3 Killer Mistakes in Book Printing: Know These To Sort Out

Book printing is an easy to do task and it attracts several authors to do self-book printing & book publishing. Well, probably that might be a reason for why you are reading this blog. So, if you are planning to print your book and looking for some guidance, then here is a valuable advice for you. Here are some mistakes, which are commonly made by several people when printing book. Do consider these when printing a book and save yourself from falling into a mess.

1.      Underestimating or neglecting the power of Book Typeset

No doubt, there have been numerous cases where due to poor typography the book has not received expected results. If you do not want to give the impression of being amateur, then do pay importance to typography. Some of the aspects when considering the typography of book include:

·         Text Styles

·         Title Page and Figures

·         Spacing, Layout and Alignment

·         Table of Contents

·         Lists, Bullets and Numbering Styles

·         Headers, Footers and Margins

Do remember that when printing a book, you do not have to just print it; rather you have to look up for any minor to major mistake and sort it out.

2.      Failing to get copyright of the book

Due to unawareness or mere negligence, some authors forget to copyright their book. To get the book copyright is one of the most important tasks. As soon as you finish writing your book, get the copyright protection before it gets too late. By doing this, you get the long term legal rights and protect your writing from plagiarism. You have to make sure that your book is protected and safe.

 

3.      Failing to register the barcode & ISBN

 This is another biggest mistake done by most of the authors who go for self-book printing. You have to make sure that the bar coding & ISBN registration is done properly, as it would be easier for you at the time of book distribution. And do you know, if you do not do this properly, then you might have to repeat the printing process again. So, remember that when you go for book printing, you do purchase ISBN and get barcoding registration.

5 Blunders by Self Publishers while Doing Self publishing

 Have self publishing services made you think ‘I should publish or print a book myself?” There are several authors & publishers, who are fascinated with self publishing and they are in fact trying their hands in self-publishing as well. However, there are certain author, who had to face criticism and failure in this task. Behind the failure, we have identified few mistakes, which we have mentioned in this blog. Let us have a look at them:

•    Be careful while quoting from other’s work

Different authors have different writing styles, out of which, one is quoting from famous saying or lyrics, to build connection or convey thoughts easily. If this style has fascinated you too, then be careful and first do enquire about the copyright laws & provisions before quoting the lines. In certain norms & conditions, in spite of mentioning the credits, quoting other’s text will subject you too be fined.

•    Do not misunderstand ISBN

ISBN gives unique identity to the books, which simplifies the selling & buying process. Although not majorly, but in few cases, it has been seen that ISBN of certain books which are not for sale now, or used to be in stores years ago, are used for new books. If you are also planning to re-use the ISBN in order to save money, then you might get into a mess. It would not only create confusion for you, but also for the sellers and buyers.

•    Make random selection of typefaces & fonts

When it comes to print book, then self publishers have to check the book from every aspect to ensure reader-friendly element. Therefore, the decisions regarding the typefaces, serifs, typography, ligatures, and design must be taken very carefully. These are although minute elements, but these can become a reason for your success or failure.

•    Decisions regarding image resolutions

 Certain aspects like selecting image resolution require technical understanding. You cannot just decide about the picture quality by looking at the resolution on the computer screen. The images on computer generally have graphics resolution of 72 dpi in RGB colorscape; whereas, in printing book, ideal resolution should be 300 dpi in CMYK colorscape.

•     Making memoirs complex

Memoirs should be straightforward instead of being complicated. Memoirs written in third person creates confusion in understanding the viewpoint by the readers. Therefore, you should be careful in narration of memoir so that they easily understand the important information. 

Quick Book Design Tips For New Self Publishers

Welcome to the world of self publishing a book. Now that you have decided to publish your book on the own, here are some tips for you that would make your journey smoother. But before you start, here is an advice for you. Whatever you do, it should look professional, and your work must not highlight that it is an amateur production by some self publisher.

To meet the publishing conventions, it is important to avoid certain common mistakes when designing a book, which are generally made by new self-publishers. Here are some of them:

·         Confusion with the pages:

This is very slight yet common mistake, which is generally made by new self publishers. Do not make the mistake of switching the pages. Always keep a simple fact in mind that all the right hand page of any book, i.e. starting with page 1, has odd numbers, whereas, left hand pages are even numbers. If you remember this, then there will not be any confusion of page switch.

·         Blank page means a BLANK page:

Also, when designing the book, do not put any page number, running head, or any title on the pages which are meant to be blank. A blank page means a blank page, so there should not be anything on it.  

