Self-Publishing questions

Stella Abzug wrote:

 > In article <VuednXoMe_O7hWXcRVn-qQ RemoveThis @giganews.com>,
 > Ed Lake <detect RemoveThis @newsguy.com> wrote:
 >
  >> I'm in the process of self-publishing a book, but I sometimes feel that
  >> I'm doing something that is totally out of the ordinary.
  >>
  >> I've completely typeset the book (except for the index), but when I
  >> asked some book manufacturers to look at a sample chapter to confirm
  >> that it's what they are looking for, I haven't gotten any response.
  >> Maybe it takes a few days, but I'm worrying that I'm doing something
  >> totally wrong and everyone is just afraid to tell me.
  >>
  >> Or maybe book manufacturers have so many people asking them questions
  >> that they just don't bother responding (except to supply a quote) until
  >> after you've signed a contract.
  >>
 > Book printers print books. They do not critique book designs. They
 > expect to receive a file in a format (PDF) that they can use to output
 > the printing plates.
 >
 > Try to find an experienced book designer or a book organization (such as
 > one of the affiliate groups listed at the Publishers Marketing
 > Association (http://www.pma-online.org)) to help you determine if the
 > book is properly formatted. (Ask yourself, does it "look like a book?"
 > -- Compare your layout to books you find in bookstores.)
 >
 > Looking at your sample chapter PDF, I see numerous typography errors.
 > Hyphen instead of em-dash, widows and orphans everywhere... (you should
 > avoid starting a page with a partial line, and if possible, you should
 > avoid ending a page with the first line of a paragraph.) The running
 > heads are set rather large ... and too high. (Running heads should be on
 > about the 2nd line above the main text block -- there should be
 > sufficient space above so that it doesn't look crowded.
 >
 > You need to spend time with the Chicago Manual of Style to learn a bit
 > more about how a book looks.
 >
 > On the other hand, your sample isn't the worst layout I've seen by an
 > amateur. Your selection of typeface is decent (American Garamond) and
 > while 12 pts is a little on the large size for a book, the various
 > Garamonds tend to set small, so 12 pts is probably OK. (I didn't print
 > the book out to see what it looked like.)
 >
 >
  >> Anyway, they say I have to supply the book in .pdf format. No problem.
  >> I used Quark XPress to create .pdf files. A sample chapter can be
<font color=green>  >> found here: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font" target="_blank">http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font</a>>
  >>
  >> While I'm waiting for a response on whether that format is okay or not,
  >> I wanted to work on the cover. I figured I would design the cover using
  >> Corel Draw, which I've used for years.
  >>
  >> But when I try to create .pdf files from Corel Draw, none of the fonts
  >> work as expected. Most don't work at all, and the rest don't look like
  >> they did when they were a Corel Draw file.
 >
 > Corel Draw was distributed (at one point) with a large selection of
 > Bitstream fonts. Due to an error, those fonts were generated with the
 > "do not embed" flag set ... making them not work in a PDF. The error was
 > corrected and a "fixed" Corel Draw was re-distributed. Be sure that you
 > have the most current Corel Draw.
 >
 > I've heard, too, that the Corel Draw PDF generator isn't always the most
 > reliable. You might try outputting the file as PostScript. (Under
 > Windows, install a generic PostScript printer (on port "none"-- do not
 > make it your default printer). Then "print" the file to disk using the
 > PostScript driver to generate a .PS file. Use Acrobat Distiller ($299
 > from Adobe as part of the full Acrobat program) or one of the
 > alternative distiller programs (Jaws PDF Creator, about $79, use Google
 > and search for Jaws PDF or PDF Factory (http://www.pdffactory.com) for
 > about $49) to process the .PS file into a PDF.
 >
 >
 >
 >
  >>
  >> I'm thinking maybe I have to export the Corel file in .wmf format and
  >> import it into Quark Express. But is Quark Xpress really for creating
  >> covers?
 >
 > Probably not the best approach ... but that might work.
 >
  >>
  >> Can anyone here point me in the right direction to get some help on this?
  >>
  >> I've got the ISBN number coming late next week or the week after. I'd
  >> like to have everything done the moment it arrives.
  >>
 >
 > Personally, I prefer to prepare images in Photoshop or Adobe
 > Illustrator, then import the image into InDesign to assemble the cover
 > and do the typography.
 >
 > Remember that a cover layout is one piece, like this:
 >
 > [ back ][ s ][ front ]
 > [ cover ][ p ][ cover ]
 > [ ][ i ][ ]
 > [ ][ n ][ ]
 > [ ][ e ][ ]
 >
 >
 > Before you can finalize the cover art, you need to confirm the spine
 > width with the printer and paper you're going to use for the book.
 > [
Stella gives excellent advice. Perhaps instead of doing it all yourself you
could hire a book coach or packager. My list of such vendors is here:
Book packagers/coaches/consultants:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://wexfordpress.com/tex/packagers.pdf" target="_blank">http://wexfordpress.com/tex/packagers.pdf</a>

--
John Culleton
Able Indexers and Typesetters<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

Stella Abzug wrote:
 > In article <VuednXoMe_O7hWXcRVn-qQ RemoveThis @giganews.com>,
 > Ed Lake <detect RemoveThis @newsguy.com> wrote:
 >
 >
  >>I'm in the process of self-publishing a book, but I sometimes feel that
  >>I'm doing something that is totally out of the ordinary.
  >>
  >>I've completely typeset the book (except for the index), but when I
  >>asked some book manufacturers to look at a sample chapter to confirm
  >>that it's what they are looking for, I haven't gotten any response.
  >>Maybe it takes a few days, but I'm worrying that I'm doing something
  >>totally wrong and everyone is just afraid to tell me.
  >>
  >>Or maybe book manufacturers have so many people asking them questions
  >>that they just don't bother responding (except to supply a quote) until
  >>after you've signed a contract.
  >>
 >
 > Book printers print books. They do not critique book designs. They
 > expect to receive a file in a format (PDF) that they can use to output
 > the printing plates.

Stella,

That's my point. I'm not looking for a "critique". I'm looking to see
if the .pdf file is what they need to print the book.

The idea is to make sure I'm on the right track with everything BEFORE I
send them a disk.

