The publisher’s imprint designates the "publisher of record" for the book industry. The marks of the imprint are the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) which embeds a coded reference to the publisher; the Library of Congress registration identifies the publisher; and the publisher’s name will appear on the spine of the book, on the title page, and on the copyright page.

STEPS IN THE PUBLICATION OF YOUR BOOK.

The following is an outline of the basic steps in getting your manuscript to a published book. The steps required will vary depending on those needed for your book. Some authors are better writers than others and their manuscript may require only a technical editing for consistency of style, capitalization, punctuation, etc. Some manuscripts may require a lot of help in focusing the author’s very good ideas, so that the book can be marketed to the niche for which it is intended. Some books require photographs or illustrations to best present the ideas of the author. Those books require graphic design services.

1. Manuscript Preparation

   Have an specific audience in mind and focus on that audience in preparing your manuscript. Some writing coaches recommend that you have one specific person in mind and write to that person. Focus! Focus! Focus! The more clearly your manuscript is focused on a specific audience the greater the potential success of your book.
   
   Prepare your manuscript on a computer (MAC or PC) in one of the popular word processing programs (WordPerfect or Microsoft Word). It is best to send your manuscript to the publisher on a disk or by uploading to an FTP site. When manuscripts are sent as an e-mail attachment, the email program often replaces certain characters requiring considerable editing to reconstruct the manuscript. Manuscripts prepared on one of the older proprietary word processing systems will require a file conversion, which can add a cost.
   

2. Cataloging-in-Publication data / CIP registration

   The Cataloging-in-Publication data (CIP) is necessary if your book is to be considered by librarians. The Library of Congress Control Number, necessary to identify your book, is required in obtaining the CIP data. These applications require a draft of the manuscript and, at minimum, two weeks time.
   

3. Cover Design

   It is said that your cover has seven seconds to engage a possible purchaser. If he/she does not turn the book over to read the back cover text or open the book to look at the table of contents, you have lost the sale. Early in the process you may communicate ideas, photos, art you would like incorporated into the cover design.
   

4. Editing

   How well the manuscript is written is a factor in the decision to publish a book For every book published under the Quill House imprint we will do a basic technical editing for consistency of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, style, etc. If we feel the manuscript subject has merit, but requires a more substantive content editing we will either refer the manuscript back to you or work with you to provide a substantive editing.
   

5. Typesetting (formatting & design)

   The selection of a type font for your book is an art. There are certain type fonts that should not be used for the text of a book. Certain book subjects suggest a certain design or page format. The present computer-to-plate printing technology requiring PDF files and certain unlicensed fonts will not pass the technology. We prefer to do the book formatting and design so that last step problems are eliminated.
   

6. Copyright Registration

   Your manuscript should not leave your computer without a title page and a second page as a copyright page. On that copyright page you should put the following notice, "Copyright 20XX, Name" e.g., "Copyright 2006, Jane Doe. All rights reserved." If your manuscript consists of several self-contained items, such as poems, you will want to program your word processing software to put your copyright notice on every page. If it is later decided that the book is to be copyrighted in the name of the publisher, that assignment can be made.

7. ISBN (International Standard Book Number)

   A Quill House number is assigned for books published under our imprint. Instructions will be given to the self-publisher for obtaining the number.
   

8. BarCode / Ean Bookland

   The standardized barcode graphic is incorporated into the cover design. The barcode is used at the checkout by bookstores, and for inventory purposed by others who handle the book. We will obtain the graphic for the self-publisher.
   

9. Printing & binding of the book

   Book manufacturing is an art. You cannot walk into any printer and expect that they will have the knowledge of the appropriate design and formatting expertise, inks, UV coatings, signature impositions, etc. to give you a quality, professional book.
   

10. Marketing plan

    Book marketing is very much the skill of finding the right niche to which to publicize the book. The author of a good book has written with a specific audience in mind, therefore, the author’s involvement in developing the marketing plan is important. We will work with the author to develop a preliminary marketing plan before publishing the book. If we cannot find the audience there may be no point in publishing the book.
    

11. Sales Tax Certificate

    The self-publisher will be required, by most states, to apply for a sales tax certificate, collect sales tax on each book sold, and file sales tax reports with the state.
    

12. Order Fulfillment

    Some book orders will come for quantities, but many orders will come one at a time. Order fulfillment adds a cost to each book—packaging materials, postage, time to record the sale, delivering the book to the post office, etc.