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Frequently asked questions about setting up your book

What kind of fonts should I use?

Baskerville, Bembo, Garamond, Adobe Garamond, Janson, Palatino, and Times Roman are all good choices for the body copy. Stick with something that is easy to read for your target audience. Specialty fonts can be purchased for a few hundred dollars.

What size fonts should I use?

Use a 12 or 12.5-point font. You should be able to adjust the font size in your word processing software. If you are writing a children's book, then you should use a larger size such as 20 points or larger.

What line spacing should I use?

Leading refers to the number of points of white spacing between lines. Start at 14 points or the auto setting. For additional white spacing between the lines use 15.4 points. The benefit of more spacing makes for an easier read.

What program should I use?

You can use Microsoft Word. If you don't have Microsoft Word, you might want to consider investing in the software (approximately $100 more or less). You can use a plain text editor if someone else will be publishing your book. They can cut and paste it into their word processor for an hourly fee. I also have the ability to convert voice to text for an hourly fee.

I will use QuarkXPress for my word processing software. It allows more layout precision than Microsoft Word. Should I still use Microsoft Word? Yes. I can also use Microsoft Word for e-book conversions and paperback books.

How many pages do I need to publish a book? Paper information.

The minimum number of pages needed to publish a paperback book is 24 pages. Most online services use a paper weight of 55# weight, on white (approximately typing paper white) or cream colored paper. Non-online printing options are also available but are supplied by specialty printers for an upfront printing fee for the quantity of books printed.

What margins should I use?

For a 6" x 9" or smaller books, use 1" on the top and .75" for the outside, bottom, and inside margins.

For 8.5" x 11" books, use 1" margins. These setting may vary depending on how many total pages are in your book.

Do I need a table of contents?

For a non-fiction book include a table of contents. Most fiction books do not include a table of contents but there are exceptions.

What size should my images be?

The physical size of the image should be at least 3' x 3" or larger. Smaller than this tends to lose detail and it makes it harder for the reader to see the detail in the photograph.

What dots per inch should my pictures be?

All images should be scanned and sized at 300 dots-per-inch or higher in resolution. Anything less than this may be blurry when published.

Can you scan my photos?

Yes. We can scan images at an hourly rate. The larger the photos, the more time it takes to scan the photograph.

What will I need for my cover?

You may include color photos on your cover. The cover is in color even if the interior is all black and white. A title, subtitle (optional), author's name, a biography for the back cover (optional), a bar code (mandatory-I can supply), quotes (optional), reviews (optional), and any additional photographs you want can all be used on the front and back covers. I have professional cover designers that I work with. Can you use your design? Yes, but it will be modified by a graphic designer to look professional. A cover can make or break a book.

Content Guidelines:

Pornography

We don't accept pornography or offensive depictions of graphic sexual content.

Offensive Content

What we deem offensive is probably what you would expect.

Illegal and Infringing Content

We take violations, proprietary rights, trademarks, and copyright laws very seriously. It is your responsibility to make sure your content does not violate any laws. Just because content is free or from a newspaper does not mean you are free to reproduce it and sell it.

Public Domain Content

Some material may be in the public domain but most distributors require that it has been modified and contains at least 10 pages of new and completely different material. Online bookstores do not want hundreds of the same thing published online.

Copyright lawsuits are very expensive (tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars), especially if you have to travel out of state for court. Think twice about including any material that is copied from another unknown source where you do not have the author's permission. All photographs must have the photographer's permission or the newspaper's permission to reprint. We can supply you with a legal form to get permission to publish your photographs from the photographer.

Plagiarism

We reserve the right to run your text through a plagiarism checker. If it is found to be in violation of plagiarism, we reserve the right to rewrite your content.

Spelling and Grammar

Run your content through a spell checker and grammar checker. Your word processing software should have a built-in checker.

Contracts

We work by contract. It not only protects you, it protects us. We require a down payment to get started.