 >
 > Try to find an experienced book designer or a book organization (such as
 > one of the affiliate groups listed at the Publishers Marketing
 > Association (http://www.pma-online.org)) to help you determine if the
 > book is properly formatted. (Ask yourself, does it "look like a book?"
 > -- Compare your layout to books you find in bookstores.)
 >
 > Looking at your sample chapter PDF, I see numerous typography errors.
 > Hyphen instead of em-dash, widows and orphans everywhere... (you should
 > avoid starting a page with a partial line, and if possible, you should
 > avoid ending a page with the first line of a paragraph.) The running
 > heads are set rather large ... and too high. (Running heads should be on
 > about the 2nd line above the main text block -- there should be
 > sufficient space above so that it doesn't look crowded.
 >

You're the second person to mention "widows". I have a library of over
4,000 books, and picking 10 at random, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has
paragraphs beginning on the last line.

Even the book on Self-Publishing I've been using has paragraphs which
start on the last line of a page.

I don't understand how anyone can think this can be a problem.

I also don't know what you mean about "Hyphen instead of em-dash".

 > You need to spend time with the Chicago Manual of Style to learn a bit
 > more about how a book looks.
 >
 > On the other hand, your sample isn't the worst layout I've seen by an
 > amateur. Your selection of typeface is decent (American Garamond) and
 > while 12 pts is a little on the large size for a book, the various
 > Garamonds tend to set small, so 12 pts is probably OK. (I didn't print
 > the book out to see what it looked like.)
 >

I orignally set it in Garamond 12, but that wouldn't convert to .pdf.
So, I had to redo the entire book into American Garamond - even though
it seems smaller than Garamond. When I print it out in 9x6 size, it
looks okay to me. I certainly wouldn't want the print to be smaller.

 >
 >
  >>Anyway, they say I have to supply the book in .pdf format. No problem.
  >> I used Quark XPress to create .pdf files. A sample chapter can be
<font color=green>  >>found here: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font" target="_blank">http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font</a>>
  >>
  >>While I'm waiting for a response on whether that format is okay or not,
  >>I wanted to work on the cover. I figured I would design the cover using
  >>Corel Draw, which I've used for years.
  >>
  >>But when I try to create .pdf files from Corel Draw, none of the fonts
  >>work as expected. Most don't work at all, and the rest don't look like
  >>they did when they were a Corel Draw file.
 >
 >
 > Corel Draw was distributed (at one point) with a large selection of
 > Bitstream fonts. Due to an error, those fonts were generated with the
 > "do not embed" flag set ... making them not work in a PDF. The error was
 > corrected and a "fixed" Corel Draw was re-distributed. Be sure that you
 > have the most current Corel Draw.
 >
 > I've heard, too, that the Corel Draw PDF generator isn't always the most
 > reliable. You might try outputting the file as PostScript. (Under
 > Windows, install a generic PostScript printer (on port "none"-- do not
 > make it your default printer). Then "print" the file to disk using the
 > PostScript driver to generate a .PS file. Use Acrobat Distiller ($299
 > from Adobe as part of the full Acrobat program) or one of the
 > alternative distiller programs (Jaws PDF Creator, about $79, use Google
 > and search for Jaws PDF or PDF Factory (http://www.pdffactory.com) for
 > about $49) to process the .PS file into a PDF.
 >

I've already got Quark Xpress set up to print .pdfs to a "PostScript
printer" file. It's set up as a Tektronix Phase 840 printer. The
example I put on-line was created that way.

 >
 >
 >
 >
  >>I'm thinking maybe I have to export the Corel file in .wmf format and
  >>import it into Quark Express. But is Quark Xpress really for creating
  >>covers?
 >
 >
 > Probably not the best approach ... but that might work.

 >
  >>Can anyone here point me in the right direction to get some help on this?
  >>
  >>I've got the ISBN number coming late next week or the week after. I'd
  >>like to have everything done the moment it arrives.
  >>
 >
 >
 > Personally, I prefer to prepare images in Photoshop or Adobe
 > Illustrator, then import the image into InDesign to assemble the cover
 > and do the typography.
 >
 > Remember that a cover layout is one piece, like this:
 >
 > [ back ][ s ][ front ]
 > [ cover ][ p ][ cover ]
 > [ ][ i ][ ]
 > [ ][ n ][ ]
 > [ ][ e ][ ]
 >
 >
 > Before you can finalize the cover art, you need to confirm the spine
 > width with the printer and paper you're going to use for the book.
 > [

Yeah, I've already done that. There's a table in the book on
Self-Publishing I've been using as a guide. The table says 272 pages at
444 ppi equals a 5/8 inch spine.

I had a .pdf of the cover on an on-line file, but when people looked at
it they said the background image was too grainy. I fixed that by
resampling the image, but now the file is too large (10 megs) to work
on-line.

It was created with Corel Draw 8, then saved as a .wmf file. I then
opened the .wmf file and saved it as a .pdf file. That seems to work.

Here's an early .jpg version which shows some of the lines I use to make
certain things are properly centered:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/Cover.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/Cover.jpg</a>

All those extra lines (including the ones which define the spine) will
be removed before I send it to a printer.

Ed<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

John Culleton wrote:

