I'm not really sure where to put this, but hopefully someone here will have the answer I'm working on writing a couple of books on shipwrecks you can visit (called, oddly enough, Washington shipwrecks you can visit and California shipwrecks you can visit), and while I have the text and pictures, I'm not clear on how they should be laid out for publication. Do publishers prefer a text file with the images for each chapter in a separate folder, or should I do the page layouts myself? Are there standard page sizes and layouts I should use? Any help would be appreciated.
Not that I know anything about this type of thing but wouldn't it be worth phoning a publisher or two and asking?
Are you already working with a publishing company, or are you looking to self-publish something? The two paths require very different approaches.
So far this is mostly theoretical, but I'm hoping to get it published and distributed by an actual publishing company. I've started the writing on both books, and have photos for most of it, but I'm not sure what to do with page layouts.
As publishers require high-res images (300dpi or greater) I would recommend keeping the images and text separate. If it helps you with captions etc, you could include thumbnails in a Word document and that will help to keep the file size manageable. I would strongly recommend speaking to a few publishers as even if you get the book concept accepted, you are likely to have to 'massage' the text and focus to fit the publisher's vision... unless of course you decide to self-publish!
If you're going with an established publishing company, then you need to make contact with one of their representatives. Usually it's not a case of just sending them a pre-formatted word document; publishing companies employ people who specialize in layout and pagination. It's likely all they'll need is the raw content, and they'll let you know exactly what to send. This is even more important when publishing a photo book, because the images will have to be processed and color-corrected in specific ways depending on the final publication process and materials used. From talking to people who have been trying to get books published, at the beginning most companies just want a short summary of the book. This lets them get a quick idea of what the book is about, and it helps them determine whether or not to proceed any further.
My guess is that, as in many businesses, contacts are critical. Network the hell out of every occasion as people will know people who can help. Good luck with it!
Sorry to hear it :/ Unfortunately I've found that contacts will help in business. I'm not a particularly people person either, quite happy on my own, but people make business happen.
