Self publishing tools here at lboeckl.net

On Lulu.com there are online tools which you can use free of charge to make two piece covers and I will describe how to quickly convert them into custom one piece covers. So go register with Lulu, it's free. Once registered, start a project from her menu and then upload the interior of your book. You need to do this because the interior page count determines the covers required size for the POD printing companies. Once the interior of your book has been uploaded to Lulu, the next step in the project is to design a book cover. Here is the fast way to a one piece cover. Start by selecting the two piece cover. Pick the color you want for your cover and then put the title and author's name you want on the spine of the book. Deselect all of Lulu's logos and then submit the cover to be converted into a PDF file.

Once Lulu is finished converting the cover you designed - download the PDF cover to your PC. Then go to Bluebeam.com and download the standard version of their product – free for 30 days. Then open the Bluebeam software and import the cover you designed on Lulu. Once in Bluebeam you may add any write-ups and titles for the front and rear covers along with images you want to embed on the cover. Once you are finished you then save it and WALA – you now have a custom one piece cover for your book for nothing. You can update your project with Lulu and delete your two piece cover and upload the custom one you just made. Or you can take it somewhere else to be published. Two notes – first, I did publish through Lulu and personally think she is the best and second I did buy the Bluebeam software at the end of 30 days as I found the software to be very handy. Ok so for those of you needing either one or two piece covers you now have your answer (if not read more detailed instructions on this site).

image editing software.

What you will need to make your books covers and add images into the interior of your book.
__ Go to the following link and download Paint.Net: http://www.getpaint.net/download.html Some notes. You should download and install the latest .Net Framework version before you download the Paint.Net program. The .Net Framework must be installed first.
__ Download and Install .Net Framework on your PC. It is located on the top of the webpage after you left my website.
__ Download and Install Paint.Net program onto your PC. The download link is about midway down the page. Version 3.05 was available when I downloaded the program in April of 2007. They may have a later version by the time you are doing this. They have partnered with Microsoft and therefore I am quite confident that this program will be available for the foreseeable future. However if they do change it just search Google for Paint.Net image software.
__ Done installing both pieces of code and now you should run the Paint.Net program to make sure it works on your PC.
Here is a PDF file containing instructions on making book covers and using the Paint.Net program. PDF document link

Adobe PDF Reader
The last download we need to do is to get a free copy of the Adobe PDF reader. You will need this to view the output from the CutePDF writer program to see how the book you are making will look like when it goes to press. Download from here: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/ .
__ Once at the Adobe website then check on the upper left side and make sure that this is the correct operating system for your PC. If not just below it is a link to go to a link to get the correct operating system for your PC. If they have moved the link as they sometimes do just go to Google and type in "free adobe PDF reader". That will give you the updated link if they have changed it.
__ Download and install the Free Adobe PDF reader onto your PC.

PDF Maker and Manipulation Software
All the POD companies I have found accept PDF files for book covers. Therefore if you want to make a really elegant or unique book cover you will need to manipulate a PDF file to make your killer cover. The easiest and best software I found is from Bluebeam Software using their standard edition product. Their URL is: http://www.bluebeam.com/. Even better yet they offer a free 30 day trial therefore if you wait till you are completely finished with all of your editing and ready to publish then you could download their software and make your cover for nothing! At the time I wrote this, on their main page in the bottom left corner they have a link where you can download their standard edition for a 30 day trial. If you use Lulu as your POD you can create a one piece cover online with their tools. If you just put the title and the authors name on the spine, you can then save it and download it to your PC. On your PC, you can then open the file inside of Bluebeam's program and paste, color, type and anything else you can think to make your custom cover. After you are done you can then upload your beautiful cover and you are done with making a cover. That's the cheapest and quickest way I found to make a custom cover.

__ Information about pdf conversion for those who wish to convert PDF files in MSWord, Powerpoint etc.

CutePDF writer.

What you will need to test print your book during the publishing process and when you are finally all finished it can also be used to format your book into a format POD printers understand for printing your book.