 > Stella Abzug wrote:
 >
 >
  >>In article <VuednXoMe_O7hWXcRVn-qQ RemoveThis @giganews.com>,
  >> Ed Lake <detect RemoveThis @newsguy.com> wrote:
  >>
  >>
   >>>I'm in the process of self-publishing a book, but I sometimes feel that
   >>>I'm doing something that is totally out of the ordinary.
   >>>
   >>>I've completely typeset the book (except for the index), but when I
   >>>asked some book manufacturers to look at a sample chapter to confirm
   >>>that it's what they are looking for, I haven't gotten any response.
   >>>Maybe it takes a few days, but I'm worrying that I'm doing something
   >>>totally wrong and everyone is just afraid to tell me.
   >>>
   >>>Or maybe book manufacturers have so many people asking them questions
   >>>that they just don't bother responding (except to supply a quote) until
   >>>after you've signed a contract.
   >>>
  >>
  >>Book printers print books. They do not critique book designs. They
  >>expect to receive a file in a format (PDF) that they can use to output
  >>the printing plates.
  >>
  >>Try to find an experienced book designer or a book organization (such as
  >>one of the affiliate groups listed at the Publishers Marketing
  >>Association (http://www.pma-online.org)) to help you determine if the
  >>book is properly formatted. (Ask yourself, does it "look like a book?"
  >>-- Compare your layout to books you find in bookstores.)
  >>
  >>Looking at your sample chapter PDF, I see numerous typography errors.
  >>Hyphen instead of em-dash, widows and orphans everywhere... (you should
  >>avoid starting a page with a partial line, and if possible, you should
  >>avoid ending a page with the first line of a paragraph.) The running
  >>heads are set rather large ... and too high. (Running heads should be on
  >>about the 2nd line above the main text block -- there should be
  >>sufficient space above so that it doesn't look crowded.
  >>
  >>You need to spend time with the Chicago Manual of Style to learn a bit
  >>more about how a book looks.
  >>
  >>On the other hand, your sample isn't the worst layout I've seen by an
  >>amateur. Your selection of typeface is decent (American Garamond) and
  >>while 12 pts is a little on the large size for a book, the various
  >>Garamonds tend to set small, so 12 pts is probably OK. (I didn't print
  >>the book out to see what it looked like.)
  >>
  >>
  >>
   >>>Anyway, they say I have to supply the book in .pdf format. No problem.
   >>> I used Quark XPress to create .pdf files. A sample chapter can be
<font color=brown>   >>>found here: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font" target="_blank">http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font</a>>
   >>>
   >>>While I'm waiting for a response on whether that format is okay or not,
   >>>I wanted to work on the cover. I figured I would design the cover using
   >>>Corel Draw, which I've used for years.
   >>>
   >>>But when I try to create .pdf files from Corel Draw, none of the fonts
   >>>work as expected. Most don't work at all, and the rest don't look like
   >>>they did when they were a Corel Draw file.
  >>
  >>Corel Draw was distributed (at one point) with a large selection of
  >>Bitstream fonts. Due to an error, those fonts were generated with the
  >>"do not embed" flag set ... making them not work in a PDF. The error was
  >>corrected and a "fixed" Corel Draw was re-distributed. Be sure that you
  >>have the most current Corel Draw.
  >>
  >>I've heard, too, that the Corel Draw PDF generator isn't always the most
  >>reliable. You might try outputting the file as PostScript. (Under
  >>Windows, install a generic PostScript printer (on port "none"-- do not
  >>make it your default printer). Then "print" the file to disk using the
  >>PostScript driver to generate a .PS file. Use Acrobat Distiller ($299
  >>from Adobe as part of the full Acrobat program) or one of the
  >>alternative distiller programs (Jaws PDF Creator, about $79, use Google
  >>and search for Jaws PDF or PDF Factory (http://www.pdffactory.com) for
  >>about $49) to process the .PS file into a PDF.
  >>
  >>
  >>
  >>
  >>
   >>>I'm thinking maybe I have to export the Corel file in .wmf format and
   >>>import it into Quark Express. But is Quark Xpress really for creating
   >>>covers?
  >>
  >>Probably not the best approach ... but that might work.
  >>
  >>
   >>>Can anyone here point me in the right direction to get some help on this?
   >>>
   >>>I've got the ISBN number coming late next week or the week after. I'd
   >>>like to have everything done the moment it arrives.
   >>>
  >>
  >>Personally, I prefer to prepare images in Photoshop or Adobe
  >>Illustrator, then import the image into InDesign to assemble the cover
  >>and do the typography.
  >>
  >>Remember that a cover layout is one piece, like this:
  >>
  >>[ back ][ s ][ front ]
  >>[ cover ][ p ][ cover ]
  >>[ ][ i ][ ]
  >>[ ][ n ][ ]
  >>[ ][ e ][ ]
  >>
  >>
  >>Before you can finalize the cover art, you need to confirm the spine
  >>width with the printer and paper you're going to use for the book.
  >>[
 >
 > Stella gives excellent advice. Perhaps instead of doing it all yourself you
 > could hire a book coach or packager. My list of such vendors is here:
 > Book packagers/coaches/consultants:
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://wexfordpress.com/tex/packagers.pdf</font" target="_blank">http://wexfordpress.com/tex/packagers.pdf</font</a>>
 >

John,

That's not an option. It's either a matter of doing it myself or not
doing it.

I can do in days what a "pro" would take weeks to do when working on an
hourly rate. I just need to make sure that what I'm doing is printable.

Snazzy design and fancy fonts aren't going to help much. People are
either going to buy the book because they want to read what I have to
say, or they're not going to buy the book at all.

I don't want to put out something that looks like "garbage", but I also
don't want to get into debates with people who have their own special
preferences and see everything else as wrong.

I think the sample chapter LOOKS okay. What concerns me is whether or
not a printer can print from it. When it displays on my computer
screen, it fills the screen, but I can also VIEW it "actual size".
However, when I print it on a printer, it prints as 8-1/2 by 11 and
there doesn't seem to be any way to tell the printer to print it "actual
size".

I assume that when the book manufacturer uses the .pdf file to create
plates (or whatever they create) they don't use standard .pdf viewing
software, and they won't have any problem creating it "actual size". I
would just like confirmation of that.

I want to get everything in order BEFORE sending the disk to the book
manufacturer. I don't want to send them a disk and have them tell me
that nothing is printable and that I have to do everything over or pay
them to do it all over.

I have to wait another week or two for the Library of Congress Card
Number and the ISBN, so this seems the time to clear up some of these
questions.

Plus, I don't want to create the index until I'm certain I won't have to
redo the font (which could change the page numbers).

Ed<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

In article <vNSdnagfSa6Lu2TcRVn-qw DeleteThis @giganews.com>,
Ed Lake <detect DeleteThis @newsguy.com> wrote:
<snip>
 > John,
 >
 > That's not an option. It's either a matter of doing it myself or not
 > doing it.
 >
 > I can do in days what a "pro" would take weeks to do when working on an
 > hourly rate. I just need to make sure that what I'm doing is printable.
 >
 > Snazzy design and fancy fonts aren't going to help much. People are
 > either going to buy the book because they want to read what I have to
 > say, or they're not going to buy the book at all.
 >
 > I don't want to put out something that looks like "garbage", but I also
 > don't want to get into debates with people who have their own special
 > preferences and see everything else as wrong.

