Thread by @iotmpls

Here is an interesting conversation from Reddit regarding, "an affordable self publishing resource:" reddit.com/r/selfpublish/…

#mathselfpublishing - of course this is from about 5 years ago, but a full answer. "Ingram Spark" @IngramSpark is recommended, but it sounds like they have strict input file requirements!

Looks like you can do both print and an Ebook for $49 per title as a base price on Ingram Spark.

That would be about $259.39 for 100 40-page books, or about $2.60/book including shipping in 5 days+shipping. Switch that to gloss and now you're at $2.92/book. Hardcover puts you at $8.01/book. #mathselfpublishing

#mathselfpublishing - So, I guess you better know who you are selling this book to and what they want before you really end up spending a lot of money. Can you really sell this book as a nice hardcover coffee table companion book? Do you feel lucky?

From the Reddit post >"The downside is that it requires the most skill. You have to get your layout and your cover perfect, in the exact pdf format they require. There aren't "wizards" where they do it for you."

#mathselfpublishing - "Exporting to a pdf on your Mac, eg using Preview or the print dialog option, just doesn't work." - So what do you use to lay out a book and what should the final format be?

Looks like the Reddit user just used an online file converter - zamzar.com - evidently it sounds like they just started with a Mac Pages file. #mathselfpublishing

It also sounds like there may be a difference between the inside of the book and the outside (cover) in terms of files. GoOnWrite evidently was purchased by IngramSpark. You can buy a pre-made cover template. #mathselfpublishing myaccount.ingramspark.com/Portal/Tools/C…

Similar to Wordpress Templates, there appear to be all sorts of tons of book covers available for immediate purchase #mathselfpublishing

#mathselfpublishing so the process thus far appears to be as follows: 1. Upload the interior as a PDF with fonts. 2. Cover template depends upon book thickness, cover template gets designed based upon your interior. 3. Design or pick your cover template.

There also appears to be a cover template generator link: myaccount.ingramspark.com/Portal/Tools/C…

#mathselfpubishing which brings up the subject of ISBN Numbers. What are they anyway? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internati… it's an ISO standardized 13 digit number you have to evidently register from an international body.

There are also a gazillion other book identification numbers out there, but I don't think we have to worry about that now, because it's not on the input form above, but it's just interesting that there are a lot of ways to identify books.

IngramSpark has a guide on whether to apply for a free vs. a paid ISBN. I looked through this so you don't have to... #mathselfpublishing

Basically a paid ISBN is $80 to $125: Free: Mostly for fun, just publishing for a small group. Paid: Publishing for wider distribution across platforms. You are the ultimate, "owner" of the ISBN, meaning you don't have to create a new ISBN for publishing in a different platform.

#mathselfpublishing As far as the template goes, you have a cover template generator here, and it looks like they accept InDesign, IDML and PDF. I had to have a valid ISBN in order to get a template file, so I'm skipping this for now.

However, whatever they throw at you, it appears that you can use Fiverr to hire a book layout / cover layout specialist for around $40 or so. #mathselfpublishing

Just checked out @48HourBooks as well, looks like you get a hardcover for around $10/book vs. $9.20, pretty similar - this is without looking at quantities yet. Nice interface. #mathselfpublishing

More interface from 48Hour printing. Pricing came out to a bit over $18/book, but it looked a lot simpler to just, "get something out there," - did not even appear to require an ISBN.

That being said, ISBN's may be what you need, or something you could migrate to, if you want to own your book's data and get onto retail platforms, treating your book like a business. Vanity press vs. distribution. reddit.com/r/selfpublish/…

Further arguments for owning an ISBN ... it's all about the dream of going bigger, I suppose.

I think if you're really truly writing a book that you think people would buy, or that is your goal, it seems that an ISBN would be critical. If you are putting out a book to put on your resume, then just go with the free ISBN or no ISBN. There's a pathway for both avenues.

There also appear to be ways to buy ISBN's in bulk or with different services - IngramSpark may mark up their ISBN service. isbnservices.com/product/basic-…

I'm not 100% sure that this service above is equivalent to, "owning your own ISBN" because it lists Premedia E-Launch, LLC as the publisher, rather than evidently your own name. @ISBNServices could perhaps chime in on that.

