3 | Design and Format Your Book
How to design and format your books or hire and supervise professionals
ABOUT THE COURSE
The purpose of the Design and Format Your Book course is to show you how to create your book in print and ebook formats professionally. First, you'll gain an understanding of the various book formats—PDF for print and EPUB and MOBI for digital—and how to convert your book into these formats.
You'll also understand e-reading devices, which formats they need (MOBI for Kindle and EPUB for all the others), and design considerations for creating your book in reflowable or fixed-layout format.
The details of book production is also included, and you'll get all the information you need to get your interior design and cover design done.
Though the course is skewed toward the do-it-yourselfer, the information presented here is also essential for those of you who wish to hire out all or part of the process. When you understand the process, you can hire the right people and supervise the work.
In addition there are worksheets and lists, audio and video lessons, and perspective by me and other experts who have valuable advice and examples to share.
You can use the comments in each lesson to let me know how it's going or to ask me questions. I'm here for you!
Your Instructor
Carla King is the founder of the Self-Publishing Boot Camp educational series of books and workshops. With a background in technical writing and a passion for travel, she started self-publishing her own adventure travel books in 1995. Since then, Carla has helped many others in their writing and publishing journeys.
King has been known as a leader in self-publishing education since 2010 with Self-Pub Boot Camp courses and books and her Destination Published concierge services. She organizes the self-publishing and technology track for the San Francisco Writers Conference, works as an industry advisor, speaks at publishing conferences, podcasts, and other events.
As the author of many books (on adventure travel) and as a publishing consultant, her firsthand knowledge makes King one of the most trusted guides in the industry. The 5th edition of her Self-Publishing Boot Camp Guide for Authors is the most comprehensive how-to manual for independent authors today. Authors and publishers around the world also count on her Consumer’s Guide for Self-Publishers with reviews of the tools and services that help independent authors publish.
Course Curriculum
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PreviewIntroduction to the module
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StartAn overview of the book production process
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StartBook production strategies
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StartPrint & ebook differences
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StartScanning books, text, and images
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StartAll about images
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StartAll about fonts
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StartFlourishes, small graphics, picas, and points
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StartWhat you learned