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About Flash Books! Self-Publishing or Custom Printing
If you are interested in publishing your very first novel, printing a family story to present
to your relatives, an anthology of classroom essays, or bringing a previously out-of-print
book back to life, the Flash Books!! staff is eager to help with your project.
Benefits of printing your book on the Espresso Book Machine at the
Grace Mellman Community Library in Temecula, California:

Books are library-quality, perfect bound paperbacks that look just like books
produced by major publishing houses.

There is no minimum order that requires large up-front costs. You order reprints
as you need them.

You, the author, retain all rights to the printed work, along with complete control
over layout, content, and design.*

Flash Books! Recommends that you secure a Copyright and ISBN before these
books are sold online with vendors such as Amazon.
*Modifications and alterations incur an additional fee.
How It Works
You set up a 30 minute appointment with a Flash Books! operator where you will provide
us with print-ready PDF files, that we will review for formatting issues. If the electronic
documents are in the correct format, Flash Books! staff places an request for your book in
the EBM database. Please allow three business days for the completion of the order.
Print-ready means you give us your PDF book and cover files once they are final–after the
writing, editing, design, and layout have been proofed, and the files are formatted
according to our guidelines. (Flash Books! is not responsible for content, grammar, or
spelling errors.) The Flash Books web site provides a PDF version of our formatting
guidelines that can be downloaded for your convenience.
OR
You set up a 30 minute appointment with a Flash Books! operator where you will provide
us with an electronic, open version of your proofed document (Flash Books! is not
responsible for content, grammar, or spelling errors), and the Flash Books! staff will
design the interior layout and the cover design for a fee. Please allow two weeks for the
formatting and printing of the two proof books. Once the book is in the catalog, reorders
will be processed on a first come, first served basis, generally in about three days.
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Fee Schedule
Print-ready books:
$8 up to 300 pages
$10 for 301-600 pages
$15 for 601-700 pages
There is a 10% discount of orders over 25 books.
Note: Volumes in excess of 700 pages
must be broken into smaller sections
and the price per section follows the
size-of- book pricing guidelines.
Custom Formatting done by the Flash Books! staff:
$60 format fee includes a 30 minute
consultation, black text only layout, full
color cover design, 4 hours of format work,
and two proof books.
Note: Volumes in excess of 725 pages
must be broken into smaller sections
and the price per section follows the
size-of- book pricing guidelines, with
an additional $10 fee for the second
cover design.
$80 format fee includes a 30 minute
consultation, black text with grey scale
pictures, tables, charts, full color cover design, 4 hours of format work, and two
proof books.
Note: There is a $20 fee for changes to either the cover or the manuscript after
work has begun on your project. If the project requires more than 4 hours of
work, there will be an additional $20 per hour charge.
Reprints of custom formatted works are priced as follows:
$8 up to 300 pages
$10 for 301-600 pages
$15 for 601-700 pages
There is a 10% discount of orders over 25 copies of the same title.
How to get started:
Call (951)296-6091 to schedule your 30 minute appointment with our staff, or
contact us by email: [email protected]
Documents available at http://rivlib.info/riverside-county-library-system/EBM:
Do it yourself formatting guidelines
Project order forms and publishing agreement
Re-order forms for completed projects
Other web sites of interest are:
http://copyright.gov
/
http://isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp
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FLASH BOOKS! FORMAT GUIDELINES
These guidelines will direct you through the process of preparing your manuscript for the printing
process. By the time you reach this stage, your work has been proof-read, and is formatted in the
order that you want the pages to appear. Flash Books! is not responsible for any content, grammar, or
spelling errors. Microsoft Word© or Adobe In Design© are the most commonly used products for
projects of this type.
FORMAT GUIDELINES
(to be completed prior to presenting your document to Flash Books for formatting):
1.
FINISH YOUR WORK.
Flash Books is happy to format your work for publication, but unfortunately are not able to
accommodate changes in text or the structure of the manuscript after submission to Flash Books!
2.
LOOK AT YOUR FAVORITE BOOKS.
Write down things you like about the way the book was formatted. Did it contain headers? What was
the content on the headers? Are the page numbers centered? Top or bottom? Where were the
chapter breaks? Were new chapters always on the right page, or continuous throughout the book?
Where on the page did the chapter break occur? Top, 1/3 of the way down, etc.?
3.
PROVIDE ANY COVER SUGGESTIONS AND PREFERENCES.
If you have images to be included in the cover design, submit them in digital format at the same time
as the document is submitted.
4.
SCAN AND INSERT ANY PHOTOGRAPHS INTO THE DOCUMENT ON THE PAGE THAT YOU WANT
THEM TO BE INCLUDED.
