FAQ: Publishing and Production Process

What is the difference between Black & White and Full-Color Publishing services?

Xlibris offers two types of publishing services in UK.

The Black & white Book Publishing service is perfect for fiction tales, non-fiction books, memoirs, poetry or almost anything you can envision. Xlibris’ Black & White Publishing services in UK  feature a full-color cover, grayscale interior and perfect binding. Available formats are bookstore quality paperbacks, hardbacks and custom-made leather bound tomes.

The Full-Color Book Publishing service in UK is great for children’s books to cookbooks, family photo albums to corporate materials, graphic novels to catalogues – the possibilities are limitless. Featuring a full-color cover and interior, Xlibris’ Full-Color Packages in UK enable you to share your story in dazzling color and really bring your tale to life.

How long does it take you to publish a book?

The time required depends on the shape the manuscript is in when we receive it, the types of services you purchase, and on the length of time you take to review the proofs. The entire publishing process usually takes between 90 t0 120 days once we receive your complete submission.

FAQ: Why is Xlibris different from other publishers?

Now considering that there are so many publishers already always place in mind that your book is your work and that no one should be telling you what to do with – it should be up to your discretion how it should be published, printed and marketed.

Xlibris Publishing in UK has been in the publishing industry since 1997 and why do you think this self-publishing company in UK is still in business? Read this FAQ and some notes inserted after.

Money-back guarantee
Xlibris Publishing in UK has a money-back guarantee right up until you sign the approval form for the final galley. Should you be less than 100% satisfied with the service and support you receive through the publishing process and up to the final galley of your book, you are entitled to a full refund.

A full refund applies to the publishing services only (fees directly associated with online, disk, and paper manuscript submission). Fees related to other pre- or post publication services, such as data entry, copyediting and/ or corrections, or book sales are not refundable. Xlibris‘ refund policy is applicable provided you submit your materials for publishing within 12 months from when you sign up.

Experience and expertise
The definition of success is different for every author. Whether you want to be the next bestseller or would just like to leave a legacy for the next generation, Xlibris Publishing in NZ, Xlibris Publishing in AU and Xlibris Publishing in UK all have the experience, expertise, and extensive service requirements necessary to make it happen.

Xlibris waits for your approval
Xlibris Publishing UK provides a galley after initial cover design, after initial interior design, and after every subsequent set of corrections. We do not move ahead until we have your expressed approval.

 You retain complete control
With Xlibris, you retain complete control of your work. They are nonexclusive, which means you can self-publish with us and still offer your work to agents and publishers. Xlibris Publishing in AU or all of their brands are not interested in taking your rights away from you. After all, they didn’t write it.

Around-the-clock customer support
Their customer service representatives are available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day to provide around-the-clock support.

 Publicity and marketing support
Xlibris offers an extensive list of marketing services and publicity tools to support our authors toward the ultimate goal of selling books. You can contact your personal marketing consultant at 0800-644-6988 for your free consultation or e-mail marketing.consultants@xlibrispublishing.co.uk.

Leather-bound editions
Xlibris is the first Print-On-Demand publisher to offer elegant leather-bound editions of your book. Perfect to keep or to give away as gifts, and custom-crafted to last a lifetime.

Xlibris Publishing supports self-published authors. They support self-published authors and promote internal book sales. Included in their publishing packages is a complimentary book of your choice from the Xlibris bookstore. Just another way that Xlibris supports its own and fosters a prosperous relationship within the author community.

Hope this has helped.

 

 

How to Submit Poems for Publishing

1. Organize.

The average book publisher publishes at least 44 pages in black and white publishing and 24 in full color. That means if you wanted to occupy all 44 pages the least, you must have at least 40 poems per page or 2 poems per page or whatever strikes your fancy.

2. Work on a theme.

3. Be original.

4. Categorize your book.

After you already have a theme, now is the time to place a category for your book. Is this going to be for adults? Juvenile? General Poetry? Inspirational/Religious? Anthrologies or multiple authors?

