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The Literary Handyman
Build-A-Book Workshop
Are you starting a new venture as an independent publisher?
Or are you already running a small press and you want to up your game?
Maybe you are an author planning to go it on your own for whatever reason inspires you.
If any of those apply to you, this book is a good starting point for doing the job. The Literary Handyman: Build-A-Book Workshop takes decades of experience in book design and layout and parses it into an easy-to-understand blueprint for constructing a book that will only stand out for the best reasons.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Please note, this is a guide to understanding the basic elements of professional book layout, not a step-by-step tutorial on how to use publishing or art programs or how to artistically design a book.
Or are you already running a small press and you want to up your game?
Maybe you are an author planning to go it on your own for whatever reason inspires you.
If any of those apply to you, this book is a good starting point for doing the job. The Literary Handyman: Build-A-Book Workshop takes decades of experience in book design and layout and parses it into an easy-to-understand blueprint for constructing a book that will only stand out for the best reasons.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Please note, this is a guide to understanding the basic elements of professional book layout, not a step-by-step tutorial on how to use publishing or art programs or how to artistically design a book.
- GenresWritingNonfiction
110 pages, Paperback
Published April 28, 2020
9 people want to read
About the author
Danielle Ackley-McPhail
116 books206 followersAward-winning author, editor, and publisher Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for longer than she cares to admit. In 2014 she joined forces with husband Mike McPhail and friend Greg Schauer to form her own publishing house, eSpec Books (www.especbooks.com).
Her published works include eight novels, Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories, Today’s Promise, The Halfling’s Court, The Redcaps’ Queen, Daire’s Devils, The Play of Light, and Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo collections Eternal Wanderings, A Legacy of Stars, Consigned to the Sea, Flash in the Can, Transcendence, Between Darkness and Light, The Fox’s Fire, The Kindly One, and the non-fiction writers’ guides The Literary Handyman, More Tips from the Handyman, and LH: Build-A-Book Workshop. She is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Gaslight & Grimm, Side of Good/Side of Evil, After Punk, and Footprints in the Stars. Her short stories are included in numerous other anthologies and collections.
In addition to her literary acclaim, she crafts and sells original costume horns under the moniker The Hornie Lady Custom Costume Horns, and homemade flavor-infused candied ginger under the brand of Ginger KICK! at literary conventions, on commission, and wholesale.
Danielle lives in New Jersey with her husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail and four extremely spoiled cats.
Her published works include eight novels, Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories, Today’s Promise, The Halfling’s Court, The Redcaps’ Queen, Daire’s Devils, The Play of Light, and Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo collections Eternal Wanderings, A Legacy of Stars, Consigned to the Sea, Flash in the Can, Transcendence, Between Darkness and Light, The Fox’s Fire, The Kindly One, and the non-fiction writers’ guides The Literary Handyman, More Tips from the Handyman, and LH: Build-A-Book Workshop. She is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Gaslight & Grimm, Side of Good/Side of Evil, After Punk, and Footprints in the Stars. Her short stories are included in numerous other anthologies and collections.
In addition to her literary acclaim, she crafts and sells original costume horns under the moniker The Hornie Lady Custom Costume Horns, and homemade flavor-infused candied ginger under the brand of Ginger KICK! at literary conventions, on commission, and wholesale.
Danielle lives in New Jersey with her husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail and four extremely spoiled cats.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
October 24, 2020
| Review on Reader Fox Blog |
I'll admit, I definitely had a different image for what this book was going to teach me when I requested it. And this is entirely my fault, really. You see, I've been getting into some bookbinding projects lately and, when I saw this, I automatically just assumed that the Build-A-Book Workshop was going to detail tips and tricks with how to literally put together a physical book. And though this book does detail how to design a book, it doesn't really talk about the logistics of what happens once everything has been printed. So, while still full of useful information, this book wasn't what I'd initially thought it would be.
I am massively grateful for what I did learn from this book.
If nothing else, I can say that Build-A-Book Workshop was incredibly informative about pieces of the designing process for books. While I feel like I knew portions of the process already due to my own personal research, there was a lot that I hadn't ever thought of or read about before. If nothing else, this is an excellent starting point if you're looking into some form of self-publishing. And really, it's made me grow more interested in the publishing world as a whole.
This is a pretty quick read that kind of throws you into the deep end of a lot of terminology. If you're already fairly well-versed in the world of books and know a moderate amount about publishing, you'll have a fairly good grasp on what the majority of these are. And at that point, the bigger piece is learning about the technology that is involved in book-cover design. This information, at least, was entirely new to me. I imagine it would be for many others, as well.
