In the world of literature, the power of visuals should not be underestimated. Whether you’re working on a novel, memoir, or non-fiction piece, well-prepared images can enhance the reader’s experience and leave a lasting impression. In this blog, we’ll explore the essential steps to ensure your images are not only visually appealing but also seamlessly integrated into your book.

Choose Images Thoughtfully

The first step in preparing images for your book is to carefully select visuals that complement your narrative. Whether it’s illustrations, photographs, or charts, each image should serve a purpose and contribute to the overall storytelling. Consider the tone of your book and ensure that the chosen images align with its themes.

Optimize Image Resolution

High-resolution images are crucial for print publications. Ensure that your selected images meet the resolution requirements for professional printing. Low-resolution images may appear pixelated or blurry in print, detracting from the overall quality of your book. Aim for images with a minimum resolution of 300 dots per inch (DPI) to guarantee sharp and clear reproductions.

Format Images Appropriately

Different types of images require different formatting. For photographs, consider using common formats like JPEG or PNG, while illustrations and graphics may benefit from vector formats like SVG or EPS for scalability. Keep in mind the specifications provided by your printer or publishing platform to ensure compatibility.

Maintain Consistent Styling

Consistency is key when incorporating images into your book. Establish a consistent styling approach for captions, image borders, and placements. This not only enhances the visual appeal of your book but also creates a cohesive reading experience. Consistent styling lends a professional touch to your work.

Check Image Licensing and Copyright

Before using any image, it’s crucial to verify its licensing and copyright status. Ensure you have the right to use and reproduce the images in your book, especially if you’re planning to publish commercially. Many online platforms offer royalty-free or licensed images for commercial use, but it’s essential to read and understand the terms of use.

Collaborate with a Professional Designer

If you’re not confident in your design skills, consider collaborating with a professional book designer. A skilled designer can help you layout images effectively, maintain a visually pleasing aesthetic, and ensure your book meets industry standards. Their expertise can make a significant difference in the overall visual impact of your book.

Conclusion

Incorporating images into your book is an art form that requires attention to detail and a commitment to enhancing the reader’s experience. By choosing, optimizing, and formatting images thoughtfully, you can create a visual tapestry that complements and enriches your written words. Remember, a well-prepared image is not just a visual element; it’s a powerful storyteller in its own right. Happy crafting!

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

The post Crafting the Visual Tapestry: A Guide to Preparing Images for Your Book appeared first on Riverside Publishing Solutions.

Embarking on the journey of writing a novel is both exhilarating and daunting. The blank page holds infinite possibilities, and the prospect of creating entire worlds and characters can be overwhelming. However, with the right approach and mindset, anyone can start the rewarding process of penning their own novel. In this blog entry, we’ll explore some essential steps to help you kickstart your novel-writing adventure.

Find Your Inspiration

Every great novel begins with a spark of inspiration. It could be a personal experience, a vivid dream, or even an intriguing article you stumbled upon. Take the time to reflect on what fascinates you, what stories linger in your mind, and what themes resonate with your soul. This initial inspiration will serve as the foundation for your novel and keep you motivated throughout the writing process.

Develop a Compelling Idea

Once you’ve identified your inspiration, it’s time to shape it into a compelling idea for your novel. Consider the genre, the central conflict, and the key characters. Jot down key plot points and explore the potential twists and turns your story could take. This doesn’t have to be a detailed outline at this stage; rather, think of it as a roadmap to guide you as you start writing.

Set Realistic Goals

Writing a novel is a marathon, not a sprint. Break down your writing process into manageable goals. Whether it’s a daily word count, a weekly chapter completion, or a monthly progress assessment, setting achievable goals will help you stay on track. Celebrate small victories along the way, and don’t be discouraged by the enormity of the task at hand.

Create a Writing Routine

Consistency is key when it comes to writing a novel. Establish a writing routine that works for you, whether it’s early in the morning, during lunch breaks, or late at night. Find a quiet and comfortable space that encourages focus and creativity. Make writing a habit, and soon it will become an integral part of your daily life.

Embrace the First Draft

Remember that the first draft is a journey of discovery. Don’t get bogged down by perfectionism; instead, let your creativity flow freely. You can always refine and polish your work in later drafts. The most important thing is to get your story down on paper.

Conclusion

Starting a novel is a thrilling endeavor that requires passion, dedication, and a willingness to embrace the unknown. Trust the process, enjoy the creative exploration, and don’t be afraid to let your imagination soar. With these steps as your guide, you’re well on your way to crafting a story that is uniquely yours. Happy writing!

The post Embarking on the Literary Journey: A Guide to Start Writing Your Novel appeared first on Riverside Publishing Solutions.

