Rooted in Writing
Formatting & Typesetting
Print & Digital Editions
Rooted in Writing typically performs their book layout projects within one business week of receiving all submitted materials. First we go through your Word file and format the manuscript’s content according to Chicago Manual of Style. This includes spacing, global punctuation, page breaks, front matter creation, and more. (And yes, you get a copy of that Word document for your records!)
Then, we use Vellum to create the print and digital files, and we use Adobe Acrobat to tweak the paperback PDF for any additional design needs. You can explore Vellum’s features and terminology on their help website: https://help.vellum.pub. We do not use Adobe InDesign or Photoshop for this service. If your manuscript requires special formatting that exceeds my programs’ abilities, I’d be happy to refer you to another graphic designer.
Print and Digital Edition Design
There is an additional charge of $1.50 per thousand words for book designs on manuscripts over 100,000 words.- One-week turnaround for mock-up and final design files.
- Formatted Word file: a clean manuscript file using Word’s Style features and formatted to Chicago Manual of Style‘s formatting guidelines. Basic proofread of global punctuation, spacing, headers, and text elements.
- Print edition typeset mock-up: based on your submitted design preferences, you’ll receive a mock-up PDF version of your print edition for review and critique.
- One round of design revisions.
- Proofread revision updates (from Rooted in Writing editor).
- PDF for print edition, ready to upload to printer.
- MOBI and EPUB files for Amazon Kindle.
- EPUB files formatted for Apple Bookstore, Nook, Google Play, and Kobo, plus a generic EPUB file.
- Formatted files stored as back-up for five years.
- Discount on proofreading service with Rooted in Writing plus complimentary revision updates.
- Proofread revision updates from a third-party editor (charged hourly).
Amber Helt, she knows her stuff. My editor referred her to me. I learned a lot from her. Whenever I had a question about formatting, she would send me reference points on how and why she formatted a certain way. Extremely knowledgeable in her craft. She is not about wasting time. She is about her business and wants her clients to produce the best they can. I have already recommended her to a friend and will definitely use her services in the future.
Service Workflow
- Finish your manuscript and get your ebook cover file ready to go. (Do not do your print cover yet; you’ll need to know the final dimensions and page count of your paperback before the designer can create the spine.)
- Fill out the design questionnaire and upload your files.
- We’ll go through your manuscript and clean up some basic formatting errors, including: extra spaces, blank lines, inappropriate use of hyphens/en dashes/em dashes, missing punctuation at the end of paragraphs, straight quotes, punctuation outside of dialogue quotations, and more. This will help your proofreader out a lot and give you a more accurate mock-up to view for your print edition.
- Then, we’ll upload the manuscript file and finish the interior design for your editions.
- You’ll review the print edition mock-up PDF and let us know if you’d like anything changed.
- Proofread—two options: (A) Rooted in Writing will perform a thorough proofread of your print PDF and make the applicable revisions to your book files, both print and digital. (B) Your third party proofreader will perform a proofread and send us the revision notes to make to the book files. See below for details.
- After updating your design files with the proofread comments, we’ll send the final files to you.
- You get your print edition cover designed based on the print PDF specs.
- Send your finished book to the press!
A note on pricing
Package rates are “base rates,” which indicate our standard pricing but may be adjusted due to an individual book’s editorial needs. “Flat rates” are nonadjustable service costs. Please contact us for a sample edit and custom project quote. We’re also happy to discuss custom packages, a la carte editing, and additional services.