If you're going to self-publish you need to read Shepard

books:


	• Perfect Pages: Self Publishing with Microsoft Word, or How to Design Your Own Book for Desktop Publishing and ... Aaron Shepard Shepard Publications, 2006 - 158 pages average customer review:based on 28 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

If you're going to self-publish you need to read Shepard

Perfect Pages and Aiming at Amazon are must reads for anyone considering self-publishing and/or POD. With the right software (and of course writing skills) you will be able to publish a book and get it listed on Amazon after reading these two books.

Perfect Book, Perfect Pudding

Flower, A Story Of The Nativity Every word in
this review of Perfect Pages is true. First let me say that I don't know Aaron nor have I ever met him, but like many Americans I have
long nursed the desire to write a book. Last year I decided the time
had come. The story flowed from me with little effort, but alas,
writing the Great American Novel (GAN) seemed not so hard as getting it
published. I began exploring options and soon discovered the POD
industry. It turns out that publishing a novel is even easier than
writing one. The only thing you need is a manuscript and money, lots
and lots of money. Did I mention that you need money? You do. Oh
well, investing hundreds of dollars to get my GAN out there seemed
like the only way. I had hoped to make some money on my effort, but
that seemed unlikely given the deals the POD's were offering. They
said I would make money, but after paying them for setup charges,
printing costs, and their cut of the revenue the amount of pie left
over, if any, seemed pretty meager. Oh well a slightly tarnished
dream is better than no dream at all. I sucked it up and continued
on. One day I happened upon Aiming at Amazon on Amazon and ordered
it. Do you know what an epiphany is? It is a moment of wonderous
discovery, a life changing event. Aiming at Amazon was an epiphany
for me. It changed my world view and allowed me to reclaim my shiny
dream of the GAN. After reading AAA, I went back to work on my book confident in its future success. But wait, Aaron Shephard had another book for sale, Perfect Pages. It promised to let me publish my book using nothing but plain old MS Word. The price seemed steep for a 158 page book, but I owed Shep one for AAA so I bought Perfect Pages. I figure the advice on one page of PP alone saved be $1500 and that all told the money I have spent on Aaron's books has saved me $2500-$3000. One of the reviews of PP rates it only a 2. That reviewer said that the proof is in the pudding. I agree but that reviewer did not use PP to publish a book, I DID. Using nothing, NOTHING, do you hear me NOTHING but Aaron's books, a regular PC with regular MSword, I wrote, formatted and published: Flower, A Story of the Nativity, ISBN 9781606430811 proudly for sale on Amazon.com. I did everything myself, including the front cover, spine, and back cover using the information in PP. You know, Aaron's books aren't long. In fact the page count seems low, but that is deceptive. Aaron packs his books full of information and the fact that they are slim volumes make it easy to read them and return to important information without getting lost in the forest. If the proof is in the pudding check out the link to my book included in this review. It still amazes me. There's the pudding. Buy this book.

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Helpful, With Reservations

After using one of the most prominent POD/vanity press companies (and deciding I could do better myself), I started to learn about self-publishing.

Eventually, I found Aaron's books and, more important, his recommended model for POD. The good news? They really advanced my understanding about this field--very quickly.

More good news? Using Aaron's idea (Word + POD + Amazon), this book helped me when I was at an impasse with Word (2003) and completely stumped and frustrated. (If you've ever been in this situation, you'll know this is no small recommendation.)

If I recommended 3 books for POD authors, two of them would be Shepard's.

So, why only 3 stars?

First, because Word 2007 is so VASTLY different from the previous versions that this book deals with, that the title should clearly show this ISN'T for Word 2007 (his website has information, but not enough).

Second, using Aaron's book, I was able to create a POD book that really looks "professional" to the typical book buyer. From cover design to layout, it took a long, long time to adjust all the things you need to use Word well, but...the result is very good (even librarians have complimented it).

So, this could easily have been a 4- or even 5- star review. The problem is that Aaron is advocating and representing POD and yet he doesn't practice what he preaches with his OWN books. "Perfect Pages" really DOESN'T look "perfect"--i.e. "professional". The cover isn't right, and some of the layout choices say, "amateur" and "self-published".

He obviously has the knowledge and skills to do better. This book should be an EXAMPLE of "best practices" given the goal and the readership. Sadly, it isn't.

So...3 stars for his own presentation--plus some well-deserved praise--will have to do. Hopefully, "Perfect Pages For Word 2007" will be better.

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Great information!

I used "Perfect Pages" to format my book, "The Magi of Futurity" for print-on-demand publishing. The instructions were clearly defined and easy to follow. This how-to guide is a great addition to anyone's library who wants to use Word to design and format a self-published book.

Hated the cover, but LOVED the content!

The cover looked home-made and hokey, so I really only purchased this book because of the enthusiatic reviews.

I have to admit that this is a pleasant case of not being able to judge a book by its cover. The content is well organized and filled with great tips for layout and design. Definitely worth a read by self-published authors.

J.D. Mosley-Matchett, Ph.D.
Author of A month of Marketing Technology tips

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Often rejected out of hand as a typesetting tool, Microsoft Word has greater typographic capabilities than even most long-time users realize. With a little tweaking, Word can produce type that few readers could distinguish from the best of Quark or InDesign. In this book, Aaron Shepard gives a tour of the depths of the program, describing the settings, commands, and manual adjustments you need to create type that no book reviewer will scoff at. Skeptical? This book's own typesetting is the proof!

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