In the end, if book design and publishing is an interest of yours I would definitely suggest checking this book out.
I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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I'll admit, I definitely had a different image for what this book was going to teach me when I requested it. And this is entirely my fault, really. You see, I've been getting into some bookbinding projects lately and, when I saw this, I automatically just assumed that the Build-A-Book Workshop was going to detail tips and tricks with how to literally put together a physical book. And though this book does detail how to design a book, it doesn't really talk about the logistics of what happens once everything has been printed. So, while still full of useful information, this book wasn't what I'd initially thought it would be.
I am massively grateful for what I did learn from this book.
If nothing else, I can say that Build-A-Book Workshop was incredibly informative about pieces of the designing process for books. While I feel like I knew portions of the process already due to my own personal research, there was a lot that I hadn't ever thought of or read about before. If nothing else, this is an excellent starting point if you're looking into some form of self-publishing. And really, it's made me grow more interested in the publishing world as a whole.
This is a pretty quick read that kind of throws you into the deep end of a lot of terminology. If you're already fairly well-versed in the world of books and know a moderate amount about publishing, you'll have a fairly good grasp on what the majority of these are. And at that point, the bigger piece is learning about the technology that is involved in book-cover design. This information, at least, was entirely new to me. I imagine it would be for many others, as well.
In the end, if book design and publishing is an interest of yours I would definitely suggest checking this book out.
I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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July 17, 2020
This book serves a very specific purpose. It's an introductory guide to prepping your manuscript for self-publishing, most likely through a POD (Print On Demand) service. Danielle Ackley-McPhail walks you through all the important parts of a physical book's layout and construction, including front and back cover, spine, frontmatter, backmatter, and of course, the text between the pages. All those fiddly little details you've probably never thought much about but will definitely notice when you pick up a book (or rather, you will notice if the designer/publisher got something wrong).
So, if you are not familiar with concepts like "leading," "kerning," or "bleed," this book will spell all that out for you. It will talk about the order in which the various parts (optional and otherwise) of a book's frontmatter should be arranged (e.g., Copyright, Title Page, Acknowledgements, Dedications, Foreword, etc.) What your margins and bleed should be. How to set your leading and spacing. How to fix various design problems, like orphaned and widowed lines. How quoted text, poems, letters, etc., should be formatted.
As an introductory text, I think it will be invaluable to a self-published author just starting out. You don't want your book to look like one of those crappy ones you see self-published authors hawking at conventions, with Poser art on the cover and text that looks like it came out of a mimeograph machine.
Now, a few caveats (and areas I think the book could have benefited from adding more details).
First, there is nothing here for creating ebooks. It's for physical, print books. If you want to know how to create an ebook, look elsewhere. That is not a flaw in the book per se, which isn't about ebooks, but authors might like to know how setting up their styles in their word processor of choice will and will not transfer over to the two separate processes of POD and ebook formatting. (There are probably as many workflows as there are authors, but there are some definite timesavers for people who intend to do both POD and ebooks.)
Second, the author very deliberately does not talk about specific software - there are no tutorials for using Adobe Indesign or Microsoft Word to actually create the formatting she talks about. That's all well and good, this book is meant to be as general as possible, and of course, software changes all the time. But speaking as someone who just recently learned why I might want to use Affinity Publisher instead of Microsoft Word (whose formatting I thought was "good enough" once I learned some advanced tricks), I think newbies could benefit from at least a page or two comparing the pros and cons of some of the major software packages. Adobe InDesign is the obvious one that is the industry standard, while Affinity Publisher is a very serviceable and much cheaper alternative. More importantly, why shouldn't you just use Microsoft Word, which can do almost everything discussed in this book? (Because those "almost" bits could be important, and even the things MS Word can do, trust me, can take a lot of wrangling.) Hint: Optical alignment, which unfortunately is not a thing the Build-A-Book Workshop mentions. Some of this software is mentioned, but the book doesn't tell you much about why you would choose any particular application.
The only size really talked about is the standard 6"x9" trade paperback size. Obviously, this book can't provide templates for every possible size, and usually you can get cover templates from your POD service, but a few more samples showing how margins and bleeds and text blocks can vary according to the size of your book might have been useful.
