Self publishing your book with us is easy! All of the information you need to prepare and submit your book for publication is on this page. Here you will learn how to prepare a disk file of the interior of your book (using Microsoft Word as an example). We will also outline the additional materials we will need from you to support your book marketing efforts.

Book Sumission Requirements

To publish your book, we require a completed Book Publishing Agreement, payment of your setup fee, and a disk containing the files we need to self publish your book.

1. Book Publishing Agreement - Simply download our Book Publishing Agreement to get started. A one-time setup fee of only $499 covers all aspects of self publishing your book, including a custom-designed book cover, ISBN number, barcode, submission to Books in Print and other distribution outlets, royalties paid monthly and a generous bookstore return policy.
   
   
2. Payment - We accept personal checks, credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Amex, and Discover), or money orders. The setup fee is $499 in addition to any of the optional add-on book publishing services you choose.
   
   
3. Book Files Disk - You will prepare for us several digital files in Microsoft Word (or comparable) format and save them to one CD, Floppy, or Zip disk. These files shall include:

• Your book file, which we use to print your book.
• A 100-word description of your book for promotion and inclusion on our website.
• A 100-word biography about you for promotion and inclusion on our website.
• A succinct 30-word description of your book for marketing on our website.
• A thousand-word-or-less excerpt from your book as a “sneak peek” on our website.

We strongly recommend that you provide us a digital file of your book. However, if you only have your book in hardcopy, we will accept it providing it is laser-printed on clean, fold-free 8.5"x11" paper with one camera-ready page per sheet. We accept book submissions in the following formats:

• Microsoft Word
• Corel WordPerfect
• Microsoft Works
• AppleWorks
• Rich Text Format
• PDFs for book interiors and covers (not for the synopsis, biography, or excerpts)

Step 1: Book Publishing Basics

You will find that self publishing your book with Infinity Publishing is a rewarding and positive experience. We will help you every step of the way.

We believe that your book should be a unique and personal expression of your voice. Hence, we do not use book design templates. This allows you to play a large role the the book publishing process and the final design of your book. We spend a great deal of hands-on time with your book, and we encourage you to take as much control of the book publishing process as fits your skill and comfort level.

If you have a clear idea for the layout of your book and you’re comfortable using the design functions of your software, we recommend you design your book’s interior to your liking using our basic guidelines as parameters.

However, if you are not particularly computer-savvy, use the instructions included on this page to get the digital file of your book as close as you can to your desired result. Rest assured, we will spend plenty of time on your book to give it a professional bookstore quality look.

Please do not call us to help you prepare your book. Formatting is diffiicult to explain over the phone due to the various word processors and versions available. Whatever issues you may have, simply include a note with your submission. You'll be surprised at how accurately we can prepare your book to your written specifications.

The instructions below will give you our technical parameters and design suggestions. We recommend that you look at other genre-related books at a bookstore for inspiration on how you want the interior of your book to look like. If you have difficulty formatting, just save your book to disk as-is and send it to us. We’ll take care of it for you.

We want to make this experience easy for you, so please don’t agonize over the layout and formatting of your book. Do the best you can, send it in, and let us take it from there. This is what we’re here for!

Step 2: Choose a Book Size

Our books are all trade paperbacks with black and white and grayscale interiors and full color laminated covers. First, decide which size best suits your book. We offer three sizes:

• 5.5" x 8.5" - This size book is the most pleasing to hold and handle. It's the recommended size for most books.
• 8.5" x 11" - This is a good size for text books or other types of books that have large graphic images.
• 8" x 8" - These simple, square books make great gifts and are appropriate for unique novelty books.

Once you have decided on the size that best suits your book, open the word processing file of your book and set the page size. In Microsoft Word for PCs:

• Click File.
• Go to Page Setup.
• At the top of the window that appears, click on the Paper tab (which is between the Margins and Layout tabs).

You will see fields that will allow you to enter the height and width of your book. Enter the height and width dimensions for the size book you’ve chosen. For example, a 5.5"x8.5" book would have a height of 8.5" and a width of 5.5".

Don’t worry about how this setting affects the way the document prints on your consumer-based printer. If you setup your file correctly, it will print accurately for us.

Step 3: Set the Book Margins

With the same Page Setup window open:

• Click on the Margins tab at the top of the window (next to the Paper button).
• Enter .7" for the left and right fields
• Enter .6" for the top and bottom fields.
• In the last section of the window, find the drop down menu titled "Apply to."
• Double check that "Whole Document" is selected in this drop down menu.
• Click "OK" at the bottom of the page.

Step 4: Set the Line Spacing

Most books look best singled spaced with the text full justified. The text in most books is justified, which means that both the left and right edges of the text are flush on either side of the page. While this is not required, it is suggested for most books, except poetry.

To justify the text in Microsoft Word for PCs:
First, select all of the text in your document. To do this:

• Go to Edit.
• Choose Select All.
• Your whole document should now be black with white letters.

