Can a Self-Published Book Be Picked Up By a Publisher?
Maybe you’ve found some success with your self-published book and you’d like to find a literary agent to test the waters with a traditional publishing house. And why not? The sky’s the limit. It is possible to bring a self-published book into the traditional publishing … Read more »
How to Copyright a Book
Want to know a secret? Copyrighting your writing is really as easy as including a copyright page in your book. In other words, your book is copyrighted the minute you’ve put words on the page, and this alone protects your work in most circumstances. But … Read more »
Is Self-Publishing Right For You?
Are you having a difficult time deciding if self-publishing is right for you? At Luminare Press, we never discourage an author from trying to get a traditional publishing contract, but we know that these days such contracts are few and far between. So why not … Read more »
What is Book Metadata?
Authors who’ve decided to self-publish inevitably encounter a request for “metadata” about their book. Don’t let this scare you. Book Metadata is simply information about your book. Examples of book metadata include title, subtitle, how you’d like your name to appear on the cover, and … Read more »
How to Price Your Book
One of the most important—and difficult—decisions you need to make as an indie author is how much to charge for your book. After all, how does one put a price tag on something toward which you’ve devoted so much time, energy, heart, and soul? None-the-less, … Read more »
Fixing Formatting, or What You Don’t See Will Hurt Your Book!
Before I was in the book publishing business, my mother, who was close to 90, decided to self-publish a novel. I’d read her manuscript several times over the years, offering plot and character feedback, but she hoped to find an agent, so I hadn’t really … Read more »
Want to See Your Book on Library Shelves?
While libraries have expanded to become more than just a place to check out a book, they still spend north of a billion dollars every year on print material, according to recent statistics. This means getting a self-published book into a public library can be … Read more »
Book Cover Design: Readers WILL Judge
You’ve probably imagined your book cover for a long time. Once you decide to self-publish, you have to get down to the basics of book cover design. Paying attention to what will give your book a professional, appealing cover will keep it from having an … Read more »
Published? Time for a Party!
Your book is in your hands—congratulations! What’s next? Author readings, sometimes called publishing or book release parties, are a great way to spread the news about your book, while saying thank you to everyone who helped out along the way. A well-planned author party might … Read more »
Formatting Your Book Interior
In previous posts, we went over all your book design options: using a free online template, going the DIY route with Microsoft Word, or hiring a professional book designer. But no matter how you design your book interior, here are some guidelines. What is … Read more »
Hiring a Book Designer
While hiring a book designer makes the book design process much easier, it also presents its own set of challenges. Here are some pros and cons, as well as the basics of a book interior. Professional designers make a better-looking product The upside to hiring … Read more »
Book Layout and Design
Once you have your manuscript edited and ready to publish, the next step is to to create the interior book pages, sometimes referred to as a “book block,” or a PDF file which you will upload for printing. Here are a few different approaches to … Read more »
Suggestions for Self-Editing
If hiring an editor is absolutely out of the question and you cannot trade for editorial services, or bribe a friend, here are a few tips for self-editing that you might find useful. Even if the thought of checking for commas puts you in a … Read more »
How to Hire an Editor
Good copy editors are not ordinary people. Their brains are wired to see anomalies, deviations, and inconsistencies in the text. We are lucky to have them in our midst. A good copy editor will make sure that your book meets professional standards and will keep … Read more »
What Does a Book Editor Do?
Hiring an editor is a step that most writers balk at. We like to believe that our beta readers, our writing group, or our friends who are English teachers are going to catch any errors, especially with multiple readings. In fact, just the opposite is … Read more »