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Publishing Step 3: Uploading Your Manuscript

Home Help Centre How to Publish a Book at Mybestseller Publishing Step 3: Uploading Your Manuscript

In this step you’ll be uploading your manuscript (without the cover – you’ll be making that in step 4). You can still return to this step and make changes to your manuscript later, but doing so may change the cover dimensions, so be careful.

We also offer professional editing services, if you want to make use of them. This can be anything from a thorough spell-check to detailed feedback on your story. We assume that you will upload a ready-to-print manuscript in a format that complies with the size you have chosen. In the FAQ you can download templates to match your chosen book size. These templates are pre-formatted with colophon pages, the right margins and interlineation, a workable font and page numbering.

For an e-pub the layout is not important. For example, page numbering is unnecessary. What does matter is simplicity. We advise you to only use text and headings. The headings will be used to create a table of contents in the e-pub.

You can choose to upload your manuscript as either a PDF or a Word document. When you upload a PDF file make sure that the fonts are embedded. Click here if you need to learn more about embedded fonts in PDF. If you have uploaded your manuscript in a different size than you originally chose, we will automatically scale it to the right size. We will always inform you if this happens.

When you are completely done with your manuscript and you want to start uploading, choose browse, select the applicable document and click upload. Usually we will return a print-ready file within a couple of minutes.

Tips

  • Always have your manuscript checked by third parties, be it friends, family or experts.
  • Colophon pages: the first pages of a book usually consist of:
    • First page: only the title of the book.
    • Second page: empty.
    • Third page: the title of the book followed by the name of the author.
    • Fourth page: the name of the author, ISBN (if applicable), cover design, copyright, print run.
  • Left and right pages: odd-numbered pages are always on the right, even-numbered pages on the left.
  • Page numbering: colophon pages are not numbered. Our templates are already formatted to accommodate that standard. Click here if you wish to alter this.
  • Position page numbers: we advise you to place the page numbers at the bottom, at the outer edges of the pages.
  • Print margin: how much white space should surround the pages is a matter of personal taste. Our template is set to common print margin by default. When laying out your manuscript, always make sure that the inner part of a page has more margin than the outer part of a page (the inner part will be on the right side of an even page and on the left side of an odd page.
  • Tips for Word: we have listed a number of tips for working with Word, among others page numbering, print margin, and fonts. Click here to learn more.
  • PDF: most computers have Adobe Reader (in order to view PDFs) pre-installed. Click here if you do not have Adobe Reader yet. When you upload a PDF, the fonts should be embedded. Click here to see how that should be done.
  • E-book: it is sensible to upload a separate file for your e-book. Click here to find tips for making a correct epub file. Is your e-pub not to your satisfaction? Click here for tips to see how easy it is to amend your epub file.
  • Always check the file that it is returned to you thoroughly!

FAQ

Do I need to have my book edited?
No, not necessarily. However, we do advise you to have your manuscript reviewed by someone else. This could also be a friend or a family member. The big advantage of having someone review your manuscript is perspective. You will always overlook things yourself, and it’s definitely worth minimizing the risk of potential errors in your final product. These could be spelling errors or the layout of your manuscript, but it might also be the case, for example, that there are inconsistencies in your story.

What font type should I choose?
It’s for you to decide. We do have a handy article where we discuss what font you should use for your book, which we recommend you to take a look at if you’re having doubts about your font choices. Cambria, Times New Roman and Arial are among our favourites.

What font size should I choose?
This is a matter of personal taste as well and might differ depending on the font used. Sizes 10 and 11 are most commonly used.

Where does the text of my book start?
The first page (which is always on the right side) of the book block is the start of your book. Usually you begin with some colophon pages:

  • First page: only the title of the book.
  • Second page: empty.
  • Third page: the title of the book followed by the name of the author.
  • Fourth page: name of the author, ISBN (if applicable), the name of the designer, copyright, print run.

Then, you might add a table of contents and a foreword. Bear in mind that the text always starts on a right page (an odd-numbered page).

How can I create and upload my manuscript?
There are two main approaches to creating and uploading a manuscript for your book:

  1. The first option involves downloading one of our templates and use it to write your manuscript. There are a number of manuscript templates corresponding to the various book sizes that you can use, listed below. Simply download the template corresponding to your chosen book format and save it on your computer. If your manuscript is already finished, you can copy and paste the text into the template to adapt it for publishing. If you haven’t finished your manuscript yet, you can just write it directly in the Word template. Note that the format of the template will not be altered.When you download and use a template, keep in mind that Word copies layout instructions from your source document into the chosen template. In other words, if you’re copy-pasting previously written text into the template document, paste the text you want to transfer into a notepad document first, and then copy the text from the notepad document and paste it into the template. This will prevent the template’s formatting from being altered.
  2. Alternatively, you can create your own manuscript document and format it yourself. If you do this, make sure that the document adheres to the required dimensions, specified by the layout of your book.

