Lesson 16

 
Interior layout; Lesson 16
 
Hello, and welcome. I am glad you are back. I hope you enjoyed your week. If this is your first time, at your own leisure, pick through what we have already gone over. Every lesson is on my website for your convenience. Today I have only my opinion, like always, on how to layout a great looking book. These finds are from years of observation

       Now that I look through my four books published by vanity publishers, I see how crappy they look on the inside. They are all different in style and not one of the publishers said a thing. They slapped them together and took my money. It’s no wonder why I have no sales when people go to read the first pages and see blah. They don’t even want to venture into the story.
I also know now, and see why agents or publishers want a pristine query letter. If you can write that, your book should be worth reading. I know we all want to improve and strive to be the best, so here we go.
The cover: this is the first thing that people see. I did my own and had no problem in my view even if people don’t notice, because there is no half naked girl on any of my covers. I did have plenty of hits because of my covers. Your title should be short, and visible at the top, author name at the bottom. You may think by putting your author name at the top in huge print that people will think you are a well-known author, because that’s what they do. They can, because their name is well known. Also I see a lot of dark, gray covers, and they just don’t seem to pop. If you want dark because it is horror or witchy, have something pop out from the darkness. Red eyes, white hair, the title, something that’s plain as day. Make sure the title is visible from the background. If you don’t see the clicked results that you want, the cover can be changed and resubmitted. My fee with the vanity publishing company was seventy-five dollars to pull the book, redo the cover, and have it resubmitted. This process took about three weeks.
Now that the cover is all said and done, we can go to the inside first page. I like the first page to be blank front and back. You can sign your name on it, or people can use it as a gift greeting for a loved one.
Second page; this page is on the right hand side, inside your book. You want them to see the title, the author’s name, and if you want to credit who made the cover art, put cover art by whomever. On the back of page 2 should be as simple. The copyright, and ISBN.  Underneath that you should include a disclaimer, stating all the names are fictitious and any resemblance is purely coincidental. Ask me for one that I have found, and I’ll send it to you.
Page 3; starts with a headline, Acknowledgments. This is really not needed, but shows your human side. You can dedicate this book to, or thanks for whomever, or maybe give praise to someone who helped or supported you, or supplied your information for whatever. Keep it short, but sweet. The backside of page 3 should be left blank.
Page 4; top center/Content, or Table of Contents. Drop two lines and start. If you have a forword,[that’s right, forword with an o] that’s first, then a prologue, then list each chapter and chapter title. The page numbers can be added after the book is formatted and completed. After the entry of the last chapter, put ATA (about the author.) Then Other Books, then Connection. Last, new releases, coming soon. These are all listed individually down the left side of the page. Depending on the number of chapters, it may continue to the backside of page 4. If not, keep it blank.
The very next page you start with your forword, or prologue, if you have them. If not, then you start with Chapter 1. Chapter 1 is your first page, and should be numbered as number one of the book, centered in the bottom margin. Chapter 1, and all chapters should start on the right side page when looking at your book. Page 2 will be on the left side on the back of page 1, so all chapter titles should start on an odd number page.
At the end of the last chapter, the very last sentence, Do Not put ‘The End’. Drop two lines and say a short thank you with two lines of gratitude. (Thank you for reading…/I hope you enjoyed…/Thank you and please check out…) If it is a series, let them know. Politely ask for an honest review.
The next page is your author bio. Don’t forget to include your website. Tell them what you are about and that you are human. Keep it short and humble, no more than a page. On the backside of that page could be a list of your other books, if any.
The following page will be your connection page. Every site that you are visible on. Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc. also include your website again. You could also ask them to sign up as a friend and to post a pic of themselves with your book to let their friends know. It never hurts to ask.
At the very end, you can say another thank you, along with (look forward in connecting…/Please follow…/Have future releases coming soon…) Again, something short.
Okay, this one ran long. Go out and enjoy your week until next time. I’ll be here working on another. Until then,
 
Happy Writing from rickkurtisbooks.com