3D GRAPHICS SOFTWARE

The written content will always weigh heavily in the buying decision of any book's customer, but so to will what its cover looks like. As a self-published author you have to, therefore, face up to the fact that you need to have a professionally designed cover and, if you lack the artistic skills yourself, then you will need to have one done by a graphic artist. I realise that some of you will most probably be switching off by now. You maybe are saying to yourself, I am going to outsource this problem to someone else and as this is the case then why should I be worried with this? Well, if that is the case then just take a few notes of some of the pitfalls, that you could so easily fall into, if only to make sure that your designer does not!

I am assuming that you want your book to appear in the same format as all the others on sale in your genre? This conformity certainly helps the buyer place your title into the group that they may be selecting their book from and so is to your advantage. With this in mind your book will need to follow certain conventions. As publisher you will have to instruct the printer as to what specification and weight of paper to be used. This applies to both the inside and also the jacket of your book. The thickness of the paper used for the text is also going to have a bearing on the measurements for the books' spine. As the front picture will, very often, wrap around from front to back of the cover, this must also be borne in mind at the design stage. For most novels, or non-fiction types of books that have few illustrations, you will probably stick to using a low-grade cream coloured paper. This, it would seem, is the normal choice for this type of book, rather than the shiny high-grade paper used for the coffee-table format of book.

Selecting the right paper is often a fault made among self-publishers. Some of them will have their books printed on unsuitable paper which is either so thin, that the text shows through from the page on the other side, or so thick that it just feels wrong. Quality of presentation, for the book, can be a really important part of its success, so I would advise you to try to avoid using inappropriate materials if you can.

You will need to have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and a bar code printed on the cover if you are serious about selling it. A lack of a barcode and you will then find booksellers and book wholesalers will not want to stock your book. Without an ISBN and it is yet harder still, for the new self-publisher. Everyone from Internet bookstores, wholesalers and the smallest of independent shops all have stock control systems that rely on the ISBN. It is the data that they use to identify a book with on their computers, when searching for and ordering titles, not to mention their Electronic Point of Sale systems (EPOS).

Registering for an ISBN, in the UK and Ireland, is handled by Nielson BookData (www.nbdrs.com) and in the USA by Bowker (www.bowker.com). If you take a look at their websites you will find that they have help pages for new publishers. It is a reasonably simple process to have an ISBN allocated and you will also find there are various pieces of software for generating the bar code available. As an alternative you can simply go to the free online barcode generator at http://www.tux.org/~milgram/bookland/#online

So, now you have had your cover picture designed and hopefully you are pleased with it. You have included your ISBN and a barcode and so now you must decide on the card for the cover. What to be aware of here is choosing a cover that marks easily! If you make this error then you will have far to many damaged and unsaleable books returned to you as a consequence. Speaking now, from my experience as a bookseller for over19 years, I can tell you that as we unpack the books we will look them over as we put them on the shelves. This is the normal thing for a retailer to do, so please don't think that we must be incredibly fussy! As a rule, any that are marked, scratched, torn or damaged in any other way are simply returned to the publisher for replacement, at their expense! The big publishing houses can handle this wastage. As a self publisher, however, this is going to cost you dear. Your own direct-sell customers are likely to be just as picky with the books you send them, after all who do you know that wants to pay full price for a damaged item? It is so much better to chose a paper that is not going to suffer in transit, in the first place. For this you are going to have to rely on your printer's technical knowledge. Ask them what they would recommend, always bearing in mind your budget.

My final piece of advice to you from the sharp end, so to speak, is that booksellers know that a black cover, or black print, on a matt laminate paper will always mark! Despite this the publishers continue to send out books with this type of finish and we booksellers continue to return them as "damaged on arrival". So chose your paper wisely and take advice from your printer. Remember they will print your book on what ever type of paper that you specify, no matter whether it is suitable or not. As professionals they will probably know the best solution for the job but do as the customer asks of them. Bear in mind the thickness of the paper used inside to make sure the printing on your spine is in the correct place, do include an ISBN and a barcode on the back and do try to steer clear of black covers!

There is more advice for the self-published author in the Write Your Way To Freedom manual and 3 Audio CD pack that my company has compiled for the new author/self-publisher. We are booksellers of 19 years experience and are passionate about books. Having gathered advice, from other experts in the book industry, we packaged it along with some resources on good English and other helpful information on writing and then selling a book. By doing this we are hoping to encourage authors to bring to the marketplace new books or all genre.