More illustrations would definitely have been helpful. Ackley-McPhail tells us about leading, kerning, widows, orphans, drop caps and first-line formatting, but there is barely any sample text to show the reader how this looks when you change the settings. For visual learners, this seems like an oversight. You will not really know what she's talking about until you import your manuscript into your software of choice and start experimenting with settings.
Overall, quite a useful book for anyone creating books as a hobby or a side gig, but very much an introduction. I learned most of what this book teaches just by taking a few books off my shelf, looking at how they were formatted and structured, and then playing with Affinity Publisher, but if I'd read this book first, it might have saved me some time, and it does provide a few handy checklists, as well as some "oopses" I might not have thought of.
So, if you are not familiar with concepts like "leading," "kerning," or "bleed," this book will spell all that out for you. It will talk about the order in which the various parts (optional and otherwise) of a book's frontmatter should be arranged (e.g., Copyright, Title Page, Acknowledgements, Dedications, Foreword, etc.) What your margins and bleed should be. How to set your leading and spacing. How to fix various design problems, like orphaned and widowed lines. How quoted text, poems, letters, etc., should be formatted.
As an introductory text, I think it will be invaluable to a self-published author just starting out. You don't want your book to look like one of those crappy ones you see self-published authors hawking at conventions, with Poser art on the cover and text that looks like it came out of a mimeograph machine.
Now, a few caveats (and areas I think the book could have benefited from adding more details).
First, there is nothing here for creating ebooks. It's for physical, print books. If you want to know how to create an ebook, look elsewhere. That is not a flaw in the book per se, which isn't about ebooks, but authors might like to know how setting up their styles in their word processor of choice will and will not transfer over to the two separate processes of POD and ebook formatting. (There are probably as many workflows as there are authors, but there are some definite timesavers for people who intend to do both POD and ebooks.)
Second, the author very deliberately does not talk about specific software - there are no tutorials for using Adobe Indesign or Microsoft Word to actually create the formatting she talks about. That's all well and good, this book is meant to be as general as possible, and of course, software changes all the time. But speaking as someone who just recently learned why I might want to use Affinity Publisher instead of Microsoft Word (whose formatting I thought was "good enough" once I learned some advanced tricks), I think newbies could benefit from at least a page or two comparing the pros and cons of some of the major software packages. Adobe InDesign is the obvious one that is the industry standard, while Affinity Publisher is a very serviceable and much cheaper alternative. More importantly, why shouldn't you just use Microsoft Word, which can do almost everything discussed in this book? (Because those "almost" bits could be important, and even the things MS Word can do, trust me, can take a lot of wrangling.) Hint: Optical alignment, which unfortunately is not a thing the Build-A-Book Workshop mentions. Some of this software is mentioned, but the book doesn't tell you much about why you would choose any particular application.
The only size really talked about is the standard 6"x9" trade paperback size. Obviously, this book can't provide templates for every possible size, and usually you can get cover templates from your POD service, but a few more samples showing how margins and bleeds and text blocks can vary according to the size of your book might have been useful.
More illustrations would definitely have been helpful. Ackley-McPhail tells us about leading, kerning, widows, orphans, drop caps and first-line formatting, but there is barely any sample text to show the reader how this looks when you change the settings. For visual learners, this seems like an oversight. You will not really know what she's talking about until you import your manuscript into your software of choice and start experimenting with settings.
Overall, quite a useful book for anyone creating books as a hobby or a side gig, but very much an introduction. I learned most of what this book teaches just by taking a few books off my shelf, looking at how they were formatted and structured, and then playing with Affinity Publisher, but if I'd read this book first, it might have saved me some time, and it does provide a few handy checklists, as well as some "oopses" I might not have thought of.
September 5, 2020
4 Stars
Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman Book 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhail is a handy guide for anyone looking at taking the self-publishing route and who wants to make sure they present a polished piece of work. This is a really well put together and informative guide on how to lay out and design your book. It includes steps and checklists for you to ensure you cover everything in that process.
It includes helpful insights, as well as things to avoid garnered from the author's own publishing journey. The author streamlines and simplifies what could otherwise be an intimidating process for many.
I recommend this to any new author who may not know where to begin in book designing and layout. This is definitely a great starting point- a quick and easy read that makes the whole process seem much less daunting.
I certainly learnt quite a lot from reading this informative and helpful guide.
Thank you, Danielle Ackley-McPhail!
Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman Book 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhail is a handy guide for anyone looking at taking the self-publishing route and who wants to make sure they present a polished piece of work. This is a really well put together and informative guide on how to lay out and design your book. It includes steps and checklists for you to ensure you cover everything in that process.
