For Assignment 5 I shall be writing, designing, creating and making my own book so if I look at the publishing models, I definitely fit under Model 2 which is an established alternative more closely aligned with artists’ books.

Artist/Designer – Publisher – Editor – Production – Printer – Distribution – Retail

But let’s just start from the beginning and have a look at the publishing process in general.

Phase 1 – Editing

If I were to have my book published in industry I would need to pitch my idea for my book to multiple publishers and quite possibly have an agent to help promote myself and my work so that publishers would take me seriously as an unknown first time author. Once a fist book is sold successfully it would make the process easier the second time around. I would have to send a darft or a manuscript to the publishers to try and get them on board with my ideas. This team isn’t just limited to editors though as there would need to be a team of sales, marketing and publicity to help promote the book to a wider audience and to gauge whether the book would be successful and be worth investing in to bring profits in. The best case scenario is that the publishers like the draft and approve a contract!

Once a contract has been drawn up and it has been signed the book starts the editing process. This consists of three phases; structural editing, content editing and technical editing. Structural editing concentrates on the book and the story and makes sure that everything makes sense and that the content is clear. The publishers all along the journey will make suggestions for changes which can either be accepted or rejected by the author or artist. After the structural editing phase is complete this brings in phase 2 where the book is checked for factual accuracy; this wouldn’t really be necessary in an artists book, however for a book on typography with history and dates it could be… A content editor will revise your work, make sure the style is consistent and the content is structured and makes sense.

The editor has a lot of control in this case scenario, they have a lot of power to make major changes which to independent artists and designers this could be soul crunching when suggestions are made that might be difficult to agree with.

A technical editor would then review the work to proof read it and make sure that there are no grammatical mistakes and spelling mistakes. Once this has all been completed and agreed and accepted by both parties this stage of the Publishing process is over, it then leads on to the design and production process…

Phase 2 – Design, Typesetting, Printing and Proofreading

This is where a designer would be brought on board to create the covers and any artwork for the book. They would also make sure that the book is presentable when it is printed. The designer would design covers for you that you would choose, you would choose fonts and someone would typeset the book. A test print or proof would then be printed to make sure that everything looks good and there are no hidden mistakes that would come to light in the final prints. Once you have a draft in your hands that looks great and is approved it would be on to the final phase!…

Phase 3 – Publicity!

This is where a team of marketing and publicists need to promote your work everywhere to try and get it maximum attention! They need to ensure that the book sales are high! They might advertise it in adverts in magazines, newspapers, billboards and via ads online..but they might also advertise it on podcasts, interviews and through word of mouth from other authors. Another major player in promotion especially in recent years is social media; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.. They will also be in touch with book distributers and book shops, book chains etc to persuade them as to why they need to stock your book! This process all happens way before the book is even sent to print and copies are flown out on the shelves!

A publishing house will have a house style (identity!) that they ensure that all books they publish promote for them, think of it as like a uniform for their brand. The publishing house would work one step ahead of you and would aim to start work on a book 15 months before scheduled publication date.

Luckily, in Assignment 5 I shall have much more control and creative license over my own work!

I will be playing the writer, the designer, the artist, the proof reader, the editor, the production team, the publicists, the social media promoters.. the only thing I won’t be doing is physically printing the book. I might even be distributing the book – to book fairs and various promo places to get my work seen!

This is my publishing process from my desk, at home!-

First ideas – mind mapping them ideas for a book!

Research – Making sure that the ideas I have are factual and correct! Researching for inspiration and content for the book

Initial ideas – Having initial ideas and a flatlay plan of all the pages and content

Writing content – proof reading – proof reading some more – maybe a little bit more by passing it around friends and relatives!

Production stages – creating covers, creating artwork

Creating layouts – laying content, art, images, text on to design software

printing draft versions – making alterations – more alterations – check for more typos!

printing proof colour copies to make sure that all colours are CMYK and not accidentally RGB (I’ve done this several times… I won’t do it again!)

Creating PDF versions of my book – making it digital online or finding an online printing company who can print me a few copies

Promoting on my social feed! There it goes onto Pink Angeleno for any future job opportunities or anyone who might be just interested in reading it!