Publishing

16 October, 2009

Learning the Lingo: A Quick Vocabulary Lesson for the New Author

By |2023-06-09T11:39:01-07:00October 16, 2009|Publishing, Resources|Comments Off on Learning the Lingo: A Quick Vocabulary Lesson for the New Author

Like most niches of the creative world, there is a learning curve to joining that community. The language book people speak is often one that can befuddle the new author. Here is a quick rundown of some important terms publishing professionals may say, ask your opinion about, or need you to understand.
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Manuscript – The manuscript is the document that is your writing. It can be printed on paper, sketched on a napkin, or better yet, typed up in a Word document. When book people talk about a manuscript, they mean the work that will be transformed into a book.

Paginated interior – After your final manuscript is accepted, the next step in the publishing process is layout. The paginated interior is the end product of layout. All of the formatting choices the designer makes to mold your manuscript into a book is part of this. What the author receives to review […]

11 August, 2009

Should You Use Your Middle Initial On Your Book’s Cover?

By |2023-06-09T11:39:37-07:00August 11, 2009|Design, Publishing, Resources|Comments Off on Should You Use Your Middle Initial On Your Book’s Cover?

Should you use your middle initial on your book’s cover?

Don’t! Unless … well, read on:

Let’s say your name is Francine Lambert (I just made this up.) All your friends, relatives, and people you come in contact with know you as Francine Lambert. You introduce yourself at events as Francine Lambert. Basically, you are … Francine Lambert.

You write a self-help book on how to save money in a tough economy and it’s time for your publisher to put your name on the cover and into the necessary bibliographic databases. “How would you like your name appear on your book’s cover?” the publisher asks.

You’ve decided you will not use a pen name or pseudonym, which is wise in your case. However, after you blurt out “Francine Lambert” you pause and say, “Actually, make that Francine J.Lambert.” You believe your name with a middle initial looks and sounds more authoritative on your book […]

2 July, 2008

Glossary and Definitions of Publishing Terms

By |2023-06-09T11:40:24-07:00July 2, 2008|Publishing, Resources|Comments Off on Glossary and Definitions of Publishing Terms

If you are not familiar with some of the common publishing terms, check out this glossary of publishing-related words and phrases.

Acid-free paper: Alkaline paper, free from chemicals that destroy paper. It lasts longer, but costs more and is generally used for library books.

Advance copies: First books sent to those who ordered, requested or were promised a book, generally before the book goes into distribution.

Alignment: The position of text lines on a page. Left alignment means that the left margin of each line down the page is even, and that the right margin is ragged or uneven; right alignment means that the right margin is even down the page, and the left margin is ragged or uneven. Alignment can also refer to margins being justified, which refers to both left and right margins being even down the page, causing extra spacing between words when necessary. Center alignment means that the lines […]

21 April, 2008

Nonexclusive Publishing Contract: What It Means to You

By |2023-06-09T11:40:37-07:00April 21, 2008|Publishing, Resources|Comments Off on Nonexclusive Publishing Contract: What It Means to You

Wheatmark’s publishing agreement is nonexclusive. What does it mean to you, the author?

In short it means you are not locked into an exclusive contract; you are free to cancel or publish elsewhere at the same time.

Let’s say you have been publishing your book with Wheatmark for a while, and you have an opportunity to get thousands of copies of your book printed cheaply by a different printer, say, a printer in Hong Kong or even one in the United States. You still want to keep selling your book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble using Wheatmark’s book distribution system, but you just don’t want to pass up the opportunity to get thousands of copies for a better price. The good news is that you can do both: publish your book with Wheatmark and have extra copies printed by different printers. Because our publishing contract is nonexclusive, you have the freedom […]

18 March, 2008

Ebooks…Will They Work for You?

By |2023-06-09T11:40:52-07:00March 18, 2008|News, Publishing|Comments Off on Ebooks…Will They Work for You?

We’ve been publishing books for eight years now and converting to and distributing our titles as ebooks has always been in the back of our minds. (We were even fortunate to register the domains ebookpublishing.com and ipublisher.com in time!) Yet the big ebook invasion promised in 2000 never really happened. There are still too many competing ebook platforms and formats to choose from. (See the recently resolved battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD for high-definition DVD formats.) Digital rights management (DRM) is also a mess. Besides, we already offer superior book publishing services and distribution of paper books, and we will do the same with electronic books only if it benefits our authors and the sales of their books.

