Book Planning, Design and Print Consultations
Independent publishing has opened the doors wide. Now anyone can write a book.
But writers or creators often realize that they are in over their heads and need some personalized advice in niche areas of book design and printing to know how to move forward.
I take my 15+ years of experience working in book and journal planning, design and printing to offer custom insights beyond what my clients can learn through my robust articles page or a free email consultation.
I book no more than two live zoom or phone consultations per week to talk to professional communicators and content creators who need individualized support to move their book projects forward (or to know how feasible their book ideas are).
"Julie always cared about the whole picture [of our book]
and not just the part she was involved with….
If you have an opportunity to work with Julie, you’d better take it."
—Sharon Caldwell Peddie
Here are just a few examples of how previous clients have used a one-hour live consultation to make important book-related decisions:
See if you’d like to work together on your book. Harvey thought he could design his book interior layout himself but quickly realized that a book involving images is too complex for a Word layout. He booked a call with me to discuss what it would take to get his Word file and folder of images laid out in a professional way. Soon we will be working on his second book together.
Get a second opinion about the design and formatting of your book. Jean had been losing sleep about big decisions about her book design and layout and after several searches turned up my articles, she booked a call. She had already committed to a book designer but I looked through her entire book design with her on the call and pointed out improvements that could be made. She later booked a second call to help her make some final decisions about the cover and ebook. I also connected her with other professionals who could offer services that I do not offer.
Plan your cookbook or complex book. Cookbooks are one of the most complex kinds of books and sometimes cookbook clients come to me when they are first conceptualising their book, to talk through timelines, logistics, pricing, etc. ahead of time so they have a good idea of how to budget and plan.
Create your first printed product and connect with trusted printers in China. Sandra is an experienced marketer but adding a printed book to her product line and printing in China were things she had never done before. Through a live call and email discussions we decided the best way forward for her planner project, and later I designed the planner for her.
Brainstorm or plan your journal with specialty printing, binding and finishing. Kezzia first found me in 2021, booked a call in 2022. She is a therapist and had printable journal sheets for her clients but wanted to transform them into a real hardcover printed journal. We talked about how she could get from where she was to having a final product in her hand. After our planning call, she got her journal written, edited and illustrated. At times she emailed me with a question or two. I designed the journal for her when the content was ready and connected her with a good printer in China. Her journal was finished at the end of 2023.
Get quick answers to specific book-related issues. Jenny and Rami were under a tight deadline to create images that would later be used in a book. Due to some issues with their software, the images had to be captured well before the book would be designed. On our call we walked through what format to save the images in, what settings would look best, and what it would take to create a book with the images they were collecting.
Ask for help with the book you are designing. Susan was designing a book on her own but had run into several roadblocks. She booked a call with me to go through her InDesign book layout on screen and talk about the problems she was having and how to fix them.