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RD Studio

What you need to know about ISBNs:

ISBN are not required for ebooks but are recommended and are needed if the ebook will likely become a print book as well, if the book is to be marketed successfully. In all cases, an ISBN will add credibility to your ebook.

If you want to truly self-publish you need to get your own ISBN. If you let someone else, like many of the online publishing or print-on-demnd companies provide the ISBN, they in effect own those files and are your publisher. They are effectively online "vanity" presses. Keep your independence and get your own ISBN. Set up your own publishing company with your own trade name. Then apply for your ISBNs and barcodes for that company trade name--here's how:

You can acquire it from an ISBN Registration Agency. Bowker (R.R. Bowker LLC) is the exclusive ISBN Registration Agency for the United States. More information about ISBNs is available online at: www.isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp.

Why are ISBNs important? An ISBN links the title, author, publisher and country. This is often vital for successfully marketing your product. The first portion of the ISBN identifies the publisher and country. That is, it's best to apply for a publisher’s ISBN prefex AFTER you establish your publishing company. ISBN stands for “International Standard Book Number,” but think of it as your unique publisher's identification number, because that's what it is. It is a number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products, but more particularly, it not only identifies *your* products, but it allows booksellers, wholesalers, and distributors to efficiently track and market your books.

Once you have purchased a block of ISBNs for your publishing company (sold in a minimum of 10), you can use BowkerLink to add to your publication listing in Bowker’s Books In Print. This resource is an essential bibliographic tool for libraries, booksellers, and publishers. For more about Bowker-Link, visit: www.bowkerlink.com/corrections/common/home.asp. Even if you have only one book, bear in mind that every new edition of your book requires a distinct ISBN.

Use your assigned ISBNs when purchasing barcodes for your books. You’ll need barcodes with the proper ISBN to sell your titles through book retailers, wholesales, and distributors. You can aquire barcodes online at www.bowkerbarcode.com/barcode/.

You may also want a Library of Congress Card Number (LCCN). This number makes it easier for libraries and book dealers to access the book’s bibliographic record and better process orders. This is obatined by submitting an application over the Internet through the Library of Congress’s Preassigned Control Number Program. More information about this is available online at http://pcn.loc.gov/. They will send you an email with the number and the basic information about your book (title, author, place of publication, date, etc.) converted to a machine-readable cataloging record (MARC record) ready to be inserted on the back or verso of the title page preceded by the legend: Library of Congress Control Number.

 

About becoming a publisher:

When you self-publish, you are not merely an author, but a publisher as well. This being the case, you may decide you want to establish a publisher name to use with your book. Assuming you plan to self-publish for profit, you may, for example, want to simply publish the book under the name of your own existing business or establish a new trade name (DBA, “doing business as” name) for that purpose.

If you have only one book, you may assume that it is unnecessary to set up a publishing company with its own name and logo. In many cases that is probably true, but if you plan to sell the book, self-publishing the book under a publisher name will help you market the book. This is because it will facilitate getting the resources you need to distribute your book more effectively (like ISBNs and LCCNs—which will be explained later) and it will make your book look more credible. And there is no reason why your book shouldn’t look as credible as possible if you're using professional editors, designers, and production artists just like other publishers.

 

5 steps for starting your own publishing company

1. Create and register a trade name
2. Create and register a domain name
3. Determine your physical mailing address (not essential for ebook only publishers)
4. Get a logo and business print or e-stationary
5. Get a publisher’s ISBN prefex, LCCNs, and barcodes (see "What you need to know about ISBNs: above)

1. Create and register a trade name

For license and tax purposes you will need to register your publishing business if you do not already have a business or institution that you can use for publishing purposes. There are different business structures you can choose such as Sole Proprietor or Incorporation. Sole proprietorships are the most common form of business structure and are simple to form and operate. Incorporation offers greater legal and tax advantages, but is more difficult to set up.

You can often start a business in the state where you operate using your own personal name and then later register a trade name—i.e., separate name to do business under. You will need to register this trade name through your Secretary of State office in the state where you operate your business and, if desired, for wider marketplace protection, through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

You are required to register your trade name in the state from which you intend to operate, but you do not have to trademark the trade name in order to use it for business purposes. That said, there are definite benefits if you do, such as creating a public notice of your claim of ownership of the trademark and your exclusive right to use it in connection with the goods listed in the registration. Getting these matters straight from the start is important for many reasons, not the least of which is that you may be spending considerable money printing books with your trade name on them.

