The following four tips should be kept in mind if you are planning on printing a a course in miracles without the aid of an external publishing agency.
o Ensure that the book is in the proper format:
There is a format that should be followed before submitting the book to be published. Appropriate editing procedures, including correction of sentence structures and eliminating grammatical mistakes, must be done before the book is published.
Bear in mind that the printing company does not verify these before subjecting the book to printing.You will have to submit the completed book in the format specified by the publisher, usually in Pdf format. It is best to get a professional typesetter to finalise your book before submitting, or some of the book printing services will also offer this service.
o Decide on the type of book printing service you will use.
Offset printers print longer run books: 500+ and digital printers print short run books of 1-500 normally. Consider using a POD (print on demand) service if it is available. This means you can have as little as one single book printed at a time. No inventory, no massive capital outlays and garages of unsold books. The per unit cost will be higher but your risk drops dramatically.
o Find the best publishing service that suits your needs.
A few companies have started this business of accepting work online and printing them in offline (real world) machinery. Make sure to look into the payment options accepted by the publisher. Also decide whether you want to engage a simple book printer, or a full service self publishing firm.
A book printer will only have book printing services but you may save money on the print component. However, that often means you will need to run around and spend a lot of time getting the other services of your book done separately, which in the end, may cost you more. The ancillary services include typesetting, editing, book cover design, book marketing services, and illustration services.
o Check out their book quality
Some agencies will pack and ship the printed books shabbily. Furthermore printers that do not normally specialize in book printing will often make mistakes since they are not experienced in book printing techniques.
So make sure you find a specialist book printing service. A testimonial section listing the feedback of the previous clients should be present on the website. This should give you an idea of the credibility of the company.
Being able to ask for a sample copy is useful.Some printers are in the habit of printing a test copy and mailing the client for approval. If the company you are looking at provides this service, it is a good sign that the company takes business seriously. Sometimes you may have to pay for the samples but it is better to do that than be caught with a bunch of low quality books.
