Finished manuscript? What next?

You’ve done all the hard work and you have your finished manuscript. What’s the next step?

Here is a brief outline of the process of going from finished manuscript to the final outcome; a stunning, high quality printed book.

1. Contact us and receive a complimentary 30 minutes consultation. This allows us to ask you a bunch of questions and enables us to put a quote together for you.
2. If you accept our quote, we will then set up a timeline for your project. Working back from your launch date, we factor in design, revisions and printing. The timeline will be altered depending on if your book is printed in Australia or overseas. Please note: 30% deposit is due upon acceptance of our quote.
3. You then send your finished manuscript file electronically to us. From here, we will set up the document.
4. We will provide 2 different internal page designs for your consideration. This usually includes variations in fonts and spacing. After a bit of to and fro, we get to what will be the final design.
5. Once we have bedded down the design, we set to and put the book together. We create the 1st draft. This will include all front matter, body and end matter. We send the 1st draft to you and this is often where you, as the author, see the manuscript very differently than when you were working on it. It can be like seeing it through different eyes and presents the perfect opportunity to pick up on any anomalies. We like to leave the 1st draft with you for as long as you need for a thorough read-through, proofread, edit, etc.
6. During the time that you have the 1st draft, we can be organising some of the nuts and bolts like ISBN, CiP data, sourcing quotes from printers, etc.
7. 1st draft returned to us. We then proceed to make all your requested changes. Your book will be taking its final shape and this is when the page count is usually locked in and the Imprint data and any other details are complete.
8. The 2nd draft is sent to you for final checking through, ticking off all your requested changes and noting any other changes that may need to be made. When you are ready, you send this back to us and we set about making your changes or additions.
9. Now we are up to the 3rd and usually final draft. We make any last-minute changes and prepare the press-ready files for the chosen printer.