The Self Publishing Process - Important Steps To Take To Ensure Your Book Looks Professional

Your book writing project is completed, in draft form; it has been edited, read through, picked apart and put back together again and you believe further work will just be tinkering for tinkering's sake. Now what? Are you ready to publish a book yourself?

If you have already secured a publishing contract with a traditional publisher (one who places the risk of publishing on their own shoulders, not yours) it will now be taken out of your hands (although publishers frequently ask for changes or additions to fit the work to its potential market). Authors less fortunate in the agent/publisher lottery face the choice of abandoning, or at least shelving the project, or publishing it themselves; a worthy and economic proposition nowadays, if you have your wits about you.

To understand how your book gets from being a file on your computer to a hardback, paperback or ebook for sale on Amazon or in your local bookshop, let's examine the options.

You could, of course, seek a conventional printer, send them your manuscript, as a computer file, and let them turn it into a book. Many printers offer to do this pre-print work, for a fee, based on the hours it will take them. But that's like asking plumbers to build a house. It's not what they're best at, or rarely qualified to do, for that matter. On the other hand, using a specialist book production service can be an enjoyable and instructive experience.

Layout professionals take your word-processed file and then, using a dedicated text editing and publishing program, prepares files that will be acceptable to printers. Your draft receives another read-through, enabling their in-house editors to get the feel of your work and make decisions about how best to lay it out, which font to use, point size, line spacing, margins. Also at this stage anomalies or inconsistencies will be identified that need resolving (and it is surprising how often this occurs with books which are thought to be 'finished'). Sample pages in different styles will be produced for you to consider, showing treatments of chapter heads, in-text illustrations and any other features particular to your work. This will enable you to gauge how many pages your book might run to, the likely cost of printing, and whether you wish to make any modifications to keep within your budget.

Once you are happy with the format and style suggested, technicians will apply it throughout the book. They will also be checking for consistency of punctuation, treatment of foreign words, spelling - and even grammar, if it looks really horrible. You will, of course, be consulted on all adjustments felt necessary. Title page, copyright page and all the normal 'preliminary' pages will be added (acknowledgments, dedications, tables of contents, etc.) and a galley proof of everything except the cover will be sent to you as a pdf, (a format that faithfully scales up or down the precise layout of your book) which you will be able to open and read on your computer as if it were the finished book. This is the last but one stage where you can request changes that won't break the bank.

Meanwhile the graphics department will be designing a cover, using any pictorial and text elements you have provided. They will present you with alternative suggestions, in line with the brief you provided (and the more detailed this is, the better).

After final corrections to both text and cover have been made you will receive final pdfs. You should take your time to study these carefully; even here it is not too late to change something. Only when you are entirely happy will your book's files be passed to a printer.

Your printer can at this stage, if asked, produce a bound, proof copy of the finished book for your approval before going ahead and printing the number of copies you order (the print run). Now, however, there are likely to be extra costs involved for each and every change specified, which is why diligence is essential before work is sent to the printer.

What makes the self-publishing process rewarding, working with a professional book production service, is that you remain in complete control of your book, while editors are there at all times to give advice and make recommendations to ensure the final book is a truly professional product, and one you can be proud of.

Writeaway provides help and advice on how to write and publish a book. You will also have access to a dedicated team of people who can provide a comprehensive book editing service having had personal experience of the book publishing process.

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Writing in the Dark

I used to be a public writer and would spend hours describing my surroundings while at parks and coffee shops. Some may have called me a poser with my black spiral notebook and leather jacket, yet I feel my public writing phase helped me learn to write with all my senses.

At 17, I was more preoccupied with making observations and sharing my opinion than writing poems or a novel. Some of my blurbs read more like rants and I almost stopped writing when one of my high school English teachers told me that I was wasting my time and talent because publishers would never print a diary or journal unless the person was famous.

Although the internet was already around, this was a time when a blog was thought to be a hard-to-remove stain and Altavista was the ultimate search engine. Thanks to AOL, I created my first homepage which I populated with thoughts from my black spiral notebook. Amazed with the Instant Messages from strangers online that found my writing funny, or agreed with my view point on a topic, I continued to develop my thoughts on paper and used the web as my editor.

When I lost my sight in 2007, learning to read and write in the dark reminded me of my teenage phase of learning to use words to decipher my world. I traded my black notebook and mechanical pencils for a laptop with talking software for the blind called JAWS (Job Access with Speech), a pair of headphones, digital recorder, and electronic dictionary. At the beginning, the robotic voices that read my writing back to me seemed flat allowing me to only write a few sentences at a time. My first short story of five pages took months to complete because of the constant interruptions I call "ear breaks" between my writing sessions that involved listening to the radio to help refresh my eardrums. However, just like with many things in life, JAWS became tolerable and eventually my friend. Learning to focus solely on my content and ignore JAWS was the first step in mastering writing in the dark.

Attempting to reclaim my roots, I ventured to public places with my laptop and guide dog Madge; I found that chatty crowds and buzzing cars kept me from hearing my inner and computer voice. Most of my writing is now done at my house and my writing breaks consist of playing with Madge or listening to an audio book. Breaks now serve more as an acknowledgement that I achieved an editor's deadline or writing goal for the day. I also find that taking breaks to stretch or get a snack can reduce writer's block. For editing, I rely on spell check, my writing group, and mentors in the San Francisco literary community. Writing in the dark definitely requires a deeper level of concentration that allows me to see my writing utensils not as tools, but extensions of my body and mind.

