Book Details

  • How many pages will your book be? Keep in mind most printers require increments of 8 or 16.

  • Where will you print your book? Will it be Print on Demand (POD) or will you have inventory?

  • Will you include styled photography to add interest? Will you use illustrations for the instructions? Images add interest and are a great way to get readers inspired and motivated! Read about some photography tips that Nissa shares here.

  • Do you have introduction text for the projects? If so, try to keep it a consistent length for each project. This text can include a note about a technique used, a fabric selection tip or even a quick story of how your idea came to be!

  • Will you have tips for readers? Tips are great ways to add a little bit of value while filling in some awkward spaces on the page.

  • Do you have a title? Consider SEO and what the key search terms for your book will be. Be sure to include as many of those terms in your title and subtitle as possible!

  • Do you need a barcode? You can generate a barcode online for print books and if you use a POD service, they typically have a barcode service.

Artwork

  • Provide all artwork needed for the book cover, styled images and instructional images unless contracted otherwise.

  • Please submit artwork in the following formats:
    Illustrations:     300dpi, CMYK, .EPS or .AI
    Photography: 300dpi, CMYK, 5” x 8” or larger, .JPG

  • Naming convention: Many times authors develop a naming convention that makes sense for them. You may name your files however you wish, as long as the file name matches the images listed in the manuscript—that way we are able to easily able to place the correct image within the text.

Manuscript

  • Do not format text in the manuscript. Resist the urge to use the bulleted list or numbered list function in your processing program. We will have to undo all of this in InDesign! Communicate with us using <brackets>, we will know that anything in a bracket is not intended to be printed. If you would like a numbered list, manually include the step number with a period and a space afterwards. For example:
    1. Instructional text here.
    2. Instructional text here.

  • Create and communicate hierarchy. Hierarchy is used in the type design to help readers navigate the importance and flow of the text. This is important in instructional books, there is a lot of information to consume, so breaking it up into pieces makes it more intuitive for readers.

    To achieve hierarchy in the layout, create a consistent convention to follow throughout the manuscript. The following is an example of a convention used to indicate level of importance within the text:
    <chapter head>
    <head 1>
    <head 2>
    <head 3>
    <sidebar>
    <bulleted list>
    <image caption>

  • Indicate page breaks with <bracketed text>. Do not repeatedly hit “enter” to move text to the next page, simply list <page break> at the end of the content and we will know to start the next text at the top of a new page.

  • Communicate placement of art within the manuscript using file names. Do not place images within the text file! Instead, indicate which image or illustration you would like used by including bracketed text with the image file name. The text in the brackets should match the name of the file that you are providing. For example, if your photo files are named 001.jpg and 002.jpg, the text in the manuscript would look like this:

    1. Cut 4 HSTs from blue fabric. <001.jpg>
    2. Press seams open. <002.jpg>

    More on file naming in the Artwork section.

  • Submit the manuscript to us as a .docx file. You can save to this format in Word, Pages or most any other word processing program.