By: Pete Masterson Publisher: Aeonix Publishing Group Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Aeonix Publishing Group Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 320 Publication Date: June 15, 2005 Release Date: June 15, 2005
Product Description: If you are a writer working with a publisher (large or small) or if you are a small or first time publisher, this book will help you understand the book production process and the principles of good cover and interior book design. It will allow you to look at a book design and immediately see the common errors and to see that a book is following the traditions of good book design that gives credibility to your message. Whether you do the work yourself or hire it done, this book will help you get your book done right. Use this book to guide you through the bookd design and production process.
This is THE book on entry level book design Pete Masterson has written an excellent nuts and bolts book on designing your own book. If you're thinking of jumping onto the POD (Publishing On Demand) train, you'd be well advised to read this book before making that leap.
Since I'd spent over 18 years in advertising and new media, I thought I knew everything. After working on complex projects, how difficult could book design be? Just flow the text into InDesign, design a snappy cover, and that's that.
But I decided to buy Masterton's book as a reality check. And that's when I discovered book design is its own planet.
For those who don't have a media or graphics background, this book is even more important.
If you're thinking of self-publishing, starting a publishing company, or even if you are a published author, this book will provide you with essential knowledge that requires years of publishing experience.
And if you decide this task is too much to take on, Masterson also teaches you how to work efficiently with a professional designer.
Definitely, five stars.
Excellent Book if you want the detail Before I purchased this book, I read some of the critical reviews. They are valid, in as much as this book provides a lot of technical detail and is low on fluff. It's written in a readable style and laid out so it is easy to use as a reference for years to come. However, be prepared to get down into the details of Book Design. They're covered thoroughly. Another criticism I read was the the book didn't focus on other products besides Adobe's InDesign software. There's some truth in that; however, there is ample room to port the knowledge delivered between any number of softwares the author reviews. I use InDesign,and used to use MS Publisher. I've tinkered with Quark too. InDesign is the standard, so I found it natural that the author choose to focus on that more than Quark. MS Publisher is mentioned only in terms of "run away, run away." A perspective I'd have to agree with.
Excellent reference, but . . . This book has a lot to recommend it, up to a point. It has solid, detailed information on fonts, working with publishers, etc. I was surprised and disappointed, however, that he didn't go into interior design in terms of layout, etc. The last chapter, which was about choosing a designer, made the book seem that his goal was to attract clients. After all he has mentioned in previous chapters, which would be useful for people wanting to learn how to design a book themselves, he recommends hiring a designer and giving them an unformatted manuscript to work with! Huh? What he did include was well-written and informative, but he left out so much. It's a useful book, but, as some other reviewers mentioned, a surprisingly unattractive one.
Technical, full of useful information, a little boring in it's style For a book on book design, it seems like the book itself would be more visually appealing. With that being said, the book has a lot of useful information and is superior to others in it's class. It covers several areas that I haven't seen in other books like Word vs Adobe Indesign, scanning pages, etc.
If you want to self-publish a book, then you need to read this! You may have heard that you should outsource the layout, production, and typography of your book to the professionals, and that self-publishing will cost you thousands or tens of thousands of dollars!
Well, times are changing. Masterson along with Poynter provide two must read books on how to get started in publishing your book.
Here's what you will learn:
The Pros and Cons of using MS Word for your layout: Page 95
An comparison of professional layout software packages: Page 88
Why the backcover is the most important writing in the book: Page 163
Key questions to ask BEFORE you hire a designer: Page 190
And much, much more.
Whether you decide to self-publish, use and author service, or aim for a traditional publisher, you owe it to yourself to get educated on the design and production process.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