Files can be submitted via email to contact@riversidepublishingsolutions.com or if larger than 10Mb, use an online cloud service like WeTransfer, Google Drive or Dropbox.

We look forward to seeing your submission, please allow a couple of days for us to review what you have sent, we will then be in touch to discuss our services in greater detail.

The post A Guide on Submitting Your Manuscript to Riverside Publishing Solutions appeared first on Riverside Publishing Solutions.

This page will guide you through the features available within Adobe Acrobat Reader and how you can request changes to the proof you have been given for review. This has been based on installing to a Windows operating system but is very similar for an Apple Mac.

Installing Acrobat Reader

First of all, you will need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader onto your device. This is a free product and can be downloaded direct from Adobe’s website using the following URL:
https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/, alternatively click here:

Accessing the Comment toolbar

Once the software is installed, you can open the PDF you have been sent for review via the File > Open option on the menu.

Next, select Tools on from the Toolbar at the top of the screen, you will be presented with the available tools within Acrobat Reader, now click on Comment.

An additional tool bar will now appear at the top of the screen with the Commenting features used to mark up a PDF file for correction.

Marking changes to the PDF

There are multiple ways to instruct changes to the PDF file, for example, sticky notes, highlighting text, replacing and deleting text or inserting new content. These are selected from the Comment toolbar, shown above. The instructions for each option appear to the right of the main window, clicking will apply the comment to the current PDF. To apply changes to a specific piece of text, just highlight the text by clicking at the beginning and with the mouse button held down, drag the cursor to the end of the relevant text, as below:

Add sticky note

Probably the simplest method when adding an instruction, the Add stick note option allows the reviewer to add any general instruction to the PDF. An example of using this feature maybe to add an instruction which isn’t specific to one part of the PDF, for instance “Please move this page to appear before the contents” or “Please make all running heads slightly larger”. Selecting this option allows the user to add a sticky note anywhere on the current page, the content of the sticky note will appear in the right margin, as below:

Highlight

The Highlight option can be useful if you would like to give an instruction not covered by the standard options. An example of this would be an instruction to change the formatting of the highlighted text.

Underline text

Although an option of the Comment toolbar, the Underline text option is rarely used, although some publications do contain text with an underline for emphasising. To mark any text which requires underlining, simply select the text on the page and click this button.

Strikethrough text (Delete)

The strikethrough option is used to request deletion of the selected text. Keep in mind that any removal of text could have implications for the remaining text of that section as the following content will need to be repositioned.

Add note to replace text

The Add note to replace text option is probably the most common option when adding comments to a PDF. This option allows the user to replace spelling mistakes, poorly worded sections, images and more.

Insert text at cursor

The Insert text at cursor option is used to insert additional text to the PDF. The text will be inserted wherever the mouse cursor is within the text. As with Add not to replace text, consideration will need to be given to how any inserts will affect the proceeding text.

Unused options

The remaining options within the Comment toolbar are generally not used when returning changes to a PDF. Any further special instructions can be communicated via email.

Things to consider when marking up a PDF for correction

It is worth noting that a PDF proof should not need many changes. The accepted manuscript should be in good enough shape to need very little editing; however, it is sometimes unavoidable and certain mistakes only appear to be obvious when the content is styled, and page layout is created. In order to keep comments to a minimum, it is often better to select and replace a whole section of text, rather than inserting words and deleting, i.e. it would not be advised to add comments as below:

Alternatives to Comments on a PDF

If the above still seems too daunting or you do not have the option to use Adobe Acrobat, then it is a little more difficult to send corrections. Before the age of digitation and PDF proofs, the common way would have been to mark up a print-out, but this is often not practical, and most people are not aware of the traditional proof-reading marks used to add corrections. The other way we can accept corrections is by simply listing changes with a description and a method of identifying where in the proof these changes should apply, an example of this is shown below:

• Page 45, Paragraph 3, Line 4: Replace ‘yesterday’ with ‘today’.
• Page 67, Parapraph 2, Line 23: Insert the text ‘Only some of’ at the beginning of the second sentence.
• Page 59, Paragraph 5, Line 1: Remove semi-colon.

As you can probably imagine, the above could possibly lead to misunderstandings if not produced clearly and is often easy to make a mistake identifying page number or paragraph etc.

Summary

We hope this page has helped explain how to submit corrections when receiving an Adobe Acrobat PDF for review. If you would like any further information, please contact us using the details on our contact page.