Poetry books are bestsellers – they just have to be directed to the right marketing or  various targeted markets. Should you decide to self-publish, you will have your book done exactly the way you want it. You can submit your own images for the cover, or simply tell the artist what you wish to see on it, and there will be no editor telling you to change or remove certain parts of your masterpiece.

You can always publish your poetry but it may not always guarantee you a return, unless you invest on it. You may not know it, but the tradeoffs can be far below the gains. Others may have tried submitting their poetry online or to magazines.  The internet provides a venue for writers to post their work out there where people can blatantly give constructive criticism. The thing is: why stop online? The internet can do so much but if you actually consider your work to be published in book form, not only you will be able to see a tangible form of your work but you also get to protect your rights

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Here is how to get started with publishing your book of poetry.

How To Publish A Children’s Book

Publishing companies now have all the resources to publish children’s books with the same productivity and efficacy as that of regular black and white books. Considering the fact that most children’s book are in full color, you should choose a publishing company whose book’s are of the highest quality, bar none.

To start with, you must know your target audience.

Primarily, after finishing the text part of your children’s book, illustration then will follow. Publishers have layout artists who will cover the part of your book’s design and format. You might a certain concept of how your characters will look like on paper so if you want to do the illustrations yourself, that might get you to save time more.

Illustration for one is something that you have to take account into because unless if your target reader is 12 years old and above, you wouldn’t have that much need for illustrating your story. If penciling in your sketches is something that you wouldn’t have any problem on, then you do not need a list of freelance illustrators who could help you with the drawings.

Lastly, when everything else is all setup, you will need to assess which publishing company you will submit. Customize a plan that will work best with your book. List all the things your book needs such as book cover customization, editing, marketing, etc.

Second, find a publishing company that has everything your book requires. I know XLIBRIS has programs that are quite affordable and fits just what your book requires.

Third, go through production process and then see if the book meets your standards.

Xlibris Publishing is one of those companies who truly boasts of their book’s top quality as your book is printed on acid-free 50lb library-edition paper. That alone can give your book a longer shelf life and durable pages.

I hope this helps.

This is a repost from this blog.

How to Self-Publish With Xlibris

Xlibris is a book publishing company created by authors, for authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists, and on how print on demand technology and new approaches can be applied in the publishing industry, we provide authors publishing services to help them get published.

Whether you are writing a book, promoting your work, or searching for online publishing services or a self publisher to publish your book, Xlibris’ comprehensive range of publishing, editorial, add-on and marketing services enable you to customize your self-publishing experience. Our professional team of publishing professionals are available every step of the way to guide you through the process on how to publish your book.

First, choose a publishing package that caters to the kind of book you are working on. Black and White Publishing packages mostly for text that has 48-700 pages. Book cover may be in full color or black and white. Full color publishing Packages are for books with illustrations which authors wanted to be published in full color. A Publishing Consultant will be available to help you customize the package you require for your book.

Second, a BOOK ID for reference purposes will be given to you after initial payment. Only when a payment has been made can we retrieve your Book ID as it is computer generated.

How To Get A Copyright

Publishing is synonymous to getting that copyright for protecting your book which is why it is highly important to publish it. Your publisher should be able to give you your copyright as an add on service to protect your book unless they require you to furnish it yourself.

The question is, who owns the rights and what constitutes ownership?

The new copyright act states, “copyright protection now subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright. ”Basically, this phrase means that from the moment you put your original thoughts on paper, they are intrinsically copyrighted. Nothing else needs to be done. If someone wants to use your work, they will eventually have to ask your permission to republish it.

COPYRIGHT MYTHS

The © symbol, or any other marking, is no longer required. Some photos write Copyright © 2009 Joe Smith which means that Joe Smith declares copyright of such photo since 2009. The moment the photographer pressed that button and took that shot he is already making a photo and gaining copyright to the photo at the same time. Similar to the copyright symbol, “All rights reserved” is also not required. The adoption of the Berne Convention made copyright automatic.

