Building a house or building a book,

some similarities exist.

Often a book publishing project can be compared to a building project. Please read to the
end.

Let's See ...

Firstly, without a building plan you have no idea where you are going to start or finish with
your house. You've had hundreds of ideas over the years and many individuals have
contributed to your house project. Similarly, with a book the first thing we do is clean the
clutter from your manuscript (formatting) as it has gathered too many idiosyncrasies (extra
spacing or gremlins we call them) over time with different people and their computers
having worked on it. We add styles and we get it ready for the designer. If you wish to leave
it as is and that is your prerogative, it will either a) increase the time to layout your book, at
your expense b) or many issues will be missed and the designer will layout your book
thinking this is what you wanted (which creates a poor layout).

Secondly, now we have a plan and the book is formatted, it's time to choose some house
styles. Are you wanting modern and contemporary or rural and rustic? With book publishing
we have a two-step process, we stylise it in word first as mentioned in formatting (headers
in header font etc) and then transfer into a professional book design software (INDESIGN)
to create the books plan (style). Based on your ideas, we then provide you with two styles
so you have a sneak peak of the layout of your book ... like example house designs.

Thirdly, like your house, there are many add-ons that can be included to decorate. Are you
wanting LED lighting or automatic block out curtains? These are all decisions that need to be
made early in the house building as it will require thought and planning by the electrician,
before you build the house. Similarly, with a book this could be items such as book
ornaments (chapter header art /font), dropcaps or stylised bullet points etc. All these
decisions need to be made early, because they take up different spacing or leading on a
page. One change can mean hours of designers time to adjust the whole book. Same with an
electrician, they will need to rewire or recreate new paths for the new items you've added,
early in the process.

Your Choice
Of course it is your prerogative to request changes, conversely additional time and expenses
are the result. For instance, what if during the building phase you suddenly decide that you
desperately need to make changes to a bedroom walls location. This sounds easy in
principle as it is just moving the wall a metre. Whereas, the reality is it requires a lot more
effort than you think. The builder tells you that one of those walls is a vital load bearing wall
and changes will require additional load supports to be factored in. Similarly, making
changes to font or chapter styles will change the whole layout of your book. Books are
about consistency and changing a style, font, trim size etc. will affect the whole chapter and
subsequently the full layout of the book. On many occasions it is akin to starting a new book
(new design).

A Misconception
Whether building a house or building a book, a misconception exists ... you should be able
to make alterations at NO additional cost. What if you want to change the light fittings to
antique leadlights instead of modern LED lighting. "It's my house and I have to live with it."
What if as an author you want to change words to reflect with accuracy 'she said' rather
than 'he said'. This is important to individuals and we agree. You should always consider
those alterations in publishing that are integral to the accuracy of your book or even that it
just looks better with 'red rose' than a 'pink rose'. The consequence of these changes - they
add time to the project and the designer (or builder) will need to be paid for their design
time and to reissue and share he files once more.

Our quote system is not 'fattened' out with a just in case mentality. i.e. adding 5 or 10 hours
of changes, as it significantly raises the costs for the author. The quotes incorporate one
round of twenty (20) author alterations only, which is roughly 15-30 minutes design time.

A Publishing Truth
By now you're probably thinking 'these Pickawoowoo people really aren't that flexible'. But
we are advising you of this upfront and for a significant reason.

In the publishing industry, many providers make more money out of the little
things in publishing ... and one of those are CHANGES.

The 'pay to publish' industry will usually accept any file you provide to them, knowing that
they can charge for all the changes or add-ons along the way (read the fine print). You agree
to this once you start working with them. Changes have critical consequences ... cash out.

Why Are We Telling You This

'You don't know what you don't know.' We prefer to provide you with information UPFRONT
so you can be mindful of avoiding add-on costs. Unfortunately, ignorance is no excuse and
diligence is important during the publishing process:

1. You should provide a print ready file before you start (we assess this before we start working
and will make suggestions, sometimes it can be editing, formatting, disclaimer info etc that you need to work on).

2. You should select your book styles carefully (we provide checklists to help you).

3. Requesting changes. We are more than happy to make ANY changes or Author
Alterations that you request. You now understand that additional design fees apply and
why. (Note: Only 15-30 mins of alteration time is factored into our quotes - we do not over estimate in this area as
you agree your book is print ready).
Authenticity and integrity during the publishing process is important to us and that is why
we have shared this comparison with you.