Ready to Practice Your Skills Working with Authors?

You’ll boost your confidence by using the tools in this course along with manuscripts and other typical author materials to work practice the actual work you will be doing for authors.

Publishing Challenge Exercises (below)

These exercises are optional, but it is highly recommended that you take the time to do them. If you do, we are happy to look at what you’ve done, answer any questions that came up and give you feedback. Please send completed exercises to InstructionSmith at Support@InstructionSmith.com.

You can download the exercises for sections 9 through 14 on Publishing here or do them right from the screen below. Either way, you will need the source documents below each exercises.

Publishing Challenge Exercises

1. Look at the Copyright page (download below).
a. Find the 10-digit ISBN and convert it to a 13-digit ISBN
b. Based on the elements you know belong on a copyright page, what is missing that should be on this copyright page?

Download the Copyright Page here

2. Your new client, Susan has come to you to get help in self publishing her book. She’s set up her own publishing company, Worktime Press but other than that she doesn’t know what to do and when.
a. Susan has sent you the following email with the first part of her book for you to get started. Please send her a response with the information you need to get started and any recommendations for her based on what you see in her manuscript. Please send your email to Susan@BookEntrepreneur.com (please actually send a real email to Support@InstructionSmith.com)

Hello!
I am so excited to be contacting you! I am a human resources consultant and I have just completed my first book called The New Workplace, and my friend Judy said you were the right person to help me get it published. I’ve decided to self publish because I want to get the book out right away. In fact, I have a seminar I really want to use it for in 3 months from now. I don’t know what you need from me, but I’ve enclosed the first chapter. So I guess my initial questions for you are:
Can I get the book out in 3 months if we work together?
What are the steps and what information do you need from me?
Do you edit the manuscript or do I need someone else to do that? I don’t think it really needs it because I’m sure there aren’t any typos – I’ve read it like sixteen times!
Can you do the cover design?
How much is this all going to cost me?
And I want to get my book ordered by Barnes and Noble all over the country – can you help me do that? Thanks and I can’t wait to hear from you!
Sincerely, Susan
Susan@BookEntrepreneur.com

Download The New Workplace – Front matter and Chapter 1 here

3. Below are the specifications for Susan’s book.
a. Should this book be digitally printed or using an offset press (and why)?
Title: The New Workplace
Author: Susan Jamison
Publishing Company Name: Worktime Press
Trim size: 6″ x 9″
Binding: soft cover, perfect bound
Paper color: white
Cover: 4 color
Interior: black and white
Pages: 211
Quantity: 200
b. If Susan got a major order from her largest client and changed the quantity to 1,000, would that change your recommendation?
c. Download the New Client Checklist (at bottom of section 4.5 in this training program.

4. Susan has asked you to get her an estimate of the cost to her per copy if this book were printed through IngramSpark/Lightning Source for her direct orders (hint: you can find the information you need to do this right in this course – you don’t need to go the Lightning Source web site or contact them). Please remember the page count before you figure out the pricing

5. Susan sent you the front matter for the book with her first email, but she doesn’t know the right order these things should be in. Please take this section of her book and put the items in the right order.

6. Susan needs your help again. Please respond to her email and give her help with the retail and wholesale (discount) pricing and with what she can expect to get paid through Amazon (and what her best option is for setting a discount price). Here is her latest email:

Hello! It’s me again. I’m sorry I keep asking you so many questions but I’m so new to this and I’m confused. How am I supposed to know what the right price would be for my book? I want to make a lot of money, so I’m wondering if $29 might be a good price? What do you think? And also, I know you’ve told me I need to tell you what wholesale discount I want to use, but I don’t have a clue. Do you know what most authors do?
Thanks – you’re the best! Susan
Susan@BookEntrepreneur.com

7. Susan has selected a book cover designer and has asked you to coordinate getting her all the information she needs. Which of the following do you need to send to the cover designer so she can do her job?
library cataloging information, ISBN, bar code, author photo, bookstore category, retail price, discount price, back cover copy, table of contents