Poor design can hurt the sales of a book. A great design won't help sell
a truly bad book. What happens is that buyers for bookstores won't touch
a book if it falls too far below a reasonable level of production
standards, cutting off potential retail buyers. Hard as it may be to
believe, people do, indeed, judge books by their covers!

 >
 > I think the sample chapter LOOKS okay. What concerns me is whether or
 > not a printer can print from it. When it displays on my computer
 > screen, it fills the screen, but I can also VIEW it "actual size".
 > However, when I print it on a printer, it prints as 8-1/2 by 11 and
 > there doesn't seem to be any way to tell the printer to print it "actual
 > size".
 >

The trick is to deselect "fit to page" in the print dialog (usually
under Acrobat options --- I'm in a Mac environment, so I'm not sure
exactly where the option is hidden. It's a tricky option. You _think_
you want to "fit the output to the page" ... but what "fit to page" does
is add a margin around letter size documents and print them smaller (to
avoid any clipping of bleeds) and increase the size of smaller documents
to fill out a letter size page. It's default is selected, so it tricks a
lot of folks.



 > I assume that when the book manufacturer uses the .pdf file to create
 > plates (or whatever they create) they don't use standard .pdf viewing
 > software, and they won't have any problem creating it "actual size". I
 > would just like confirmation of that.

Once you've selected a printer (see <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.aeonix.com" target="_blank">http://www.aeonix.com</a> and select the
"list of book printers" for a good discussion and selection of qualified
book printers), you can send a small test file for them to output. They
can then advise you any specifics they have in creating the PDFs. Youre
usually "safe" if you have an option that allows creation of a PDF/x-1A
complient PDF. (PDF/X-1A is a standard set of job options for exchange
of print ready files, primarily for ad agencies and magazines.)

I suspect that your file will print at the appropriate size, even with
the limited Acrobat Reader, once you deselect the "fit to page" option.


 >
 > I want to get everything in order BEFORE sending the disk to the book
 > manufacturer. I don't want to send them a disk and have them tell me
 > that nothing is printable and that I have to do everything over or pay
 > them to do it all over.
 >
 > I have to wait another week or two for the Library of Congress Card
 > Number and the ISBN, so this seems the time to clear up some of these
 > questions.
 >
 > Plus, I don't want to create the index until I'm certain I won't have to
 > redo the font (which could change the page numbers).
 >
The PDF is probably OK. So I don't think you'll need to do it over
(completely).<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

In article <0-mdnacx-slKv2TcRVn-iA RemoveThis @giganews.com>,
Ed Lake <detect RemoveThis @newsguy.com> wrote:

 > Stella Abzug wrote:
  > > In article <VuednXoMe_O7hWXcRVn-qQ RemoveThis @giganews.com>,
  > > Ed Lake <detect RemoveThis @newsguy.com> wrote:
<snip>
  > > Book printers print books. They do not critique book designs. They
  > > expect to receive a file in a format (PDF) that they can use to output
  > > the printing plates.
 >
 > Stella,
 >
 > That's my point. I'm not looking for a "critique". I'm looking to see
 > if the .pdf file is what they need to print the book.
 >
 > The idea is to make sure I'm on the right track with everything BEFORE I
 > send them a disk.
 >

See my response to your exchange with John.

  > >
  > > Try to find an experienced book designer or a book organization (such as
  > > one of the affiliate groups listed at the Publishers Marketing
  > > Association (http://www.pma-online.org)) to help you determine if the
  > > book is properly formatted. (Ask yourself, does it "look like a book?"
  > > -- Compare your layout to books you find in bookstores.)
  > >
  > > Looking at your sample chapter PDF, I see numerous typography errors.
  > > Hyphen instead of em-dash, widows and orphans everywhere... (you should
  > > avoid starting a page with a partial line, and if possible, you should
  > > avoid ending a page with the first line of a paragraph.) The running
  > > heads are set rather large ... and too high. (Running heads should be on
  > > about the 2nd line above the main text block -- there should be
  > > sufficient space above so that it doesn't look crowded.
  > >
 >
 > You're the second person to mention "widows". I have a library of over
 > 4,000 books, and picking 10 at random, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has
 > paragraphs beginning on the last line.
 >
 > Even the book on Self-Publishing I've been using has paragraphs which
 > start on the last line of a page.
 >
 > I don't understand how anyone can think this can be a problem.
 >

The "rules" of typesetting discourage starting a new paragraph on the
last line of a page. I recently typeset a book where this standard was
quite strictly enforced. The end product has _no_ pages that end with a
first line of a paragraph. (It was annoying as it required more work on
my part.) This, however, is not a most serious problem. The less
attractive problem is to start a page with a short line. While it is
"acceptable" for the first line of a page to be no less than 3/4 of the
width of the text block, I prefer to never have a seriously short line
starting a page. (Note, books with extensive dialog where paragraphs
often are one line or less are another matter-- you can't do much with a
paragraph that reads, "Bill said, 'yeah.'")

This is controlled by running pages one or two lines shorter than the
design spec or a line longer. (The opposing page in the spread is also
adjusted to match so that the left and right pages both end on the same
line).

 > I also don't know what you mean about "Hyphen instead of em-dash".
 >

In typesetting there's the hyphen "-" that's used to split a long word
that won't completely fit at the end of a line. It's usually on the key
next to the zero.

The "en-dash" is slightly longer than a hyphen. It is used between
numbers or times: The score was 9-3, The meeting will be noon-5:00. (In
these cases the en-dash should be used, but it can't be done in email or
on usenet.)

The "em-dash" is typically shown as two hyphens "--" when you type on an
old-fashioned typewriter. It is called an em-dash because it's about the
width of the letter "M". If you are using MS-Word, you'll note that (if
the autocorrect feature is on) that when you type two hyphens next to
each other--without spaces before or after--then Word will change them
to a dash. The em-dash is used to show a switch in thought--like this.
It is somewhat similar to parenthesis.