It includes helpful insights, as well as things to avoid garnered from the author's own publishing journey. The author streamlines and simplifies what could otherwise be an intimidating process for many.
I recommend this to any new author who may not know where to begin in book designing and layout. This is definitely a great starting point- a quick and easy read that makes the whole process seem much less daunting.
I certainly learnt quite a lot from reading this informative and helpful guide.
Thank you, Danielle Ackley-McPhail!
August 26, 2020
Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman 2)
By Danielle Ackley-McPhall
5 out of 5 stars
When reading this book Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhall it helps start you down a path to publishing your work. It is the goal of every author to have your book say, “Look at me! Buy me!” This author provides advice from her experience that will help you start your journey. I liked how it included checklists and some of the pitfalls that you want to avoid. The suggestions provided made sense and that it includes a detailed glossary of terms. I found when reading the book, it was like a friend was talking to me and giving me advice. Every book has a beginning and the author does a wonderful job of helping in that process.
By Danielle Ackley-McPhall
5 out of 5 stars
When reading this book Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhall it helps start you down a path to publishing your work. It is the goal of every author to have your book say, “Look at me! Buy me!” This author provides advice from her experience that will help you start your journey. I liked how it included checklists and some of the pitfalls that you want to avoid. The suggestions provided made sense and that it includes a detailed glossary of terms. I found when reading the book, it was like a friend was talking to me and giving me advice. Every book has a beginning and the author does a wonderful job of helping in that process.
September 5, 2020
Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman Book 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhail was a really enlightening read. I am not a publisher nor will I be one in the future but I am a reader and curious about the process. I found the definition of terms super helpful at the beginning. There was a clear understanding of what was being discussed. I also loved the discuss of personal experiences.
July 10, 2020
Very good, clear, and concise descriptions of the various parts of a book. For the beginner, there's a lot of great detail here. If you already know a bit about publishing, there may not be that much new. The details about design pitfalls are great, I just wish there had been illustrations (especially when it says there will be illustrations).
September 17, 2020
Aimed at authors planning on self publishing, those about to venture into the independent publishing market and those already running small presses who want to improve this book is a
“guide to understanding the basic elements of professional book layout”. ‘Build-A-Book Workshop’ is book two in Danielle Ackley-McPhail’s ‘Literary Handyman’ series and is obviously written by someone who has years of experience in book design and layout. Ackley-McPhail has very cleverly made what is a very complicated process into an easy to read and understand book. The short book is packed full of helpful ideas and insider tips with each chapter concentrating on a particular aspect of the process. The layout of this particular book, as you would expect, is very clear and easy to understand. The glossary of terms at the end of the book is particularly useful as is the appendix pointing out the mistakes the author herself has made in the past and how to overcome them. Although a great handbook on its own I think it would work well with the first book in the series as well. I found this to be an extremely interesting and useful book and I can see myself referring back to it and having a re-read of particular chapters as required.
“guide to understanding the basic elements of professional book layout”. ‘Build-A-Book Workshop’ is book two in Danielle Ackley-McPhail’s ‘Literary Handyman’ series and is obviously written by someone who has years of experience in book design and layout. Ackley-McPhail has very cleverly made what is a very complicated process into an easy to read and understand book. The short book is packed full of helpful ideas and insider tips with each chapter concentrating on a particular aspect of the process. The layout of this particular book, as you would expect, is very clear and easy to understand. The glossary of terms at the end of the book is particularly useful as is the appendix pointing out the mistakes the author herself has made in the past and how to overcome them. Although a great handbook on its own I think it would work well with the first book in the series as well. I found this to be an extremely interesting and useful book and I can see myself referring back to it and having a re-read of particular chapters as required.
September 11, 2020
5 stars!
Build-A-Book Workshop by Danielle Ackley-McPhail is an interesting read. This book is a nice guide to show the steps needed to take to make sure your book has a nice finished look and that the content and layout comes across as well made and thought out. There is a lot of book terminology thrown at you and honestly, I liked to understand what some of the words or abbreviations I have seen, what they really mean and stand for, even if I am not interested in creating or publishing my own book. The layout of the book goes from the cover, with choosing a nice eye catching image to the back of the book where an author’s biography might go. It was easy to read and follow and the tips that the author gives, using her own personal experiences was great, especially when she lays out a list of questions, Did you remember this? Did you forget that?. If I were to look into publishing my own book, it is a nice list to have to makes sure I didn’t forget anything or to make sure my book is ready to publish. The book is a quick read but packed with a lot of information to anyone starting out in their publishing journey.