·         Rule of the blank page:

While book printing, make sure that there is no blank page on the right hand side. By having a blank page on the right hand side, a disharmony in reading is felt by the reader. Moreover, it gives an incomplete feel while reading.

·         Creating a proper front

It is important to create initial pages or the book front very wisely. Before you start the text of the book, there has to be title page, a copyright page, and a contents page. So, before you print a book, make sure that you have included these important pages in the beginning.

·         Tiny fonts or page margins

Never try to save your money by printing fewer pages and selecting tiny fonts as well as tiny margins. The books with tiny fonts get tiny readers only, and here tiny means fewer. These are the books, which people do not want to read; so you must select an ideal size for the margins as well as font. Outside margins should be such that the reader gets enough space to hold the book and inside margins should be such that the text is not swallowed in the cutter.

·         The game of capital fonts

When Print a book, you must know the difference between the title case and the sentence case. The titles, subtitles, chapter titles, and subheads in your book should be in title case, i.e. the initials should be in capital. And yes, if there is any small preposition then that shouldn’t be capitalized.

Did You Save Money By Self Publishing The Book?

It is said that by self publishing a book, one can save money. Is it true? Have you ever analyzed weather you are saving as per your expectations or are you still over spending by online publishing a book yourself? If you are saving, then nothing is better than that; but if you meet disappointment here & think that you should have saved more, then here are the tips that might help you meet your expectations.

·         It is important that a flawless work reach the readers or audience. And for this, several authors look out for experienced professionals, who can check the work & fix the errors. These professionals obviously charge an amount in lieu of their services. You can save this amount with a smarter decision which needs very wise selection. Ask a friend or family person, whom you think is reliable enough to do the task.

·         Typing the content is another important aspect. Instead of paying an extra amount to a professional for typing the content for you, you can utilize the free online writing tools. These tools are easy to use, you just need to have a fair knowledge about the format, and page size in which you want the book.

·                                                                                                                                                                                                                        No doubt, cover is an important part of the book and it matters a lot, however, while designing the cover as well, you can save the money. An easy way is to get the assistance of the graphics & designing student, who has fair knowledge about designing work. You can express what you want in the cover and he can design that for you. Otherwise, there are several websites of self publishing companies, which offer option of free cover designing, this is also a good way to save the money.  

·         On demand printing is one of the best ways to save the money. If you have to print a book, then instead of giving bulk orders for printing, opt for print on demand option. In this, you can print the book, as & when required and get the delivery as well. This not only saves from over paying for extra copies, but also save the amount that you might have to pay for the warehouse to stock the extra printed books.

These are some of the ways which might help you in cutting the cost while self publishing a book. Also, you can keep a check upon the promotional activities. If you think that you are over spending there, then you can creatively utilize he free options available online, such as email marketing, article/blog posts, or even press release.

Read these tips before self publishing the book

If you are here, this means you are planning to try your hands in self-publishing. Isn’t it? Self publishing of books is a great idea, but to execute it properly and maintain the professionalism, you need to be careful with certain aspects. To get book published, there are several companies offering online facilities, out of which TheBookPatch.com is one. Here are some tips from the experts at The Book Patch that the authors & publishers should follow before self-publishing their work.

•     Is the font size apt for your audience?

Font size is one of the most important aspects that is counted while calculating the reader friendly format of the book. Selection of standard font size, i.e., "serif" and "sans serif" styles and 10 or 11 pt. in most cases is preferred, however, you should also keep your audience into consideration. If the audience for your book is older generation, then you can slightly enhance the font size, for the reading convenience. 

•    Does your final draft has right page size?

Before you prepare yourself for publishing the book do give a thought at the page size of the book. For instance, if you have written he book in standard letter size paper, and you are thinking to get your book in half size paper then you need to be careful. There are tools available on internet that you can utilize to change the page size without rewriting the complete book. You must change the paper size of the book before finally publishing & printing it.

•     Is your work fully revised?

Revision of the book before publishing it is MUST. Even if you have spent years with your books, still you must dedicate some extra time on revision. If possible, you can take the assistance of some friend or get it proof-read from the professionals. You should make sure that no error reaches to your audience and harm the standards that you want to set for yourself.

•     Are you ready with the PDF file?

For printing the books, PDF files are very important. You have to convert your draft into PDF once you are finished with writing, editing, formatting, and revision work. While printing, focus upon the high quality printing standards, resolution, and graphics.

Well, these are the tips from the experts that you must adhere to before getting your book published & printing.