You can choose to upload your file as a Word document or as a PDF. Remember to embed the fonts when uploading a PDF file. Click here for more information.

Why do you work with Word?
Word is a global standard for text processing and virtually everyone knows how to work with it. Moreover, Word is well suited for working with pictures, tables and graphs. Of course InDesign (and Quark) is the standard for professionals.

I want to make my book with Adobe InDesign, what are the delivery specifications?
When you lay out your book using Adobe InDesign, use the following settings:

  • Make sure your InDesign document is set to the right page sizes with a bleed of 3mm (entered in all four fields except the ‘inside’ field).
  • Use Adobe PDF Preset PDF/X-3:2002.
  • Check again if the bleed is set to 3mm and that all printer marks are turned off.

I am not a proficient Word-user; can you assist me with the layout?
Yes, we can. Click here for tips and tricks for working with Word. Alternatively, you can make use of our review services. Contact us at support@mybestseller.co.uk for more information about these services.

Is it possible to add pictures to my book? If so, what resolution should they have?
Yes. Even low-resolution images (minimum is 150dpi) will be printed in good quality.

What is the maximum size of the file I want to upload?
We can handle files up to 500 MB. In case your file is larger than that, you can mail us your file via wetransfer.com; make sure to mention your author name and the title of your book. We’ll then upload the file for you.

Can I upload a PDF file?
Yes, that is possible. It is important that the format of your PDF complies with the book size you have chosen and that the fonts are embedded in the PDF. This means that all fonts will be included in the file correctly, preventing any display errors. Without embedded fonts, the printer won’t be able to process your PDF document correctly. You can download a guide here. For e-books we advise you to upload a Word document. Click here for tips on epub files.

What happens if I upload the wrong format?
We will automatically scale your file to fit the book size you have chosen (this only applies to paper books; for e-books you can upload any size). In such cases we enlarge or reduce the size of your document. We urge you to thoroughly check the PDF you receive from us to make sure everything is in its right place!

How long does it take before I receive my formatted manuscript?
It depends on the size of the file and the volume of the activity on the platform. For the vast majority of the books the response time is between 1 and 10 minutes.

What am I supposed to do if the file does not look right?
If the formatted manuscript file looks off, the first thing you should do is have a look at the original document you uploaded to see if the issues are present there as well. If you can’t find the source of the issue in your original document, you can try to turn it into a PDF file yourself and upload that. The platform will always make an exact duplicate of your PDF. To learn more about creating PDF files, click here. Should you find yourself completely lost, you can always contact us.

What should I do with the PDF that is returned to me?
Check the file thoroughly and decide if it’s completely to your satisfaction. You can print a few pages yourself to be sure of the quality.

What is the minimum number of pages for a book?
The minimum number of pages for a book depends on the chosen book type and paper.

Hardcover:

  • Cream paper (bookwove): 49 pages
  • White paper: 79 pages
  • Semi-gloss white paper: 98 pages

Paperback:

  • Cream paper (bookwove): 26 pages
  • White paper: 40 pages
  • Semi-gloss white paper: 43 page

What should I take into consideration when making a book?

  • You will take care of the layout of the book block yourself; we don’t add any pages to it. What this means is that your book will be printed exactly as you have uploaded it. Therefore it is important that the formatting of the file complies with the book size you have chosen. Make sure you set the right size for your manuscript in the program you use to make your book. When formats do not comply, we will resize your book by enlarging or reducing it. This might influence the readability of your book.
  • The first page of your file is a right page. Concerning the page numbering, take into account that the numbering on odd pages (right pages) should be aligned to the right and on even pages it should be aligned to the left.
  • Make use of our templates!

The automatically generated epub file is rendered incorrectly. Can I still adjust it?
We convert uploaded documents to epub files automatically, and in some cases it might not work perfectly. The result may vary depending on the type of file that was uploaded. Usually we experience such difficulties with PDFs. When your epub file is not to your liking, you can do the following:

How does copyright work?
When you have included (parts of) text or images of others in your work, you might be dealing with copyright. Avoid any problems by asking the owner of the text or image for permission beforehand. Most of the time the owner is the writer, illustrator or photographer.

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