TeenageTells- Publishing (4)

How do you submit your books to be published? Valid question, and I'm here to answer it. This week, I've been submitting Emerald (and Amethyst's second edition) to Ingram Spark, so now seems like the best time to write about this. I've got screenshots, and a step-by-step, dos and don'ts. Let's start at the beginning.

1. Finish your book. Quite obvious, but edit, write, and do the final checks. Now's basically your last chance.

   
   

2. Format. A lot goes into formatting, and I've talked about it before here but the main things to look at now are:

   a. page numbers being where you want them, and counting correctly.

   b. chapter headings are at a consistent height (and same text size, same with the actual manuscript)

   c. the start (should) be done like this (by the page): 1- title and author name, 2- other books by the author/blank, 3- larger title and author name, 4- copyright page, 5- quotes/character lists/fun stuff. You can continue the fun stuff for as long as you like, but you want to start your main book on a new double page. This can be odd or even, but if it's odd, make sure it's a blank page on the space before. It'll give you a double page with the book starting on the right. This is how it's done most of the time. However, this time round, I have decided to start on the left page, to reduce printing costs minimally and fulfil my next point.

   d. you have to have an even number of pages in total (blank+text).

   e. At the end, you want to make sure your acknowledgements start on a new double page (a bit like how we started the main text). You might have blank pages in front of here, too. If you have an 'about the author' that is usually on the very last page.

   
   

3. See how much formatting there was? Now, you want to export your file as a PDF, and you might have to re-format within your writing platform if anything is wrong, and re-export it until it's right. PDFs are sometimes funny and move things around a lot. Check for any extra blank pages (this might be caused by extra blank lines beneath your text) and if your chapter headings have moved around. Make sure the number of pages is still even, because sometimes some random pages are added.

   If you find blank pages in your document which aren't supposed to be there, do not just delete them in the PDF, because it'll mess up your page numbers. You have to get rid of the problem in your original writing software.

   
   

4. Start filling in your details on Ingram Spark (or Amazon, but honestyly, I have no clue how to use KDP). I'm putting this here, because I want to make sure you don't lose the perfect version of your file. Slide in your details (such as your ISBN, which you should already have), and write a short description about your book, etc. This part is quite self-explanatory, so I won't dive in too deep.

   
   

5. Generate your cover template. This can be done by searching up 'Ingram Spark cover template generator'. You will get sent an email (after filling in the details, such as your ISBN, possibly your price (which will be necessary if you want to ever be in bookstores), trim size, etc, however, some of these things might automatically fill themselves in).

   Once you have received everything, it's time to design your cover. The easiest way is in Adobe Acrobat, however, it is expensive to use. So, I've been trying some things out and I've figured out how to get around it.

6. 

   Ignore this number. I can't get rid of the 6

   
   

7. I used any old (or new) platform to make my cover design. I used Sketchbook, because it was available on my chromebook. However, the software only allows for PNGs and JPGs. What did I do? I used Lumin PDF editor (which was recommended by my email to edit the document) to change the original into a PNG.

   Confused? Hold onto your hat, because it gets more confusing.

   I then, in sketchbook, created my cover (actually, I had the main design ready, and copy-and-pasted it, but it would work equally well if I just made is right away in this current document). Now, things to be careful about when creating a cover (however it is) is the barcode, which will automatically come on the cover. It is not a separate layer! This meant I had to duplicate the cover template, erase all the way around the barcode, until it was the only thing left. Don't resize it. But you can move it around.

   Also, be careful of the bleed areas. Don't put the main design here. What I did was make the main design for the non-bleed area, and just extended the colour of the edge (which for me was balck) to cover the bleed area. This was the best way for me. Extra extra careful on the spine. It's tricky business.

   Got that? Now we need to make it into a PDF.

   I just went onto Lumin and uploaded a new document (which was a PNG) and exported it as a PDF, so it would be ready for Ingram Spark.

   Sounds complicated? Welcome to the book industry, where nothing is simple for the self-published.

   (This is a not-so-sneaky cover reveal. But only the new Amethyst. I'm saving Emerald for later. You'll see.)

   

   
   

8. Now we've gotten past the cover, you are basically cruising now. Submit your cover and manuscript (if you haven't done so already) and press continue. Here, you'll have the longest wait of your life, dreading whether your Title Metadata (basically your book info) and Content Files are up to their standards. If they're not, read their guide, and see what the issue is, go back and make sure it's right. Sometimes, they'll let you go on without corrections, and if you're happy with it, that's fine. But make sure, when you get your proof copy, that you check.

   

9. Confirm everything. Then you get to wait 3-5 days for your eproof. At the time of writing, I don't have mine (sad), but take your time to go through it, check for any errors, because you can still change it.

10. Then, order your proof copies. I recommend (if you can afford it) to get one for yourself, and one for each person you want to read and check it before it comes out. And yes, getting proof copies of your books cost. Quote a bit. Probably around half of their selling costs. If there isn't anyone, still get a spare. Precautions. I wouldn't order 100 copies for your store yet (if you want to ever do that), because something might be wrong. I printed my first book backwards, for example. Imagine if I had bought my nine copies before I had changed that. Instead, I only had 2/3 and I gave them to my close friends/family.

11. You're basically done now. It's time for distribution.

    And marketing....

    dramatic music

There's only going to be one more part in this series, but likely after Emerald's publication, because I'm going to talk to you about what happens after the book. (Maybe there'll be more, but I don't think so).

If you enjoy this, please share it, like it, comment, whatever you can do to support me. I have some exciting things coming up (like Emerald), so I hope you'll stick around. Until next time!