Frequently Asked Questions

  • Cover design & layout - It’s your book! The words, illustrations, design, dimensions and binding options are yours to decide.
  • Editorial Control - The book will read the way you want it to!
  • Time - Your books are published much quicker. Your sales and promotion efforts continue at your own pace.

The most common place to put the author's bio is on the back cover of the book.

The copyright page is usually found on the back of the title page. Normally this page includes the word "copyright", and/or the copyright symbol, the publishing year, the name of the publisher, the Library of Congress Catalog Number (LCCN), and the International Standard Book Number (ISBN).

The law grants you copyright protection immediately upon creation of your work. Thus, one need only place the name of the copyright owner, the year of first publication, and the word "copyright" and/or symbol somewhere within the document to secure copyright protection. The use of a copyright notice is an author's responsibility and does not require advanced permission from the US Copyright Office. For more information click here US Copyright Office.

The ISBN is a ten digit number that uniquely identifies a publication worldwide. You can purchase an ISBN number from R.R. Bowker, the US agency licensed to sell these numbers. The cost is $205 for ten ISBN numbers. ISBN numbers are printed on the copyright page as well as above the bar code on softback books. If one is printing both a hard and a soft cover version of a document, an ISBN will be needed for both versions. Click here for the ISBN website.

The ISBN number is normally translated into a compatible bar code format called Bookland EAN (European Article Number). Every bookstore chain uses bar codes for scanning at registers so it is advantageous for a publisher to place a bar code on the back cover of a book. Multiple software programs are available that will produce bar code and then it can be placed on the correct location on your back cover. The bar code must be printed in black ink.

If you plan to sell your book to libraries, it is a good idea to have an LCCN. All one needs to do is apply for a free Library of Congress Pre-Assigned Card Catalog Number. Requests for this number can be processed by clinking here Library of Congress.

We support the following programs:

  • Adobe PDF
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Quark XPress
  • Microsoft Word

If your program is not listed here, please contact us to ensure we can work with your files.

You can use our interactive spine calculator to find your spine width. Click here!

One can arrange the cover basically in any way one wishes, however, these are some helpful hints to consider when designing your cover:

  • Front Cover: Need title, author's name, and graphics (if applicable). If your graphic goes to the edge of the cover, make sure that there is at least an eighth to quarter inch "bleed room" extension of the graphic to ensure that when the book is trimmed, no white is visible.
  • Spine (for perfect bound books): Need title, author's name, and graphics (if applicable). If your graphic goes to the edge of the cover, make sure that there is at least an eighth to quarter inch "bleed room" extension of the graphic to ensure that when the book is trimmed, no white is visible.
  • Back Cover: Description of book, endorsements (if applicable), bio of author if desired, and ISBN/bar code in black ink.

We offer several binding styles to accomodate your books.

  • Perfect Binding - The standard paperback binding. Perfect binding creates a flat spine where title, author and publisher are printed.
  • Coil Binding - A plastic coil is inserted through a series of holes in a spiral fashion to bind the book. There is no flat spine for printing title information.
  • Wire-O Binding - A crimped wire comb to bind the pages through a series of small holes drilled in the edge
  • Saddle Stitching - When perfect binding is not an option, saddle stitching is best. Books are folded in half and stapled along the fold.
  • Hardcover Binding - We do not offer instant pricing for hardcover books due to the variation in option and prices. Please contact us for a custom quote.

Shipping costs are not included in your instant quote. We can ship your products by a variety of methods, including UPS, FedEx ground or overnight service.