Having said that, this may be the time to reevaluate launching our ebook services and I need your help! Amazon has recently introduced its ebook reader, the Kindle. This device breaks away from […]

28 February, 2008

BusinessWeek Wants You to Get Published

By |2023-06-09T11:41:06-07:00February 28, 2008|Publishing, Resources|Comments Off on BusinessWeek Wants You to Get Published

This just in: publishing a book is a smart move for your business. Yesterday, BusinessWeek ran a nice article about how to get a book published to help you grow your business.

To summarize:

1. You could try getting an agent and selling the book to a publisher of business titles.

2. You could publish the book yourself by getting an ISBN and marketing it online.

3. You could use a “transitional” publisher. (This, apparently, is a new way of referring to a “self-publishing service.”)

It all sounds so simple!

All sarcasm aside, however, the article is a good introduction to the broad strokes of how book publishing works.

To read the full article, click here.

14 February, 2008

A New Era in Book Publishing

By |2023-06-09T11:41:14-07:00February 14, 2008|Publishing, Resources|Comments Off on A New Era in Book Publishing

As president of the Arizona Book Publishing Association for the last two and a half years, and as head of the self-publishing firm Wheatmark, www.wheatmark.com, for the last eight years, I’ve talked to hundreds of publishers and authors, and read countless articles and studies on the publishing industry. This experience has made it clear to me that a significant transition is taking place in the book publishing industry. The era of the major publisher and the bestseller is ending, and the era of the independent publisher and the micro market is beginning.

Major publishers’ titles account for an ever decreasing portion of overall book sales in the United States, while independent publishers’ titles and self-published titles account for an ever increasing portion. Similarly, bestsellers constitute an ever smaller portion of the total publishing pie, while books selling in the few thousands or hundreds account for an ever larger portion.

This shift […]

17 September, 2007

Wheatmark Publishing Glossary

By |2023-06-09T11:41:35-07:00September 17, 2007|Publishing, Resources|Comments Off on Wheatmark Publishing Glossary

The following terms will prove helpful to you before and while publishing with Wheatmark. These terms are specific to the way Wheatmark operates and may not apply to other publishers.

Adobe PDF: The file format read by the Adobe Acrobat Reader. PDF is the file format for presenting documents independent of the original software they were created in. Wheatmark uses the PDF file format to show authors the exact page layout of their book as it will be printed. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to open and print a PDF file.

Author copies: The initial set of free books an author receives upon the book’s publication.

Back matter: Printed material found in the back of the book after the main section of the book. This includes the appendix, the bibliography, the index, and other related matter.

Baker & Taylor: One of the largest wholesalers of books […]

8 August, 2007

Where the Publishing Industry Is Heading: A Testimonial

By |2023-06-09T11:42:01-07:00August 8, 2007|News, Publishing|Comments Off on Where the Publishing Industry Is Heading: A Testimonial

We usually don’t publish author testimonials on this book publishing blog, but this one from J Douglas Bottorff, author of many books, provides key insights into the future of the publishing industry. Here is the testimonial in its entirety:

I just received the author’s copies of my first novel, The Whisper of Pialigos, and I am extremely pleased with the quality of the final product. More than that, I couldn’t be happier with the service that Wheatmark provides. From submission to print, the company performed beautifully, flawlessly, and expediently, fulfilling everything they promise.

Working with [my editor] was a special treat. Throughout the process, she went above and beyond her call of duty to ensure that we ended up with a truly professional product. The people that have seen this book so far comment favorably on its eye appeal and layout, two extremely important aspects that are the product of [my editor’s] […]

8 June, 2007

Look and Search Inside a Book Online (Inside Search)

By |2023-06-09T11:42:07-07:00June 8, 2007|Publishing, Resources|Comments Off on Look and Search Inside a Book Online (Inside Search)

Have you ever found a book online about your favorite subject, but didn’t buy it right then because you weren’t sure what was inside? You may have gotten in the car and driven to the nearest bookstore to check it out before you made your decision … and bought it online later for less.

What about the book you’ve written? Can your audience look inside it online to help them make up their minds about it? How many more people do you think would buy your book if they could look inside and make a decision to buy on the spot?

You can now have your readers browse the inside of your book. Amazon and Google have started scanning the interiors of books so that their search engines would be able to retrieve and organize information from inside printed books as well. A few days ago Microsoft launched a similar program called […]

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