Build-A-Book Workshop by Danielle Ackley-McPhail is an interesting read. This book is a nice guide to show the steps needed to take to make sure your book has a nice finished look and that the content and layout comes across as well made and thought out. There is a lot of book terminology thrown at you and honestly, I liked to understand what some of the words or abbreviations I have seen, what they really mean and stand for, even if I am not interested in creating or publishing my own book. The layout of the book goes from the cover, with choosing a nice eye catching image to the back of the book where an author’s biography might go. It was easy to read and follow and the tips that the author gives, using her own personal experiences was great, especially when she lays out a list of questions, Did you remember this? Did you forget that?. If I were to look into publishing my own book, it is a nice list to have to makes sure I didn’t forget anything or to make sure my book is ready to publish. The book is a quick read but packed with a lot of information to anyone starting out in their publishing journey.
September 9, 2020
Build-A-Book Workshop by Danielle Ackley-McPhail is the second book in the Literary Handyman series. This is a great book for anyone who is looking to start the self-publishing journey and needs that helping hand to get them started. The author has done a great job of laying out how to look at the formatting and design of the book so that it will attract attention.
It is more relatable as a guide as the author is able to offer insight and suggestions based on her own experiences which makes it more relevant to those in the same position. I think it helps to show that those at the start of the process that is possible to get to where you want to be and will help to give them the extra motivation they might need. This book is definitely worth a read if you are about to self-publish your own work.
It is more relatable as a guide as the author is able to offer insight and suggestions based on her own experiences which makes it more relevant to those in the same position. I think it helps to show that those at the start of the process that is possible to get to where you want to be and will help to give them the extra motivation they might need. This book is definitely worth a read if you are about to self-publish your own work.
September 16, 2020
Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhail. This is an amazing how to book. It gives you step by step instructions on how to publish a book. The directions are simple and in layman's terms. I am in no way going to publish a book but I love books and want to know all there is to know about them and this book explained the process very simply. This book will help you build a beautiful book that is a publisher's dream. It has easy to follow instructions and I really think just about anyone could publish a book going by this book. This book also shows you the order you need to layout a book so that it makes sense. Very informative read if you are looking to publish a book anytime soon!
September 18, 2020
Build-A-Book Workshop by Danielle Ackley McPhail
Four Stars
Build-A-Book Workshop is the second book in The Literary Handyman series by Danielle Ackley McPhail. This informative “how to” is filled with some really great information. It is easy to follow and chapters are well defined. If you are an author just staring out, this book will give you a bunch of different ideas to make your book stand out and hopefully make money. For me, I read the book because I was thinking about dabbling in writing. The tips are refreshing and are easy to follow. I would recommend this book to beginning author.
Four Stars
Build-A-Book Workshop is the second book in The Literary Handyman series by Danielle Ackley McPhail. This informative “how to” is filled with some really great information. It is easy to follow and chapters are well defined. If you are an author just staring out, this book will give you a bunch of different ideas to make your book stand out and hopefully make money. For me, I read the book because I was thinking about dabbling in writing. The tips are refreshing and are easy to follow. I would recommend this book to beginning author.
September 16, 2020
Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhail. If you’ve ever considered publishing a book this book would be a great place to start. The author gives some great tips and information that anyone could use. Steps are easy to follow. The author does a wonderful job of keeping readers interested in the details and information given in this books. It’s well written and thought out. I was very glad I’d found this book so I could see a bit behind the scenes of book writing and publishing. Great informative book four stars and highly recommended.
September 18, 2020
Great information
Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman Book 2) is a book full of great information for someone planning to self publish a book. The sections are well laid out, with terms discussed in the section are clearly defined at the beginning of each section.
Although I’m not planning on writing a book in the near future, I really appreciate the way this book is organized. I will be grabbing this book if and when I decide to write a book. I would definitely recommended this book.
Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman Book 2) is a book full of great information for someone planning to self publish a book. The sections are well laid out, with terms discussed in the section are clearly defined at the beginning of each section.
Although I’m not planning on writing a book in the near future, I really appreciate the way this book is organized. I will be grabbing this book if and when I decide to write a book. I would definitely recommended this book.
September 18, 2020
This book is a good guide for the first-time authors who decide to go to a self-publishing route. This was something I wanted to know and hence I picked this book. I will use it as a reference book in the future. It has a lot of details right from selecting the right image of the cover to what goes in the blurb to how to acquire the ISBN for the book.
