Tag Archives: self-publishing

20Books London Writers Conference 2018. My write up.

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Tim C. Taylor

This time last week, I was on the train to London to attend the 20Books London writers’ conference. The event was a great success for me personally, and I heard nothing but praise from the other writers there. Since a … Continue reading →

Posted in Rebirth of the midlist, Writing Tips | Tagged 20books london, 20booksto50k, publishing, science fiction publishing, self-publishing | Leave a comment

Author United’s letter to the Department of Justice

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Tim C. Taylor

There’s been a big fuss in the small world of publishing news recently because a letter has been written by somebody called Douglas Preston, and signed by some very important people who wish to return the publishing industry to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Amazon, Amazon monopoly, Douglas Preston, Human Legion, monopoly abuse, publishing cartel, publishing industry, self-publishing | 6 Comments

Writing tips: how to write robust paragraphs in Word

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Tim C. Taylor

[In this post, I’m going to address a topic that some of you might consider pretty basic: how to write a paragraph using Microsoft Word. It certainly is fundamental but I would say around 15% of the manuscripts I receive … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing Tips | Tagged Amazon KDP, ebooks, Kindle, Microsoft Word, paragraphs, publishing, self-publishing, writing advice | Leave a comment

Tips for self-publishers: Typography 101

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Tim C. Taylor

We’re going to be talking about fonts in the next few posts. Before we do, it makes sense to introduce a few basic terms and concepts in typography: the science and art of lettering. Let’s look at a letter Don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing Tips | Tagged Createspace, faux glyphs, fonts, self-publishing, typeface, typography, typography101, Word, writing | 2 Comments

Tips for self-publishers: How to publish your back catalog

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Tim C. Taylor

I’ve worked with a number of authors who have a back catalog of traditionally printed books for which the rights have now reverted to them. This throws up a number of problems when they wish to republish their books, whether … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing Tips | Tagged back catalog, copy editing, OCR, proof reading, publishing, republishing, scanning books, self-publishing | 2 Comments

Kindle support for Unicode pt1: dispelling a myth

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Tim C. Taylor

I seem to be working through a mountain of jobs to format and edit eBooks and paperbacks at the moment. It’s gratifying that people trust me with their precious writing, but because I work with so many books, I get … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing Tips | Tagged dingbat, encoding, KDP, Kindle, ornament, self-publishing, selfpub, unicode, utf-8 | 3 Comments

Tips for self-publishers: Table of Contents in Word

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Tim C. Taylor

For anthologies and most non-fiction, a table of contents (TOC) is essential for readers to find their way around your paperback book. It’s also a way of showing off the contents of your book for potential browsers, and that includes … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing Tips | Tagged book layout, books, Createspace, cross-references, formatting, publishing, self-publishing, table of contents, Word | 2 Comments

Self-publishing paperbacks: faux fonts and small caps

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Tim C. Taylor

There’s a wealth of guidance online to help you lay out your book manuscript. One of the terms you will come across is ‘faux’ meaning your word processor (or typesetting software) can’t access a properly designed glyph and so has … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing Tips | Tagged Createspace, faux glyphs, faux small caps, font style-linking, Mac, publishing, self-publishing, small caps, Windows, Word 2007, Word 2010, Word 2011, Word 2013 | 3 Comments

Format YOUR Print Book with Createspace — second edition is coming

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Tim C. Taylor

My short guide to laying out books for Createspace was the first book I wrote that sold over a thousand copies (though not the first book I published to reach that mark). I’ve written an awful lot of technical guides … Continue reading →

Posted in Book launch | Tagged Book formatting, Createspace, Microsoft Word, opentype, paperback, self-publishing | 7 Comments

How to Set Margins: Microsoft Word vs. Createspace vs. Traditional Typesetting

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Tim C. Taylor

I’m currently working on a paperback and eBook layout commission for an illustrated children’s book: Cassie Kindly and the Naughty Christmas Fairies. The body text is in two columns, although the delightful illustrations of this 22-page book (which my six-year-old … Continue reading →