Read!

I know, I must be getting a bit lazy. But these are some informative posts on other blogs on self-publishing that are worth reading.

The first is from Morris Rosenthal who always has great information. This post is about strategic use of free Kindle books to promote your books.

Post number two to check out is on Joel Friedlander's blog and is about creating organic traffic for your author blog site.

I have to include a third post from Joel as he updated his list of great self-publishing blogs and The Self-Publisher's Notebook made the cut!

Finally, I am starting to think about converting a few more of my books currently available in Kindle format to ePub and see if this will increase sales for the Nook. My lone book available in Kindle and Nook formats sells well on the Kindle and has produced embarrassingly low numbers for the Nook. Perhaps a few more books being available will help.  This post by Liz Castro is about the ePub format.

Does POD Still Have a Place in Self-Publishing?

In just a few short years the publishing industry has changed dramatically. So has self-publishing. The eBook is radically changed both industries. Technology, history has shown, simply has no feelings when it comes to people and the inevitable march forward shows no mercy it would seem.

I am fairly certain when Gutenberg began printing books with his press, particularly the Bible,  some people decried the certain loss of the beautiful books painstakingly produced by skilled and artistic scribes. Technology won that battle fairly quickly as evidenced by the quick spread through Europe of the printing press.

With Kindle sales in the millions this past Christmas and the Nook generating some much needed revenue for the struggling BandN, eBooks have been a boon to the industry, the reading public and the self-publishing author. So much so, some self-publishing authors are beginning to question if print versions of books, even using print-on-demand, still has a place in self-publishing.

For many self-published authors, print-on-demand was what allowed us to publish our books and at least have a chance of recouping the money invested, and if nothing else the joy of holding a copy of the finished book in hand.

But has POD print publishing become a form of vanity publishing? Joanna Penn takes an interesting look at the role POD and print books have in the life of self-published authors in a guest blog on Joel Friedlander's blog The Book Designer.

Ms. Penn argues print books are now vanity publications, but in a good sort of way. While I understand the point she is making, which primarily are for authors of fiction, I am not so sure POD paper books no longer have a role in the business of self-publishing for non-fiction authors.

The term "vanity publishing" used to refer to an author's work that was so poor the only way it would be published is if the author paid to have the book printed. These books were indeed often horrible and did little to help the reputation of any author who self-published. When legitimate author services companies began to crop up, most of whom used POD to print their clients books, these companies were often labeled as vanity publishers.

With the advent of Amazon allowing self-published authors to have access to customers, the POD business model, made popular by Aaron Shepard and Morris Rosenthal, helped many self-published authors be able to not only market and sell their books successfully, but to make money in the process.

Times change and so does business. The advent of the eReader has made a huge impact in the self-publishing industry. In my case, my Kindle sales outnumber my POD sales by a ratio of 200 to 1 as of last month! On the surface it would seem Ms. Penn is correct in her thinking the day of POD and print editions are over for self-published authors.

It is true I have not purchased a single print edition of a fiction book since receiving my Kindle. The same is not true for non-fiction books. While I do purchase non-fiction to read on my Kindle, I still purchase print books for research (I still want to be able to write in the book the old fashioned way and dog ear pages to find easily) or when I know the content will be image and graphic intensive.

In the case of my own non-fiction books, I will continue to publish my large, meaning 8.5 x 11 and 200+ page books in a POD print edition as well as a Kindle and Nook edition (even though my Nook sales have been laughable) precisely because my books are both image and graphic intensive. I also know my reader population and many of my potential readers will be slow to adapt to the new eReader technology. If I want to sell books to that segment of my potential market, I must continue to offer a print edition.

I should mention that while my Kindle sales went through the roof last month, I also had the best month ever in selling print editions. While the percentage of total sales was low, it was still lucrative and worth the time, effort and cost to have those titles available in POD print editions.

