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Step Four - Book Production (From here to there)

© Donna Murphy

HAPPY SMALL PRESS MONTH!

Now you are ready to create a finished product! But how exactly do you get your book from your computer to the printer? Good question. There are three popular ways to get your book from here to there:

1. Hardcopy

2. Diskette

3. E-mail

Hardcopy - This is the traditional and still the safest way to transport your book to a printer. Also know as Camera-Ready output. The concept is fairly simple: you print your book on good quality paper (I like to use 28 lb, white laser printer paper) using a laser printer (preferably 600 dpi or higher) - each page to itself. Walk, run, Priority Mail, Federal Express or UPS the document to your manufacturer. It's totally up to you if you want to insure your package. Follow-up with your printer to see if they received your package.

Diskette - Slowly but surely becoming the popular way to transmit your documents to a manufacturer. Many operations are requesting books to be prepared and sent on diskette. The formatting is usually specified by the printer so that the transfer of documents and the conversion is as easily transferable as possible. Be sure to clarify what format diskette they are accepting. You could easily assume a 3.5" diskette, but in this process, assumptions are not acceptable. Plenty of printers and manufacturers are incorporating zip-disks into their computer systems.

E-mail - Still not a safe way to send your book. As enticing and efficient as it may seem, e-mailing your book to a printer/manufacturer is by no means a safe bet. I suspect in the next few years this process will be perfected and we'll all be wondering how come we weren't doing it sooner. But for now, cross-platform translations are not worth the headache.

Be sure to ask your printer what method of transmission they accept and prefer. If you do not have the capability to transmit by diskette or e-mail, you might need to solicit the help of a service bureau. For now, camera-ready (hardcopy) is still the safest bet!

The copyright of the article Step Four - Book Production (From here to there) in Self-Publishing is owned by Donna Murphy. Permission to republish Step Four - Book Production (From here to there) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.