If you're using Quark Xpress, there is some way to input the appropriate
en- or em-dashes. On a Mac, the en-dash is option-hyphen and the em-dash
is shift-option-hyphen. Windows has something wholly different. Quark
may have a display of "symbols" that you can perhaps double click to get
the proper character into your file. Worst case, go to Word, type some
sentences with--in them. Select and copy/paste to get the converted dash
into your Quark file.


<snip>
 >
 > Yeah, I've already done that. There's a table in the book on
 > Self-Publishing I've been using as a guide. The table says 272 pages at
 > 444 ppi equals a 5/8 inch spine.


That's helpful for planning purposes ... but each printer uses different
paper. 55 or 60 lb. paper (what I'd normally suggest for a trade book)
comes in at 360 to 450 pages per inch. That's a range of about 3/4 inch
down to about 6/10 inch. Spine width must _always_ be confirmed with the
printer once one has been selected -- you have no way of knowing the
specifics of the paper they use beforehand.

<snip>
 > Here's an early .jpg version which shows some of the lines I use to make
 > certain things are properly centered:
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/Cover.jpg</font" target="_blank">http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/Cover.jpg</font</a>>
 >
 > All those extra lines (including the ones which define the spine) will
 > be removed before I send it to a printer.
 >

I hope you're planning some text for the back cover. If the
self-publishing book you're using is Dan Poynter's The Self Publishing
Manual, he has reasonably good advice about what should be on a back
cover. I think you can download some free info from his web site at
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.parapublishing.com" target="_blank">http://www.parapublishing.com</a>

I'd drop the sub-title from the spine and make the main title larger. In
bookstores, most books are positioned spine out, so you want the title
very easy to read.

BTW, if you check out Poynter's cover instructions, he suggests stacking
the letters one below the next on the spine. (In theory, you can then
read the spine without tilting your head.) While that works with _some_
titles, it usually doesn't work that well. I'd ignore that particular
bit of his advice.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

Stella Abzug wrote:
 > In article <vNSdnagfSa6Lu2TcRVn-qw.TakeThisOut@giganews.com>,
 > Ed Lake <detect.TakeThisOut@newsguy.com> wrote:
 > <snip>
 >
  >>John,
  >>
  >>That's not an option. It's either a matter of doing it myself or not
  >>doing it.
  >>
  >>I can do in days what a "pro" would take weeks to do when working on an
  >>hourly rate. I just need to make sure that what I'm doing is printable.
  >>
  >>Snazzy design and fancy fonts aren't going to help much. People are
  >>either going to buy the book because they want to read what I have to
  >>say, or they're not going to buy the book at all.
  >>
  >>I don't want to put out something that looks like "garbage", but I also
  >>don't want to get into debates with people who have their own special
  >>preferences and see everything else as wrong.
 >
 >
 > Poor design can hurt the sales of a book. A great design won't help sell
 > a truly bad book. What happens is that buyers for bookstores won't touch
 > a book if it falls too far below a reasonable level of production
 > standards, cutting off potential retail buyers. Hard as it may be to
 > believe, people do, indeed, judge books by their covers!

Stella,

I think the sales of the book will depend ENTIRELY on the buzz it
generates. During the past three years, I've come to know about two
dozen of America's top reporters plus a dozen top scientists. I'll be
sending them copies of the book. Plus, fans of my web site are looking
forward to reading the book. If they don't start talking about it, then
the book doesn't deserve to sell. I'll just chalk it up to one of
life's mysteries.

If the book generates buzz, then I'll use their comments to promote the
book.

 >
 >
  >>I think the sample chapter LOOKS okay. What concerns me is whether or
  >>not a printer can print from it. When it displays on my computer
  >>screen, it fills the screen, but I can also VIEW it "actual size".
  >>However, when I print it on a printer, it prints as 8-1/2 by 11 and
  >>there doesn't seem to be any way to tell the printer to print it "actual
  >>size".
  >>
 >
 >
 > The trick is to deselect "fit to page" in the print dialog (usually
 > under Acrobat options --- I'm in a Mac environment, so I'm not sure
 > exactly where the option is hidden. It's a tricky option. You _think_
 > you want to "fit the output to the page" ... but what "fit to page" does
 > is add a margin around letter size documents and print them smaller (to
 > avoid any clipping of bleeds) and increase the size of smaller documents
 > to fill out a letter size page. It's default is selected, so it tricks a
 > lot of folks.
 >

I like the fact that it prints large. I just don't want it to print
that way when the book manufacturer does the setup for printing. It's
also great for viewing it on the computer screen.

Right this moment I'm printing out the entire book that way so that I
can go over it looking for problems while also building the index.

 >
 >
  >>I assume that when the book manufacturer uses the .pdf file to create
  >>plates (or whatever they create) they don't use standard .pdf viewing
  >>software, and they won't have any problem creating it "actual size". I
  >>would just like confirmation of that.
 >
 >
 > Once you've selected a printer (see <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.aeonix.com" target="_blank">http://www.aeonix.com</a> and select the
 > "list of book printers" for a good discussion and selection of qualified
 > book printers), you can send a small test file for them to output. They
 > can then advise you any specifics they have in creating the PDFs. Youre
 > usually "safe" if you have an option that allows creation of a PDF/x-1A
 > complient PDF. (PDF/X-1A is a standard set of job options for exchange
 > of print ready files, primarily for ad agencies and magazines.)

I've pretty much selected a book manufacturer to go with. And I gave
them the sample chapter. They're supposed to get back to me in 5 to 10
days. (The representative didn't tell me that when I talked with her; I
had to find that out by going through their web site looking for
information on how they do business.)

 > I suspect that your file will print at the appropriate size, even with
 > the limited Acrobat Reader, once you deselect the "fit to page" option.
 >
 >
 >
  >>I want to get everything in order BEFORE sending the disk to the book
  >>manufacturer. I don't want to send them a disk and have them tell me
  >>that nothing is printable and that I have to do everything over or pay
  >>them to do it all over.
  >>
  >>I have to wait another week or two for the Library of Congress Card
  >>Number and the ISBN, so this seems the time to clear up some of these
  >>questions.
  >>
  >>Plus, I don't want to create the index until I'm certain I won't have to
  >>redo the font (which could change the page numbers).
  >>
 >
 > The PDF is probably OK. So I don't think you'll need to do it over
 > (completely).