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At Riverside Publishing Solutions, we have often referred ourselves as a “hybrid publisher”, however, based on what there is out there, I think perhaps we are more like a hybrid “hybrid publisher”, let me explain…

It appears a lot of Hybrid Publishers have been set up as an alternative to conventional publishing, often by individuals from other publishing houses, but Riverside Publishing Solutions have evolved from providing prepress and printing services to publishers. Our original business model was to provide these services to established publishers which we still do to this day, however, more and more we have been approached by individuals who wish to publish a book as a self-published author. The term “self published” should be just that and we consider every author who comes to us as an individual publisher. In that respect, we are effectively a service provider, but what we can do beyond these services is to provide much more. For instance, as an individual author it is almost impossible to find a distribution channel to sell books to a wider audience and to be available to book sellers. Due to the large amount of books we work on, we have our own distribution network and under our imprint, any book is available to be purchased in book shops and websites globally.

The difference between Riverside Publishing Solutions and many of the other “hybrid publishers” is that we do not work with contracts and every author retains the rights to their work. We only have terms and conditions for books we sell via our distribution network or our own website. Therefore, if an author decided to take a conventional publishing route at a later date, that is purely their choice. Also, being that the prepress and print is paid for by the author, any books the author sells by their own means is 100% profit for them and books we may stock can be collected at any time as they belong to the author, not us. Many other companies would force the author to buy back their own books.

One of the first questions we always ask potential customers is “What do you hope to achieve from publishing your book?”. This is very important and must be answered honestly. Fortunately, almost all of our customers are realistic and there are many viable reasons why an author may choose to self-publish, below are some examples:

• I have written a book as I like to write and I am not looking to be a best-seller, I just want a small amount of books for family and friends (often referred to as “Vanity Publishing” and some do not wish to even officially publish with an ISBN number)
• I have written a book to support my main business (Usually coaching or reference material for a business)
• I have several books already published and self-publishing means I have more control and profit
• I already have a market lined up and would only expect to sell a relatively small quantity (an example of this would be a memoir from somebody who served in the military who often have no problem selling amongst colleagues in the forces)
• I wish to self-publish to attract conventional publishers on future titles (this has happened on a few occasions)
• I have had this manuscript sitting around for a long time and I just want to do something with it
• The book is time sensitive and I cannot wait for the time it takes to be published
• If just one person gains from my experience, I will be happy

The above are just some common examples of why an author may wish to self-publish but it does show how conventional publishing is not for everyone.

One thing every author should consider if not already an established author or well-known, and hoping to sell to the wider public, is how the book will be marketed. Even an amazing novel will not be seen unless people know about it, and to achieve this is no easy task. We feel the number one element of selling a book, is the author. There are plenty of marketing specialists available, some may mislead an author into thinking they will sell lots of books and take large sums of money, however, if the author is not known to the wider public, the best way to start is to be involved as much as possible. Angie Langley has had great success in selling her books at fêtes and country shows or Christmas markets, her love of meeting people, her personality and telling her story is what sells her books. Some of the most successful self-published authors have started from nothing other than great stories, take for example LJ Ross (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-58305836). I may as well mention that we provide Dark Skies Publishing with our typesetting services for these books.

As mentioned in the previous list, one of the biggest reason to self-publish is to support your career. Books are a good way to provide additional information to clients, particularly if offering services like coaching or education, we have worked with football coaches, healing professionals and life-style gurus. We have also produced books for musicians; gone are the days when CDs are handed out at the end of a gig so why not instead offer a signed copy of your book? fans often jump to the chance and will pay good money.

I hope to have helped in explaining what we at Riverside Publishing Solutions actually refer to when we say “Hybrid Publishing”. It doesn’t have to be a scary term and at all times during the process of producing a book, the author has full control and is solely in charge of the decision making, with the advantage of our experience to guide along the way.

If anybody reading this would like to know more, please do get in touch. One of the most wonderful things of being in this business is hearing the stories and meeting the people who take tie to write a book.

The post Self-Publishing and How it Can Work for You appeared first on Riverside Publishing Solutions.

The first disruption this year we encountered was the anticipated cancellation of The London Book Fair. At the time, we had suspected the virus was going to make a big impact within the UK and were hastily preparing how we would cope in such a situation. The London Book Fair is a great opportunity to meet with existing and potential new clients and we had a busy schedule if the show was to go ahead, but as expected, although a late call, the show was cancelled. There were a few clients we met with during this time, but these would be our last meetings for several months.

By not attending the Book Fair, Paul and myself were given the time to plan what would happen should we have to continue the business during a lockdown, as was being imposed on Italy and Spain at the time. Fortunately, our business model had been largely built on being able to work remotely for times when we may be travelling or located elsewhere in the world, plans were also being put in place by our partners in India. Our project management tool of choice, is Monday.com, this highly versatile and adaptable software allows us to manage and control all our project management data via their website, meaning we can work from home or any other location should the need arise. Staff also possess good performance laptop computers which allow us to work as we would in the office, even to the extent of the design work we produce with Adobe Creative Suite. Our office computers also have Google Remote Desktop installed, which means we can access and control our office computers remotely should we need to, just as we would if present in the office. Our accounting software, Xero, allows us to continue to monitor all of our accounts and all files are synced via the cloud using Google Drive.

