Aug 31 2021

Deena Rae eBook Builders #interview

Please give a warm welcome to Deena Rae Schoenfeldt from Ebook Builders

Tell us a bit about yourself…

I’m a stage 3 cancer survivor, mother of 3. I have started doing ebook adaptation for my Mom’s publishing business in 2009 then opened up to independent authors and publishing houses. I have taken over all of the book – print and ebook – design of my mother’s business.

How long have you been a book designer?

I have been doing ebook adaptation – aka ebook building – for almost 12 years and have book doing the complete book design – paperback/hardback typography/layout and ebook adaptation for 7 years with a 2 year break while I underwent cancer treatment.

Have you always wanted to be a book designer?

Heavens, no. I wanted to be a lawyer, a dictator, a serial killer….anything at all to be different than my mom. But I am good at making a book fit with the author’s vision. Plus, I have a really bad temper and if I was a lawyer I would end up punching the opposing side.

What do you do as a book designer?

I take the author’s manuscript and flow it into InDesign. If the author wants the book to be branded to the storyline, I add page graphic backgrounds, images, etc to make it stand out from the majority of other books being sold. I then export it to epub (ebook) and tweak it so that the ebook and print editions are as similar as possible.

Do you have any quirks while working?

I cannot work in silence. Usually I have Fox Business on (during stock market hours since I also swing trade the market). But I have been know to work while I stream Law & Order. I also do not read the manuscript as I am doing the design. If I did it would add hours to the time it takes me to do the layout.

What are your hopes for the future?

World domination, always. I will settle for staying busy.

Do you have any advice for new book designers?

For people wanting to do what most people call ‘formatting’ learn the industry specifics. Know about rules to paragraphs and headings. Nothing irritates me quite as much as seeing a book that has been ‘formatted’ by someone who is just out to make a buck. Chicago Manual of Style is your friend. Always be learning more and improving your skills so your clients are thrilled and don’t get ‘dinged’ in reviews on the finished product. My advice for authors and really everyone is to have a tribe of professionals you can go to for advice or help. I have a group of people involved in publishing – authors, cover designers, book designers, editors – that I go to when I need help, advice or to bounce ideas off of.

Are you available for new work or booked solid.

My schedule is flexible. I can usually have 10-15 book projects in the various stages of completion during a week. I can do up a draft for an author then send it to them for approval then immediately start on another while I am waiting to hear from the previous author. I usually have no problem working in a rush job.

Deena and Tiffany M. Fox created these awesome notebooks for authors.

Now Pantsers Can Benefit From Simplified Plotting

Whether you are a bestseller or an aspiring author, this planning workbook will help you keep your characters, plot, and timeline straight.

With pages to detail your locations, characters, scenes, plot points, etc., this workbook organizes all the prewriting, writing, and post-production aspects of getting a book into print.

110 pages of plotting worksheets to help flesh out your characters, keep your timeline straight and keeps your book consistent and flowing

Each workbook contains:

4 2-page spreads Main Character worksheets;
6 2-page spreads Secondary Character worksheets;
10 2-page spreads Location worksheets/visual ticklers;
Space for up to 84 scene breakdowns;
Book budget to track payments to each of your publishing team members and miscellaneous expenses;
Project production / publishing schedule;
2 2-page spreads to list beta readers and reviewers for feedback tracking;
Lined pages for notes and ideas.

Contact E-BookBuilders if you have suggestions to make this better for your specific genre.

May 21 2019

Inked Imagination Author Services

Please give a warm welcome to Inked Imagination

Inked Imagination is an author services business focusing on covers, graphics, and interior formatting for both e-books and paperbacks. The covers are done by Jarica James who has produced her own covers since she started her publishing journey while interior formatting is done by A.J. Macey.

Jarica James and A.J. Macey started Inked Imagination randomly one day after a discussion about how difficult and expensive formatting was when they started writing and publishing novels. After learning the ins and outs of both programs they use for formatting they started up Inked Imagination to offer affordable options for other authors.

Contact:

Facebook

Apr 6 2019

Dufette Literary Services #interview

Please give a warm welcome to Kalia Duff

Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m a gothic ball of fluff from Kentucky. I have a sliiiiight tattoo addiction, and I’m a little OCD crazy. All the color coding… I also work full time in the IT world, I get to tell people to turn it off and on again *inserts IT Crowd meme here*

Have you always wanted to become a designer/blogger?

I’ve always enjoyed making things pretty, even if it’s a spreadsheet. I got back into the swing of design when one of my friends wrote her first book. Since I’m IT, she asked if I could make her some teasers. It kind of evolved from that. I became a blogger by accident. I was on a lot of ARC teams, then I started to BETA. I got tired of trying to find all my links for reviews, because you know, OCD an all, so I started a blog to house everything. When I first started, I had a website that I used for both designs and blog. My blog kind of exploded, so my friend and I had to separate the site into two subsites.

As I started doing more with my design work, I wasn’t able to review as much as I was, so my blog morphed into a place for readers and authors. I love helping authors have a place to promote their works. I still review, and I have a few others who will post reviews in my group as well.

What was your inspiration for your current work?

I enjoy fantasy because there’s so much you can do with it. Plus, it kind of blends with my personality. I like things dark and creepy, but with a splash of color. So when I’m trying to come up with something new, I tend to go more goth/fantasy because I find beauty in the weird.

What are you working on next?

I’m currently editing/proofreading some stories, as well as working on some formatting. I generally will work on a design on the weekends or if I’m working from home that day. It’s relaxing to have my Photoshop available to me between projects at work. As for my blog, I have daily themes throughout the week, mostly to allow authors a chance to showcase their work, or I run a feature a few times during the week… Plus side to doing design, I get to make all the pretties in my blog group.

Do you have any quirks while working?

I can’t focus in silence, so I usually have metal playing. I can’t function on a single monitor, even my laptop has a second screen attachment. And I have to be in the dark. My husband is all, ‘The Lights!’ and I’m all hissing and trying to hide from the lights.

What are your hopes for the future?

I would love to be able to do design/blog as a full time job. I really hate the commute.

Do you have any advice for new designers about the author world?

Network with people, in groups. A lot of the people I work with have become fast online friends. And it’s nice to have a group of people to bounce ideas off. Sometimes I get stuck, and one of my friends will be like, ‘Do this thing. I wanna see what you can do with this idea,” so it’s pretty fun. For anyone who is thinking of doing a blog. Do the thing. You got this. I went back and forth for a year debating if I should or not. But I said, ‘fuck it, I’mma do the thing,’ and I did the thing. I started out as an ‘itty bitty book blog’ back in the summer, and my group continues to grow every day. It’s really awesome to see.

I love being a part of this community and get to talk to readers and authors on a daily basis. Advise wise – if you do social media, do a group. I started with a FB page and basically spent the first 3 months talking to myself. I still do because I’m constantly sleep deprived, but you know. There’s more people to see my ramblings now.