Yes, I think so, too. I'm printing out the book so I can build the index.

And I'll call the representative tomorrow to see if there's anything I
can do to get things moving.

Thanks.

Ed<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

Stella Abzug wrote:

 > In article <0-mdnacx-slKv2TcRVn-iA.RemoveThis@giganews.com>,
 > Ed Lake <detect.RemoveThis@newsguy.com> wrote:
 >
 >
 > <snip>
 >
 >
  >>Yeah, I've already done that. There's a table in the book on
  >>Self-Publishing I've been using as a guide. The table says 272 pages at
  >>444 ppi equals a 5/8 inch spine.
 >
 >
 >
 > That's helpful for planning purposes ... but each printer uses different
 > paper. 55 or 60 lb. paper (what I'd normally suggest for a trade book)
 > comes in at 360 to 450 pages per inch. That's a range of about 3/4 inch
 > down to about 6/10 inch. Spine width must _always_ be confirmed with the
 > printer once one has been selected -- you have no way of knowing the
 > specifics of the paper they use beforehand.

Yes, I know that. The 444 ppi number I used is the number the top
choice in book manufacturers gave me.

 > <snip>
 >
  >>Here's an early .jpg version which shows some of the lines I use to make
  >>certain things are properly centered:
  >>http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/Cover.jpg
  >>
  >>All those extra lines (including the ones which define the spine) will
  >>be removed before I send it to a printer.
  >>
 >
 >
 > I hope you're planning some text for the back cover. If the
 > self-publishing book you're using is Dan Poynter's The Self Publishing
 > Manual, he has reasonably good advice about what should be on a back
 > cover. I think you can download some free info from his web site at
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.parapublishing.com</font" target="_blank">http://www.parapublishing.com</font</a>>
 >

Actually, I'm thinking of leaving the back page the way it is -- with no
text. I want to keep it as simple as possible in case the book
manufacturer can't work with the files I give him and has to do the
fonts over.

I can see the point of putting quotes on the back cover to sell the
book, but in this first edition I won't have any quotes. No one on
earth has read this book but me. Maybe in the second edition I'll do
all the sales stuff - unless the book takes off.

The ideal situation is that the book will sell a few thousand copies and
some regular publisher will want to do it over to get it to a bigger
market. It has that potential (even though I realize everyone probably
feels that way about their book).

I'm looking at this first edition the same way other authors might look
at sending out galleys. Fancy isn't important. Words are what is
important. Reviews are important. Buzz is important.


 > I'd drop the sub-title from the spine and make the main title larger. In
 > bookstores, most books are positioned spine out, so you want the title
 > very easy to read.
 >

Yeah. Reading over the recommendations on the book manufacturer's web
site, they recommend avoiding the fine line outline of fonts. I'm going
to have to simplify things to avoid problems.

 > BTW, if you check out Poynter's cover instructions, he suggests stacking
 > the letters one below the next on the spine. (In theory, you can then
 > read the spine without tilting your head.) While that works with _some_
 > titles, it usually doesn't work that well. I'd ignore that particular
 > bit of his advice.

Thanks, but I'll stick with the standard way.

Ed<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

Ed Lake wrote:

 > I'm in the process of self-publishing a book, but I sometimes feel that
 > I'm doing something that is totally out of the ordinary.
 >
 > I've completely typeset the book (except for the index), but when I
 > asked some book manufacturers to look at a sample chapter to confirm
 > that it's what they are looking for, I haven't gotten any response.
 > Maybe it takes a few days, but I'm worrying that I'm doing something
 > totally wrong and everyone is just afraid to tell me.
 >
 > Or maybe book manufacturers have so many people asking them questions
 > that they just don't bother responding (except to supply a quote) until
 > after you've signed a contract.
 >
 > Anyway, they say I have to supply the book in .pdf format. No problem.
 > I used Quark XPress to create .pdf files. A sample chapter can be
<font color=purple> > found here: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font" target="_blank">http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font</a>>
 >
 > While I'm waiting for a response on whether that format is okay or not,
 > I wanted to work on the cover. I figured I would design the cover using
 > Corel Draw, which I've used for years.
 >
 > But when I try to create .pdf files from Corel Draw, none of the fonts
 > work as expected. Most don't work at all, and the rest don't look like
 > they did when they were a Corel Draw file.
 >
 > I'm thinking maybe I have to export the Corel file in .wmf format and
 > import it into Quark Express. But is Quark Xpress really for creating
 > covers?
 >
 > Can anyone here point me in the right direction to get some help on this?
 >
 > I've got the ISBN number coming late next week or the week after. I'd
 > like to have everything done the moment it arrives.
 >
 > Ed

Quark Xpress is for any complex layout, including covers. It is in recent
years suffering from spotty support, so that problems with fonts etc. do
occur. The best newsgroup to ask specific Quark questions is
comp.publish.prepress.

Most of your book is text with a few illustrations, so Quark Xpress is both
too much and too little. Too much, because you don't need the fancy
capabilities that it offers in layout. Your book has a very simple layout.
Too little because it doesn't offer the capabilities such as hanging
punctuation, embedded indexing etc. that other programs offer such as TeX
and InDesign. For example if you were working in TeX you could have most of
the indexing done already. Changes in pagination later on would be adjusted
automatically in the index. TeX works that way. Quark doesn't.

To prove my point, I will take your sample chapter, reduce it to plain text,
retypeset it in TeX, scan the illustrations, put them where they logically
occur, and have the whole chapter done in less than a day. Of course the
illustrations will not be of first quality because I don't have the
originals. But there will be no problems with page size, or embedded fonts
or any of the problems you are wrestling with on the interior. I guarantee
that the pdf will be acceptable to any printer.

If you decide that I should do the whole book, then I will give you a bid
based on the whole book. You won't be paying me by the hour. And I will get
the job done faster than you can simply because that is the business I am
in. You will be asked to send me the raw text in e.g., MSWord Doc format,
or plain text and of course copies of your illustrations.

Covers can be created in almost any product, including Quark, Photoshop,
TeX, Scribus, Gimp, Illustrator and so on. Quark is not a bad choice if you
are familiar with it. But there are tricks to that trade also, and covers
do sell books. Or more precisely, amateurish covers unsell books. And there
are little nasties about how close you can come to the edges, and how much
bleed to leave.

