Simple Solutions for Publishing and Design
We answer your questions, lead you on the path that’s right for you, and design and publish your book. Clean, simple, and easy.
Frances Keiser is a multi-award–winning author and publisher with more than twenty years’ experience who uses her skills and knowledge of the publishing industry to educate aspiring authors and help them avoid the pitfalls to becoming published authors. She teaches publishing-related classes at the University of North Florida, gives seminars and workshops at writer’s conferences and to writers groups, and contributes publishing related articles to newsletters and blogs.
Frances is an expert book designer proficient in the use of Adobe software including InDesign, Photoshop, and Acrobat Pro, and designs hardcover and softcover print books, fixed-format ebooks used for children’s books, comics, and cook books, and reflowable format ebooks for novels and non-fiction. She knows book industry standards and the requirements for book credentials, front matter, and back matter.
Her extended team includes artists, designers, editors, and office personnel.
Contact Frances by calling 904-599-0797 or send her an email for questions or to schedule a consultation.
Below is Frances’ proposal:
Thank you for visiting my website.
I have been publishing books for 25 years, taught publishing related classes at the University of North Florida, Dept of Continuing Education until Covid, and did speaking engagements and workshops at publishing and writing conferences. Since Covid, I have devoted my time to helping writers understand the publishing process and assist them with print on demand self publishing. Be aware that self-publishing means your company! You receive all royalties and money from sales go directly into your account.
If you are interested in my services for self publishing, you receive my personal help, guidance and instruction throughout the publishing process, to make the venture simplified, easy, and stress-free. The result is a professionally designed and produced book published to book-industry standards that is eligible to win awards and can compete with the best selling books in your genre in softcover, hardcover, and ebook. Your book will be available worldwide on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online retailers as well as through Ingram for wholesale distribution to bookstores, libraries, and schools.
My services come as a package with everything included in one basic price. Details below:
PUBLISHING
Your Company
Instructions and assistance will be provided to open, update, or add to your self-publishing company.
PRINT BOOKS (Soft cover and hardcover)
BOOK INTERIOR DESIGN
Custom layout and design using InDesign software including:
Front matter and back matter
Design with consistency in text, styles, lists, and illustrations
Compliance to book industry standards
Typography including typefaces, leading, kerning, tracking, and removal of widows and orphans
Images (book illustrations, graphics, photos, and author photo)
No limit on number of images placed
Supplied by author at a minimum resolution of 300 ppi including cover illustration
Image Editing (Normal): Lighten, darken, and brighten images where needed for print production using Photoshop is included
Image Editing (Extensive) image creation, manipulation, scanning, restoration, and resolution adjustments, require an additional fee
Book Credentials
Instruction and assistance to obtain required and optional book credentials including:
ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
LCCN (Library of Congress Catalog Control Number)
BISAC codes (US Book Industry Standards and Communication subject categories)
Bar code
Copyright notice (author owns/holds the copyright)
Front Matter
Create required and optional front matter pages according to Chicago Manual of Style in compliance with book industry standards (text to be supplied by author) including:
Title page
Copyright page
Optional Pages:
Dedication
Epigraph (relevant quote)
Acknowledgments
Introduction / Foreword / Preface
Table of Contents
Back Matter
Create optional back matter pages according to Chicago Manual of Style in compliance with book industry standards (text to be supplied by author) which may include:
Glossary
Tips and Resources
Discussion topics
Activities
Educational material
Information about forthcoming books
About the author (may optionally be on back cover)
Extensive back matter and complicated text such as footnotes, endnotes, appendices, addenda, bibliographies, extensive resources, indexes, recipes, diagrams, charts, tables, and genealogy trees, require an additional fee.
Redos
One redo of layout after completion and approval by the author because of additional manuscript editing, adding, removing or altering text or images that effect the layout and pagination is included. More than one redo requires an additional fee.
