Tag Archives: Self-publishing

New release: InDesign CC Book Production, putting books together

Skilled Workman Posted on by

With this final release, InDesign CC Book Production, Putting the book together, my video coursework for book production is complete. This course removes the difficulty and relives the complexity of producing excellent quality, professional books. This is a very practical course. There is a lot to learn, but none of it is very difficult. It is very complex though. It is the goal of the course to make the complexity easy to understand and relatively simple to execute. If you have … Continue reading →

First course of book production has been released

Skilled Workman Posted on by

Today, my first course of book production has been released. I’m building video coursework for using InDesign to produce books on Udemy starting with basic typography. Actually we start with the very beginning, where you must choose: Book size Margins Column width And more This first course of book production lays a solid foundation This is the largest lack in most self-published books today. Much of it is not the fault of the author or designer—it’s the tools they are using. … Continue reading →

Book production getting started understanding typography

Skilled Workman Posted on by

I’m working on new video coursework about using InDesign for publishing. The first course is concerned about book production getting started understanding typography. My concern is reaching my target audience which is you. I’m writing for an elusive niche—people like yourselves who understand the value of the typographic power of a tool like InDesign. As a font designer, I am very much aware of the fact that no software can build typographic communication as well as InDesign with … Continue reading →

Get domains set up well for your author platform

Skilled Workman Posted on by

Here’s an excellent article about the domains needed for your author platform. Get domains set up well as early as possible. It’s one of your major decisions and needs to be done as early in the process as you can manage. Get domains set up well! Your entire marketing effort is built on your domains. That’s the source of your Facebook posts, your tweets, your pins, and so on. They are all ephemeral. Your website/blog is relatively stable … Continue reading →

The importance of designed books in the self-published future

Skilled Workman Posted on by

I read an excellent article this morning on the importance of designed books. Actually, the article does not mention books, but the concepts apply. Here’s a quote from the interviewee, Dave Snyder Design in the most classic sense is a potent business strategy. That’s not to say it’s only about business efficiency. Everything needs a high level of craft, but even that can’t put lipstick on a pig and make people believe the pig is not a pig. … Continue reading →

Self-publishers trade publishing dreams need excellence

Skilled Workman Posted on by

Self-publishers trade publishing dreams need excellence to provide better hopes. There are realistic, if remote, possibilities of being picked up by a “real” publisher. But only if you can demonstrate excellent sales, a sizable following, or ongoing usage (like coursework, regularly scheduled seminars, and the like). I thought the image of Victorian woodtype might help drive home the concept of tradepub being a step back to a time which really doesn’t exist any more. Traditional publishing as we … Continue reading →

Tate closes, authors beware, and other normal advice

Skilled Workman Posted on by

I wanted to write a short reminder post about the trials and tribulations of authorship: the news that Tate closes, authors beware of BEA, and other normal advice. This is one of the things we need to do to help each other remember about the dangers [fical] of wandering about in the publishing industry. News like Tate closes, authors beware of BEA, and so on is just normal advice For those not aware, Tate (who is a commonly used … Continue reading →

Digital books still increasing

Skilled Workman Posted on by

There’s a lot of confusion among authors today. Primarily, it shows as: are digital books still increasing? The answer shouts back: Of Course! Here’s a quote from Jane Friedman’s post this morning Looking Back at 2016: “The market for adult fiction is primarily a digital one “It’s commonly said that in the United States, overall trade book sales are divided about 70-30 print-digital, and that ebook sales at traditional publishing houses are flat to declining. (You’ve probably … Continue reading →

Inexpensive German vanity press tredition?

Skilled Workman Posted on by

Here’s a link to a German self-publishing house that now is available in the US. It is a company named tredition. It seems like an inexpensive German vanity press — or maybe not. As usual, the devil is in the details. I imagine that as you get into letting them help you, the costs will go up very fast. But $299 to publish a hard cover, paperback, and ebook is a very good price. As a font designer, I enjoy … Continue reading →

Where is the future of books?

Skilled Workman Posted on by

I just posted a link to this article from The Bookseller: stating the digital revolution is definitely not over. Of course, that is one of those DUH! facts. The future of books is even more complex than you may think, though. How do we deal with audio, video, interactive content, and so on? Basically… The future of books is in the readers’ hands We really don’t know where it will go. Is a book, with a movie … Continue reading →