Says Justine Petrenko, Head of Internationalisation, Bubok Publishing: “There are nearly 11,000 new publishers entering the literary field every year, most of which are self-publishers, which is why Bubok is doing all it can to support the book writing experience. In fact for the first time in 2010 the total amount of non-traditional, social print produced titles outstripped traditional print titles by three to one, a fact that many would have considered impossible 5 years ago. Research has told us that 81% of people felt that they had a book in them and despite feeling compelled to write they were completely overwhelmed by the rigmarole of the whole book publishing industry and as result abandoned their writing aspirations. Bubok is changing this by making it easier for anyone and everyone to self-publish.

Continues Justine: “People have much more choice now as to how and in what format they want to digest their media. You only have to look at the growth in the Kindle with Amazon’s Kindle business. Add to this the spectacular growth in eBooks and it’s very clear that consumer reading habits have changed forever. Bubok is here to facilitate this phenomenal movement in the publishing world by helping budding authors to realise their talents and in turn bring a much greater and wider choice of reading material to the general public.”

With no software to download, users simply upload their file in pdf, doc or ppt format; create a title, author and synopsis; choose binding style, size and cover design or upload their own cover design; set the sales price for the book whether as an eBook or hardcopy and finish by ordering a printed copy to check the final result. Each book is printed on demand and in any quantity, whether as a gift for one or thousands for a much larger audience.

Sounds fair, but the truth is that most of us, when shopping for a book do judge by the cover. The book we tend to pick up is most likely the book with an eye catching cover, an attractive image, interesting font or colors scheme. Once we pick it up, we then read the description and decide if this book is the right fit. Even if you don’t buy it, something still influenced you in your decision to choose that book from the hundreds of other standing next to each other…..

Why? Probably because the author and designer know their audience well and are following some of the design guidelines we are about to outline for you.

Before even starting to think about your cover, you should take time and define your target audience. Remember, you are not designing for yourself, your cover is supposed to attract and communicate with others! So make sure you know the target group you would like your book to connect with, taking into consideration the age, skills, abilities and interest your audience might have.

You have your ideal reader profile ready? Follows this guideline and avoid common design mistakes.

• First, you should create a folder on your computer or a scrapbook and gather images, patterns, and magazine clippings that you think would interest your target audience.

• Find some time for brainstorming, go through your collection of images and fonts and gather first ideas for your book cover. Brainstorming is not a onetime deal. Be patient!

• Once you have some great brainstorm results, try to work on some layouts. Be creative and draw, stick, or paint your ideas on a piece of paper that mirrors your cover size.

• Are some layouts ready? Now go ahead and simplify them. Yes, simplify, remember less is more! The best way to attract a reader to your book is via a clean and functional design.

• When designing your cover, make sure all elements belong together. Create a visual connection with the reader and guide him/ her through the cover; similarities and repetition of shape, color or texture are important to create unity.

• We are exposed to images all day: at work, in the newspaper, TV, advertisements and online. Keep in mind, getting the attention of your reader is difficult, focus on setting a focal point that will attract reader’s attention. If you create that attraction, it will encourage the viewer to look further and actually pick your book among others.Scale and proportion will help you to set emphasis, simply by placing large scale in proportion to other elements on your cover.

• Distribution of visual weight within a cover is a key to creating a balance. Symmetrical balance is simple to create, it´s when one side mirrors the image of the other. Asymmetrical balance is achieved with dissimilar objects that have equal visual weight or eye attraction.

• Including lines to your cover design will create movement but most importantly it will guide the reader through your cover.  Our eyes tend to follow lines easily, use this to your advantage! Use line direction to create feelings; Horizontal lines imply peace, vertical lines imply power and strength and diagonal lines suggest movement. So according to what your book is about strategic line placing, could be used in the cover to underline the feeling of your book.

• Negative Space is important. Make sure you create some negative space that allows your readers eye to rest. Nothing is more distracting then a cover full of clutter!

• Color, is a complex subject. The right color can make or break your cover. Color adds visual interest and it is a powerful communication tool to signal action, influence mood and cause physiological reactions.

