Boomtown
by Nowen N. Particular

Boomtown includes an eight-page full-color section in the middle of the book and spot-varnish on the cover. Both challenges were met with excellence by American Printing.

Boomtown is great children's book (and fun for adults, too!) Available for purchase at www.visitboomtown.com

The Examined Life
by Sally Santana

American Printing designed Sally's cover, laid out the pages, set margins, added page numbers, built a table of contents and provided her with a full-size, complete mockup. Upon approval, we printed the book and had it bound and delivered to her doorstep.

"I just wanted (American Printing) to know that my book is a smash! Folks say the cover draws them in and is a perfect fit for the content. Kudo's to American (for your design work)!"
- Sally Santana, www.sallysantana.com

At American Printing, we don't SELL your book, but we do everything else. Here's a step-by-step approach to getting your book printed.

Step 1: Write your manuscript. We recommend that you type your book in a data-processing program such as Microsoft Word. Do NOT try and layout your book in MS Word (it is NOT a good layout program!) Just type your book using a simple font and very little formatting. Let American Printing do your design and layout work. It's all part of our very reasonable price!

Step 2: Edit your manuscript. You can spell-check and grammar-check your book in MS Word, but we recommend that you have someone with strong writing and editing skills do your final editing.

Step 3: Call American Printing for a printing estimate. We're going to ask the following questions, so be ready!

• How many books do you want? We recommend asking for a RANGE of quantities, such as 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, etc.
• What size do you want to print your book? Standard sizes include 8.5x11", 6x9" and 5.5x8.5".
• How many words are in your manuscript? We need to estimate the length of your book based on the number of words in your manuscript. Count the words in your manuscript by going to the "Tools>Word Count..." menu in MS Word.
• Does your book have any artwork/photos on the inside pages? Adding photos and graphics inside your book is fine - we just need to know how much space it will take up in the book, if any.
• In what color ink will your inside pages be printed? Most people use black ink, but we can give you a quote for 2 colors or full color.
• What kind of cover and bindery do you want? Do you want a hard or soft cover? Will your cover be printed in one color or full color? Do you want your book stapled, spiral-bound, "perfect bound" (glued), or "sewn-bound" (hard cover).
• Are you supplying your own artwork for the cover, or do you want us to create it for you? We have excellent design services - just ask!
• Do you need the barcode artwork for the ISBN code? We can help you with this - again, just ask.
• When do you need your books? Just give us a general idea of when you'll be wanting to take delivery.
• Do you require delivery? Books can be quite heavy. Will you be picking up your finished books or will you need us to deliver/ship them?
• How will you pay for the printing? We require a 50% deposit prior to beginning your project and the balance on delivery.

Step 4: Send us your files. You can send us your files on a CD via the mail or you can drop off your disk. You can upload your files using our FTP site. Oftentimes, your files will be small enough that they can be emailed to us.

Step 5: Check your proof carefully. American Printing will work closely with you during the design process. We want you to have the best-looking book possible! We will send PDF proofs as we work; the final step is for you to look carefully at your full-size mockup.

Step 6: Printing and delivering your book. So far, our clients have reported 100% satisfaction with every book we've printed. We're certain that you will find that our hands-on customer service and years of experience will make the entire process of printing your book easy and fun!

OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

1. Do you sell books? No. Although we do understand how books are sold and marketed and would be glad to discuss this with you, we do not buy or sell your book.

2. What other publishing help do you offer? We can help design and print various marketing materials you might need to sell your books (flyers, posters, postcards, business cards, advertisements, etc.)