Although you’re reading this on July 5, I’m writing it on Independence Day here in the U.S. and there are parades, barbecues, and family gatherings going on all over the place. I’ll be leaving to head out to one of those myself—with a nicely marinated flank steak—in just a few minutes.
But I couldn’t go without telling you about a free resource I created in conjunction with BookBaby, the ebook distributor.
Since BookBaby also produces short-run print books for their customers, they asked if I would put together my best tips for print book authors, and that’s exactly what I did.
(By the way, if you’re a committed do-it-yourselfer, you can get great results from BookBaby’s printing with our predesigned, preformatted book design templates for Microsoft Word.)
The designers at BookBaby have turned it into a beautiful PDF, and it’s completely free. Just click the image below and it will take you to the page where you can download your own copy now:
(https://www.bookbaby.com/campaigns/request-printed-book-design-101)
Here’s the copy from BookBaby’s website:
Let self-publishing guru Joel Friedlander help you prepare your next printed book.
BookBaby asked self-publishing expert Joel Friedlander to write the definitive guide to producing a great printed book. The result is our new guide: Printed Book Design 101. Friedlander provides step-by-step advice and tips to help you create a retail-ready book. Friedlander covers topics such as:
- Picking the perfect typeface
- Enhancing the readability of your book with interior design
- Catching the reader’s eye with cover design tips from the pros
- The most common mistakes made by self-publishing authors and how you can avoid them
- …and much more
So head over there and get your own copy, it’s well worth the download.
I hope this resource helps you declare your own “independence,” because that’s one of the things I like best about self-publishing.
See you here on Sunday for our regular This Week in the Blogs feature.
unable to download can be the result of a minor technical problem, perhaps overlooked earlier. Now given to know of it, can be expedited, before more frustrations pour in.
S.R. I just checked the links and they seem to be working fine.
Thanks for the resource, this will come in handy.
Thanks, Joel – it’s good that there’s some free stuff out there!
I downloaded it fine, thanks, Joel.
Bookbaby require you to give an email address – they don’t say what they’re going to do with it – before you can download the PDF. There’s no click-through or anything involved to confirm your address; personally, I use a spam-catcher email address for this sort of thing.
Very interesting info in the PDF, Joel, thank for doing that. I’m very new to this and hadn’t previously noticed that books use different fonts for text and headings. You mention using a ‘display font’ for headings rather than a ‘text font’. I hadn’t realised there were two different kinds. Do you have any suggestions for any good display fonts bundled with Word that would look good with, say, Garamond?
Alexa, you don’t have to be limited to the fonts that came bundled with Word. Check this out: 5 Great Fonts for Book Covers
Thanks. I was able to download the first time.
The direct link doesn’t work, either, alas. It just directs me back to this comments page.
M.M. I just clicked the link and it opened the PDF in a new tab perfectly, sorry you had difficulty. I’ll email you the PDF directly.
The links have now been corrected, let me know if there are any further problems, and thanks to all for your patience. I think the download is worth it.
Thanks!
Thanks, Joel… your direct link works great and this is very useful information to have!
Thank you. I was able to get the direct link to work. I am sorry for all your hassles with this, but it is also nice to know that I’m not the only one these things happen to.
It did not work for me, either. I entered the information and hit submit…then nothing.
Yeah, got the same response. No notation of what to do next. No answer.
This doesn’t fill me with confidence about BookBaby’s abilities, if they can’t handle a simple download.
Same here – it looked like an interesting, useful resource. This just underscores how the little things can destroy confidence in your product. I’m not sure I’d trust their information, if they don’t take care to test their download system.
Bill and Tricia,
The problem was a miscommunication between the Bookbaby editorial staff, technical staff, and me. It has been corrected, and thanks for your concern, I really appreciate it.
I went to the BookBaby site as you suggested, followed their directions, submitted the information and the download did not become available. I’m sure it’s just a small technical issue, but thought you would like to know.