The most commonly asked questions.

Please click on any of below questions to view answer.

What is print on demand publishing?
Print on demand (POD) is a printing process where books are not printed until an order has been placed. This allows books to be printed singly, in small quantities, or whatever the demand requires.

Createspace,Lulu and IngramSpark are two companies that provide print on demand publishing.

If you would like Authors Crib to format your book for upload to either of these companies,

Which file formats does Ebook Launch accept for formatting?
We will accept the following formats for both print and ebook formatting:

1. Word .doc/.docx files are our preferred format, but only if this was the original file format in which your MS was created. Please do not send us a Word doc/docx file that has been converted from another file. We require the original file so that we can convert it ourselves.

2. If you did not create your file using Microsoft Word then we also accept the following files:

Apple Pages files .pages
Open Office .odt
Rich Text Format .rtf
Scrivener files .scriv
Text files .txt

3. If you send us one of the following ebook files, then there will be an extra cost to convert them to a Word doc/docx file for formatting:

.epub
.mobi
.html

4. We do accept PDF files, but only as a last choice.
PDF files were created so that files could be read on all types devices without losing the layout. This makes them very difficult to work with. They must first be converted to a Word doc/docx file and then cleaned up.
Please do not send us a Word doc/docx or any other file that has been converted from a PDF. Please send us the PDF file if this is all you have. We subscribe to a very good conversion service so converting the PDF is very simple for us. The clean up of the converted file is the difficult part and this is why we charge extra for this.
Some PDF files are too difficult to work with and we will advise you if this is the case.

Do you offer print book covers as well as ebook covers?

A common question author’s ask us “If I want a print book cover as well as the ebook cover, is that something you offer?”

The answer is “yes”!

We offer our print book covers for an additional 149.

The printers/distributors that we currently provide print covers for  are Amazon’s CreateSpace and Ingram Spark’s LighningSource.

If you are working with a different printer to distribute your book,  please clarify with us first so that we can confirm that we are able to work with them.

If you would like to order your print cover, just indicate so on the cover design order form and your invoice will be modified to include it.

A common follow-up question is “Can I order an ebook cover now and upgrade to a print cover later?”.

The answer is “yes”! If you would like to order your ebook cover first and then upgrade later, that is no problem. Just contact us when you are ready to proceed with your print cover.

What’s the difference between print book covers and ebook covers?

Want to know what the differences are between print and ebook covers? Read about that here.

How do I publish my book on Createspace?
For answers to many frequently asked questions about Createspace, click here: https://www.createspace.com/en/community/docs/DOC-1751

If you would like us to format you book for Createspace, click here.

How do I publish my ebook with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing?
For information about how to publish your ebook with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, click here: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A37Z49E2DDQPP3&ref_=gs
How much, how often, and how does Smashwords pay?
For more information about Smashwords royalties, and payment system, click here: https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq#Royalties
To which ebook retailers will Smashwords distribute my ebook?
How do I publish ebooks with Smashwords?
For information on how to publish ebooks with Smashwords, click here: https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq#Publishing
What does your ebook cover formatting service include?
Our ebook cover formatting service includes the following:

  1. We first check to see if your ebook cover meets all publishers’ requirements.
  2. We use the Smashwords requirements, because if your cover meets these, they will meet the requirements of the other publishers. These can be found here: https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq#covers
  3. We check the following items for your cover:
    – Size
    – Resolution
    – Format: We use JPG as this is accepted by all publishers
    – Content: we check to ensure that your cover does not contain URL’s etc, as these are not allowed by all publishers
  4. If your cover does not meet the requirements we will format your cover so that it does meet the requirements.

Ebook Cover Formatting does not include:
– Design aspects, such as adding, removing, or altering text or images.

Frequently Asked Questions about ISBNs

Q: How many ISBN numbers do I need?
A: The ISBN is based on the format of book or ebook. You need one for your .epub ebook, one for you .mobi ebook and one for your print book. i.e. You need one ISBN for Smashwords, another one for Amazon and another one for Createspace.

Q: Is it required that the ISBN be in my ebook?
A: No, this is optional. The ISBN is attached digitally to your ebook’s metadata and is not required in your ebook.

Q: Does Authors Crib provide ISBNs?
A: No. You will need to obtain ISBN(s) yourself.

 

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