Step 1:

Presentation of your manuscript (in the stage it is at this point) to Spotlight Publishing House for review.

Step 2:

Book cover design:

• Discussion on branding, colors, fonts, etc.

• In-depth discussion on Title/Subtitle/Author Name

• Research what other books of this nature look like – and how to create a cover to strike attention.

The front cover gets created first. We then create marketing images with the front cover, including book cover reveals. It will create excitement and be very useful when building your launch team.

We create the:

• Kindle Cover (just the front cover)

• Full paperback and hardcovers

• A full package of marketing images

Further into the process, the back cover and spine are added. This is usually not done until we have the final page count, which occurs after the interior design stage.

Step 3:

The Legal Stuff

ISBNs for each format of your book. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a numbering system that provides each published book with a unique identifier to make it easier for booksellers, libraries, and readers to find the exact version they seek.

• Kindle (eBook)

• Paperback

• Hardcover

Library of Congress Control Number: A Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) is a unique identification number containing a year and serial number for a book. It's assigned by the Library of Congress for book titles that are likely to be added to its collection.

Ultimately, LCCNs help librarians find correct cataloging data for books that have been published in the U.S. Your actual book gets mailed to the Library of Congress, courtesy of Spotlight Publishing House. (the US only)

Copyright for your book – Copyrighting protects you from others stealing your work, passing it off as their own, and making a profit. By copyrighting your book, you take control of your own words and how they are used. Copyrighting is a form of intellectual property where you can lay claim to your original work.

Step 4:

In-depth discussion of where in-book videos and list building can be added to the pages of the book.

The vast majority of our authors add video(s) that they have created to add extra nuggets of information for their readers. A video could be a recap of the chapter or add other thoughts in each chapter. This makes the book become more interactive and fascinating to the reader and gives them deeper insight into your personality and what you bring to the world. (We have guides to show you how to do this.)

Step 5:

Endorsements

The endorsement stage is a critical promotional opportunity.

WHY?

This creates an opportunity for you like no other to build your network because this is the one time you tap into experts in your field of expertise and request that they write endorsements for your book. Being an author allows you to expand your network considerably. We provide step-by-step instructions on how to do this along with an endorsement request letter template.

Many of our authors have been able to get fantastic endorsements for their book. Endorsements serve as the social proof your readers so often expect to see now.

Think about it, when you consider reading a book, what do you look for? Most of us look to see what others are saying about the book.

The endorsement stage takes some time, so we suggest that our authors begin this stage earlier in the process. Usually, the manuscript is not yet fully completed, but it is far enough along that the endorsers will have a good idea of what your book is about and are happy to oblige – they usually understand this and are glad to help. After all, it is another social footprint for them as well.

Step 6:

Final Design

At about this stage, the professionally edited version of the manuscript is ready. Then, after careful review, you sign off on the approval form that you are satisfied with the editing. This is exciting because now, we begin the interior design activities.

You will be choosing any design features you want, such as styles, fonts, and flourish (stylish emblem).

This is not only an exciting stage, but it is also the final time to address anything that has been overlooked – this includes everything except manuscript editing, which is caught by the author and corrected. Then, before the completed manuscript and design are published, you will authorize it as a "ready to publish as is" version of your book.

Step 7:

Author Bio, Headshot, Book Description, and Back of Book Blurb

These are highly important steps that simply cannot be overlooked. Therefore, we work with you to create these items.

For your bio, we need both long and short bios that will be used:

• Inside the book as the About the Author section - at the end of the book.

• For the ISBNs and Library of Congress descriptors.

• Your author pages on Author Central and other publishing houses

• Some authors like their short bio to be added to the back cover.

We will use the long book description for placement on the publishing sites and other promotion sites, while we use a short book description for many of the promotion sites.

And, of course, a short, to-the-point blurb for the back of the book. Now we move to…