Depending on the printing company you have chosen, your proof may come via the mail as a "Hard Copy" or you may be able to view your proof online in "Electronic Format". Either way, you want to take a detailed look at your proof to make sure that your book looks exactly how you want it to look on bookshelves in stores and libraries.
What are you looking for?
Cover.
Does the cover "bleed" to the edges? What does this mean? There shouldn't be a "White" border around your cover unless that's the way you set it up. Your cover should look as though it "bleeds" off the edge of the paper.
If you have a photo on the cover, does it look pixelated? What does this mean? Your photo shouldn't look like it's made up of a bunch of little squares or pixels. If it does it means that the picture was too small to begin with, and when you tried to enlarge it to the size you wanted it to be on the cover the image was stretched so far that it started breaking down. Does the photo look fuzzy? If it does it means that the resolution (quality) of the photo wasn't high enough to be processed by a high speed professional printer.
Is the title clear? How about your name? What about the text on the back cover? If you are having a hard time reading any of the text on your cover so will potential readers. It looked good on the PDF, so what happened? When documents are processed through a high speed commercial printer certain fonts and colors have a tendency to bleed (blend) into the background they're printed on. You may have to choose a different font, enlarge the font, or pick a different color for your text.
Inside.
Are the pages "placed" how you want them? If you planned on having "teaser" text on the first page when the reader opens the cover and the page is blank, then you will want to go back to manuscript and check for a page or section break, or even a series of enter keys which caused the first page to be blank.
Do your chapters end and begin how you planned them? If you planned on each new chapter starting on the right side of the book and they don't, then again you want to check your manuscript for page/section breaks and an extra enter or two.
You'll also want to double check paragraph spacing to make sure that no paragraphs are "sitting on top" of each other without any blank space between them.
Are your margins even all around your text? You don't want to see your text to close to the binding (spine of the book) which will cause the reader to spread open the pages of the book wide in order to be able to read the words there. You also don't want parts of words or letters cut off on the outer edge of the page either.
Those are the major things to look out for when reviewing your proof! Remember this is the last step before your novel is available for sale to the public, so this is your last chance to make any changes/corrections you deem necessary! After approving your proof, your book is available for retail sales!
Until next time,
Happy Writing/Editing/Leaking/Teasing/Proofing,
G
As always, one-one-one consultations are available no matter where you are in the process of completing your novel, and don't forget the first 30 minutes are Free!
No comments:
Post a Comment