When lockdown was introduced, we were able to switch our work seamlessly and despite the slow-up due to other businesses and individuals adapting, were able to continue providing our services to our customers. It was shortly after the UK lockdown that India followed suit, our two main partners would keep in touch on a daily basis with progress in transferring staff to be able to work at home, and this was largely very successful, despite the much larger amount of processes involved. We were also in regular contact with our UK freelance staff who were already working from home and proved to be a great asset to our team.

Since the 23rd March, Riverside Publishing Solutions have continued to produce many books, and despite a limited market to sell these, many of them were still printed as the printers we work with have operated throughout the pandemic.

With the easing of lockdown in June, following Government guidelines, our office in Lower Woodford was adapted to allow for social distancing and reducing the spread of the virus. At this point, we able to return to the office. To be away from the distractions of home life was in fact a relief and at this time, the workload was really starting to pick up again.

To date, Wiltshire and the surrounding area have been fortunate to have encountered relatively few COVID-19 cases, something that will continue to be monitored and should things change, we may have to revert back to our original plans which were successful during the first lockdown.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our clients, staff and partners during these tough times and wish everybody a safe and healthy future.

For further reading on reviews for Project Management software including Monday.com which was ranked number one, take a look here: https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/best-project-timeline-management-software/

UPDATE (03/11/20): In light of the announcement of a national lockdown to commence on 5th November, we would like to add that we will be continuing to operate throughout but unable to facilitate visits during this time, we are available via telephone and can arrange video calls on most platforms. Stay safe and well everyone.

UPDATE (11/06/21): We are now operating at a normal capacity, any visitors are advised to pre-arrange their visit and practice self-distancing measures and wear a mask as per government guidelines.

UPDATE (13/03/22): As all legal measures have now been relaxed in the UK, we are oprating as pre-pandemic and looking forwar to getting back to some kind of normal.

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Riverside Publishing Solutions produce top quality paperback, hardback and eBooks. We always like to hear of new titles and discuss the possibilities on working with any genre of book, whether it is fiction, non-fiction, novels, poetry, academic, self-help, biographies or any other type. Our initial consultation is always free and like every other stage of production, we are here to help.

From our first conversation we look to engage in your project and understand what is is you are looking to achieve, this is the single most important thing at the beginning of the production and will determine budget, design and final product. Although we can discuss this briefly on the telephone, we usually recommend scheduling a meeting at our office in Lower Woodford, Salisbury. Our office is very central for southern England and a reasonable train or car journey from either London, Oxford, Southampton or Bristol.

Our initial consultation will give us an idea of how we proceed with the production of your title; the kind of design and layout you require, whether it will need to be copy-edited, proof-read, indexed or any other of the pre-press services we offer. You may need an illustrator or cover design which we can discuss in detail. We can also determine the number of printed copies you require which then determines the best way of printing. Authors often have a varying degree of knowledge about publishing, we would use this meeting to build an understanding of this. It is best to have a copy of the manuscript (electronic version is fine) at this stage too, along with any illustrations you may have.

Once we know your requirements, we will provide a customised proposal which will itemise each service required. Although at this stage we may not know the exact size of the book we will have a good idea based on the style and size determined in our initial meeting. Any variations in production are easily to calculate as we base prices on a page unit or for copy-editing we quote per 1000 words. We can also at this stage give you an idea of print costs, therefore before you even decide on working with us, you will have a good idea of your total outlay.

When the proposal has been accepted, we will proceed with the production of your book. If copy-editing is to be included, there is likely to be queries raised during the process, these will be emailed and implemented before proceeding to the supply of a proof. The proof of your book will be emailed to you as an attachment or if it is too large for an attachment (over 10Mb), a unique link will be sent via email for you to download. We urge you to take a good look through the pages at this stage and depending on the content, might suggest an independent proof-read which we can provide.

On receipt of any amendments, Riverside Publishing Solutions will next provide a final proof to review and as we now know the page extent, a final quote can be provided for pre-press and print.

If the author is happy with the final proof then printing can commence, this is usually achieved within two weeks of final approval. Final payment can be settled on receipt of the printed copies. If an eBook has been chosen, this will take approximately a week from final approval.

Riverside Publishing Solutions can place your book on Amazon and other online sellers as well as registering ISBN numbers and supplying copies to the British Library.

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