Publishing and Author Services
Image Credit: Heath Vester on Unsplash
PUBLISHING AND AUTHOR SERVICES
Publishing with Ashwood
Ashwood Publishing is a collaborative, professional, ethical fee-for-service publisher owned and operated by me, Susan Young. It's not a vanity publisher: I only publish quality work and will tell you honestly if your book is not yet ready for submission or if it’s good but we’re just not a good fit. Authors retain full rights to their work.
Ashwood usually publishes print-on-demand with printing in Melbourne, the USA and the UK, depending on where the book is purchased, providing worldwide distribution to major bricks-and-mortar bookstores and online sellers including Amazon, Book Depository, Booktopia and so on. E-books are published in multiple formats including Kindle.
Contact Me to discuss your project. Initial manuscript assessments are free. Your manuscript will be returned with advice on how to move ahead with it, and if we both feel we're a good fit, we'll take it from there.
SERVICES FOR AUTHORS
Publishing Services
I also offer a full range of book preparation services – structural and copy editing, cover and interior layout design, conversion to ePub, and step-by-step coaching through the self-publishing process – to authors who wish to self-publish or submit their manuscript to a traditional publisher or agent.
The publishing industry has changed dramatically in recent years, with desktop publishing, print-on-demand and e-book technology making it much easier and cheaper for authors to publish their own work directly. However, it still takes certain skills, and specialised software, to get a professional result.
Editing
Many authors think their book needs ‘just a proofread’, but editing is about much more than just finding the typos or correcting grammatical errors. Manuscripts benefit hugely from a thorough line/copyedit that improves the flow, makes the language and style consistent, checks details for accuracy and realism, points out places where the author might say less (or more), and generally helps polish the writing to present what the author wants to say to the reader in the most effective way. Sometimes significant structural changes may dramatically improve the book in ways that the author had not thought of. But editing isn’t about taking over and turning the book into something else: it’s a collaborative, back-and-forth process, in which the editor seeks to uphold what the author is trying to do and help make the text express it most effectively.
Book Design
Authors do not get a professional-standard book if they just set it up in Word, have their mum and a friend who was once an English teacher look it over, and upload it to Amazon.
At Ashwood I use professional layout software to lay out the book’s interior, giving complete control over the design and typesetting. I then edit the EPUB files by hand to iron out formatting bugs and check that the e-book will look good on a range of devices.
I can offer custom cover design in-house, or I may use a cover designer who suits your book better.
Coaching
As well as helping prepare your book for publication, I will advise on the steps you need to take for self-publishing, and coach you through the process.
Contact me to discuss your project. I offer a free initial manuscript assessment and a free sample edit if appropriate.