We can resize and adjust the layout, but we do not provide scanning services, or insert photos based
on an insertion list.
5.
LOOK AT YOUR CALENDAR AND PLAN AHEAD.
Flash Books needs a minimum of two weeks to format and print the first proof book, then you have
the opportunity to double check the layout before we print the final book for your project.
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DO IT YOURSELF GUIDELINES:
DESIGNING THE INTERIOR OF YOUR BOOK, OR ‘BOOK BLOCK’
1.
BEGIN ON THE RIGHT FOOT. SET YOUR OVERALL FINISHED SIZE.
The most important step is deciding what size you want your finished book to be. This is called the
‘trim size’. A standard paperback book is 6x9 inches. Your book must be no larger than 8 x 10 inches
or smaller than 4.75 x 4.75 inches. Books formatted 8 x 10 cannot exceed 250 pages.
The way you set your trim size is found in the layout section of your word processing program.
Choose the custom paper size and enter your exact dimensions. Then be sure to select this for the
whole document, not just the current section.
2.
NOW IT IS TIME TO SET THE MARGINS.
Your margins are the space between the text and the edge of the printed page. Margins are typically
set between .5 inch for smaller books and 1 inch for larger sizes. Setting the margins before you begin
entering the text will insure that the page layout will not change. Be sure these settings are for the
entire document, not just the current section.
3.
DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT YOUR PARAGRAPHS TO LOOK LIKE.
If you know that you want the first line of every paragraph to be indented, you can set that up right
after you choose your margins. Depending on your word processing program, the settings for this will
be under the paragraph settings or the page layout settings. Here is where you set the line spacing,
paragraph spacing, and indentation size. Typical indents are .3 inch to .5 inch depending on the size of
the page. This is up to your personal preference. Again, be sure to select entire document.
4.
READING GLASSES REQUIRED? SET YOUR FONT SIZE.
Know who will be reading your book. If the target audience is over forty years old, a large font size
may be in order. If not, the standard font size is 10 or 11 points. Large font size is usually 12 to 14
points. Fonts over 14 should be reserved for titles and chapter headings.
5.
WHAT EXACTLY IS A SERIF? CHOOSE YOUR FONT CAREFULLY.
It is very important to choose a font that goes with your writing style. Popular fonts for publishing
adult books are Century, Palatino Linotype and Garamond. These fonts have little extensions on
each of the letters, called serifs. The most popular fonts without serifs, or sans serif, are Verdana,
Arial, and Cambria. A good handwriting font is Kristen ITC. You will notice that while these are all
point size 12, they differ in size and spacing.
!!! Do not use Times New Roman.
This does not print well with the EBM machine, and your text will come out altered.
(Times will work, but not Times New Roman—just use care to choose correctly.)
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It is perfectly acceptable to change the font type for prologue, headings and for captions, but the body
of the work should always remain in the same font. The chapter headings, page numbers, etc. should
remain consistent throughout the work. For example, if you choose Garamond for the book body, you
can choose Verdana for the chapter title and Arial for the page numbers. If you are mixing fonts, see
if they work well together, and be sure to double check your work and make sure it is the same
through the entire book. BE CONSISTANT.
Don’t forget to be sure all of your font, pictures, charts, etc. are in black ink or grayscale. Colored ink
will not print the same color as the adjoining text if it is not all set to black.
6.
HOW IMPORTANT ARE PAGE BREAKS, CHAPTER BREAKS AND SECTION BREAKS?
It is important to break up a really long narrative with breaks. Use the page break function, (control
key + enter key) to end your pages if you don’t want them to continue on to the next page. Simply
pressing the enter key is not reliable. Page breaks are helpful when working with pictures or charts,
as well. If you choose to use chapters, then you should look at some of your favorite books and see
how they are laid out. Some books begin the chapter 1/3 of the way down the page, others only
begin chapters on odd numbered pages, and still others simply begin on line one, with a little gap
underneath. You can simply state the chapter number, or you can give it a title, or both. It is up to
you. Do a little research on some current books and see what you like best. Using section breaks
between parts of the book are helpful when it is time to format page numbers. Put a section break
between the title page, prologue, and the body of the text. Use a section break before the appendix
or glossary.
7.
I CAN’T FIGURE OUT WHY THIS LOOKS LIKE THAT! - TROUBLESHOOTING.
The best tool you can use is the paragraph marker tool it looks like this: ¶
You can turn on these markers by finding this little icon ¶ in your tool bar and clicking on it.
(the shortcut is control, shift ,*) Now all your spaces will have a dot, and your paragraphs will have the
paragraph marker. This is a good way to find any spacing issues, or other reasons that your layout
may look a little off.
