Our goal is to simplify the self publishing process and show you how to successfully self publish your book. The information on this page is designed to help guide you step-by-step through the process, but if you should have any questions, please don't hesitate to call us toll free at 1-866-944-2999.

What Is Included?

	Professional Cover Design
	Custom Website to Effectively Sell Your Book Online
	Professional Page Layout
	No Contracts to Sign
	You Retain Full Rights To Your Book
	A Barcode / ISBN Number
	A Printed Proof
	Marketing Advice Unique To Your Book
	Profits are 100% Yours (no royalty agreements)
	Quick / Easy Reprints
	Promotional Posters

We provide both professional cover design and page layout at no additional charge. Simply submit your text and illustrations separately, and our cover design and page layout professionals will take care of providing an outstanding cover design and page layout for your book.

If you prefer not to send your original illustrations by mail or courier, we would recommend scanning your illustrations and sending them to us as jpeg or tiff files. Our FTP site will allow you to easily send any files directly to us no matter the size.

Scanning Tips

There are many brands of scanners available on the market. Even the most inexpensive scanner will be able to produce the high quality images needed for printing. Properly setting your resolution will determine whether your images will be blurry, or print quality. Print resolution is measured in dots per inch (DPI). The more dots used to make up the image, the higher the quality of the image.

For best results, illustrations should be scanned at high resolution (300 DPI) in either the TIFF or JPEG file format. If you are planning to enlarge the size of your illustration to be printed, it would be advisable to scan your illustrations at 600 DPI. Some scanners automatically default to 72 DPI between uses so be careful. Illustrations scanned at 72 DPI would not be considered acceptable for printing.

Note: Higher resolution is not necessarily better. A resolution over 600 DPI will only increase your file size (sometimes dramatically) and cause your computer to run more slowly. 

If you prefer to create your own page layout, please click here for some helpful page layout tips.

Editing Your Manuscript

We would strongly advise having your file edited before you submit your manuscript to be produced. This is to avoid delays in printing due to last minute corrections. Many authors use the services of a friend or family member who is qualified to edit their book. Another popular option is to hire a student from a local college or university to do the editing. A third option is to hire a professional editor. Although we do not provide an editing service, we would be able to recommend a qualified editor.  

Note: As the author, you should not do the final edit. If there are mistakes, you may not catch your own mistakes, no matter how many times you read through your manuscript.

Finding and Working With an Illustrator

When searching for an illustrator, you should ask to see a portfolio of his or her previous work. Do not settle for a style of illustration that does not completely suit the theme of your book. Once you have selected an illustrator for your book, you should write a simple agreement to prevent the terms from changing half way through the process. The following is an example of what should be included in your agreement:

1) The price of the illustrations

2) The timeframe in which the illustrations should be completed

3) Purchasing the illustrations outright. Some illustrators will insist on an arrangement where you will only have the rights to use the illustrations in your book and possibly for use on mugs, t-shirts , or other promotional items. You will have to decide which type of arrangement you are comfortable with.

Upon request, we will forward a short list of qualified illustrators who have been highly recommended to us. To obtain this list, please call our toll free number at 1-866-944-2999, or send your request by email to info@artbookbindery.com.

Illustrating Software

For those who are creating or coloring their illustrations using their computer, we've rated some of the most popular software for this purpose.

Choose a Page Size / Binding Style

The most common page size for children's books is the 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" format. This is mainly due to the preference of many illustrators to create the illustrations in the square format. As a rule, the square format is commonly used when text is placed opposite the illustration pages, and not mixed with the illustrations. If text is to be placed on the same page as the illustration, or if the illustrations are produced in the portrait format, the larger page size of 8 1/2" x 11" is a good choice. You may select the landscape format for your book at no additional charge. The term "Portrait" is used to describe a page which is taller than it is wide. For example, an 8 1/2" x 11" portrait style page is 11" tall and 8 1/2" wide. The term "Landscape" is used to describe a page which is wider than it is tall.

The most common binding style is the quality softcover (also known as perfect bound or paperback) format. Generally, books containing 20 pages or more are produced in the quality softcover format while books containing fewer than 20 pages are produced in the saddle stitch binding format. The hardcover binding format is also available, but is not as common because of the higher production cost.

Pricing

The cost of producing your book is dependant on three main variables. The number of pages, the page size of your book, and the number of copies required. Please click here to request a quotation online, or call us toll free at 1-866-944-2999 for an immediate quotation.