To justify your text:

• Go to Format.
• Select Paragraph.
• A window will appear with two tabs ("Indents and Spacing" and "Line and Page Breaks"). Make sure you are looking at the "Indents and Spacing" window. In the first section of the window (titled "General") find the pull down menu titled "Alignment."
• Click the arrow on the right of the pull down menu and change it from "Left" to "Justified."
• A little further down in this same window, find the "Spacing" section. Go to the pull down menu titled "Line spacing."
• Double check that it says "Single."
• Click the "Okay" button.

You have now made your entire book full justified and single spaced. If there are parts of the book, such as headings, that you want to be centered, you can go back and manually center them. This time:

• Select the heading you want to center. To do this, put the mouse pointer at the beginning of the text to be selected, hold down the left mouse button, move the mouse to the end of the text to be selected, and release the mouse button. The header should be white text on a black background.
• Then go to>Format>Paragraph>Indents and Spacing tab > Alignment pull down menu > Center >Okay.

Step 5: Choose Fonts

For how-to books, fiction, philosophy, religion, biography, poetry, self-help, business, and many others, Times New Roman is the industry standard. We recommend that you use Times New Roman or Garamond for body text, and for contrast, use Arial for chapter starts or headings. We recommend that you use a font size of 11 or 12 points. Naturally, you may use any font styles you like, though obscure and esoteric fonts will need to be saved to disk for us.

To choose a font for your book using Microsoft Word for PCs, first, select all of the text in your document. To do this:

• Go to Edit.
• Choose Select All.
• Your whole document should now be black with white letters.

To select the font:

• Go to Format.
• Choose Font.
• A window will open with three tabs on top. Make sure you are in the section labeled "Font. "
• Under Font choose Times New Roman or Garamond.
• Under Font style choose Regular.
• Under Size choose 11 or 12.
• Click the "Okay" button.

These are just suggestions and we recommend you use your best judgment considering your content and intended audience. For example, if the audience for your book is a senior population, then set the font size to 13, 14 or higher. You can always print a page of text to see how it looks. On the other hand, if you want to squeeze as much text as you can onto the page, then use a 10 point font, which is the smallest acceptable size. Looking at bookstore books for layout ideas is fun and advisable.

Step 6: Be Creative

How creative you are with your layout is up to you. If you are a layout pro, then use your talents and enjoy. If you are barely able to turn on the computer, then just do the best you can, and we will add the professional touches. We offer you total flexibility. Send us a camera-ready layout or one that is roughly put together. Either way, the end product will be something you can be proud of.

Step 7: Save to Disk

Next, you need to prepare several digital files and save them to one CD, Floppy, or Zip disk. The completed package will include:

• Your book interior.
• A 100-word description of your book.
• A 100-word biography about you.
• A 30-word description of your book.
• A 1000-word-or-less excerpt from your book.

If you have any special requests, please submit it to us with the above requirements. For example:

• If you have artwork for us to use for the cover, please include that on the same disk.
• If you have special text that you want us to consider using on the publisher's page (such as the copyright page), then include a file on the same disk.
• If you want to give credit to an editor, cover designer, or illustrator who worked on your book, include that on the same disk.
• If you want the back cover of your book to include something other than the 100-word description of your book and 100-word bio, then save a file of the back cover text that you would like us to use and name it "back cover."

All files sent to us must be on the same disk. All materials must be submitted to us at the same time, including your payment and contract.

Prepare Supporting Materials:

• The 100-word description of your book will be used on the back page and on our website (www.bbotw.com). This description will entice people to buy your book. It can be a few words over 100, but no more than 130 words.
• The 30-word description of your book can not be more than 30 words. This is for the home page of our ecommerce site where space is limited.
• The 100-word bio is also for the website and will let people know about you, the author. This will also be used in marketing your book.
• The 1000-word-or-less excerpt is a snippet of your book. This will be on the website as a "sneak peek" to give readers a sample of what to expect inside. For books of poetry books, the sneak peek can simply be a poem or two.
  All of these extra files must be text only. Hardcopy and PDF files are not accepted for the 100-word description, 30-word description, 100-word bio, and the excerpt.

If you need help writing your descriptions or bio, take a trip to the bookstore and read the jacket copy from books like yours. Or visit our ecommerce website (www.bbotw.com) and see what other authors have provided us for their books.

Book Cover 

You have a wide range of options for your book cover. You can provide us with the exact, completely print-ready design that you have already created. However, if you don’t have artwork of your own, we will design a beautiful bookstore quality cover for you. Additionally, if you have a photograph that you’d like us to make into a book cover, we can do that. We can also make a book cover to your specifications at your request. Just tell us in a written letter when you submit your book to us. No matter what, your cover will be high-quality, laminated in full color.

Back Cover

We will use your 100-word description and the 100-word bio for the back cover. If you would like to prepare specific text for the back cover, you may provide us with an additional file. This should be saved to your disk in text format and named "back cover." You may also provide us with a photograph of yourself for the back cover.

Step 8: Send Us Your Completed Book Package

When you have all of your files prepared and saved, send the disk or CD along with your signed contract and full payment to:

Infinity Publishing
ATTN: New Book
1094 New Dehaven St.
Suite 100
West Conshohocken, PA 19428

In about 8 weeks from our receipt of your book, you will receive the first proof of your book. 

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