BOOK COVER DESIGN
Includes the front cover, back cover, and spine, designed to book industry standards and printer specifications. Author supplies front cover illustration (300 ppi)
Design front cover, back cover, and spine
Layout of barcode, ISBN, BISAC subject categories, according to book industry standards
Design and size spine as per printer requirements
Include testimonials provided by author
Include summary provided by author
CONVERSION & UPLOAD
Convert book and cover to high resolution PDF according to printer specifications
Add metadata to printer’s site: book specifics, contributors, keywords, keyword strings, descriptions, BISAC subject headings, pricing and discounts, currency conversions, and distribution channels. All are necessary for marketing.
Upload book and cover to printer sites
EBOOK
I provide Kindle e-books with text pop-ups for children’s picture books (Kindle mobi) and print-replica books (Kindle kpf) for other genres. 87% of e-book sales are Kindle books sold by Amazon. A Kindle ebook can be viewed on any device, Kindle reader apps are free for all computers, tablets, and cell phones regardless of make or operating system.
EBOOK INTERIOR DESIGN
Layout and Design: The Print book designs must be altered for interactive PDF files for distribution through online retailer Amazon, according to their specific guidelines. These include:
Page numbering
Table of contents
Copyright page
Altering image size and/or resolution
Altering margins
Image placement, captions, and tagging
Hyperlink activation
EBOOK COVER DESIGN
Cover elements need to be changed, removed, or added for ebooks including:
Barcode
Hyperlinks
Altering images’ size and/or resolution
CONVERSION & UPLOAD
Convert book and cover to and cover to Kindle files (mobi or kpf) according to specific guidelines to be viewable on readers and mobile devices.
Add the book’s metadata, keywords, descriptions, etc.
Upload to your Kindle Direct Publishing account on Amazon
Note: 87% of e-book sales are Kindle books sold by Amazon. Kindle reader apps are free for all computers, tablets, and cell phones regardless of make or operating system. A Kindle ebook can be viewed on any device such as an iPhone. Although other formats are available, I do not include them in my package.
MARKETING
While I am not a marketer, promoter, or publicist, I understand the importance for authors to market their books, and to this end, I do the following:
Book summaries or descriptions- Four different book descriptions, are created with your help, for four different marketing uses.
SEO (search engine optimization): Keywords and keyword strings (groups of words) are created and used in the descriptions, which are then used in directories such as Amazon, Google, and others.
Book Industry subject codes are used so your book is categorized correctly online and on shelves.
Book information, details, and cover images are given to printers and distributors such as Ingram and Amazon for their directories.
Book information, details, and cover images are entered into Books In Print, the leading bibliographic database for publishers, retailers, and libraries around the world.
Look-Inside-the-Book technology is provided to online retailers.
Front and back cover images of your book in resolutions suitable for print and digital uses are provided to you.
A PDF of your book which includes the front and back cover for applying for awards, reviews, and other purposes is provided on request.
My list of recommended marketing basics is provided to you
A list of my preferred book award opportunities is provided to you on request
ADDITIONAL INCLUSIONS
METADATA SHEET
A digital file containing all of your book and account information is included and updated regularly. The purpose is to have all the information for your books, publishing, and accounts available to you in one file when needed for printers, distributors, reviews, interviews, media, awards, applications, etc.
HOW-TO SHEETS
For each task in your publishing journey—from how to start your publishing company and open accounts, to how to get reviews on Amazon—I will provide you with step-by-step “how-tos.”
HELP
When you need help, I’m available by phone, email, or video conferencing to answer your questions, or we can schedule a meeting at my office—all included.
FILES
A copy of all your files including your book’s InDesign files, PDFs, edited images, and files or images for media and marketing will be provided to you after completion when requested.
NOT INCLUDED
Extensive work previously mentioned in image editing and back matter
More than one redo after author approval of layout
Opening accounts for printing and distribution with IngramSpark (Ingram) and Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon). These applications require you to provide your federal tax and banking information to enable them to deposit money from the sales of your book directly into your bank account. You may not be comfortable giving me that information and prefer to do this yourself. How-tos are available.
Additional work is charged at my hourly rate.