Belo Cipriani writes both creative non-fiction and short fiction across several genres with the help of adaptive technology. To read and edit, he uses a talking computer that runs a screen reader called JAWS and a talking dictionary device called Franklin.

Belo holds a Masters Degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Notre Dame de Namur University, where he studied under award winning poet Jacqueline Berger and fiction writer Kerry Dolan.

He is heavily involved with the San Francisco literary community and is a member of Litquake, The California Writers Club, and a contributing writer for Bay Area publications. Belo and his guide dog Madge live in San Francisco. Learn more at http://blindamemoir.com/.

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Writers Create Characters

Life is about People. Likewise, stories are about characters. What the characters do and say, what happens to them and how they react, how they get along with other people; these are the building blocks of your stories.

You, as the writer, tailor-make characters to perform however you choose. Your aim is to create 'real' characters that react in a life-like way to whatever is happening. Making the reader like or dislike the character, or at least be interested in him or her, is your goal.

Just as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, being an ordinary (or extraordinary) character is a matter of opinion. Your character comes alive for the reader when he or she can identify with that character in some way.

How do you create characters?

God has already designed people with their incredibly wide variety of characteristics, both physical and behavioural, so we are not inventing people entirely. Our characters will therefore be 'borrowed' from a mixture of real people, rather than a copy of one particular person.

In fact, you shouldn't try to replicate a real person's total characteristics, because if anyone recognized themselves in a story, or were recognized by others, you could cause legal problems for yourself.

Think about how we get to know a person we have just met. We tend to judge first by appearances; but we quickly form more lasting opinions about that person by how he or she speaks and acts. Aim to get your reader's attention and sympathy for - or annoyance with - your characters as soon as possible.
Here are some ways to create lifelike characters:

• How does this character act? Actions show what makes a person tick. Does your character kick the dog which gets in its way, or reach over and pat its head? Does she smile or scowl at the child who is crying in the supermarket?

• Consider how your character speaks. This is not referring to their accent, although that can certainly be a characteristic that sets one person apart from others in your story, but their whole speech pattern. We get to know people by how they speak. For example, do you want a character speaking roughly or gently, bossily or kindly, aristocratically or more humbly?

'Actions speak louder than words' so they say, though I think, in a story, their 'volume' may be about equal.

• What does your character look like? Yes, we do judge by appearances, even if we claim not to, so they must be in the story to some degree. Make use of apt descriptions in your story, but don't get carried away. Readers like to know the character's gender and approximate age fairly quickly, but otherwise your character's physical appearance need only be described depending on how important that character is to your story. A major character in a longer story will need a lot more information for us to 'picture' him or her; lesser characters can have brief descriptions.

• Beware of describing fashions unless the story is about a specific time period, or it won't be long before your story is as out-dated as the latest clothing trends.

When you are trying to create a character, try not to describe them like a mannequin in a shop; but show that character saying or doing something; or reacting in some way to a certain circumstance. For example, you could describe a person sitting gloomily in a wheelchair. Or - better - you could reveal that person by showing their reaction to learning that they are not likely to ever get out of that wheelchair again.

As the advice goes: "Show, don't tell."

Janice Gillgren
http://www.wordsandscenes.co.nz.
Writer's blog offering encouragement, inspiration and useful tips for writers of all levels.

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How to Write to Inform

Informative writing means giving facts to your intended audience in a clear and accurate manner. When introducing a topic, write about it in an understandable and lively way to keep your readers attention. When writing, make sure you are using the correct vocabulary and sentence types for your specific audience. It is important that you include facts and statistic which are varied and reliable. You will also need to use a youth sociolect if you are writing for teenagers or Standard English for an adult audience.

When you begin your writing to inform piece begin with a clear overview of your chosen topic and then take each fact and look at them in logical concise order. A good way to do this is to imagine that you are responding to your audiences' questions. Use the 5w +h rule. Who, what, why, when, where and how.

When writing to inform, it is important that your writing is not biased. Having a balanced opinion allows the reader to see both sides and make their own opinion on the subject matter. If your writing is not balanced it is a far more persuasive text as you are pushing your reader towards a certain opinion. When writing you need to be aware of your audience's age, background, level of understanding and education.

Your writing needs to be confident in tone so that your reader believes and trusts what they read. Leaflets use a logo, company name and authorial tone to create a sense of trust between the reader and text producer.

When giving information, imagine that you are responding to your target audience's question. Use the 5w +h rule. Who, what, why, when, where and how.

When writing to inform, you must always use straight forward language to convey the most important information. This means you should use simple sentence construction. Shorter sentences are clearer, but it is important to vary your sentence construction to keep the reader interested. Well structured paragraphs will help your reader to progress through information with ease. Using discourse markers will make your ideas more fluent. Words such as 'therefore' and 'secondly' add to the ease of your writing.

When giving your intended audience more information, you can use your own experience, knowledge and observations to give anecdotes about your subject matter. This will make your writing more exciting and will illuminate your point very clearly.

If it appropriate to your genre, use presentational devices such as headings, subheading, bulleted lists and diagrams which will make your writing more interesting.

Macclesfield Tutorial College http://www.macctutorialcollege.com is an independent college, and offers full time and part time courses to students from 16 years old to adult. The college offers GCSE and A Level courses is a wide range of subjects. The college offers a high level of education, resulting in a predominant number of students going onto higher education. The college can be contacted at office@experttutorials.co.uk

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