You have a lot of options if you are armed with a book idea and are in need of production services for book writing. Work directly with a book production company, or partner with a book production consultant.

Book production services include everything from ghostwriting to acquiring the ISBN (International Standard Book Number), book cover design and proofreading. There are a few details you need to have in hand as you seek a book production company to assist with your project:

1. Know the title of your book. It gives you a firm starting point if you have a working title in mind.

2. Tell book production companies if your manuscript is handwritten, typed, in need of transcribing from tape, or in need of a ghostwriter.

3. Deliver your manuscript to a book production service via a CD, email attachment, or in paper format through postal delivery.

4. Communicate the need for footnotes, images, index and table of contents.

5. Establish a timeline for custom book production and required quantity of books.

6. Choose a book size, ranging from small, mass market paperback (4 1/4 x 7 inches) to the large coffee table book (9 x 12 inches).

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Search for publication production companies

Custom book publishing services can include custom book production, CDs, e-books, pamphlets, videos or DVDs. If you are only interested in producing books you may want to find a production company specializing in that medium.

I recommend: NewSage Press, Inc., offers editing, designing and printing services, but does not pursue distribution or marketing. iUniverse offers custom book design services as well as trade paperback, hardback and e-book formats. Receive a free manuscript critique from Professional Press and request a quote along with more information about book production.

Cover your book in style with custom book printing experts

You've worked hard on your book, and when it's published you want it to catch a reader's eye and stand out from all the other books on the shelves. Covers can have a gloss finish, or have the classic look of a matte finish. Titles can be embossed into the cover, or printed on the surface. Also consider whether you want the cover to be paperback, hardback, partner with a dust jacket, or have a linen binding.

I recommend: BookPros has years of experience with book design, printing, publishing, and publicity and can assist with your custom book cover desires. Request a quote from Whitehall Printing for your quick-turnaround book design needs.

Hold it all together with the correct binding

Part of the book production service includes binding. As with all other areas of book design, there are several options when it comes to bindings. Perfect binding is excellent for books. Booklets and brochures generally encompass saddle-stitch or side-stitch binding. The highest quality binding is casebook binding which involves adhering a sewn book to a hardcover. Double wire binding is great for reference manuals with its double looped wire continuous hinge.

I recommend: Signature Book Printing offers excellent quality book production at a low cost. CMYK Graphix, Inc., produces saddle stitched and perfect bound books, depending on page length, for book quantities as low as 100.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  There are two ways to have your book printed: lithograph or digital. Lithograph printing uses a printing plate mounted to a cylinder and is great for top quality text and photos. Digital printing utilizes a digital printing press and is good for text, is more flexible, and can offer an ease with extra print runs, but it is not as sharp a quality as lithograph. Due to the nature of lithograph, it is more expensive than digital.