3 simple steps to deciding paperback vs hardcover + book trim sizes + types of paper
Getting ready to publish your book can feel amazing.
You are on top of that writing mountain that has taken you months, if not years to climb.
The end is in sight!
While you will be excited to finally hold your book in your hand there is one last step: publishing.
If you decide to hand write, home print or email your life story to family and friends – terrific!
But if you want to use a book printer, like I’m doing for my grandmother’s story, printing is one last learning curve you need to scale.
A printer does just that – prints.
They typically won’t guide you through all the different printing options from sizing to paper and cover type.
That’s all up to you to decide.
In this article I go over how to get your own book printed by highlighting some of the key printing terms, explaining what they mean and why you need to know them.
Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee, Allen & Unwin, headshot Goodreads.com
Amazing Allen and Unwin memoir by a Queensland courts judge’s associate
Australian memoir Eggshell Skull has been on my reading list for a number of reasons.
Author Bri Lee writes about working in many Queensland cities and towns where I have lived.
And as a print journalist for many years I know the courthouses she refers to and also some of the cases.
But I’ve also been eager to read Eggshell Skull because it has been winning awards since it was published by Allen & Unwin in mid 2018.
It was shortlisted for the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards in non-fiction, winning the 2019 People’s Choice Award, and also won the 2018 People’s Choice at the Nib Awards for research in writing, plus the 2019 ABIA for Biography of the Year.
The publisher describes the work as “a haunting appraisal of modern Australia from a new and essential voice”.
Keep reading to find out more about Lee’s first book and be inspired to start writing your own life story …
What a print designer knows about front cover design and book cover layout
First published October 19, 2017: This article has been updated and improved.
It’s a funny thing but often the front page of a newspaper is the last page to be sent to the press.
Frequently it is left to the end, right before deadline, for breaking news.
But after working on thousands of page ones as a newspaper designer over the years, I know page one is prime real estate: it is the paper’s ‘shop window’.
The same can be said for your autobiography, memoir, biography or life story project.
A great book cover will intrigue and interest your readers to turn the page.
Here are three key points to keep in mind when you are designing your ‘page one’.
The cover of this year’s 21st edition of Our Priceless Past (left) as published by The Gladstone Observer, visitors explore the 2019 exhibition of stories and memorabilia at the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum (top right), and a tear sheet from the 2017 lift-out (bottom right). Photos: Courtesy The Gladstone Observer, Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum and E Korotkaia.
Celebrating 21 years of life history and community history
But Central Queensland’s Gladstone Region has been taking this power to the next level with its popular Our Priceless Pastlift-out and gallery exhibition, on show until next month.
The annual community event is celebrating 21 years of students interviewing, writing and publishing the life stories of special seniors.
Gladstone Regional Council cultural projects specialist Di Paddick describes the whole experiences as “a big warm hug” that brings together two very different generations.
She has helped organise the project since 2006 and said community enthusiasm and feedback kept growing year on year.
Forever Young Autobiographies caught up with Di to find out more about Our Priceless Past and hear her tips about starting a similar project with your community or family …
5 simple tricks you need to know about proofreading your own work
First published October 5 2017: This article has been updated and improved.
I’ll be the first to admit I was a woeful speller at school.
In fact I almost repeated because I was so bad!
But over the years as a print editor I’ve read a lot of copy and seen the same mistakes crop up time and again.
The good thing is these common writing pitfalls are not hard to fix when you are polishing your autobiography, memoir, biography or life-story manuscript.
Here are five proofreading tips to clean up your writing today…
Mike Higgins and his memoir Trouserless Under the News Desk, Boolarong Press. Main photo thanks to the Leukaemia Foundation. Help the #31Aussies like Mike who are diagnosed every day with a blood cancer by making a donation today.
Former newsreader opens up about Trouserless Under the News Desk by Boolarong Press
Australian TV star Mike Higgins has been on the road spreading the word about his new memoir: Trouserless Under the News Desk.
Forever Young Autobiographies caught up with him to find out more following the book’s released in June by Boolarong Press.
Higgins has been a familiar face on television for over 25 years.
He was the long-time news anchor for Channel 7 in Queensland but also made award-winning documentaries to be awarded a United Nations media peace prize.
But the broadcast journalist became the news a number of times.
Namely when he went on the run from drug traffickers who he feared would kill him and for filming a story at a nudist beach in the raw.
More recently Higgins had another threat to his life.
Higgins had four years of chemotherapy, underwent a bone-marrow transplant and nearly died.
His survival stunned doctors who dubbed him the Miracle Man and said not many patients had “done it tougher”.
“I hope the book will be inspirational to people or anyone going through any sort of a challenge, whether it’s cancer or another illness or a psychological challenge,” Higgins said.
Keep reading to find out how he wrote the book, what were the project’s highlights plus Higgins’s tips for starting your own memoir, autobiography, biography or life-story project.
