Tag: book layout|book writing

It’s done. You’ve finished the last edit, and your book is now ready for publication.

Except that it isn’t. Whether for ebook or print publication, your manuscript needs to go through some significant computerized transformation.

A number of methods are available to engineer this transformation, too many for this blog post. I will cover five methods, two of which are best for those who intend one or possibly a few books, and two for the person who feels they have loads of books waiting to be written (or who have interest in doing a side business in book design).

The final method is an in-between one.

The One-shot Deal

You can hire a professional book designer who will do both your print edition and ebook layouts. Some designers charge thousands of dollars, and that price is based on a highly complex layout that may have charts, illustrations, and a quantity of other design elements.

If your book has a simpler design, you can go to Fivrr, Upwork, or a similar business, and see the available price ranges.

No matter who you hire, do vet the interior designer. You can judge a book by its interior.

Another approach is to upload a Word document to Kindle Direct Publishing or the appropriately named “Meatgrinder” at Smashwords. Then pray.

I’ve had success at Smashwords, but they have a rulebook for manuscript preparation that will terrify some people. You have been warned.

The Long Haul

Just the word, “Calibre,” will frighten some people almost as much as the Meatgrinder does. It’s a very powerful ebook software program, but many people feel that it’s meant for programmers, not authors. I managed with Meatgrinder, but Calibre mystified me.

Another method is to learn, and I do mean learn, to lay out your book in Adobe InDesign. This desktop publishing app will give you fine-tuned control over your book design. However, you have to invest lots of time and a monthly subscription in a product you might not often use. This is why it’s a long-term investment.

InDesign has a steep learning curve. I found it difficult to use because It Is not Intuitive. A function called one thing In a Microsoft product is called something entirely different in an Adobe product. I do not recommend attempting to learn it unless its use will be a regular part of your job or business.

Vellum

With Vellum, you can format both a print and an ebook version of your manuscript. The cost for this is $249.99. An ebook-only version is $199.99.

That may sound like a lot, but you’re unlikely to pay less to have a book designer format your book. If you have two or three books on your to-do list, you will save. If time to you is money, you’ll save that way, too.

Full disclosure: I have not used Vellum, but I’ve consulted with those who have, and they say that the program is easy to learn and use and that it turns out a nice product.

Caveat: Vellum is for Macs, and the developers of the program have no plans for a PC version. However, a workaround exists. You can buy time on a virtual Mac at a rate of $30 for 30 hours. Even if you add that amount to the purchase price of Vellum, you’re still saving money over hiring a professional.

This link goes further into the use of Vellum by PC owners. https://paulteague.com/how-to-use-vellum-on-a-pc/

Some other pluses of Vellum include the ability to assemble boxed sets of a series, produce advance copies for early feedback, format ebooks for Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and other retail platforms, and a lot more, including a wide choice of book styles.

I consider it worth visiting the Vellum site to read more about its feature. Go to https://vellum.pub.

C Suite executives hire Pat Iyer to help them turn out professionally written and edited books. Contact her through her website at PatIyer.com

Check out Scrivener, a versatile and multifaceted program, for these reasons:

• It’s low-risk, with a 30-day free trial program.
• You can buy it for $49 in either Windows or Macintosh version.
• If you need a form of tutorial assistance in learning it, you can find courses at Udemy and other sites.

Full disclosure: I don’t own Scrivener, but I have writer friends who rave about it. Between their acclaim and what I learned in my research for this post, I’m giving it serious consideration.

Below are highlights of what Scrivener offers.

Goal Checking and Focus

You can set goals for both individual project sessions and for the whole project and periodically check on how you’re doing. You can also avoid distractions by using a full-screen mode that only lets you see your writing screen.

Writing Styles

You can choose between MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), and Chicago styles of writing. Scrivener also has tools for including scientific or mathematical data.

In addition, you can use it for script writing.

Organizational Features

Use Scrivener to import, notes, links, images, and other information in connection with research.

Scrivener’s storyboarding feature creates virtual index cards that you can use to organize sections of a chapter or chapters of a book. A tool called the Corkboard lets you look at them all together.

The Outliner Feature can help you organize your text with folders for sections, chapters, and divisions within chapters.

Help with Self-Publishing

Scrivener is especially useful when it comes to handling the final manuscript. If you choose to self-publish on Kindle and/or elsewhere, you can avoid more expensive formatting routes. Instead, you have the option to export your document to MOBI (Amazon), EPUB (Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and other platforms), or PDF, TXT, RTF, and DOC.

You can also import from Scrivener to Vellum, which provides the opportunity to create an attractive type design for your book.

Downsides

Overall, Scrivener does have a learning curve, and some users describe it as steep. It can take two hours to learn the basics, depending on your general technological agility. On the other hand, many writers feel that you don’t need to learn more than the basics. In addition, even those who complain about the learning curve also rave about the program.

Free Help is Available

 https://medium.com/@EmilyFox/the-best-free-scrivener-resources-f4d32fb47c0c

 Emily Fox, author of Scrivener for Dummies, gives a detailed account of her own challenges in learning this program and provides an invaluable list of free resources to help you with your own learning curve.

It’s also, of course, free to check out what the Scrivener program looks like. Go to https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview to see screenshots of the various features. You can also browse through the features section, testimonials, and the FAQ.

Paid Help is Also Available

 Udemy offers low-cost courses to learn Scrivener in both Windows and Mac formats.

Joseph Michael, a Scrivener expert, offers classes ranging from $127 to $297. He also, from time to time, gives free and useful seminars. If you don’t want to commit at this time, you might want to sign up for his mailing list so you’ll know when a course is available. Go to https://www.learnscrivenerfast.com/?r_done=1#_tcil2ra05

Is Scrivener the best thing invented since moveable type? I don’t know, but in summary, it’s clearly affordable, worth the trouble to learn, and has fervent fans.

It also means you can say good-bye to index cards.

Pat Iyer is a C Suite Network contributor who serves authors as an editor. Reach her though her website at patiyer.com.