REVIEWING YOUR ADVANCE COPY

Congratulations, it’s here! The very first, advance copy of your book.

This moment has the power to move writers, and rightly so. Many whoop for joy whilst
others are excited and frightened in the same breath. But 'patience grasshopper', don’t push
that “approve” button just yet! Now is the moment of truth.

All those digital files and hours of viewing on screen will not compare with the real thing.
You'll understand why we recommend you get an advance copy before volume printing (of
any amount). Due diligence is required as you're not quite over the checking, rechecking
stage just yet! We encourage you to work through this guide to ensure you don’t miss
anything important.

Why you want to review the advance copy as a

physical proof
Putting a book together is not a simple 'plonk it' exercise. It can be a complicated process
involving word documents, transfer to InDesign software, various pdf versions, author
alterations and updates, cover creation and a whole host of activities behind the scene ... all
leading to this point.

The reason behind an advance copy is to prove that you’ve done it correctly. Errors that were
invisible on screen suddenly can leap off the page. Typographical errors can creep in, text can
be missing, wrong fonts, weird spacing—all can creep in without anyone noticing.

Pickawoowoo has produced hundreds of books under their own imprint (and even more for
self publishers). These bugs still happen to us, and there is no explanation. The difference
between our publishing imprint and your publishing imprint is—we check our advance copies
like our job depends on it. Because it does. Whereas, you know your book better than anyone
and as the author/publisher you need to view your advance copy as if your writing career and
publishing business depends on it.

So here is a quick guide as to how to use an advance proof.

Note: whilst we are happy to work with you on any changes to your manuscript you have
already agreed and signed documentation to say you've approved these pdf print files.
Therefore any author alterations or changes add more time to the original project and have
not been costed into our agreement. We are happy to make changes as required and advise
you of any costs involved upfront— before proceeding on any requested changes.
How to check your advance copy
This is the last stage in producing your book before you pass it to your readers or ENABLE
your book on the printers (IngramSpark) platform where it will go live, worldwide. It is
important to spend the time in doing it right.

Books last forever and so do the errors that sneak into them. Print-on-Demand will always
give you the opportunity to change without having to hold too much stock. Regardless, it is
still important to make your book as error-free as possible.

Step 1: Examine product quality

First impressions count. Does your book look too big or small, flimsy or fat. Does the
front cover inspire you to open the book, does it set the right tone? Try putting your
book onto the shelf. Does it blend or stand out? Does the text look properly aligned?
Do the colours and images look good? You get the picture.

All these first impressions count and should be noted down. Ask your book consultant
for their opinion to see if anything can be or needs to be done.

Remember: your book is a product and you are a publishing business. So just like any
product you need to be objective and make assessment on whether it looks like a well
made quality product. So the types of questions you should ask yourself on your
advance book (and future books) are listed below. These are the basic questions only.
Pickawoowoo requests you send a copy of your book to: Pickawoowoo Publishing
Group - PO Box 178 Nannup WA 6275. We can check against our more extensive
QA in-house checklist which is looking for both production / formatting errors.

Cover:

a) Is the cover properly bound?

b) Is the cover the correct size?
c) Is the spine centred and aligned or has slippage occurred?
d) Is your title clearly visible?
e) Is there any shipping damage, bends or scratches?
f) Is there any printers splice or dirt marks on the top, bottom or fore edge
g) Make sure no important elements are too close to the trimmed edges of the
book. Is text and barcodes safely away from outside edges?
h) Is the overall design and the colours what you expected?
i) Is the barcode, or if you’ve printed the ISBN on the back cover, the same as
the ISBN on your copyright page?
j) If you included a category and price, are they correct?
k) Don’t forget to double check /proofread the copy on the back cover.

Interior:

a) Has your printer (IngramSpark) printed the pages correctly, check to see if
anything is missing or not in the correct order?
b) Does the perfect bound or staple bound look professional, properly glued or
stitching of pages?
c) Has the book been bound straight?
d) Is there any bleed on any of the images through to the other side of the paper?
 One way of catching any inconsistencies with design or print misalignment is to open
your book in one hand whilst flipping through the pages with the other hand. As you
flip quickly you’ll spot any misalignments because they tend to jump out compared to
the other pages.

Take Notes. The best thing to do is to write down anything you notice. You can speak
to your book consultant who can explain the difference between a manufacturing
fault or a production choice. The first is obviously down to your printer
(IngramSpark) to rectify but the latter may require you to reassess the choice of
printing (Print-on-Demand versus offset printing). Sometimes you may have
unknowingly made the wrong choice for your expectations and if in hindsight you
believe it hasn't worked—then speak to your book consultant who will provide
impartial advice.