There are lots of good people who can do what I can do. They are better and
faster than you because frankly they do it over and over again. So do I.

I'll be sending you a revised pdf for your chapter, with an index, fairly
soon, just as a proof of concept. I may do a little proofreading as well.
Stella seemed to indicate that it needed some light editing.
--
John Culleton
Able Indexers and Typesetters<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

Ed Lake wrote:
 > I'm in the process of self-publishing a book, but I sometimes feel that
 > I'm doing something that is totally out of the ordinary.
 >
 > I've completely typeset the book (except for the index), but when I
 > asked some book manufacturers to look at a sample chapter to confirm
 > that it's what they are looking for, I haven't gotten any response.
 > Maybe it takes a few days, but I'm worrying that I'm doing something
 > totally wrong and everyone is just afraid to tell me.
 >
 > Or maybe book manufacturers have so many people asking them questions
 > that they just don't bother responding (except to supply a quote) until
 > after you've signed a contract.
 >
 > Anyway, they say I have to supply the book in .pdf format. No problem.
 > I used Quark XPress to create .pdf files. A sample chapter can be
<font color=purple> > found here: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font" target="_blank">http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font</a>>
 >
 > While I'm waiting for a response on whether that format is okay or not,
 > I wanted to work on the cover. I figured I would design the cover using
 > Corel Draw, which I've used for years.
 >
 > But when I try to create .pdf files from Corel Draw, none of the fonts
 > work as expected. Most don't work at all, and the rest don't look like
 > they did when they were a Corel Draw file.
 >
 > I'm thinking maybe I have to export the Corel file in .wmf format and
 > import it into Quark Express. But is Quark Xpress really for creating
 > covers?
 >
 > Can anyone here point me in the right direction to get some help on this?
 >
 > I've got the ISBN number coming late next week or the week after. I'd
 > like to have everything done the moment it arrives.
 >
 > Ed
 >
Many (most?) book printers can work from either pdf files or from
files from major layout programs such as Quark or InDeisign. If you have
doubts about the quality of your pdf files, see if they will work from
the Quark files. A smaller printer may be more helpful than the largest,
but will cost more.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

Ned Schrems wrote:

 > Ed Lake wrote:
 >
  >> I'm in the process of self-publishing a book, but I sometimes feel
  >> that I'm doing something that is totally out of the ordinary.
  >>
  >> I've completely typeset the book (except for the index), but when I
  >> asked some book manufacturers to look at a sample chapter to confirm
  >> that it's what they are looking for, I haven't gotten any response.
  >> Maybe it takes a few days, but I'm worrying that I'm doing something
  >> totally wrong and everyone is just afraid to tell me.
  >>
  >> Or maybe book manufacturers have so many people asking them questions
  >> that they just don't bother responding (except to supply a quote)
  >> until after you've signed a contract.
  >>
  >> Anyway, they say I have to supply the book in .pdf format. No
  >> problem. I used Quark XPress to create .pdf files. A sample chapter
<font color=green>  >> can be found here: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font" target="_blank">http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font</a>>
  >>
  >> While I'm waiting for a response on whether that format is okay or
  >> not, I wanted to work on the cover. I figured I would design the
  >> cover using Corel Draw, which I've used for years.
  >>
  >> But when I try to create .pdf files from Corel Draw, none of the fonts
  >> work as expected. Most don't work at all, and the rest don't look
  >> like they did when they were a Corel Draw file.
  >>
  >> I'm thinking maybe I have to export the Corel file in .wmf format and
  >> import it into Quark Express. But is Quark Xpress really for creating
  >> covers?
  >>
  >> Can anyone here point me in the right direction to get some help on this?
  >>
  >> I've got the ISBN number coming late next week or the week after. I'd
  >> like to have everything done the moment it arrives.
  >>
  >> Ed
  >>
 > Many (most?) book printers can work from either pdf files or from
 > files from major layout programs such as Quark or InDeisign. If you have
 > doubts about the quality of your pdf files, see if they will work from
 > the Quark files. A smaller printer may be more helpful than the largest,
 > but will cost more.
 >

Thanks. Evidently the printer is in the process of reviewing the sample
chapter I provided in .pdf format. I told them about it, they said
they'd check it out, and then I learned from their web site that is the
recommended procedure. They said they need 5 to 10 days to check it
out, so that's what I'm waiting on while building the index, and while
waiting for the ISBN and LCCN.

Thanks.

Ed<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

John Culleton wrote:

