Some advice on self-publishing

Somebody on the Fudge List recently asked me what software I'd recommend for laying out a short book for publication as a PDF. My answer was probably a bit more than he bargained for, so I thought I'd share it here.

First, a bit of background. I'm not a professional page designer, but I have a fair amount of hobby experience. My wife has worked as a professional page designer, and I've done a lot of work with her, as well as having studied design on my own. We used to run a couple different amateur magazines, which were in part used as a feedback forum for developing our design skills. We've been doing page design work for about sixteen years.

What software should I use?

So you've got a roleplaying game supplement you're writing, and you want to know what software to use to lay it out in. Before I give you my thoughts on software, I want to give you my thoughts on art.

It takes time to learn how to use the tools well. And then, just like having oil paints and canvas doesn't make you a good painter, having desktop publishing tools doesn't make you a good page designer. The tools are just tools, you have to supply the skill and artistic vision. Learning good page design takes time, practice and feedback. It's hard to improve without someone critiquing your work. I'm lucky that my wife was working for a print shop when I was learning design work... we can critique each other's work, and we spent some years participating in amateur magazines in which we critiqued each other's design work.

If you're serious about publishing, outsourcing the design work might be the best way to go if you want a really sharp-looking product. And it might be more economical than you expect... instead of spending 200 hours fighting a tool you aren't familiar with while learning the skill of page design on your first product, you could be writing your next book while your designer is laying out the first one.

When you need art, do you decide to learn how to draw so you can create your own illustrations to save some money? Or do you hire an artist to produce your work? I've spent over fifteen years doing occasional design work, and my work is only passing fair. Do you expect to produce acceptable work, let alone great work, on your first try?

Okay, but what software should I use?

Most of my experience has been with Adobe PageMaker, which hasn't been available for a few years now. It's been replaced by Adobe InDesign, which is a very good product, but it's rather expensive... about $700. But InDesign and Quark Express (similar price) are the two top contenders. You can do good layout work in other software (MS Publisher, MS Word) but it's more difficult because the tools aren't as flexible.

If you're serious about doing all of your own page design work, bite the bullet and buy InDesign or Quark. (I lean toward InDesign. I tried a recent Quark demo and it seems behind the curve, hardly better than the aging PageMaker.) The money you shell out here will save you headaches in trying to get the second-rate packages to do what you want.

If you want to do it yourself and don't want to spend a lot of money, I'd recommend OpenOffice Writer (http://www.openoffice.org/). Don't waste your money on MS Publisher. Look at existing books that you like to develop a basic style for the book and do your best to emulate it. Then have your work evaluated by someone with experience and listen to their feedback.

There's nothing wrong with looking at others' styles for examples. Professional designers keep what they call "swipe files"... samples of work that they found interesting. They use these for inspiration and new ideas. New and innovative looks are always building on the past, not being made up in a vacuum.

Learn from others' mistakes. Take a book that's poorly designed and figure out what's wrong with it and how to improve it. I've found it's much easier to tell what's wrong in someone else's design work than to see it in your own... that's why you need a skilled eye to critique your own work.

Any other pearls of wisdom?

Be sure to get a good editor. A good idea and a good look still need well-polished text. The text is the main event, and it needs to shine. One thing you cannot do is effectively edit your own work. You don't need to hire someone if you have a friend that has a good eye for editing, but you do need someone else to look at your work and make suggestions. And I'm not talking proofreading... you need that too, but it's not editing. And editor turns awkward phrases into smooth prose and confusing paragraphs into crystal clear thoughts. (Or we hope they do, at least.)

In short, you can do the whole thing yourself... writing, layout, artwork, etc. But ask yourself if it's really realistic... how many skills are you proposing to teach yourself in order to publish your book? How many do you think you have the time and talent to learn well in order to produce your first book. You may have better success and be able to put out more products if you focus on your art (writing) and leave the other art (illustrating, page design) to others who already have those skills.