We also need to download a program that converts MS Word files into a flat file so that the printer at Lulu can read your book without making mistakes. Some folks use the converter on Lulu's website but I chose to be able to convert it so that I can quickly see how my book looks like at any time during the process. I also had a nagging fear that their converter might hiccup and change something that I might miss during the proofing process and therefore allow an error to get all the way into the bookstore before I had a chance to find and fix the problem. So let's go download the PDF software at: http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/Writer.asp.
The second link labeled CutePDF Program is the one you want. Click on it and it will take you to their website. In the upper left you will need to download both the CutePDF program and the converter program.
__ After you have saved the programs to your PC then run the converter program first and then CutePDF program second. The Converter program must be installed first. They will run and then disappear. That's ok, that's what you want to happen. What we have just installed is a fake printer on your computer. When we print the MS Word template we will select the CutePDF printer instead of your normal printer. When we use this function it will produce a PDF flat file of your book that we will need in order to upload your finished book onto Lulu's website. We also will need it for you to proof your book to make sure it is perfect. Before we leave this topic we should configure the CutePDF printer so that it works correctly when we go to use it.
__ Go to the website and download the Converter software first and then download the CutePDF program onto your PC.
__ First double click the Converter program to install it.
__ Now let's double click the CutePDF program to install it.
The next step is to configure the CutePDF software on your PC. If you have chosen a 6x9 book for your book size then you can continue with these steps right now. If you have decided on a non 6x9 sized book then what follows are the values that must use for your book. If you are publishing a book in a different size then you will have to got Lulu's website and get those values. But the checklist will show you what you need to get in terms of information from her. Ok, let's continue on with the 6x9 configuration settings work. __ In Windows go to your start button in the lower left hand corner and click it. When the menu pops up select your "Printers and Faxes" entry by clicking on it.
__ In the upper left part of the screen is a tab marked File. Click on it once.
__ Then move your pointer down to the entry marked Print Server Properties. Click it once.
__ In the middle of the Print Server Properties box is an entry marked: Create a new form. Click the box and a check mark will appear in that box.
__ Above the Create new form line is a box labeled Form name. In the Form name box type in a label titled: 6x9 mybook.
__ What follows are the values that you need to enter in the Form description box for a 6x9 book. When entering the numbers make sure you leave "in" that is the end of each number. For instance the Width box should look like: 6.0in when you are done with that box.
__ Width – set it to 6.0in
__ Height – set it to 9.0in
__ Left – set it to 0.7in
__ Right – set it to 0.7in
__ Top – set it to 0.5in
__ Bottom – set it to 0.5in
__ In the upper right of the Print Server Properties box is box labeled Save Form. Click that button to save the form that you just created. Then click Apply first and then OK to finish out saving and applying your changes. Don't close the Printers and Faxes window yet.
__ While looking at your Printers and Faxes window, highlight with your pointer the entry labeled CutePDF Writer. You highlight by pointing at the entry and left clicking the mouse one time.
__ Now click your right mouse button one time and this will bring up another menu. Move to the bottom of that menu with your pointer and click the entry marked Properties.
__ When the CutePDF Properties menu comes up select the tab in the upper right labeled Device Settings.
__ There is only box on this window that you can change. Click on the right side of the box labeled Letter where there is down arrow (a pull down box). Click it once.
__ You will see a slider that appears on the right side of this pull down box. Click above the slider so that contents at the top of Letter box are displayed.
__ You should see various size forms now displayed. Select the one created a few steps ago labeled 6x9 mybook.
__ Click the Apply and the OK buttons. You can now close the Printers and Faxes box (in the upper right click the red X).

An MS Word template.

Already formatted for a 6x9 book.
If you have already typed your book in another word processor then you will have to copy your text from that document you typed it in and paste it into Microsoft Word. Before you do this however you will need to download a Microsoft Word template to paste your text into. A preformatted template is critical as things you may not have thought of yet: such as starting the book on the correct page and number, how to insert an index or how to have Roman numerals for your preface are things that a preformatted template will address very nicely for you as well as a myriad of other important characteristics for printing your book on Lulu's printers. You will also notice this book is using a Times New Roman font for the print. There are others that Lulu's printers can accept and the list of the acceptable fonts can be found inside of the Microsoft Word template. The easiest way to follow these step by step instructions is to get the preformatted templates which are located below.
6x9 MS Word template. 18 numbered chapters plus 5 specialty headings (index, appendix etc).
6x9 MS Word template. 31 numbered chapters plus 5 specialty headings (index, appendix etc).
__ Download the 6x9 template. Once you click on the link then your computer should ask you to run it or save it. Save it to a place in your computer that you will remember. I always save important stuff to my desktop as I never loose anything there.
__ Open the template once the download is complete.
__ In your open copy of your book go to File and Save As: put Master in front of the filename you have named your book. You will do all the rest of the work inside of the Master copy. Your original copy should be left untouched and in a safe place. If you need another copy of your book you should go back and open it and save it again as Master.
The last set of decisions that you need to make is concerning the title, subtitle and keywords of your book. You must really think about your book's title and subtitle now. From everything I have read it is good to have a catchy title but once published and for sale on Amazon's website it is the subtitle of your book which is actually more important than the title itself. The words that you use to describe your book there will determine how easily book shoppers on Amazon can find your books subject. So create your subtitle using up to 200 characters, counting both the title and the subtitle. If your title and subtitle are less than 200 characters then it will be displayed exactly how you have typed the words. You can use up to 300 characters; however, Amazon truncates the string of words and that will not have the immediate impact that you really want. So use as many words for your subtitle as needed even if the subtitle sounds bulky. Your subtitle will not only help your book in getting scooped up in the searches that Amazon shoppers perform but can also aid you in getting your books point across as well.
You must also think about keywords which really describe the core of your book. You will need these at several different points during the publication process. So go to Amazon.com and search for books that are in similar veins to yours. You will get a feel for which keywords describe the book that you have written and how people will find your book using those keyword searches. So take some time and determine these three critical elements of your book and save them for later use.

If you would like instructions on how to modify and use the MS Word template then click on this PDF document link. This PDF file also contains a brief chapter on how to use the Paint.Net program to make your covers as well.

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