THE BERNE CONVENTION

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, is an international agreement governing copyright, which was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland in 1886. Thanks to the Berne Convention, national copyright laws can be applied for works in all countries. For example, French copyright law applies to anything published or performed in France, regardless of where it was originally created. Copyright after the Berne Convention is automatic yet when the United States joined the convention, they placed emphasis on statutory damages and attorney fees are only for registered works. Hence, if you want to dispute authors that copied your work, you might as well register for a copyright. 

No formal registration warrants such a copyright and you might as well declare bankruptcy.

PUBLISHING WITH COPYRIGHT

We have learned from the Berne Convention that unless you want to sue someone for copying your work, you have make certain your literary work is copyrighted for statutory damages purposes. The longevity of a copyright expires after a set period of time and depends on several factors (i.e. type of work, whether it is published or not, whether the owner is an individual or a corporation0. Your copyright expires after you. In the United States, the default copyright expiration is the author’s lifetime plus 70 more years after. In some countries (for example, the United States and the United Kingdom), copyrights expire at the end of the calendar year in question.

Copyright or not, your literary work belongs to you. No one gets anything without asking and nothing has ever been free in this literary world of ours. The author, artist and publisher must be sophisticated enough in their negotiations to provide for virtually all contingencies including but not limited to what happens to the copyright under certain circumstances.

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How to get started with publishing your book
Download your free publishing guide here.

How to Self-Publish in UK

Xlibris UK is a book publishing company created by authors, for authors in United Kingdom. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists, and on how print on demand technology and new approaches can be applied in the publishing industry, we provide authors publishing services to help them get published.

Whether you are writing a book, promoting your work, or searching for online publishing services or a self publisher to publish your book, Xlibris‘ comprehensive range of publishing, editorial, add-on and marketing services enable you to customize your self-publishing experience. Our professional team of publishing professionals are available every step of the way to guide you through the process on how to publish your book in UK.

First, choose a publishing package that caters to the kind of book you are working on. Black and White Publishing packages mostly for text that has 48-700 pages. Book cover may be in full color or black and white. Full color publishing Packages are for books with illustrations which authors wanted to be published in full color. A Publishing Consultant will be available to help you customize the publishing service you require for your book.

Second, a BOOK ID for reference purposes will be given to you after initial payment. Only when a payment has been made can we retrieve your Book ID as it is computer generated.

Third, a submissions rep will call you for the completion of your materials needed for production. He will be giving you instructions and will be guiding you on what to do. S/he will evaluate your manuscript to check if it is ready for publishing. If the Submissions Representative sees lacking materials or feels the need for you to complete other services such as Copyediting, Image Enhancements, and so on, s/he will inform you. You have the option to purchase add-on services from Xlibris to polish your work or you can do it yourself.

Fourth, After your materials have been completed, it will be sent to the author services representative for production.  He will be the one in charge for the layout of your book. And will be the one who’s going to transform your manuscript into a book form. Once the layout is finished, an electronic galley (proof) is sent to you for you to check and review. Should you require changes, corrections, adjustments and revisions on the layout we will accommodate those at this stage. Xlibris will not proceed to the next stage unless you approve the galley.

Simple Way to Self-Publish

Here’s what happens. You have a book and suddenly you do not know what to do with it. You ask around and you get all these advices from friends, the internet and strangers telling you to do this and that. Your head is spinning in 360 degrees and you wished that this was taught in grade school so that whenever the time comes for you to get right down to it – you are already a PRO.

But no. You have to ask around because you have no idea who to turn to. You have to be wary of people telling you that this is the best place there is because everyone claims everything they know IS the best place. Don’t they just blah the blahs of all blahs? Next thing you know, you spent all your life savings and you only get your book sold at Amazon for $50. You wished you could just have shut your mouth the last time you decided to whip out your credit card.

I’d say that when it comes to dealing with your book, nothing is ever free, easy and light.

How to get started:

A book publisher multi-tasks as your EDITOR, LAYOUT ARTIST, DISTRIBUTOR, MARKETER and RETAILER. If he happens to not be part of any of the above, ditch the guy. You already had all the stress in the world completing your manuscript, you do not need any more of those from him.