• RED is used to stimulate the body and mind and to increase circulation. But also the color red causes people to react with greater speed and force. Red is also a great color to express aggression.
• ORANGE was used to heal the lungs and to increase energy levels.  Orange is considered an energetic color. Orange emphasizes excitement, enthusiasm, and warmth.
• BLUE was believed to soothe illnesses and treat pain. Blue is described as a favorite color by many people and is the color most preferred by men. Blue represents calmness or serenity and it´s often described as peaceful, tranquil, secure, and orderly.
• GREEN symbolizes nature and the natural world. It represents tranquility, good luck, health, and jealousy. Researchers have found out that green improves reading ability it´s increases reading speed and comprehension.
• YELLOW as bright it is, can create feelings of frustration and anger. While it is considered a cheerful color, people are more likely to lose their tempers in yellow rooms and babies tend to cry more in yellow rooms.
• BLACK is often used as a symbol of menace or evil, but it also indicates power. Black usually represents dark characters and it is often associated with witchcraft but also with unhappiness, sexuality, formality, and sophistication.
• WHITE represents purity or innocence. White can create a sense of space but its often described as cold and sterile.

We hope our tips will guide you to a perfect cover and soon we get to see it displayed in our bookstore. Remember, not all of the above may be necessary to implement in one cover, choose up to 3 tips and give your creativity a chance!

To write a book takes a great deal of effort and self control, but who are we to tell, you are a writer or on your way to become one and probably are very familiar with the difficulties that the art of writing brings with it.

In this blog post we would like to bring yourself closer to your goal and make your New Year´s resolution a success.

1. The manuscript. The content of your book has to be perfect before publishing on Bubok.  Make sure you catch those spelling and grammar mistakes before you see them black and white on the paper.

To check spelling, you can use Word’s proofing tools and should always keep your  dictionary handy.  To check your grammar and writing style we always suggest to consult with a friend who may happen to be a journalist or language professor etc …They can not only review your manuscript but also give you valuable feedback regarding your writing style and maybe question the development of some parts of your book…. Remember, criticism is a good thing, and an inherent part of the publishing process.

If you don´t know anybody you can always turn to writers meet ups where you can find lots of people willing to help and of course if you have the ¨change¨, contact a professional editor or consult one of Bubok´s services. Check out our  blog post regarding writing routine where we cover some of the common questions like ¨how to structure a novel?¨or ¨ How to define your  book characters?

2. Prepare your book upload using our book templates in Word format. Our Word templates include 7 different book sizes, each template also includes the complimentary page (blank page), title page and table of contents page.  Download the template that fits your book size directly to your computer and start filling the pages. It´s simple just copy and paste your book into your new template and save it on your computer.

3. Publish your book on Bubok. Create your Bubok account or login if you are already registered, and once a member, click on the publish button; the publishing steps are simple and will guide you thru the entire process; for additional help keep our manual handy.

3.1. Upload your file as a PDF.  Make sure you check it one more time before     uploading, on Bubok you book will print exactly the way you edited it.

3.2. Fill in the details about your book. This is an important step so pay attention and make sure you fill out each blank field. Think about the keywords you think describe the book best, usually it should be words that you think people would search for if they are interested in your type of book. Carefully select the category and sub-category you would like the book to be listed within and provide a short but catchy synopsis that would draw the eye of your potential reader. (Once published, you can always go back and re-edit if you are not convinced).

3.3. Choose the format size of your book. If you used one of our Word templates, choose the size that matches your template.  If the actual page size of your uploaded file does not match one of our sizes, you will be asked to choose one of the closest formats to re-size your book.

In this step you also are asked to choose the type of paper and binding for your book and indicate if you would like your book to be printed in black and white or color.

3.4 Cover design. Here you have 3 different options; you can upload your own cover design, choose one of our templates or hire Buboks cover design service, where a professional designer will design a cover that fits your book and its story!

If you choose one of our templates, you can customize them by changing colors, font character and size. Keep in mind, it´s important that your book stands out from the other books in the library. Keep it simple but attractive, covers with too many colors, fonts and images might stand out, but for all the wrong reasons: D

3.5. Fixing a price on your book is the last step in the publishing process.  Now it’s time to fix your book’s selling price. On screen, you will see a suggested minimum selling price for your book, based on the size of your book, the number of pages and how it is bound.  You will also be asked to determine the profit you want to make on every sale of printed copies, digital epub versions or both.

Once the 5 steps are completed, you can decide if you want your book available to the general public. If you planning on getting an ISBN for your book and make your book available not only on Bubok but also in other online and offline book stores, we will  soon be offering ISBN services that will help you get your book to stand out everywhere and in all mediums.

If you have questions about any of Bubok’s editorial services or general questions about Bubok, our help section is a great way for getting to know us and becoming a Bubok specialist.

We wish you a Happy Year 2012 and Happy Publishing!