As I have never published a book before, there were some terminologies which are confusing but I am pretty sure that when I get to the process, this book will be of great help. Thank you so much for giving this book to us.
As I have never published a book before, there were some terminologies which are confusing but I am pretty sure that when I get to the process, this book will be of great help. Thank you so much for giving this book to us.
August 26, 2020
I learned quite a bit from this book about publishing a book. This is a nonfiction book that takes you through the steps of publishing a book although it doesn’t tell you what happens after this point which has built my curiosity. If you are looking to publish a book this would be very helpful to you and has lots of information that is useful. The steps are easy to follow and written in a way that is understandable. I would share this book and highly recommend it.
September 4, 2020
Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhail is a thorough, clear and concise easy step by step guide on how to be your own publisher. Danielle steps us through her own experiences and it is a good helping tool for anyone starting out on their own journey. It is well written but the only downside with this book is that it is only helpful for a physical book, it does not mention how to go about getting eBook’s out there.
September 15, 2020
If you are in the book business, then this book is for you! This book breaks down the look of a book and where everything needs to go in an easy to follow format. It offers great tips and things to avoid as you are putting it together. This book presents what it should look like from cover to end. It also offers checklists, definitions, and the meaning of abbreviations you might see along the way. This book is a must have!
September 16, 2020
As someone who has always had a secret desire to self-publish, I found this book to be extremely interesting and insightful. Ackley-McPhail does a nice job explaining things in an informative way without being overly droll and boring. If you are looking to self-publish one day, I believe you’ll find the information provided to be useful and helpful. A good book exploring the workings of a piece of literature and how to put your best foot forward.
September 17, 2020
Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman 2)
by Danielle, Ackley-McPhail is an introductory book for folks that are wanting to go into self-publishing. This is a great book that teaches you about the layout process for a book. For warning, this isn't a manual on how to create a book. I found this book very informative and interesting. I always enjoy expanding my knowledge this was a good choice.
by Danielle, Ackley-McPhail is an introductory book for folks that are wanting to go into self-publishing. This is a great book that teaches you about the layout process for a book. For warning, this isn't a manual on how to create a book. I found this book very informative and interesting. I always enjoy expanding my knowledge this was a good choice.
September 18, 2020
I’ve never read any books on how to start getting a book published before. Nor have I read anything by Danielle Ackley-McPhail. I’ve always toyed with the idea of writing a book but never knew where to start or how to formulate any of the ideas in my head. The fact she has checklists and reminders of things not to do is amazing. This definitely makes me want to get back to trying to write a book! Build-A-Book Workshop was incredibly informative about pieces of the designing process for books.
September 18, 2020
This is not my typical book choice to read. I found this book an interesting guide on how to book. I have to admit I know a lot about copyright, but never know the other end of the book world. This shows the way to put together a book that one day you could possibly publish your own book. If you have ever had a dream of publishing a book, I would recommend reading this book as a starting block on your way to publishing a book.
September 15, 2020
This is a great do-it-yourself book if you are looking into publishing your work. It walks you through by asking questions and expanding upon them to ensure you understand. It was a bit much for me to process at once since I have never looked into publishing. However, for someone more experienced, I think it would be helpful.
September 17, 2020
This book was nothing what I thought it would be. It reminds me of my coding books from college. That doesn't mean it is a bad book but it is very informative. I like how it gives you directions without being a tutorial. It does give you a lot if great information. This is a great way for someone to get to understand the book business from the inside out.
August 3, 2020
A great beginning volume for anyone entering into the business of publishing a book. Terms are clearly defined and information is organized in a helpful and easy to follow format. The narration is companionable and encouraging.
August 14, 2020
This book is a concise and direct guide to the publishing process. It offers insights and recommendations for self-publishers. It is a great resource for someone who is interested in minimizing the risk and maximizing efficiency. Overall, a useful book. #BuildABookWorkshop #NetGalley
August 27, 2020
This is a very thorough how-to on publishing your work as an author. The author is very relatable as she outlines her own experience to pull you in to instruct you. I loved how she defined her terms to assist you in better overstanding. The advice was easy to understand and it's very helpful.
January 20, 2022
Good for beginners who have done some book making. The writing is clear and friendly. Easy to read. For those who have zero experience or knowledge, the content must be used with more detailed instructions, like the title suggests, it's better used in a workshop than a self-guided learning book.
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