Charts, graphs and tables can also wreak havoc with your page layout. It has been my experience that
the chart should be created in a publishing document and then saved as a jpeg then inserted into the
document. That way the data is preserved and resizing to accommodate page breaks is a breeze.
One more place to look for hidden settings are in the page layout or paragraph format area. If none
of your titles are centered, then the computer probably gave them an indentation of some sort. All
you have to do is click in front of the title, hit back space until it is aligned to the left, and then choose
to center it. This should fix that. This is also where you will find mystery space programmed in to add
space after or before paragraphs. For instance, this document is formatted so that it will add space
after paragraphs, and that enables me to use fewer key strokes.
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8.
HEADERS AND FOOTERS ARE SO CONFUSING! IT MAY BE TIME FOR A TUTORIAL.
If you are using a Microsoft product, Microsoft.com has a very helpful array of tutorials on any
subject. Headers and footers have so many options that we cannot attempt to talk about all of them.
The most basic is page numbering, and it is found in the header and footer menu in your program. It
is best to use the help button on your word processing program to get this section set up just the way
you want it.
Some headers contain the name of the book on even pages and the name of the chapter on odd
pages, while others contain the page numbers and the digits alternate from the right to the left side of
the pages. Most footers are reserved for page numbers, but sometimes the page number is spelled
out and other times it varies from Roman numerals to letters to numbers.
9.
HOW SHOULD I SEPARATE PARTS OF MY BOOK?
You have three sections in your book: The material that comes before the text; the body of work; and
the afterward. The title page, dedication, table of contents, prologue, etc. come before the body of
work; the body of work includes the story or main content; and the afterward is anything after the
body—such as appendix, bibliography, glossary, thank you pages, and the like.
10.
IS THIS YOUR FINAL ANSWER? FINALIZING THE DOCUMENT TO BE ‘PRINT READY’.
The required format for the Espresso Book Machine to print your documents is PDF format. This is an
Adobe© format, and can be achieved in several ways.
In newer versions of some word processing programs, saving to a PDF format is as easy as using the
save as function. To do this you would click on save as, decide where you want this document to be
stored, choose PDF in the drop down menu, and give it a name that you can find easily.
If your older version of the program does not offer this function, you can use Adobe Acrobat PDF
Conversion software. Visit http://createpdf.adobe.com for more information on how to make your
document a PDF file.
11.
SO HOW DO I TURN THIS INTO A REAL BOOK?
You have completed the typing, proof reading, and triple checking of your document and you have
saved it in a PDF format. Put this work of art onto a flash drive or burn it to a CD and bring it, along
with your cover PDF, to your 30 minute appointment. We will open the documents to check for
correct formatting, then schedule a time for the printing of your proof book.
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BASICS OF DESIGNING THE BOOK COVER
These guidelines will be similar no matter what program you use to create the cover. It is basically the
creation of three text boxes which you have sized specifically. Popular choices for design are
Microsoft Publisher©, Adobe In Design©, and Microsoft Word©.
1.
COVER DESIGN, ARTWORK, TEXT, AND OTHER CONTENT.
Decide what you want on the cover of your book. Do you want a simple cover with simply the name
of the book and the author on the front? Do you want to include a picture that correlates with the
subject matter of the text? Do you want a little blurb about you or the book on the back? What
about your picture? Is the spine thick enough for print, or should it remain blank? These are things
you need to decide before proceeding. Look at some of your favorite book covers and get ideas from
the professionals.
2.
HOW THICK WILL MY BOOK BE?
Get out your calculator and do this simple equation: number of pages divided by 512. The result will
be a fraction if the book is small, or a mixed numeral for large works.
For instance:
 If my book has 300 pages, my spine will be .59”, because 300/512=.5859”.
 If my book is 600 pages, my spine will be 1.2”, because 600/512= 1.172”
It is always good to round up to the next decimal, so the spine will print correctly.
3.
WHAT SIZE WILL MY COVER ACTUALLY BE?
The overall width of your cover will be the width of your page doubled, plus the width of your spine.
For example: a 6”x9”, 300 page book will have these measurements: 6+6+.59=12.59”
4.
SO NOW, HOW DO I FORMAT THIS COVER?
Open a blank, 17” X 11”, landscape document. Find the center. Find the middle.
a.
Create a text box that is the size of your spine and the height of your book.
In my case: .59” X 9”. Place that centered on your document. This text box is where you type the
information that you want on the spine. Be sure the text reads right side up as if the book were
lying flat on the table. (I create my text box sideways, so I can see what I am typing, then rotate
the text box 90 degrees before centering.)
b.