1.    EDITING and LAYOUT: Gather all your materials – manuscript, images, dedication page, foreword and glossary if you have one. If you have a PDF file, you can submit that, too, but only for reference purposes to your artist. Getting a book together requires editing and a PDF format is a read-only file. They cannot work on it.

2.    DISTRIBUTION: Find a book publisher who will distribute your book to channels online. Get listed with Books in Print and Ingram.
3.    MARKETING: Get a marketing plan and go big time – book exhibit, Kirkus, press releases with publisher. Target market to niche – disseminate information.
4.    RETAILER: Book orders
5.    Bask in the glory.
6.    Indulge in that piña colada.

The Benefits of Self Publishing

A book publisher is a writer’s ticket to making her dreams real. It prints, edits, markets, distributes and sells her literary work but when there are so many publishing venues out there, an author may perhaps grew wary on who to trust.

Yes, trust is one factor that can get an author to sign with any publisher considering that her hard work should be taken seriously by her publisher and not just cast it off as ‘one of the books on the slush pile’.

What, you ask, are the benefits of self-publishing?

•    Affordability. Forget about $10,000+, print-on-demand publishers offer packages starting at as low as $200-300. Usually, POD publishers have several different programs/packages, with different distribution and marketing options, standard or customized cover design, etc. If you choose your publisher well, you will have a high quality book, in no way inferior to those published traditionally. Your book will have an ISBN and a barcode, it will be listed with major book distributors like Spring Arbor and Ingram, and it will be available to order from any bookstore.

•    Speed and control. With advances of technology today, a POD publisher can have your book done and ready to order within 3 months, some even do it in weeks. That is lightning speed compared to the traditional press. And, just like with subsidy publishing, you will have your book done exactly the way you want it. You can submit your own images for the cover, or simply tell the artist what you wish to see on it, and there will be no editor telling you to change or remove certain parts of your masterpiece.

•    Books are printed faster.

•    Big savings. Thousands of dollars can be saved just by not ordering in bulk due to the print on demand technology

•    No garage full of books. Since your book is stored electronically, you don’t have to turn your home into a warehouse. Unless you decide to buy some copies at your discounted author’s price and sell them yourself, you don’t even have to touch the books: your publisher will take care of all orders, printing books out and shipping them to the customers. All you need to do is to spread the word, and refer potential book buyers to Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and other stores where your book is available.

•    Your book will not go out of print. With the print-on-demand technology, your print run is virtually unlimited. If an order comes in for 5,000 copies, your publisher will handle it, and be ready to print as many more as needed, any time. And if you only sell just a few books per month, no one will tell you that the book is not selling well and therefore needs to go out of print. Your book will be around as long as you want it to.

•    Once again, you will have a chance as a writer. Readers don’t care how the book is published, they only care whether it’s good or not. If it’s good, they will start buying it.

Why Self-Publish

In any normal setting, whenever a bookstore stocks a published book at their shelves, they don’t really see the hardwork and effort that went along with the book’s production. All they can think of are the profit they are going to be getting with the book sales and when they are going to replace the shelves with new books. This might be an overreaction but it might hold true to some.

Any author can do a better job in marketing their book than an outsider who just sees their book as just one of those bound things that they will instantly dispose of when the time comes for them to get sick of it. The best thing is, the author is the participant and it gives the best advantage in marketing his book. So why self publish?

1.    CONTROL and INDEPENDENCE. When you enter into a contract with a traditional publisher, you sold your soul to the devil. You will have little or worst, NOTHING to say about the look and feel of your book (exterior and interior), whereas, if you opt to publish it yourself, you will supervise the entire thing from the wording of your press release to your book excerpt.
2.    MORE MONEY
3.    NO WAITING, NO REJECTION
4.    BOOK IN PRINT… not in the head.
5.    LEGACY that doesn’t run out of print. Think a lifetime registration.
Gone are the days when self-publishing was virtually synonymous with self-defeating. Just consider yourself lucky that you happen to live in a decade where innovation is welcome and freedom to do whatever you want is welcome.