Will I change my approach to how I produce my new books in the future? Yes. I plan to offer a series of short, informative books, designed to introduce a topic and then promote my full length book at the end of the short version. These books will be text only and sell for .99 cents as Kindle shorts. These books will be targeted at potential readers who are just entering the market and are already technology oriented, not the older, more experienced potential readers.

Does POD still have a place in a self-publishing author's business plan? I think the real answer is "it depends." The author must know his or her potential readers and the quality of book the technology can support and still have the reading experience be enjoyable or informative in an easy to understand and use fashion. If I were in the fiction writing business, I would always release a Kindle version first and depending on sales and target audience follow up with a print version.

The real issue is not whether or not POD still has a place in the self-publisher's business model. It is being market savvy enough to know what the author's readers want and need from their reading experience and matching the book production to meet those wants and needs.

Basic Book Marketing for Self-Publishers - Joel Frielander's New Program

Writing the book, overseeing the design and getting it into production, either via traditional off-set press, print-on-demand or ebook, is just the start of the hard work. The book has to be marketed and sold. With the changes in the publishing industry this can be a bewildering process for experienced and novice author alike.

Joel Friedlander has done the self-publishing author a great service with his new series on book marketing for self-publishers. To read the three parts Joel has made available thus far, visit his blog at:

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/

Amazon and LSI - End of the Short Discount POD Business Model?

Joel Friedlander has written a great post about what could be an end of the business model many self-publishers have been using, the short discount model using LSI as the POD printer. There are quite a few good comments to go with the informative article which does a good job of summarizing this confusing and troubling situation.

In the case of my best selling title, the move by Amazon has destroyed sales and it has yet to really recover. Here is the link to the blog post - be sure to read it. Everyone who sells POD titles needs to be aware of this situation.

Review of The Self-Publisher's Quick & Easy Guide to Copyright by the Book Designer, Joel Friedlander

I have spent hours and hours learning as much as possible about the self-publishing industry. A lot of those hours could have been saved if books like The Self-Publisher's Quick & Easy Guide to Copyright by Joel Friedlander. I obtained the Kindle edition of the book and found it to be an easy read.

Joel explains the concept of copyright in clear language and provides examples of copyright pages, copyright disclaimers and how to give credit. Also exposed are myths and information about copyright as well as several urban legends about copyright.

The procedure to obtain a copyright and the two different methods available are covered in detail, and having gone through the nightmare of dealing with the copyright office several times, I wish I had been in possession of this book before I attempted to file for my copyrights.

I learned quite a bit of new information, at least new to me, from this book.  While I had previously learned most of the information in the book, the final chapter on the Library of Congress' Cataloging in Publication program cleared up the CIP data block and the issues it involves for self-publishers, mainly being denied access to the program without the use of the Congress' Preassigned Control Number program.

For new authors, and some old hands, this book is an excellent reference to the important matter of copyright.

A Review of Joel Friedlander's Kindle Book: The Self-Publisher's Quick & Easy Guide to ISBNs and Barcodes

The Publishing Maven herself, Christy Pinheiro, told me in a discussion some time back it was her opinion many Kindle purchases are impulse purchases due to the often low price. As of late, I have been guilty of making some impulse purchases from the Amazon Kindle Store. One of those impulse purchases was obtaining a $2.99 copy of another Joel Friedlander Kindle book, The Self-Publisher's Quick & Easy Guide to ISBNs and Barcodes.

It was money well spent. The concept of the ISBN is a simple one. In practice though it can cause quite a bit of confusion for a new author is just getting started in self-publishing and going through the enormous learning curve all new authors experience. 

Obtaining an ISBN can be expensive or one can be obtained for free. What is the difference between the two? It can be quite confusing.

The author does an outstanding job of making a simple, but potentially confusing topic, easy to understand. The seven chapters are ISBN 101 for Self-Publishers, How to Read an ISBN, How to Buy ISBNs, Answers to 20 of your ISBN Questions, Deciphering the Bookland EAN Bar Code, How to Buy & Use Barcodes and ISBN and Barcode Resources. The information is presented in a logical order and the writing is clear, factual and easy to understand.  This book eliminates any confusion about the important topic of ISBNs.


