A number of the print on demand websites and the digital printing companies that I will take a closer look at over the next few days insist on the importance of using editors and proofreaders to help you get your book as good as possible.
You may think that because you’ve already published the ebook manuscript there isn’t really any need. Word in print are so much more permanent when they are put to paper I’d strongly recommend you get someone else to look over it with a fine tooth comb if you didn’t get that done on your ebook.
By the way, go and pick up a book. Any paperback will do.
Flick through the first 4–5 pages. The ones BEFORE you’ve even read a single word of the actual book. If the author doesn’t have a back catalogue then the first page will most likely be a title page with not much more than the book title, the name of the author and the name of the publishing company.
Turn the page over and you will have all the copyright statements, ISBN details and disclaimers.
The next pages will have either dedications, chapter lists or an index and a foreword before the book starts… on the right hand page!
Most of the time books and their chapters will start on the right hand side. this is not a hard and fast rule, but it is an easy way to adjust the page numbers to fit into the “by 4” rule that most printers rely on. (that is to say that the final page numbers have to be dividable by 4. )
The right hand side is always on an odd page number by the way, so it is easy to remember. Doing this obviously takes time and makes the final cost of the book more expensive, so this is a rule that is being relaxed. Newer print on demand books generally don’t follow this rule, but if your ebook is targetting a specific niche, those blank pages between each chapter are perfect ad spaces for your own products, affiliate website or you can sell it to advertisers.
The same goes for the pages you may have left over at the end (to make it up to a 4–even number.
Without an experienced print on demand book editor and proof reader ( or me!) you would not have known any of that.
Printondemand-worldwide offers these services to authors using their site (for a fee of course) but you can quite easily find people on Elance or rentacoder to do the work.
Do you know exactly what the difference is between an editor and a proof reader by the way?
A proof reader is responsible for making sure there are no typo’s, the grammar is correct and that’s pretty much it.
An editor will be able to offer ways to improve the script. They will have a brief for how the manuscript should be and will read through and change the manuscript ( or tell YOU to do it) where they feel it needs improvement.
It helps if the editor is familiar with what you are writing about but it is not a problem if they don’t. That’s what those lengthy dedications are for in non-fictional books; all those people have either read the script before publication or offered information or tips that has helped improve the script.
Imagine for instance you are writing a travel book about a district in Italy. English speaking people familiar with the area or people working in the tourist industry would be able to help improve the quality of the content further. And for a free copy and a dedication in the book, most people would be happy to help.
The next 5 chapters will take a very close look at each of the 5 print on demand options I have mentioned earlier because rest of the printing process varies depending on which one of them you go for.
