Book Publishing, Self-publishing and Book printing
Single Copy Publishing on Demand FAQs
What’s the difference between Publishing or just Printing
my Book?
Who Owns the Copyright?
Can I have my book published in the UK and the USA?
Can my book be bought anywhere in the world?
Will my book be available via Amazon?
Will my book be available for sale in Southern Africa?
What PoD Publishing book sizes are available?
Do you have a list of editors who can help me with my book
before I submit it?
Can I insert pictures or illustrations in my PoD book?
How long before my book is available to buy through
bookshops?
Will my book be on the bookshelves of major/or local
bookshops?
What about Marketing my Book?
Back to top
What’s the difference between Publishing and just Printing my Book?
Publishing your book as a Print on Demand (PoD) book means
that it will be listed for sale in most major bookshops in
the US, UK, many countries in Europe and the rest of the
world. It can also be ordered from Amazon.com and other
on-line outlets. Copies are. or can be, deposited with the
Legal Deposit Libraries to ensure that the book is
available to libraries.
We can also print any number of copies of your book just
for you and you can re-order whenever you need to. The book
may be for your personal distribution or you may wish to
market and sell it yourself. It will not, however, be
included in any listings held at major bookshops or on-line
outlets such as Amazon.com unless you make your own
arrangements.
Back to top
Who owns the Copyright?
The copyright always belongs to the Author
Back to top
Can I have my book published in the UK and
the USA?
Yes we can make it available to be ordered on either or both
sides of the Atlantic as you require.
Back to top
Can my book be bought anywhere in the world?
Yes, but usually by mail order outside of the normal
distribution areas of Ingrams in the US, Gardners or
Bertrams in the UK.
Back to top
Will my book be available via Amazon?
It most certainly will. It will also appear on Amazon.com
if we publish your title in the US.
Back to top
What PoD Publishing book sizes are available?
Our most popular sizes Include:
Perfect Bound
203mm x 127 mm (8" x 5")
216mm x 140mm - DEMI (8.5" x 5.5")
229mm x 152mm (9" x 6")
234mm x 156mm - ROYAL (9.21" x 6.14")
Also available in:
244 x 170 mm (9.61" x 6.69”)
254 x 178 mm (10" x 7”)
246 x 189mm (9.69"x7.44”)
235 x 191mm (9.25" x7.5”)
280 x 210mm (11" x 8.25”)
297 x 210 mm (11.693 "x 8.268”)
Case Bound
216 x 140mm (8.5" x 5.5”)
229 x 152mm (9" x 6”)
234 x 156mm (9.21" x 9.21”)
254 x 178 mm (10" x 7”)
Case Bound with Dust Jacket
216 x 140mm (8.5" x 5.5”)
229 x 152mm (9" x 6”)
234 x 156mm (9.21" x 6.14”)
Back to top
Do you have editors who can help me with my book before I submit it?
Yes, please e-mail us for details.
Back to top
Can I insert pictures or illustrations in my PoD book?
Yes, but please note that books with full colour
illustrations and graphics are only available in two sizes
(280mm x 216mm and 216mm x 216mm).
Back to top
How long before my book is available to buy through bookshops?
In the vast majority of cases, provided the MSS and Book
Cover Image are supplied 'ready to use', the book can be
expected to be on sale within a matter of a few weeks. Your
book has to be registered with the various ISBN agencies,
such as Whitakers and Bookdata in the UK, who supply the
bookshops and Internet stores such as Amazon, with title
and availability information. This is done by us, we
allocate an ISBN (International Standard Book Number).
It will take several weeks for this information to filter
through to all the different retail outlets. Although we
register books as soon as we receive the MSS from you,
your book may be on sale before your local bookstore gets
to know about it.
Back to top
What about Marketing my Book?
We do not judge submitted books on their commercial merits,
so consequently we cannot afford to market them. We do,
however, offer help where we can. Marketing is down to the
Author and we will give you basic tips on how to go about
this, and give you the names of organisations which
specialise in marketing books, including PoD books.
Most sales will have to be made as a result of your own
efforts. If you are not prepared to market and sell your
own book we would advise that you are unlikely to see a
return on your investment.
Any questions please email us
Back to top
Printing FAQs
This guide will be expanded as more and more questions are
asked. Please email us with any questions and for more
information
Back to top
1. Printing File Types
We can accept a range of file types for printing books but
our preference is to receive print ready PDF ideally to
PDF-X/1a standard. We recognise this is not always possible
so we accept files ranging from ready formatted MS Word
files to applications such as Quark and Indesign. If files
other than print ready PDF are submitted there will be a
charge for converting them to PDF.
