Readers judge a book by its cover and its pages long before they read a word, whatever they claim. This tag collects posts on covers, interiors, formatting and the production details that make a self-published book look professional.
AIAn author who uses AI for research and covers, but not her writing, complained about a festival's AI cover ban. The thread ended with a stranger calling her utterly disgusting. Here's where preference ends and cruelty begins.
Book DesignA short book isn't a sad book. A novella of about 21,000 words prints to roughly 80 to 100 pages, and a paperback earns its keep at signings, in local shops and as a gift. Here's how to format, size…
Book DesignCouples would spend a fortune on a wedding and then try to hire the photographer for a couple hundred bucks. Here's why I don't do graphics, and what wedding photography taught me about pricing creative work.
AIRestoring old photos for a memoir or family history book is fine, and AI makes it cheap. Clean up freely, check every face, label what you changed, and keep every original scan.
AIAn author asked whether an AI cover makes an AI book, and the thread decided the whole book must be stolen. What AI Derangement Syndrome is, what readers think, and why the only question that matters is whether the book…
Amazon & KDPIf your book ads get clicks but no sales, the ad did its job. The sale is dying on the product page. Covers, blurbs, AI branding and genre-hopping, and what to check first.
Book DesignMost novelists write in Word, and I do too. The free alternatives, when Scrivener or NovelCrafter is worth it, whether to handwrite the first draft, and which tools format a novel for print.
Book DesignReaders never look at it. Librarians and cataloguers do, and if the information is not there they stop reading and move on. You never find out.
AudiobookThe writer's fee is the biggest line item in a ghostwritten book, but far from the only one. A real budget folds in editing, design, publishing, and the optional-but-valuable extras, proposal, marketing, audio. Authors who plan only for the fee…
Book DesignJuly 30 is Paperback Book Day. A 113-book author on why paperbacks changed publishing and why physical books still matter.
Amazon & KDPReaders decide in a fraction of a second, scanning covers on Amazon or shelves in a store. Get yours wrong and you lose them before they read a word. Here is what actually makes a cover work, which formats you…
Book DesignA well-written book with bad formatting still looks amateur, and readers feel it instantly: the wandering margins, the random fonts, the broken table of contents. Formatting is not the last step you rush; it is part of the product. Here…
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