Just remember—just like you've read books in the past and not noticed every single
imperfection so too will your readers gloss over them. No reader is ever going to
examine your book production (does not apply to content) with the same fervour and
intensity as you are now. If it is manufacturing fault it will be changed however if it is
production expectations then read on.

Step 2: Print-on-Demand variations

You've probably purchased many books and it is likely countless of these were offset
printed books - printed in bulk (in thousands not units). These printers use traditional
litho printing which results in very little variation. It also means that your book was
the only one on the machine at the time and part of the same run, with the same
machine setup, under the same conditions. This is not the case with Print-on-
Demand.

The nature of print-on-demand (POD) is as its name implies. A copy of your book
will only get printed when someone places an order for it—on demand. POD printers
(Lightning Source / IngramSpark) print each book individually and therefore there
will be slight variations. Different printing locations and printers conditions, inks
(colour), temperatures, and papers will vary slightly from day to day. Equally and
more importantly sometimes text can shift on a page by up to 1/16″ and this under
POD is still within acceptable limits.

These are accepted levels of variation for POD books. If this is of concern to you
now, when you receive your POD advance copy, you may need to discuss options or
solutions (if any) with you book consultant.
Step 3: Take photos of production issues
We believe you will be ecstatic with your book. However if this is not the case please
read on..

Sadly, if your expectations have not been met, whether this is towards print
production or design then we would like to know. Where possible our printers
(IngramSpark) and Pickawoowoo staff /designers are keen to help you understand,
repair or change how certain aspects of your design appear in print. But you need to
clearly explain what this is. For example:

 'On page 117 the chapter heading seems close to the top of the page'.
 'This blue looks purple on page 12'
 'There are marks on the back cover of the book'

Regardless of the concern, the best way to point them out is to take a photo (even the
one on your phone is fine). Your book consultant will then consult with our printers
(IngramSpark) or designer on how to handle the issue and if any changes can be made
to help improve the book product. For example, if some images have printed too light
(or dark) then the designer may be able to manipulate your original images in
photoshop, reinsert into print files—with the aim of improving print quality.

Step 4: The final read

You've probably heard us say (more than once) your book needs to be edited
BEFORE we start on design and that is for a very good reason—we try to limit the
author alterations and further rounds of changes—as it adds time and money to your
book project (which we would like to avoid for both our sakes and sanity).

Unfortunately though, you may find a number of items that will be picked up now it's
in print. We hope we're wrong but don't get disappointed if you've found errors—
consider it a victory that you've found them rather than a failure.

Once your content is all laid out as book, tiny errors and typos seem to jump off the
pages and stick out like a bookworm eating paper. Trust us; it happens more often
than you think.

Large publishers who employ a choice of editors at various publishing stages (content
edit, line edit and final proof edit, as a minimum) don't catch absolutely everything
either. That said, I highly recommend that you don't leave the final proof read up to
your readers. Trust me they can be brutally honest and if your book is littered with
typographical errors, it is the one factor that can be the difference between good and
bad book reviews and sales.

Moving Forward. A little extra time and patience are always a good investment.
Take time to work through your book. Mark up any issues on the actual pages. Even if
you notice lots of errors, don’t despair too much. You've spent years writing this book
so you've still got choices as to whether you wish to make changes or leave until the
second edition.
 If you can't live with the typos you've marked up then now is the time to annotate
them on your final PDF. (Add the changes as you've done previously as per our
service terms). You can then pass the file back to your book consultant who will
speak with our designers and estimate the time and costs to make changes.

NOTE: Be especially mindful of page references when reading your advance copy.
Page references need to be accurate. If you referred to something 'in Chapter 3' or
'on page 108' is it still there?

Step 5: Revise, upload, publish or good to go!

If you've made the decision to make changes then the revised files will need to be
uploaded again to the IngramSpark printer platform. If you've just made a few tweaks,
then probably no need to get another advance copy. If however the changes were
more extensive then yes, order another advance copy and go through this cycle again.

We know it’s time consuming and sometimes disheartening to have to make the
changes after all the hard work you have put it thus far—but you won’t regret it. You
need to be completely confident that your printing choices and the final digital proof
file are in line with your expectations. The time for you to make sure of that is now.

If you are good to go—then the next step is just one click away. Let your book
consultant know you approve of the advance copy and we can assist with the next
stage (print stock for personal use and or ENABLING for distribution , if this service
was selected).

Lastly
We congratulate you on publishing your book. This is an exciting and fundamental
stage in your book’s life and definitely worthy of celebration. We appreciate being a
part of your publishing journey. We honour your persistence and wish you every
success in moving forward.

Congratulations, you’re now a published author!