I decided it’s time that I published print versions of my eBooks. I first checked the internet to see what folks had to say about POD publishers, and decided to choose CreateSpace. I put a date in the title because the internet has no self-policing mechanism. Therefore, I spent several days learning all about PDF, formats, templates, etc. then found, I didn’t need them.

            There are three ways to submit covers and interiors to CreateSpace:

1) Hire a professional,

2) Submit your own final cover design and interior.

After working on it for the better part of a week, completing my final cover and interior and opening an account at CreateSpace (CS), I found out there was another option.

3) Upload your Word manuscript.  And, decided to try it. For my money it’s the way to go.

            Cover Creator:

Ninety percent of what I had been fussing about went away.  CS inserts (they termed it “populates”) the title and author’s name on both the front cover and the spine. All I had to do was submit a book image, a back cover, and a photo of my smiling Irish face. That’s supposed to make people like me and purchase my book.

CS has a galley of cover formats. Select the one you like, and insert the front cover image, back cover verbiage and author’s photo. The title and author’s name will already be there. The spine width is set automatically based on the number of pages submitted. Since I was writing about the Druids, I chose galley titled “The Oak.”

Interior Reviewer:

 I selected their most popular trim size (9 X 6) and made that the page size of my MS Word document. Yes, Word documents are acceptable. Set the margins as they specify. I prefer Arial 11 font size. I eliminated unnecessary white space to reduce the number of pages, hence the cost to the reader (chapters follow chapters without a page break.) My images of 300 DPI, size 2.86” by 5.05” were according to their preference. I also followed their wishes regarding margins and gutters, which vary by number of pages. I chose the white paper option, and let them supply for free, the ISBN number.

            Was it trouble free? Me, with my always in a hurry temperament? Of course not! I became very efficient uploading and re-uploading the cover and interior. My final edit consisted of revisiting the page numbers in the table of contents (several times).

James Francis Smith’s Formatting Specs for Druids, Celts, and Romans:

Font :              I selected Arial because New Times Roman reminds me of a business letter. Although I usually use Verdana, with its larger print, for my blog, this article is Arial font size 11 to show you how it looks.

                        Title:                font size 20 - bold

                        Author name:  font size 14 - bold

                        Chapters:        font size 11 – bold

                        Locations:       font size 11 – bold

                        Text:                font size 11

Page Setup:               Different odd, even, - different first page

Margins:

          Top:            0.5”

          Bottom:      0.5”

          Inside:         0.13”

          Outside:       0.5”  

          Gutter          :        0.8”

Paper:                  custom size - width 6” – Height 9”

Paragraph:           Justified

Line spacing:        exactly 15 pt.

Header:                Author name on even page, Book title on odd page – page number on both

Some sage advice:

Add the page numbers to the Table of Contents after everything else is finished.

          I hope you find this useful, and I wouldn’t be unhappy if you should purchase a copy of Druids, Celts, and Romans from Amazon. I kept the price as low as I could. It retails for $14.99, plus shipping and sales tax of course.

If you or your ancestors are from Europe – Most likely this is your origin, learn something about it.