The Publishing Process

At this point, you may have a manuscript ready for formatting into book style, and have no idea what steps to take next. Or, you may be so far along that you already know what font you wish to use, what the covers will look like, etc. Just contact us to let us know who you are, what your project involves, and what stage you have reached, and we can tell you how to proceed from that point. We'll want to know what trim size of book you'd like to produce (6 x 9, 8 x 11), how many copies you are interested in, and how involved you plan to be in cover design, etc. Let us know what software you have used to prepare your document, and if you intend to use our proofreading or editing services. We will look at your information and get in touch with you. Inside of two months, you (or we) could be selling your new book.

We will need a disk with your full manuscript, including photographs and drawings. If you have photographs that need scanning, you can package them with your disk. You can also include any preliminary instructions, and any plans you have for the final look. If you are comfortable sending some of your materials as email attachments, we can begin to review and assess your work before the disk arrives. If you have everything laid out pretty much as you would like it to appear, supplying us with a hard copy, along with your disk, would help us to produce the final look you desire. You may already know it, but just to be sure, your document that you created is protected by copyright from the moment of its creation. You are not risking your document, or your copyrights, by sending it to us.

We will review your materials, determine how much work will be involved, assess the potential market (if applicable), and offer estimates and proposals based on our findings. If you are interested in a standard publishing arrangement, we will be ready to start right away. If you are interested in our Partnership Program, we can still start quickly, but we will consult with you about various possibilities. With a partnership, we are usually looking at a smaller, focused market. If you feel you can sell between 300 and 1000 copies of your work, we should be able to come to terms. Lower numbers are also possible.

At this point, we sign a contract, and you send us a deposit covering 50% of the amount agreed upon. We will immediately begin to prepare your materials for publishing. Throughout each step of the process, you are encouraged to stay in contact and ask any questions. When we have prepared your manuscript in book format, it is time for more editing and proofreading. If those are functions that you will be performing, we will provide you with the document so that you can flag all errors. If you want us to edit and proofread, you will still be performing the final review before the book is printed, unless you decide not to do so.

No. The only exception to that is if we find your manuscript requires lots of editing and proofreading work. In that case, you will be notified, and you will have the option to do it yourself, or hire us or someone else to do it.

Not likely. During review, if you find something you would like to change, let us know what it is. If we can do it without involving much time, we will do it at no charge. So, if you notice something that you put in the wrong place, don't panic, and don't get that sick feeling. We will make an effort to change it at no charge. If it involves serious formatting issues, we'll work with you to resolve them. Our clients are our partners, and we will work together to achieve success.

Not quite yet. At this point we will also have developed the covers for your book, either based on your specific guidelines, or based on the fact that you commissioned us to create covers for you. We will ask you to review and approve the covers. We will also once again go through the entire book in search of any errors, changes, or improvements to be made.

Not if you don't want them to. We can create PDFs of sections or of individual pages of your book, post them on a private webpage, and give you password access. That way you can open each document for reading and editing, and you’ll find that reviewing a PDF is much easier than reviewing other onscreen or in-hand documents. With simple clicks on the PDF zoom button, you can instantly make your document as wide as your screen. You'll find it a great format for picking up all kinds of errors. The larger view makes it less likely that anything will slip by. If your preference is to send disks back and forth, yes, it will slow the process, but we can do it.

Yes. The proof stage is very important. The blue-line you receive from us is a bluish copy of your book with the signatures (sections) unbound (not yet glued together). The text will be blue and the covers and pictures will be shaded blue. It will give you a chance to see your document in book form before it finally goes to press. At this point, you are checking the overall look of the book, but this is not a good time to be correcting errors or making changes. If you find errors, it can be very expensive to fix, involving much work on the part of the printer, and delaying their production schedule. Still, you DO have the option of correcting a single letter or item of punctuation at this point. Even if the cost is $25 to $50 for a single correction, at least you know that you can do it. (Our printer has worked with us to keep these costs to a minimum, and has often done them at no charge.)

You return the blue-line to Bloated Toe with the signed approval form that accompanied the blue-line, along with the remainder of your deposit, and your book will go to press. If you have flagged any errors or changes, the printer will handle them with our guidance. If there are any additional charges, you will be asked to okay the amounts, and they will be added to your bill. We have an excellent relationship with our printer, and we don't normally ask for a second blue-line to reflect the corrections and changes made in the first blue-line. Remember, the blue-line is mainly for you to approve the final appearance of your book.

Within about six weeks of going to press, your books will likely be on their way to you. It may range from five to seven weeks, but we will know in advance, as we will be privy to the printer's schedule. We have received shipments of 1000 copies of a book three weeks after printing began. Our average time would be into the beginning of the fifth week after going to press. If it seems like a long time, it isn't. It gives you time to sell your project to the public. It is very valuable time that you will need. If you use one of our marketing packages, we can guide you to some excellent uses of that time.

We suggest that you plan on 8 weeks from the time we first receive your raw document to the time your books are delivered. (Variations to that may arise if your document needs extensive editing, proofreading, or photo work. Otherwise, 8 weeks is a good estimate.) Most delays occur because of requests by the author, and that's no problem. Without any delays of that type, a period of 8 weeks is normal. Don't consider any of that time as just a waiting period. During the time that the printer is working on your book, you should be very busy. At some point, you will be reviewing your entire book in blue-line form. The rest of that time allows you to begin spreading the word about your upcoming book. Whether you purchase our marketing materials or use your own, your time will be well spent distributing information in advance of your book's availability. This will get your sales off to a good start. Our marketing kits, complete with raw materials and how to use them effectively, offer an excellent blueprint to success. They will show you how to do a book signing; what to expect when you do a signing; where, when, and how to sell your books; where NOT to sell your books; and many other important bits of information.