Back to top
When supplying PDFs please supply separate files for the:
a) The Cover:
Consisting of the outside back cover, spine and outside front cover. We will confirm the spine width to you and supply a template/diagram, if required.
b) The Text
Should preferably be supplied as one PDF for the entire manuscript with one page up to view. We will do the imposition for printing. Where manuscripts may be too large for one file then more than one PDF may be supplied.
c) Fonts and Graphics
These must be embedded within the PDF and you can check this by opening the PDF and going to>File>Properties>Fonts. All fonts used in the document are listed and they ALL must have the words (embedded subset) next to them.
d) Images
These must be scanned and inserted at a minimum of 300dpi to reproduce well. Lower resolution images will not print clearly. (Please remember that images downloaded from the Internet are not suitable for printing as they are only 72dpi unless you have specifically ordered a high-resolution image)
e) Bleed
If you have an image that prints to the edge of the book (page) this image ‘bleeds’. For us to be able to print this part of the image gets trimmed off, so the artwork needs to be extended by a minimum of 3mm on each outside edge.
f) Colours – Litho printing
Files for litho printing must be created using CMYK colours. Whilst we can sometimes accept files created using RGB and convert them, this is not recommended.
g) Colours – Digital printing
We prefer to receive files created using CMYK but can convert from RGB on press.
h) Proofs
Please check your quotation to see if proofs are included and PDFs are supplied. We don’t generally supply proofs on smaller digital though they can be provided
Back to top
2. File Types – Word Documents
Many authors and organisations find it more convenient to
submit Word documents for their books. These files are,
however, not ‘print ready’ and have to be converted to
PDFs.
This is often a straightforward process but can be
complicated if there are images/graphics/tables within the
text and depending upon how the document may have been
formatted. Therefore some work may be required by our
studio before we can successfully save it as a PDF.
(The PDF is always submitted for the Author’s approval)
It is by no means simple to produce the cover artwork in
Word, with the spine in place and to the right size as,
Word does not allow you to add trim marks which we need for
trimming the book to its correct size. Again we will
create the cover as a PDF and submit for the Author’s
approval.
The charges for converting files to PDFs vary according to
what we receive but are generally in the range of
£30.00 - £100.00 (depending what, if anything,
we need to do).
Back to top
3. File Types - Other
Please check with us on what files we can accept. In many
cases particularly with older software versions we can
convert them. We can also take camera-ready artwork and
scan to PDF.
Back to top
4. General
Q. Do the number of pictures and images in the book affect the printing price?
A. Generally not. Unless we are creating the artwork from your manuscript and images supplied.
Q. How many books should I print?
A. Excluding books for promotional purposes you should not print a single copy more than you can sell unless, of course, it is for family or private distribution.
Q. Which is better for my book - digital or litho printing?
A. There is virtually no difference in quality today between our digital and litho printing. Digital is ideal for short run books (B&W and full colour) from 25 up to 200-400 copies at which stage litho printing becomes more cost effective.
Q. Do I need an ISBN?
A. The ISBN is an International Standard Book Number. If you would like to sell your book through major bookshops and Internet outlets, you need to have an ISBN for their ordering systems. The ISBN also provides access to bibliographic information and your title details can be disseminated widely to booksellers and libraries in more than 100 countries.
Q. How do I get an ISBN?
A. You can buy one from us or you can buy direct from the ISBN agency in your country.
Q. How do I get my book listed on Amazon and other online bookstores?
A. For your book to be listed on Amazon and other online outlets it needs to be registered with Nielsen BookData (The UK ISBN agency is part of Nielsen BookData)
Q. What size (dimensions) should my Book be?
A. We will advise you on the most cost effective size for manufacturing your book taking into account you’re your preferences and requirements. The printing method (litho or digital) may also have a bearing on the dimensions.
Q. What is a Page?
A. One leaf equals two pages. So a 200pp book would have 100 leaves. Please remember to quote number of pages.
Q. How should I supply you with my Book In Word?
A. Preferably formatted to the dimensions you would like for your book and spellchecked, proofread and with a consistent layout.
Q. What should I do about a cover design?
A. You can supply images and text and we will make up for you. Alternatively, we will brief one of our cover designers to design your cover from scratch.
Q. What if I need help with the layout and typeface for my book?
A. We can supply you with a standard template for the text for you to work within the template. Please note that we are not able to provide support beyond this as it is assumed you have the technical skills. Alternatively, one of our designers can do the layout and typography for you.
Q. Can I have a few books printed as hardbacks?
A. You can have as few as 25 copies of your books printed and bound as a hardback with or without a dust cover and with a range of cover materials. You can also have your book printed as a split run of paper and hardbacks.
Any questions please email us
Back to top
Let knowledge grow
Dolman Scott