When selecting a trade name, you will need to first make sure that it is not misleading and does not infringe on the rights of anyone who is already using that name. An intellectual property rights lawyer or professional with expertise in trademarks is advisable. However, you may want to begin the selection process by conducting your own search through the USPTO Website (www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm). USPTO’s online system allows you to search all state and federal trademark registers to see if your proposed name is being used. You can also apply to register a trademark through the USPTO Website for a fee.

In many ways, your marketing begins with your selection of a trade name. So when you are thinking of possible names, think about how that name will be perceived by those people you want to buy your book. Also, think about how this name can be used in different methods of advertising such as the Internet. A good name is easy to remember, has positive associations, works across media, and is easy to defend.

2. Create and register a domain name

When you choose a tradename you may also want to acquire the same or similar name for a Web address. Your Web address, or domain name, does not have to be the same as your business name, but if it is the same it may make advertising easier. Unlike trade names, you do not register domain names through state or local governments, rather there are many online companies that will do it for a small fee. These companies will allow you to do free searches to check first to see if the name is already taken before you make a purchase. The important thing is to register sooner rather than later because of growing competition for good domain names.

When you register a domain name, it is for a specific duration of time, such as a year, and must be renewed. Get your domain name before you create your Website. Then hire a hosting company to host your Website. Some online domain name registars also provide hosting services. That is, registering a domain and actually putting a Website online are two distinct things.

Most hosting companies also provide email services, and with this service every email you send contains your name and the actual domain address (i.e., your Website address). This way, if you change hosting companies, you can keep and take your email addresses with you. Open an email account through the hosting company and have a Web designer simply create a “placeholder” page with your contact information on it and an email link to take inquiries (such as one using your name or “info@”). You, or your designer, can upload the placeholder to the site using an File Transfer Protocal (FTP) program. Have the designer build a Website in a way that allows you to make changes to it’s content.

3. Determine your physical mailing address

In addition to choosing a name that is also available as a domain name, consider whether you will use your home address or need to acquire a separate physical mailing address, such as a Post Office Box or a mailing service provided through businesses such as Mailbox Etc and The UPS Store. This decision may depend on how likely it is for customers to drop in on you or how much mail your box needs to accommodate. If you anticipate a large volume of business mail and packages, then you will probably want to keep it separate from your personal mail.

4. Get a logo and business stationary

Registering and/or trademarking your tradename does not require that you do the same for a logo, or graphic that communicates the actual name or goes with it. However, a logo represents your company identity and is a tool for branding your company and ebook products. Used often and consistently, a well-conceived and nicely designed logo increases awareness of your business, inspires confidence in what your business does, and encourages customer buying decisions.

For many companies, their logo becomes one of their main marketing tools. A corporate logo is your highest use graphic because it appears on everything your company does and produces. For this reason its the most important single graphic a business will likely use and often the most expensive to acquire (regardless of complexity). A logo should be designed to be distinctive and easily recognized and to work well in all the places it is likely to appear, such as your ebook’s title page, the spine (a tall and narrow space), your company stationary, Website, and advertising mailers, etc. It should also be designed in a way that is adaptable to both single and full color printing processes. These are issues that are familiar to good graphic designers.

If the graphic character of your logo is important to you, you may want to take several trade name options to your graphic designer, because the designer may find that one option lends itself to a better graphic than the others. The name that sounds best, may not be the name that looks best. Also, even if you plan to do business solely through the Internet, you will likely need to do some business transactions and marketing that will benefit from basic stationary, such as envelopes, letterhead for contracts and correspondence, e-signature and business cards with your logo, tagline, and contact information.

5. Get a publisher's ISBN prefix.

See "What you need to know about ISBNs" above.

 

Useful Websites for starting a publishing company:

Starting a publishing business
The Small Business Administration’s Website is at: www.sba.gov
To find your Secretary of State Office online for registering your business, changing a business status, or adding a trade name, go to:
www.statelocalgov.net/50states-secretary-state.cfm
Select the state and look for links to features such as “start a business” and/or “doing business as.”

Trade name searches and registration
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is available at: www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm
Their online system allows you to search all state and federal trademark registers to see if your proposed name is being used. You can also apply to register a trademark through the USPTO Website for a fee.

Publisher’s ISBN prefex, LCCNs, and barcodes
ISBN Registration Agency:
In the United States go to: www.bowker.com/products/isbnagency.htm
In the United Kingdom: www.nielsenbook.co.uk

More information about ISBNs is available at: www.isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp
Use BowkerLink to add your publication listing in Bowker’s Books In Print and Ulrich’s databases. For more about BowkerLink, visit:
www.bowkerlink.com/corrections/common/home.asp
Acquire barcodes online at: www.bowkerbarcode.com/barcode
For Library of Congress Card Numbers (LCCN) visit: http://pcn.loc.gov/

 

Tips and methods for preparing your manuscript

This section describes an *optional* method for manuscript preparation used by many publishers. Like traditional print publications, ebooks often contain different elements, like chapter titles, a-heads, b-heads, sidebars, extracts, pull quotes, etc. When the editor and design receive the manuscript they need to be able to distinction the different elements clearly. Style "tags" are the method preferred by most professional editors today. Using tags requires no other formatting effort from the author or editor (or at least makes editorial formatting in Word optional). That is, the editor doesn't need to style the text in any significant manner using formatting like boxed text, etc.