 

Joel Friedlander's A Self-Publisher's Companion - A Review

I recently obtained a Kindle copy of Joel Friedlander's new book A Self-Publisher's Companion. It is not your typical how-to self-publishing book. It offers a very different view of the industry and encourages authors who self-publish to think about what I will call philosophical issues. Mr. Friedlander encourages authors to define what success is for their book, why does the author want to self-publish or what is motivating the author? These are all valuable questions few authors think about.

The content of the book is based on 450 blog posts written over an extended period of time. Going through the blog archives, Joel found many articles of value about the nuts and bolts of self-publishing, how-to articles if you like. Instead of writing a how-to book, Joel sifted through his material and created as he calls it, a "why-to" book. Also covered in the book are topics such as book design, social media for authors, Ebooks, marketing and branding.

The book is well organized and easy to use. This is a valuable reference manual I will use over and over, particularly the section on design. I also found Joel's questions about why an author publishes are thought provoking and important. The answers to these questions will differ for each author but provide insights on ways to market and promote your book and ideas for design.

Joel's website and blog, The Book Designer, are great sources of information. You can access the site via the link on the right side of this blog in the listing for self-publishing blogs of interest.

Book Design and Amazon Sales

I really like going to a B&N brick and mortar bookstore. I used to purchase all of my books from B&N. Now, like many readers, I still enjoy visiting a B&N and finding books I would like to read and then go home and purchase the book for less, even with shipping & handling costs, from Amazon. Granted, the books I buy now are almost always used, but still, I save huge amounts of money.

There is no doubt the cover impacts my decision when I can physically examine a book. Depending on the type of book, fiction or non-fiction, the interior design can impact my purchase decision as well. Non-fiction books meant to be used as reference manuals need to have a very user friendly design or I will not purchase the book. Photo books of topics I am interested in need to have a well thought out method of displaying the photos and the content accompanying the photos. I am not too picky about fiction when it comes to interior design, but the print does have to be large enough for me to read with ease.

Do I make the same choices when I look at books on Amazon without first vetting the book at a physical bookstore? I am not sure.  I know I rely heavily on the product information about the books content and I always read several of the customer reviews if any are available. But does the cover still have an impact on my decision to purchase or not? What about the interior design?

As I have become more knowledgeable about book production, I have started paying more attention as a consumer. I do look at the cover image and if the option is available, I use the search inside feature on Amazon to check out the interior design, especially if the book is a reference manual or photo book.

Aaron Shepard argues simple covers are the best and his are certainly simple. But if Mr. Shepard were not one of the foremost authorities on self-publishing, using Lightning Source for POD service and marketing on Amazon, would his books sell at the rate they do?

I agree simple is often good. But some covers shout self-published and the same can be said for the interior design of the book. One of my early efforts certainly fits that description. My two best selling books have professionally produced covers and interiors. I wonder if that has anything to do with the sales totals of those books?

As more and more books are self-published and sold on Amazon and as more people turn to Amazon to purchase books, the reading public will become more savvy about the books available on-line for purchase. Self-publishing authors will have to make sure their books are well designed and produced. For many of us, this may mean hiring professionals to do the work for us. I don't have a creative bone in my body when it comes to design or artistic flair.

UPDATE: As luck would have it, I found this instructive and helpful interview with Joel Friedlander about cover design for the self-publisher. 

52 Great Blogs for Self-Publishers

I was delighted The Self-Publisher's Notebook made the list of 52 Great Blogs for Self-Publishers, a list of blogs about self-publishing and publishing by Joel Friedlander, of The Book Designer.


Joel's site is a good one to visit regularly and this list of blogs is a great resource as well. I am sure this was quite a task and took up a good bit of Joel's time to assemble.


In addition to having a list of 52 informative self-publishing blog sites in one handy location, Joel has managed to create a list that covers a wide range of viewpoints and information sources about the self-publishing industry.