My name is Sheila, and Look Great In Print is my baby.
What a thrill it has been to discover that I could have such a positive impact on so many lives by helping others publish their own book. I have had the privilege of working with the neatest people on earth, who have now fulfilled their lifelong dream of being published authors.
I don’t measure success by the number of customers I have had. Instead, I measure success by the number of customers I have helped to achieve their goals.
Ever since I was a small child, I have had an ongoing love affair with books. My parents never really understood why I spent so much time reading, but it was the beginning of a lifelong habit that has not waned with age. I am very familiar with ebooks, and I even own a Kindle, but my favorite books are still books you can hold and put on a shelf.
My first publishing project was in grade school, when I wrote and printed a class newsletter. (I also wrote an original piece of music that my piano teacher notated for me when I was 6, but that is another story!)
What makes my service unique? My approach is different. I spend some quality time with your book, before I ever start, that brings it into focus in my own mind.
It has amazed customers for years that I actually take the time to read their manuscripts and develop a knowledge of the subject matter so I can translate the words into a creative and appropriate design. I have an emotional investment in this work, and it doesn’t happen overnight. I will take whatever time is necessary to become engaged in your work, then let it “simmer” in my subconscious mind while I form some creative thoughts that can be translated to design ideas. Only then do I start the process of putting it together.
Let me give you a couple of examples of how this works to your benefit.
One author I worked with had spent almost 30 years completing a manuscript containing her family history, complete with some truly marvelous stories that had been passed down from generation to generation. When she contacted me about producing her book, she chuckled when she said it had been written through 3 marriages and 3 careers! I read her manuscript, all 500 pages of it, before I did anything else. These stories were as good or better than any short story I’ve ever read, but they were factual, and some of them really tugged at my heart. I read a couple of them more than once, because they were amazing. The author couldn’t wait to surprise the family members who knew she had been working on it just about forever. She didn’t tell them she was completing it, but she planned to give each of them a copy at their annual reunion. She wanted someone to produce her book who would give it the care it deserved, because it had taken half of her life to finish it. She wanted something unique, not like every other book she had seen.
By the time I finished reading it, I had really connected with the author and I “got it.” She wasn’t interested in having a best-seller, in fact, she didn’t even want to put the book on Amazon. She wanted to leave a lasting legacy for her family, tell the stories before they were lost, and preserve them for future generations. She knew the only way to do it was in a book that could be passed down to her children and grandchildren.
Over the space of about 10 weeks as I worked on her book, I learned about her grandmother’s favorite song, a hymn. I was able to incorporate this as an illustration, something that would never have happened had I not read the book and realized the significance.
I really looked forward to the day the author would actually see her finished book for the first time, and realize that she had finished it! By this time, I had really connected with her as a person.
The first time she held her book in her hands, she turned it over, flipped through it, and held it tightly. She looked at the cover in disbelief, because to her, it represented the completion of a life’s dream … telling the story of her family. I was honored and blessed to have been part of her publishing experience.
Her book had a “mood,” just like yours does, and that mood needed to be captured from her words, then created in her book, for others to experience.
Your readers want to go on a journey when they read your book, and it is my goal to make that journey happen!
Another author I worked with, a retired Air Force Master Navigator with over 5,000 hours experience flying the B-52, got his inspiration from a true story that unfolded when he was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio in the 1970’s. He was there when a most unusual aviation accident took place, one he pondered for years before putting together a chronicle of how the whole thing unfolded. It is a fascinating true story, complete with over 100 photos given to him by an investigator on his way out. While reading the manuscript, I viewed the photos he had, and was able to help him put the photos in the right spots so they complemented the book and correctly illustrated the major points he wrote about. He has spoken about his book on radio, in print, and with audiences all over, and is now working on his second book, a novel.
Now you may be thinking, “Well, that’s great, but I want to publish a business book!”
Here’s the Thing …
Whatever kind of book you want to publish, it deserves more than a quick pass, a template approach, the same tired fonts, and a cookie-cutter, assembly-line approach.
An author like YOU deserves a uniquely creative approach to your all-important book. Even a business book can be creatively designed to make it easier to read and more visually appealing.
While working on your book project, I will help you understand the publishing process and assist you in thinking ahead to the promotion stage of your book. Having a early plan for promoting your work is vital, and it is just as important as having a good product to start with. I will work with you to give your product a competitive commercial edge while thinking ahead to what is next.
I use only state of the art Adobe software preferred by commercial printers; Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat.
Design is my passion, and I handle each book design project personally. Your book will not become part of a giant machine where many people handle it. I hold an earned Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art and Music from an accredited 4-year university, and have had more than 25 years of professional design and publications, business copywriting and corporate marketing/communications experience. In addition to book cover and book interior design, my real-world design experience in logo design, advertising, training materials, newsletters, corporate collateral, print production and business websites offers an incredible value to you as an author. I have been doing books for nearly 10 years, and it never grows old.
Over the course of my career, I have worked with major nonprofit organizations, a television broadcaster, small businesses, associations, and many individuals with a dream of becoming published authors.
Working with those who have big dreams is inspiring and motivating to me, and I am always looking for authors who fit this description.
In addition to fine arts endeavors, I participate in Internet marketing MasterMind groups and Internet marketing conferences so my knowledge continues to grow. My current and past professional memberships include The International Association of Business Communicators; AWAI, American Writers and Artists, Inc.; the Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN), and Mark Hendricks’ wonderful Internet Success System.
I would love to have an opportunity to visit with you about your own book project. Please let me know if you have questions, comments, or need help by using the Contact Form. I hope you will want to have me on your team, and I look forward to the day we will work together to see YOUR book LOOK GREAT IN PRINT.