These questions are among those I most often hear. Have a question you don’t see answered here? Use my Contact form to get the answer sent directly to your email inbox.
- Are you a vanity press, or subsidy publisher?
- Look Great In Print is neither a vanity press, nor a subsidy publisher. In fact, it is not a “publisher” at all. Most subsidy publishers “publish” your work, pay you a royalty, and keep your rights. Look Great In Print is an author services company. Your book is put together from your manuscript and I get it in the proper form and ready to print. Your book is published under your own name, or the name of your own publishing company. You are the publisher of record.
- Your book can be sold on Amazon if you choose. You will keep all royalties you earn, they are paid directly to you.
- You will keep the rights to your work.
- You may order as many copies of your book as you wish at cost, sell it anywhere else you want to, and keep all the profits.
- I have seen companies that look similar and charge much more. What is the difference between their service, and yours? There is a wide range of prices for author services that include professional book design, interior design, and other related services. There are many companies that provide quality service, but some may be out of your price range. If that is the case, give me an opportunity to see what I can do. Our goal is to provide the best service available at any price.
- I need an extra pair of eyes to read my manuscript. Can you look over my manuscript and tell me if you see anything I missed? Every effort will be made to help you catch obvious misspellings, grammar errors, and sentence structure issues. I do recommend that every book be professionally edited BEFORE it is typeset and readied for publishing, and good editing should catch these mistakes. It is much more expensive to edit a book after it is typeset, so if you plan to do more editing, you will want to do it before typesetting begins. It is important to take the time to review your manuscript and be sure it is as close to final as you can get it before beginning typesetting/layout.
- What is print on demand and what does it mean to authors?
Print on demand refers to the digital printing technology that allows a book to be printed one copy at a time and still retain the quality of a traditional commercially printed book. As an author, this means you no longer need to print thousands of copies of your book and sell from your stock. You may print books as they are ordered, meaning that your total up-front investment in printing is minimal. - What is self-publishing, and why would an author prefer it over the traditional method of finding a publisher to handle the details?
In a nutshell, self-publishing allows you to retain complete control over your own intellectual property, your manuscript. You will make more money from the sale of your books, you’ll be able to get it into the marketplace faster, and you will retain the right to do whatever you want with it when you want to do it. In the traditional publishing model, authors write a book and then pitch it to publishers until they find someone willing to publish it. They sometimes send out letters, wait for a reply—which can often take months, if not years—then pitch it to someone else while they wait. Some authors do not find a publisher after a long search, and become discouraged enough to give up. Many book publishing companies now require that you sign a contract giving away at least some control over your rights. If you believe in your book and are willing to take charge of the process, you can get your book out there much more quickly. In addition to retaining the complete rights to your product so you control what may be done with the material, you may be able to save money while having outstanding quality. We want to help you publish the book you have dreamed of with the best possible future scenario for you. - I want to walk into Barnes and Noble and see my book on the shelves. When will I be able to do that?
In today’s world of books, you may not be able to. The largest, most profitable audience is online, not brick-and-mortar. Bookstores have a limited amount of self space and usually only books by established authors or books that are already bestsellers published by large publishers wind up in bookstores. This is not to say that it’s impossible for YOUR book to get there, but it should not be your first goal. - How long will it take to complete my book publishing project?
Please allow at least 8-12 weeks to complete your book project. We may be able to complete your project more quickly, depending on our schedule. Longer projects, projects with lots of photos or artwork, or complex layout issues may take longer. - What is included in a book publishing project?
When I quote on your book project, it is a complete turnkey design based on my understanding of what you want, based on the information you provide. Cover design with typesetting, interior design, layout and interior formatting/typesetting, PDF proofs, consultation and advice are included. - Why should I invest in professional design for my book? Can’t I just use word processing software like Microsoft Word to lay it out myself?
Yes, that is one option. But it isn’t as easy as it looks, and if you have not put a book together before, it is a big job. Word was not designed to be used as a layout/design program, so it isn’t capable of some of the tasks a professional design package can do. Most professional designers use either Adobe InDesign or Quark XPress for book design. (Look Great In Print uses InDesign.) In addition to the investment you will make in software, you may need to invest in training and allow yourself time to learn. You will make mistakes while you learn and you need to allow time and money for this. If you already have a layout program and know how to use it, you are in a much better position to learn to do book layout and design. You may not know the difference in how a manuscript looks when produced in Word, and one that is produced in InDesign or Quark XPress. The spacing and text itself will look different. Professional publishing packages are capable of producing much more legible text with better kerning and tracking. (Kerning is the adjustment of spacing between two letters so the parts of the letters fit together better for better visual appearance and space savings. Tracking is the adjustment of space between groups of letters and words.) While Word may produce a look that you are satisfied with, a professional may disagree. While this is generally the opinion of more experienced designers, do not discount this, as it can be the difference between a professional book and an amateurish one. You may want to print out the page at the link below to see for yourself how the same page looks when produced in each of the two programs. While it is possible to fine-tune both programs, a software package designed for professional typesetting generally produces much more professional book design results. In the hands of a professional, the difference in the results will most often be very obvious.
Printable Comparison of Typeset Page in Adobe InDesign and MS Word - I can’t afford to pay for the process of putting together a truly professional book. What are my best options?
The better question may be, “Can you afford to risk the outcome of your important project?” and “How much is your time worth?” If you have spent time and effort to write a book, you should think twice before entrusting the layout and cover design to someone without experience in this area. Red Adair once said, “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur!” If you really do not have funds for professional service, your best options are to wait until the funds are available or purchase software and learn to do the book layout yourself. Look Great In Print offers payment plans to assist you in budgeting for your book project. - Will you market my book for me once it is finished?
I will be happy to suggest low-cost or no-cost ways to promote that have worked for other authors. You need to spend some quality time planning your strategy before you spend a penny on design. If you don’t have a strategy, you may wish to consult a marketing professional for a proposal on having your book marketed. It is not wise to spend the money for design without a plan. I can suggest resources for you in this area but I do not directly offer marketing services. I do, however, offer printed publicity items, book video, and custom book websites. If you decide to promote your book yourself, these items will be useful. - Can you guarantee my book will be a best-seller?
I really wish that were possible, but no one can guarantee this, as there are just too many variables. You may encounter promoters who might make this guarantee. How you choose to promote should be based on your personal goals for your book. Having a plan for promoting and knowing what you can budget for promotion should be thoroughly considered before you complete your manuscript and move ahead with book production.