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Book binding basics

July 12, 2021 By Glenna Collett 4 Comments

A display of book binding in hardcover and paperback books.Like everything else, the ancient art of book binding is automated these days, and the array of available binding machines is amazing. This article aims to quickly explain the basics of book binding methods so you’ll be able to choose a book printer wisely.

Book binderies can be separate entities but are usually integrated with a book printing company. And in some instances, printing and binding are done right inside the same machine. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Publishing Tagged With: book binding, book printing

ISBNs for self publishers: how to get and assign them

May 10, 2021 By Fiona Raven 5 Comments

Labelling the parts of an ISBN.International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) are important for self publishers. Some printers, print-on-demand publishers, and ebook vendors will offer to provide you with an ISBN, but it’s usually better to get your own. Part of the ISBN includes a “publisher number,” which is assigned to a specific publisher. Therefore, if you allow another company to provide the ISBN, then that company will be listed as the publisher of your book.

We’ll explain everything you need to know: how, where, and why to get your own block of ISBNs, and how to assign them to your print and digital books.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Publishing Tagged With: Amazon, book marketing, copyright, ebooks, ISBN

Publishing associations to join or know about

March 8, 2021 By Glenna Collett 4 Comments

Publishing association logos.We are strong believers in not going it alone. You may already belong to a writing group or one related to your topic of interest. But by joining one or two publishing associations, or even by knowing about them, your self-publishing experience will be enriched. And boy, will you learn a lot. 

If you decide to use a self-publishing service, you’ll still be so glad that you joined together with others who are on the same journey.

On the other hand, if you’re doing the whole self-pub thing on your own, joining a publishing association will be twice as useful to you. You’ll not only meet others who can advise and encourage, but you’ll also be able to use the group’s resources to help you find a reliable illustrator, editor, printer, and so on. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Publishing

How to fix book typesetting and layout issues in InDesign

January 11, 2021 By Fiona Raven 10 Comments

Book typesetting sample photo.Book typesetting and layout tips are usually about the small stuff—fixing awkward hyphenation, using special characters for symbols, and so on—but most of the questions we get are about the BIG issues. How can I balance the number of text lines on facing pages? What if the last page of my chapter only has two lines? If my chapter has to end on a right-hand page, can I leave it blank? These issues arise all the time during book typesetting. We’ll explain the best ways to resolve them. [Read more…]

Filed Under: InDesign Tagged With: text frames, typesetting

Book distribution 101

November 8, 2020 By Glenna Collett 1 Comment

books in a book distribution warehouseYou’ve published a book—or you will soon—and you know that you’ll need to get it to readers. But how? That basic question is what we’re going to clue you in on. The very concept of book distribution confounds a lot of first-time publishers, so we’re hoping to make it all clear here.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Publishing Tagged With: Amazon, book marketing, book printing, ebooks

Design a workbook

September 7, 2020 By Glenna Collett Leave a Comment

Design a workbook, five sample front covers shown.Want to design a workbook? Who uses those any more?

Lots of folks, actually. Even though there are apps for practically everything these days, children still enjoy workbooks for mazes or drawing or learning practically anything. Adults can use them for recording their latest bird find or geocaching location, or for word or number puzzles, for instance. A coloring book can be considered a workbook, too.

We’ll help you design a workbook that will work well for your audience.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Book Design Tagged With: Amazon, book printing, copyright, typesetting

Combining serif and sans serif fonts

July 12, 2020 By Fiona Raven 5 Comments

Combining serif and sans serif fontsCombining serif and sans serif fonts successfully can be a challenge, but it’s much easier once you know a few simple rules. It’s worth learning, as combining two fonts can really make your book design look professional. So don’t be daunted by the thousands of fonts available! The font-combining basics explained here will help to get you going quickly and easily. [Read more…]

Filed Under: InDesign Tagged With: typesetting

A review of Affinity Publisher

May 11, 2020 By Glenna Collett 51 Comments

Affinity Publisher logoWhy, you might ask, is the coauthor of a book about InDesign reviewing a direct competitor, Affinity Publisher?

Because it’s new and I wanted to check it out.

And because it’s so much more affordable than Adobe’s Creative Cloud: $600 a year for the Adobe suite vs. a one-time total of $150 for the full line of Serif’s products: Publisher, Photo, and Designer (all at half price until May 20). We both bought the Affinity software for desktop, and I must say that for the most part, we love it.

The Affinity Publisher app is for desktop use on PCs and Macs. Photo and Designer can also now be used on iPads, so check back on Publisher to see when the iPad version becomes available.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Book Design Tagged With: typesetting

Design a children’s picture book

March 9, 2020 By Fiona Raven 77 Comments

Group of children's picture books.Children’s picture books are fun to design! They’re colorful, full of images, and everything is packed into a small number of words and pages.

To design a children’s picture book, you’ll need to consider lots of factors: book size, page count, quality of images, flow of text, color, and more. Let’s take a look at those factors. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Book Design Tagged With: Amazon, children's books, color, images, typesetting

Using InDesign keyboard shortcuts

January 26, 2020 By Glenna Collett 14 Comments

numeric keypad used for InDesign keyboard shortcutsYou can save a lot of time using InDesign keyboard shortcuts. Many users find that they work faster on their keyboard than with their mouse or trackpad. Does that sound like you? Read on to learn how to use this very handy function for applying styles in InDesign. [Read more…]

Filed Under: InDesign Tagged With: typesetting

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Recent Posts

  • Crop marks and other printer’s marks January 8, 2023
  • Advanced live index features in InDesign November 7, 2022
  • Create a live index in InDesign September 12, 2022
  • Book endpapers: A gallery of ideas July 11, 2022
  • Writing in InDesign: Why and how May 9, 2022
  • Designing a book spine March 7, 2022
  • What type size should I use? January 10, 2022

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