Authors should not design and format text in Word: Professional typesetters and designers use programs (usually QuarkXpress or Adobe InDesign) for trade-quality level typesetting and page layout that is very hard to achieve in other programs. That is, tracking, kerning, and other special commands to eliminate loose and tight lines, non-parallel columns, orphans, etc. This means authors should not trouble themselves with formatting in word programs as this formatting will be lost. They can however mark the elements of the ebook with tags.

Using this method, the editor/author marks the different elements in the document with coded tags like <BH> for the b-head or level 2 head. A-heads, for example, are tagged <AH> and </AH>. ("End" tags </> are generally not necessary except for long elements like boxed text.) This way there is no guessing whether a lone sentence in bold is an A-head or B-head or simply a sentence with emphasis. Because each element is clearly marked and can be easily styled with consistently when the ebook is typeset.

Tags provide on-the-spot simple and exact instructions that require no special formatting or design by the author. The tags and symbols <> are removed later or during page layout.

Many style commands in MS Word are okay, but should not be relied upon. If style commands in Word are used to mark different elements, like head styles using different fonts and so on, sometimes inconsistencies occur with these styles when they are imported. To prevent these problems editors use tags to identify different elements in the manuscript.

Editors can create a tag for any new element used in a manuscript and include a tag sheet with the manuscript. If you’re interested in this method, these are some typical tags used by many editors:

Chapter title <CT>
Sub-title <ST>
A-head <1H> or <AH> etc.
B-head <2H>
C-head <3H>
Boxed text <box>
Sidebar <SB>
Pull quote <PQ>
Bullet list <BL>
Numbered list <NL>
Unnumbered list <UNL>
Tip <tip>
<CIP page>
For text that *must* start on a new page <page break>
space between paragraphs <line break>
Caps <CAPS>

Other manuscript preparation tips:

Don'ts
* Never use ALL CAPS--if you have any influence over the key-in method, it is preferable that NO text, whether titles or heads, be typed in all CAPS. It often ends up slowing the work flow. If you want all caps, tag it <all caps>.
* Avoid placing art only in the Word file for print books. Include actual art file label in Word with art and send high resolution art files separate from the Word file (including your logo). Place art identification labels between lesser/greater symbols <> to show where the art is to be placed in the manuscript.

DOs
* DO use the italic and bold commands in MS Word for words in paragraphs etc., that you want to end up bold or italic, even if you don't use tags to indicate them. Most often, italic and bold will import.
* Use <> to enclose any additional photo notes, descriptions of photos needed, illustration instructions, etc. for the designer and typesetter.

 

Editing and proofreading tips

Editing

The primary editing of your manuscript should occur before submitting the manuscript for typesetting. You can, and many publishers do, submit your manuscript (complete or in part) for design prior to final editing. The designer will design all the identified elements in the manuscript. This way the design can be created and approved while the book is being edited. Likewise, it is common for publishers to create a cover design before a book is edited. This allows publishers to shorten the production time for a book and start early marketing. Once the manuscript is edited it is delivered to the designer who will then put it in the approved design.

Once the text in the Word file is imported for design and typesetting, there is no longer any need for the MS-Word. All further changes and corrections will be made to the actual book pages. The text is typeset and placed in page layouts. Once completed, the page files are delivered to the publisher to check. The first set of pages is called the 1st pass.

The standard industry practice is one of two options:

1) Put editorial marks directly in the 1st pass PDF and email the marked PDF to the designer/typesetter.
2) Printout the 1st pass PDF and mark directly on the printed hardcopy and mail the marked hardcopy to the designer/typesetter.

Author files are delivered to the designer/typesetter in Word and then imported into either QuarkXpress or Adobe InDesign. These two programs are the leading industry standards for design and typesetting. Once the pages are created in these programs, a PDF is generated and delivered to the editor, who either puts editorial marks in the PDF or prints out the PDF and puts editorial marks on the printout which is then returned to the typesetter. The typesetter keys in the changes and generates a new PDF (2nd pass). This process continues until there are no more corrections or changes to the text. Directly marking the PDF is the least costly and quickest method (no printing, no postage).