But before you start writing you should keep in mind, the same way that an athlete needs to prepare thoroughly to participate in the Olympics, as a writer you also must follow a workout routine to improve your technique and define your style.

So for the debut authors that have decided to embark on a new journey, we have decided to share some tips that will lead you toward your goal of authoring your book:

• Write every day; there is nothing better to improve your writing skills than being consistent. Set up a word per day limit between 300 to 500 words and stick to it.

• Create a routine: following certain customs and having a certain work habits will help you commit and be productive. If you have a busy schedule and writing everyday seems impossible, pick out 3 days per week that you can dedicate at least 30 free minutes.

• Make sure you create an outline of your plot, it will help you to get your book structured.

• Avoid stereotyping your characters. Make sure that each character has a story behind him / her. Make sure each character has some room for change or growth.

• What you write does not have to be true BUT you need to do some research to make sure the story fits the time/ epoch you are writing about. Make sure you got your facts right!

• Reading fuels your talent as a writer: reading should be part of your daily routine as it helps you to understand different writing styles.

• A writer should always have a notebook, ideas will occur at the weirdest times of the day. As we are living in the digital world most of the time the good old notebook has been substituted by a Smartphone, laptop and other digital devices. I doesn’t matter what it is as long you can write or type on it.

• While writing, slowly you will define your writing style and sometimes stories or parts of your book don’t seem that appealing anymore.  Even if you decide to rewrite it, try to preserve the older copies as you never know what they could be good for.

• Once your book is finished, we recommend you read it over and over again. It’s incredible how much editing needs to be done.

• When you think the book is just about ready, share it with other writers and readers, an external point of view will help you see your work from another perspective and identify some aspect that could have been ignored.

We hope these simple tips will help you on your way to authoring an excellent book this winter and  we are looking forward to welcome it on Bubok soon.

Some of you might be familiar with professional book / text editing software like QuarkXPress or InDesign etc, but the reality is that most of us do not have access to such programs or even the time and patience to figure out how they work.

Fortunately, we have a solution; we have created editable Word templates that will make your post-writing life easier; D

Using the custom templates is very simple; choose the template size that fits your book, download it and copy / paste your content into the new templates pages, that’s it!

We have created 7 templates that match the different sizes of our books:

• 21 x 29, 7 cm, also known as A4.  It is the largest book size. Ideal for notes or to print your own magazine

• 21,6 x 27, 9 cm, often used for technical manuals

• 17 x 23,5 cm, small enough to carry everywhere but big enough to read comfortably

• 15×21 cm, commonly used as paperback. It fits in any bag, is convenient and good quality

• 19 x 19 cm, specially designed for travel journals, photo albums and children’s stories

• 22,9 x 17,8 cm, large landscape format. Ideal for a professional presentation of your photos or artwork

• 10,8 x 17, 5 cm, pocket book format, the typical size you find in bookstores. It’s practical and easy to carry around.”

With these templates any doubts regarding free pages and title pages are cleared; forget about font size or line spacing issues and prevent margin mistakes!

Note the template will never substitute a professional editor service, but if your budget is limited they are surely a great alternative.

Remember, if you are planning to add images into the template, the resolution should be 300 pixel per inch to insure a good quality print.

Get the template you need here and start publishing:

To convert any text to a PDF file you only have to install a virtual printer on your computer. This printer works just like normal printer with the difference that a normal printer prints documents on paper and not into a PDF. Once you have installed the virtual printer, you just need to open your book document, click print and select the virtual printer option that you just have installed. Once the book documents have been “printed”, save the newly created book in PDF format as a file on your computer, and subsequently upload it into the Bubok platform at your convenience.

Most computers, by default, have virtual printer options; if your desktop or laptop does not have a PDF print option, you can go-ahead and download one of these virtual printers from the following websites free of charge:

http://www.cutepdf.com/

http://www.pdfcreator.com/?hop=lasa8961

To start publishing with Bubok you will need to set up an account. You can set up a account from the homepage clicking on “Register” in the middle of the screen or on the top right on the page. Once you follw the steps, your account should be set up in less than 5 minutes.

When registered, we recommend you take your time and browse thru the website and definitely have a look at our video.

Since our launch we have created lots of interesting information that will make your book publishing experience a success. Take a look at our Help Center and discover how simple it is to publish a book, how your potential book could look like or download our helpful manuals.