Or perhaps not since their Twitter account has not been active since 2014. #mathselfpublishing

A lot more to cover... leaving for now but will come back on this thread later! #mathselfpublishing

Various trim types for various book categories. Hardcover comes with more prestige, lasts longer, is more durable, but of course it's more expensive. #mathselfpublishing

Another idea for how to get trim type ideas is to perhaps look at Google images, focusing on books that are in the, "category" of book types that you are creating. What buyer's market did a particular past book go for and what trim type did they go after?

Here are a few more examples.

#mathselfpublishing - I just bought three used humorous stats books to get some more ideas and to see what kind of trim they were published with. I can add photos on this thread in the future.

Some thoughts on book cover design - personally, I'm probably going to work with a designer or artist. All I have is a Keynote/PPT right now, my book is very visual, but it would need to be very crisp.

#mathselfpublishing Interior layout options.

Here's the @ReedsyHQ Book editor - reedsy.com/write-a-book

Interesting thing about Reedsy - it looks to be sort of like an, "Upwork for Writers."

#mathselfpublishing - what about fonts? Do you have to worry about licensing fonts that you use in a book? Yes, you do.

#mathselfpublishing For example, Garamond Font, a super common font, you can't use that without licensing it, evidently (according to Quora). qr.ae/pG5FHW

However, here is a variant of Garamond which is open source (with attribution) which you could use, as long as you attribute it and follow their rules. georgduffner.at/ebgaramond/ind… #mathselfpublishing

#mathselfpublishing I would suspect this would be the case with any font you might be using, so one needs to investigate and ensure the font they are using is licensable for their purpose, on a font by font basis.

None of this is legal advice! However, it is a concern to investigate. You don't want to put a ton of work into writing a book and then pay to get it published and then figure out you now owe money because you are using an unlicensed font. #mathselfpublishing

scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/pa… #mathselfpublihing - here's a link to the actual Open Fonts License, with a visual representation of terms. Note the "$" Bundling when Selling note - you can't sell fonts on their own.

Here's a link to a github interpretation of the OFL theleagueof.github.io/licenses/ofl-f… in which they state that you can use open fonts in books, and you don't have to attribute the author, of course that's just one interpretation. #mathselfpublishing

#mathselfpublishing - this brings up another point about just licensing in general, image licensing, and agreements with illustrators, mitigating legal risk - need to cover that in the future.

#mathselfpublishing - can you use run of the mill shapes, items from a platform like Mac pages or Keynote? This Apple Discussion thread says you can and it's marked as, "Solved." But can you really? discussions.apple.com/thread/8509116

#mathselfpublishing Here's the actual license to Apple Keynote - apple.com/legal/sla/docs… - right on the second page, it basically says that the intellectual property rights built on the software are owned by the copyright owner of said material.

#mathselfpublishing However, you can't distribute any of the individual clip art(s) or shapes on their own. (Who would do that and how?) Also...

#mathselfpublishing - OK, so what if you want to make a, "prototype" of your book, before going into larger print? There could be different reasons for doing this. Personally, I find a lot of mistakes in printed copy, it seems like I'm able to focus more on editing than in PDF.

#mathselfpublishing - one option is bookbaby.com - looks like you can pick different, "trims" and get an immediate price. I picked an academic style book trim, which recommended an 8.5x11 trim for $88.00

#mathselfpublishing - going further down the rabbit hole, you can go through their more complex quote system and choose different options. I chose that I don't need book distribution because this would be for a prototype, not mass printing.

#mathselfpublishing - from a previous tweetstring,

https://twitter.com/iotmpls/status/1396910224716582922

I had found a similar size that I'm shooting for is 9.25x7.25 inches, this seems similar to Bookbaby's 9x6 standard size offering - same price it seems.

#mathselfpublishign - It looks like you can do hardcover for the same price which is cool. You can also get a dust jacket - (by the way glossy cover is included)

#mathselfpublishing - 80 lbs paper included in the price, the other option is 60 lbs.

#mathselfpublishing - color printing is also available.

#mathselfpublishing - You can also select whether you want professional text formatting help.

You can also select a custom cover design, for around $800. At this point a prompt comes up saying that you can download a template for the sizing in PDF.

#mathselfpublishign At this point in the quotation process, it gives you the option of purchasing an ISBN number or not - while I would recommend getting an ISBN number for mass printing, for prototyping, probably not. You can buy these separately when needed.

Now the price is down to $49 (let's just say $50 shall we?) Here's the more or less final...

Other options for single book printing - here are some thoughts on Reddit, re: quality -- press.barnesandnoble.com/print-on-demand - thebookpatch.com - Snowfallpress.com

createspace.com also recommended

lulu.com - Another option

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