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Non-Fiction Author Lab
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Author Business Accelerator
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30 contributions to Non-Fiction Author Lab
2d •
Advice
Should I contact someone to work on my book cover before or after I receive my copyright?
0 likes • 21h
@C. Laurant Hi, there! While Sarah is correct, you technically can file copyright for both cover and text, the standard practice is to do text only and to submit prior to publication. You don't need to delay your cover design or any other part of your publishing process while you wait for the copyright confirmation to arrive (this can take a while!), but I would recommend filing as soon as your book content is finalized. We typically recommend doing so after proofread.
28d •
Vellum to Windows 11 MS Word
Hello all, My editor uses Vellum. When I was on Win 10 MS word and received output back from him in Word - I had no prob opening it up. I then upgraded to Win 11 and since then his export from Vellum to Word and then sending to me - well I receive an error message when I tried to open it and can do nothing more. I thought I found a work around by saving the file as a copy first and then opening it. It worked for the first transfer only but has failed every time since. I asked ChatGPT for some assist and tried its recommendation and still having same issue. I tried sending the file to another Win 10 PC and it opened, but all of the layout was corrupted. Good news is that I can recover all of the text, bad news is that I will have to make layout changes and insert photos/images again. Has anyone else experienced this and if so how did you work around it? Any help is appreciated.
0 likes • 21d
@Julie Broad @Kevin Hall Definitely interesting! Vellum is primarily a book layout tool, so it doesn't offer the full functionality of a word processor that editors usually utilize (regardless of whether they're Mac or PC people). That's why we're so surprised!
26d •
Index building
I have built one index ever. I am currently building another one. I rate this experience as a 2 out of 10, do not recommend.
1 like • 23d
@Julie Broad @Gary Anderson Whew! Yes, it's a tough process, for sure! I personally have used a program called PDF Index Generator. There's a fairly steep learning curve to it, but the functionality can be very helpful, especially if you plan to cross-reference between index entries. Just be sure you're working from your absolute final layout file so the page numbers for the entries won't change!
Nov '25 •
Question about quotation marks in subtitle
I was just watching one of Julie's video's where she references her "Self-Promote & Succeed" book. She was talking about the title and subtitle and how they have to match, exactly. I noticed that on Julie's book cover, the words 'No Boring Books' in the subtitle is in single quotation marks but those same words on the Amazon sales page don't include the single quotation marks. If the title and subtitle have to be exactly the same why weren't the single quotation marks included on the Amazon sales page? Is there a reason why they were left out of the subtitle on the sales page? Asking because I have a book that has quotation marks in the subtitle. They are on the book cover and I included the quotation marks in the subtitle on the Amazon sales page. Should I have not included them on the Amazon sales page? @Julie Broad
3 likes • Nov '25
Hi @Barb H - Yna is right! When we first published Self-Publish & Succeed, retail sites struggled with displaying certain punctuation marks, so we left them out of the listing title but kept them as a style choice on the cover. That has since changed (so you are exactly right to include them in yours!), but we chose to keep the same approach with Self-Promote & Succeed for brand consistency. You'll spot that it's still there for the second edition of Self-Publish & Succeed, as well! This is definitely one of those, "do as I say, not as I do" situations, because the best practices have changed. If we were starting today, we'd do it differently too. :)
Nov '25 •
Bundles
Quick question....is it a good idea to do bundles (2 or more manuscripts in 1 book)? Or is it best just to put books that complement each other into a series? OR is it best to do both? Asking because I had phoned KDP to ask why I couldn't find any information in their help pages about bundles re: what the covers and titles should look like etc., and they said there is no information because they don't support bundles, they only support a series. One negative experience I've had with bundles is that amazon bots can mistake a bundle for duplicate content and send an email asking you to verify your publishing rights. Anyway, just wanted to get some thoughts on bundles. - Thanks
2 likes • Nov '25
Hi @Barb H - in my experience, the only combined volumes that work well with KDP's guidelines are fiction anthologies or repackaged series. I would recommend putting nonfiction books that complements each other into a series.
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