Create two text boxes that measure 6” X 9”. Align them on both sides of the middle text box
with lines overlapping exactly. Place the front text box on the right side and the back on the left
side.
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c.
Place your content within these guides, remembering to leave a good quarter inch between the
end of the text and the edge of the page. If you are filling the whole thing with color, let that
bleed off the edges a little bit, so when the book is cut, there is no white line.
Remember to use a large file for any pictures. They should be at least done in a 200 dpi resolution
and saved as a jpeg before placing them in the cover document.
After you like what you see, and have checked the spelling and the spacing, save this as a PDF file onto
the same flash drive or CD that you have the body of the book on.
Good Luck with this project.
17
11
` Cover:
6x9
6x9
Place your back content here.
Lea
Book blurb, photo of author, ISBN bar
code, photos, etc. Please remember
to leave at least a quarter of an inch
between the cut lines, as well as the
fold line for the spine.
SPINE: .59 x 9 leave 1/8 inch pad on fold lines.
Back:
Place your title, artwork, author name
in this box, being sure to leave at least
a quarter inch of space between the
edges of text or object and the cut
line. You also want a ¼ inch pad
between the spine fold and the front
content. If you want a full bleed color
cover, (recommended) use that
background color for the entire 11 x 17
document.
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Riverside County Library System
Personal Printing Services Order Form-No Format Service required
PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY
FEE SCHEDULE
Author Name:
$8 up to 300 pages
$10 for 301 to 600 pages
$15 for 601-700 pages
Title of Work:
Books over 700 pages will be split
into two books and the price per
book will follow above schedule.
Number of pages (excluding cover):
Size of book:
x
Number of Copies Requested:
Expected method of payment:
Cash
Check
PayPal
Content meets EBM printing requirements and is print-ready.
Flash Books! Is not responsible to provide, free of charge,
additional copies if this work does not print correctly due to
formatting issues.
By signing below, I indicate that I have read and understand the
terms above and I certify that I am the creator of the work being
printed, or the copyright holder of the work being printed.
LIBRARY STAFF USE ONLY
/
/
Today’s Date
/
/
Expected Completion Date
/
/
Completion Date
ORDERS WILL BE PLACED IN THE
ORDER QUEUE ON A FIRST COME,
FIRST SERVED BASIS
Customer Signature
Printed Name
Customer Address
City/State/Zip
Customer Phone #
Preferred contact method ____________________________
Customer Email
c:\users\jean.lovett\documents\flash books\flash books! documents\publicity\information packet all in one.docx
FEE SCHEDULE
Flash Books! Format Fee
Riverside County Library System
Personal Printing Services Order FormFlash Books Format Service Required
$60 includes text only and cover
format and printing of 2 copies
$80 includes text with graphics,
cover format and 2 bound copies
PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY
(Please note: Format fee is based on 4
hours’ work, projects requiring more time
will be billed at $20 per hour)
Author Name:
Title of Work:
Number of pages (excluding cover):
Size of book:
x
Number of Copies Requested:
Expected method of payment:
Cash
Check
PayPal
Content requires proper formatting prior to printing
I understand that this non-refundable format fee includes two
proof copies of my bound manuscript.
Text Formatting Details:
Book dimensions: _____________
Margins and spacing: _________
Font type and size: ____________
Page #: Odd/Even Middle
Header _____________________
Footer ______________________
Chapter Breaks: continuous / odd
Chapter Location: _____________
Special: _____________________
Cover Formatting Details:
Cover art provided Y / N
Cover font ___________________
Special:________________
I understand that Flash Books! is not responsible for any editing of
the content of the manuscript. This includes, but is not limited to,
typographical errors, spelling or grammar, and graphic quality.
Flash Books will not change any content of my document in any
way not related to formatting. If changes to the manuscript are
requested after submission, these changes will incur a fee.
____________________
By signing below, I indicate that I have read and understand the
terms above and I certify that I am the creator of the work being
printed, or the copyright holder of the work being printed.
/
/
Expected Completion Date
Customer Signature
Printed Name
LIBRARY STAFF USE ONLY
/
Today’s Date
/
/
/
Completion Date
ORDERS WILL BE PLACED IN THE
ORDER QUEUE ON A FIRST COME,
FIRST SERVED BASIS
FLASH BOOKS STAFF USE ONLY
Customer Address
Amt Due: $
City/State/Zip
Customer Phone #
Preferred contact method _____________________________
Customer Email
c:\users\jean.lovett\documents\flash books\flash books! documents\publicity\information packet all in one.docx
c:\users\jean.lovett\documents\flash books\flash books! documents\publicity\information packet all in one.docx