When your book is finished, make sure you revise your book file, ensuring the content is free of any spelling or punctuation mistakes. We recommend you download one of our Word  templates to edit your book and to make sure the book interior meets our guidelines.

When you download the template, simply exchange the default text with your title, author’s name and book content. Once this is completed you need to convert the Word document into a PDF file, downloading a PDF converter.

The PDF is ready? Great. Now you can start the publishing process, directly from your newly created account by clicking on “Publish a new book” or from the homepage, clicking on the “Publish” button. The publishing steps are simple and will guide you thru the entire process; for additional help keep our manual handy.

In case you are not sure how much your book should cost use our cost calculator on the bottom of the homepage for an orientation.

Just a reminder that Bubok allows you to publish your book completely free of charge but we do offer additional editorial services that can be purchased at any time. For example; your own personalized website or eye catching cover-design help.

IMPORTANT; the moment you finish the publishing process you can decide if your book should be available immediately in our online bookstore (public) or if you prefer to keep it private at first and order a proof copy to make sure everything looks and feels just as you imagined it to be.

The Publishing Manual

To make publishing with Bubok an easy experience, we have created a manual called “How to publish in Bubok”. This manual contains 45 pages, that will help you resolve any questions or issues you might have regards the publishing process.

Find out how to register at Bubok, get familiar with the publishing process, learn the difference between a template cover and a own designed cover upload, see how to set up the price that is just right for your book, why it’s important to customize your public page on Bubok, what is a PDF and how to convert your word document into a pdf file, interesting fact regards the page set up and many more!

Download it now and start publishing!

• The international launch presentation will take place at the Göteborg Book Fair, the largest book fair in Scandinavia, which is to be held from 22 to 25 September

MADRID (21/09/11). Bubok, the leading Spanish online platform for self-publishing, began its international expansion plans by launching in Portugal in 2010.  Now Bubok has launched its platform in the UK (http://www.bubok.co.uk/), Sweden (http://www.bubok.se/) and Norway (http://www.bubok.no/), in partnership with global print services provider Service Point Solutions, becoming the first Spanish start-up entering two Nordic countries.

With this launch, Bubok offers established and new authors in these countries a chance to publish in their language.  They can promote and sell their work in both electronic (e-book) or printed copy format with no initial outlay of costs, the books are printed on demand when purchased.  As with the model in Spain and Portugal, 80% of the profits are retained by the author.

According to Angel Maria Herrera, CEO and founder of Bubok “the Nordic countries and the UK have enormous potential because they are very mature markets in terms of buying online and are also among the countries with the largest number of regular readers from all over Europe and books published per capital. ”

The international launch of the new service in Norwegian, Swedish and English will take place at the Gothenburg Book Fair, the largest book fair in Scandinavia and the second largest in Europe after Frankfurt Book Fair.  The Fair is to be held from 22 to 25 September in Gothenburg (Sweden) and Bubok will be exhibiting at the Fair.

Entry into these new markets is the result of the collaboration agreement signed six months ago with Service Point Solutions (SPS), a leader in the field of on demand print services using the latest in digital printing technologies.  This has allowed Bubok to launch in the nine countries where SPS has printing facilities, and in 44 other countries where it operates through the partnership network of GlobalGrafixNet.

About Bubok

Founded in 2008 as an on-line platform for self-publishing and selling books, both electronically and in print on demand paper format, Bubok has become the preferred site for passionate writers.

Bubok’s goal is not only to fulfill the dream of publishing of many authors, but also help their work to reach the widest possible readership and audience.  To date, Bubok has publishes about 15,000 books per year, representing 20% of all book titles published in Spain.

It has won numerous national and European prizes for innovation and startups such as Entrepreneur XXI of La Caixa, Ficod 2008, Plugg Web 2.0 and Best Website of the Year in 2009 by the AUI.

It has major agreements with entities such as the National Library, the Ministry of Justice or the Virtual Cervantes. The project count includes various participants like evoluZiona, Secuoyas, Grupo Intercom (infojobs, emagister, softonic …), Caja Navarra through Eurecan and Nerve.

About Service Point Solutions

Service Point Solutions (www.servicepoint.net) is a leader in the field of print and document management services.   It operates in various sectors such as architecture, engineering, construction, finance, government and education and has an extensive client list in excess of 30,000 B2B customers.

It employs over 2,200 personnel across countries (UK, USA, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, France, Hong Kong and Sweden), has over 100 production sites within its international network.   Headquartered in Spain, SPS is quoted on the Stock Exchanges of Madrid and Barcelona.