 > Ed Lake wrote:
 >
 >
  >>I'm in the process of self-publishing a book, but I sometimes feel that
  >>I'm doing something that is totally out of the ordinary.
  >>
  >>I've completely typeset the book (except for the index), but when I
  >>asked some book manufacturers to look at a sample chapter to confirm
  >>that it's what they are looking for, I haven't gotten any response.
  >>Maybe it takes a few days, but I'm worrying that I'm doing something
  >>totally wrong and everyone is just afraid to tell me.
  >>
  >>Or maybe book manufacturers have so many people asking them questions
  >>that they just don't bother responding (except to supply a quote) until
  >>after you've signed a contract.
  >>
  >>Anyway, they say I have to supply the book in .pdf format. No problem.
  >> I used Quark XPress to create .pdf files. A sample chapter can be
<font color=green>  >>found here: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font" target="_blank">http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/06-Nguyen.pdf</font</a>>
  >>
  >>While I'm waiting for a response on whether that format is okay or not,
  >>I wanted to work on the cover. I figured I would design the cover using
  >>Corel Draw, which I've used for years.
  >>
  >>But when I try to create .pdf files from Corel Draw, none of the fonts
  >>work as expected. Most don't work at all, and the rest don't look like
  >>they did when they were a Corel Draw file.
  >>
  >>I'm thinking maybe I have to export the Corel file in .wmf format and
  >>import it into Quark Express. But is Quark Xpress really for creating
  >>covers?
  >>
  >>Can anyone here point me in the right direction to get some help on this?
  >>
  >>I've got the ISBN number coming late next week or the week after. I'd
  >>like to have everything done the moment it arrives.
  >>
  >>Ed
 >
 >
 > Quark Xpress is for any complex layout, including covers. It is in recent
 > years suffering from spotty support, so that problems with fonts etc. do
 > occur. The best newsgroup to ask specific Quark questions is
 > comp.publish.prepress.
 >
 > Most of your book is text with a few illustrations, so Quark Xpress is both
 > too much and too little. Too much, because you don't need the fancy
 > capabilities that it offers in layout. Your book has a very simple layout.
 > Too little because it doesn't offer the capabilities such as hanging
 > punctuation, embedded indexing etc. that other programs offer such as TeX
 > and InDesign. For example if you were working in TeX you could have most of
 > the indexing done already. Changes in pagination later on would be adjusted
 > automatically in the index. TeX works that way. Quark doesn't.
 >
 > To prove my point, I will take your sample chapter, reduce it to plain text,
 > retypeset it in TeX, scan the illustrations, put them where they logically
 > occur, and have the whole chapter done in less than a day. Of course the
 > illustrations will not be of first quality because I don't have the
 > originals. But there will be no problems with page size, or embedded fonts
 > or any of the problems you are wrestling with on the interior. I guarantee
 > that the pdf will be acceptable to any printer.
 >
 > If you decide that I should do the whole book, then I will give you a bid
 > based on the whole book. You won't be paying me by the hour. And I will get
 > the job done faster than you can simply because that is the business I am
 > in. You will be asked to send me the raw text in e.g., MSWord Doc format,
 > or plain text and of course copies of your illustrations.
 >
 > Covers can be created in almost any product, including Quark, Photoshop,
 > TeX, Scribus, Gimp, Illustrator and so on. Quark is not a bad choice if you
 > are familiar with it. But there are tricks to that trade also, and covers
 > do sell books. Or more precisely, amateurish covers unsell books. And there
 > are little nasties about how close you can come to the edges, and how much
 > bleed to leave.
 >
 > There are lots of good people who can do what I can do. They are better and
 > faster than you because frankly they do it over and over again. So do I.
 >
 > I'll be sending you a revised pdf for your chapter, with an index, fairly
 > soon, just as a proof of concept. I may do a little proofreading as well.
 > Stella seemed to indicate that it needed some light editing.

Thanks. Quark XPress 6.5 seems to have an indexing capability. But it
seems more trouble than it's worth. It would save a lot of time if I
was going to revise the book fifty times, but I don't plan to do that.
The book is done. So, I can build an index by hand in less than two
days, while doing it with Quark Xpress's software looks like it would
take MUCH longer.

Plus, while building the index by hand I'm also proof reading it. So
far, I've found three places where I didn't indent a chapter and didn't
notice it on the computer screen, but it's very visible on a printed
page. (Coverting from WORD to Quark required me to re-do 95 percent of
the paragraph indentations.)

I appreciate the help, but my primary objective is to get this book into
print as soon as possible and as inexpensively as I can without
producing a book that is unreadable. As strange as it seems, I'm not
particularly interested in generating sales at this point in time. (It
would be nice if there was a great demand for the book, but I'm only
planning to have 1,000 copies printed to begin with, 2,000 if Amazon.com
tells me there's a high number of pre-orders). I'm more interested in
getting media reviews and scientific opinion.

The media and scientific reaction would govern what any second printing
would look like. If I get a lot of good reviews, I'll certainly put
some of them on a new back cover. If everyone hates the book, I'll have
kept my expenses to the minimum. If they like the book but say it needs
a better cover, a more comprehensive index, more illustrations, more
details about certain subjects, then I'll have some decisions to make.

The first printing may only go to Amazon.com and BarnsandNoble.com. If
so, no one is going to to be picking the book off of from some shelf in
a book store and making a decision based upon how the cover looks.

If some journalists, editors and publishers think the book could be much
better looking, they should talk with a major book publisher and that
major book publisher can make me an offer for them to do a better
version and a larger printing for a larger market.

Thanks.

Ed<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

Ed Lake wrote:


 > If some journalists, editors and publishers think the book could be much
 > better looking, they should talk with a major book publisher and that
 > major book publisher can make me an offer for them to do a better
 > version and a larger printing for a larger market.
 >
 > Thanks.
 >
 > Ed

You should at least correct a few glaring errors:
1. Omit page header line on the first page of a chapter.
2. Put periods and commas inside the quotes, not outside.
3. For non-fiction with illustrations omit indentations and instead leave
white space, usually about the same as a normal lineskip, between
paragraphs.

Good luck,


--
John Culleton
Able Indexers and Typesetters<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions 

John Culleton wrote:

 > Ed Lake wrote:
 >
 >
 >
  >>If some journalists, editors and publishers think the book could be much
  >>better looking, they should talk with a major book publisher and that
  >>major book publisher can make me an offer for them to do a better
  >>version and a larger printing for a larger market.
  >>
  >>Thanks.
  >>
  >>Ed
 >
 >
 > You should at least correct a few glaring errors:
 > 1. Omit page header line on the first page of a chapter.
 > 2. Put periods and commas inside the quotes, not outside.
 > 3. For non-fiction with illustrations omit indentations and instead leave
 > white space, usually about the same as a normal lineskip, between
 > paragraphs.
 >
 > Good luck,
 >
 >
John,

I think I will omit the header lines on the first pages of chapters.
I'm not sure why I did that, but looking through some books in my
library I see omitting those heading lines is normal. And it looks
better. Thanks.

I'll check over the sample chapter to look at the periods and commas
inside and outside the quotes. I thought I had good cause for what I did.

In comment #3, you seem to be saying that, instead of indenting
paragraphs, I should have the paragraphs begin at the margin and
separate paragraphs with a blank line. That ain't gonna happen. That
would require redoing the entire book and expanding its length
considerably. Plus, I can pick a hundred non-fiction books (with
illustrations) out of my library at random and NONE of them will have
paragraphs done that way - unless they are oversize books and PROFUSELY
illustrated (coffee table books). I have 25 illustrations in my book,
and they are all in 5 of the first 8 chapters. After that, it's all
text through chapter 24.

That seems to be a stranger recommendation than the suggestion of
eliminating "widows and orphans" some have recommended. I can't find
ANY book similar to mine which does that.

Thanks, though.

Ed<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Self-Publishing questions