Designing and Printing Your Book

The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Memoir, Chapter 7

This is the seventh part of our 'Ultimate Guide to Writing a Memoir.'
To access the rest of the guide, click here.

In this chapter, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the design process. This includes:

Layout and format

Choosing a designer

Printing your book

Layout and Format

You can design and format your own book - but we wouldn’t recommend it. This is because there are so many little things to think about, and so many big things you could forget. Leave it to the professionals!

If you would like to have a go yourself, here’s what you need to think about.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
 

Choosing a Designer

In terms of choosing a designer, make sure you check out their previous work and customer reviews to see if they’re really someone you want to work with. Are they experienced at typesetting and laying out a book? Have they got templates to work with? If not, it might be wise to steer clear.

At Story Terrace, in addition to our own templates, we can also create bespoke designs and custom covers to suit your project. We use the same trusted designers for every project - so we know what works, and what doesn’t - and you don’t have to worry about a thing.

Take a look at our sample books for inspiration.

 

Printing Your Book

It’s the final step. You’ve done all the hard work and now it’s time to reap the rewards by holding that physical copy of your book in your hands for the very first time. But what’s that? Your cover hasn’t aligned properly, and half the title has been cut off.

You may be close to the end, but you certainly don’t want to lose focus. Whilst the printing is largely out of your hands, you can make sure that you’ve done your research.

The cost of printing will depend on how many copies you order. Usually, the more copies you order, the cheaper the cost per book will be. Additionally, other contributing factors you might want to consider are whether you want a hardcover or softcover, full colour or black and white book. Printers’ costs vary, so it’s worth getting a few quotes. Some printers won’t do short print runs (e.g. of 4 copies, like our printer does), so that’s also something you might want to think about. Equally, if you’re getting your books printed abroad, you’ll need to factor in the cost of shipping too.

 

Read Chapter 8: How To Make Your Book Cover Stand Out

Written by Sarah Evans
Image credits: by Sebastien Wiertz

More stories in this category

The Nation’s Reverse Time Capsule

Here at StoryTerrace, we typically write memoirs for older i...

Brian Lewis: The Black schoolboy who beat chess grandmaster at 12

Brian Lewis was 12-years-old when he beat an international c...

Love and Dating Across the Centuries

Have you ever wondered how dating began?

logo-icon--red-lined
WRITER MATCH

Check for A Writer Near You

Enter a post code to look for writers in your area. Your interviews can be arranged by phone, via video call or in person.