Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Publishing Paperbacks with Draft2Digital

A couple of years ago, I put together a collection of my fantasy short stories. Part of the reason for this was to make these stories available in paper (some of them had appeared in paper anthologies, but others hadn't.) I tried formatting the paperback version myself through KDP, but I had trouble with the cover. (To be honest, I made the front cover for this collection myself with a purchased stock photo, but I don't have enough skill to make a complete paperback cover.) So I put that project on hold until recently, when Draft2Digital (D2D) opened up their print process for all authors.

If you have a manuscript and a cover, you can convert them into a paper book through a series of guided steps. You start by uploading the manuscript and entering basic details about the book (title, contributors, blurb, and others.) You also need to assign an ISBN at this stage. I used one of my own, but D2D provides free ones if you need them. 

The second step is editing the interior of your book. This includes selecting the paper color and size. D2D offers a variety of genre-themed templates and will allow you to edit page numbers, headers, and other elements. Unfortunately, the Table of Contents I had prepared didn't show up properly through the D2D editor. D2D can add a Table of Contents, but it appears as the first page of the book, which isn't traditional. I ultimately solved the problem by uploading a PDF file instead of a Word document. (I use a template I purchased from BookDesignTemplates for both eBooks and paperbacks; I wonder if that affects formatting D2D can do.)

One you're done with the interior, it's time to work on the cover. Since I didn't have a full cover, D2D paired my eBook cover with a black back cover and spine. I was able to change the color (though it took several tries to match the front). I also had to change the text entered on the spine, but I was also able to upload my publishing logo. The text on the back was the hardest part. D2D automatically uploaded my blurb, author photo, and bio, but the text size for the blurb was too small to be legible. It took some experimentation to make it bigger. I had to shorten my biography to make it fit.

Once I finally finished formatting everything, I decided to order a physical proof to confirm the book looked the way I wanted it to. Ordering a physical proof is $30, but I figured it was worth it since this was the first time I'd used D2D for this. Perhaps when I'm more comfortable with it, I'll stick with free online proofs. I just received the proof (pictured above) on Monday, so I approved the book. Now I have to see how long it takes to be available online. I think the paperbacks will be available on Amazon as well as D2D's other sites, but it may take a few weeks before distribution is complete. I can order author copies in the meantime.

Publishing paper books is a tricky process, but it's worth it to have another, physical format for my works. Hopefully I'll publish The Season Between and Restaurants and Revenge later this year. I'll have full covers designed for them, which will make the publishing process simpler. In the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions about the process, and I'll answer them the best I can.
 

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