Most commonly, American publishers, authors, and editors use the Chicago Manual of Style and follow the traditional editor marks found there and in other publications. For UK and other countries, The Oxford Style Manual is recommended.

The traditional hardcopy (printout) method:

When you receive your typeset manuscript (called the "1st pass"):
1. For best results use a printed copy for proofing.
2. Mark every error and revision CLEARLY with a red ink pen on the printed 1st pass hardcopy.
3. Make a photocopy of your MARKED copy.
4. KEEP your photocopy of the marked hardcopy for yourself in a safe place to proof the 2nd pass against. DO NOT SEND IT TO US. This is YOUR proofing copy.
5. Mail original MARKED 1st pass printout to us.

Proofreading

Here are some typical and standard "composition" proofing suggestions (this is not a complete list nor a list of editorial proofing guidelines. There are good books for proofreading skills available from bookshops and Amazon, including Sue C. Camp's Developing Proofreading and Editing Skills, published by McGraw-Hill.):

• Check entire manuscript carefully! Watch for text corruptions and miscellaneous computer errors such as text omissions that can occur when files are imported, etc.
• Check table of contents for correct page numbering.
• Check table of contents with chapter titles for consistency.
• Check running heads with chapter titles.
• Check abbreviations for consistency.
• Check design elements for consistency.
• Check part and chapter numbers for correct sequence.
• Check all footnotes for correct numbering and correlation to text.

Tips for copyright pages

For your copyright page, this is what a typical ebook contains on that page:

1. Publisher's name address, website and logo.

2. Any disclaimers and/or warnings about usage.

3. Copyright notice, with symbol and date. Usually with the company's or author's name first.

4. Editor and designer credits

5. Edition number

6. Permissions for reprints notice

7. CIP data. This is the Cataloging in Publication data, which enables libraries to properly catalog the ebook. If you want this, go to this web site to see if the publication is eligible: http://cip.loc.gov/

If you want your book to be ordered by libraries you need the LCCN (Library of Congress Catalog Number) number or CIP data. If you ever want to sell the book through book stores you'll need an ISBN (international Standard Book Number) and barcode which is available through www.bowkerlink.com

8. If published using offset printing, identify the country where the book is printed/manufactured.

 

Stock photography and illustration

Price and usage

There are many affordable providers of stock photography online today. Stock photos are a good way to add value to your book. Prices can range from less than $3 to over $300 for similar images, but higher priced images are more likely to include model and property releases. "Royalty-free" image are widely available but royalty-free doesn't mean you own the copyright. There are often restrictions about how much images can be used and in what context. Read your agreement carefully when you purchase stock images.

Resolution

Many good providers price stock according to resolution. e-Books only require low-resolution images (72dpi resolution at placed size) and are therefore less expensive to buy, but offset books should have images at least 300dpi resolution at the placed size. Images come in varying resolutions. Once the image has been downloaded its settings should be checked.

Getting the best image

When buying Stock photo searching can be art in itself, and the best results are often more successful when done by an experienced designer.

Tips for taking a author photo for your book

If you want an author photo on your back bookcover or "about the author" page, we suggest hiring a professional photographer to take a commercial use photo to use in your book and on your marketing materials.

Have a photo that is in keeping with the spirit of the ebook and the brand image you want to convey. Dress in a manner that enhances your authority as an author or spokesperson for the topic in your book. The same professionalism one gets from the book's design, for example, should also come across in the author photo. An ebook is more than a single thing--it's a message, a product, and something that represents the author and extends and promotes an author's identity.

If you have no budget for a professional photographer, here are some DIY tips:
Have a friend who can do a photo shoot for you. Use a digital camera, 4 megapixels minimum, set at high res. Use a tripod and timer, and no flash. Shoot up close 8-6 feet in a very well lit space (ambient light) and a plain background. Smile and look directly at the camera. Take at least 30-60 photos--one is likely to be good. Plan on two sessions. It usually takes two sessions. That is, view the first batch on your laptop. This will let you know what needs to change (clothing, lighting, etc.) to make the second photo shoot more successful.

 

How to salvage and extract text from QuarkXpress documents

If you have a book designed in QuarkXpress, it is possible to extract the text if you want to significantly revise and rework it and or put the text in a new ebook format. Open the Quark File, place the curser in the text column, go to EDIT > SELECT ALL, then go to FILE > SAVE TEXT > set to "entire story" and set Format to Word. You'll need to do this for each chapter or section of the Quark File. Much of the formatting will transfer, but so with other hidden Quark commands and reinserting the newly editing text will require a re-layout of the effected pages.

 

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