First, Thank you!  Thank you for sending the signed “win-win” document, and filling out the introductory Google Form so we have an idea of the direction you’d like to take regarding your book/journal to be published on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). 

If that still needs to be done, send me an email – Lori@BigPicturePractical.com — the Google Form can be found HERE

Now, it’s time to have a call to chat about the next items – this page is meant as a guide. We may have more to discuss, or we may have already decided on these details. Let’s begin our Stage 2 Details call…

Firstly, let’s talk about the size of your book/journal – its dimensions as you’re holding it in your hand. The spine dimension is determined by how many pages are in your book, but the outside cover is something you have a choice over…

Amazon KDP has many options for the dimensions of your book, and to keep it simple, let’s just focus on three:

• – large 8.5×11″ like a traditional North American size printer paper
• – medium 7×10″ large enough to have a comfortable writing spread, but easier to carry and store compared to a large option
• – small 6×9″ easier to put into a purse or backpack, not as easy to write on.

Which of these three sizes are you considering? If it’s difficult to imagine, I’d suggest pulling out three pieces of paper and creating a template to hold in your hand… 

To facilitate the creation of your journal/book cover, you’ll be entering links to three different covers of books you like into the “Stage 2 Details” Google Doc in your Named Google Folder. (I’ll be sharing that Folder with you at the end of this call.) The genre or topic of the books doesn’t matter, just the visual aspects.

These three options will give me an idea of your vision, and give us both a starting point to design your cover. If you don’t have physical ideas on your shelf, then take a look at Amazon and scroll through other books in your genre to see if any of the books catch your eye. Try to decide why these covers appeal to you…

Your cover – front and back – will be in color. Do you have colors you prefer? We also  need to discuss a title for your book, and what you want as the blurb on the back cover. You’ll be working on this in your Named Google Folder – I’ll share that with you soon.

This point in stage 2 will take the longest amount of time and the greatest amount of work. It will be a back-and-forth process.

It’s possible to have this done quickly once all the copy is uploaded… but it can take a significant amount of time, depending on how much you choose to edit the original social media posts. As we discussed in our introductory call, each post/content piece needs to be written and present on social media before we begin this stage 2. If you need to write more, then we can wait to begin our process. It’s your choice.

I will be using your social media posts as the starting point of your low-content book/journal, uploading each post into a separate Google Doc in Your Named Folder.

How many social media posts would you like in your book? I’d suggest up to 30 posts would be a good place to begin. The most important part of each post is a strong question for your reader to explore/answer. I can help with those questions, as needed. Good questions are the key to your reader’s satisfaction.

We will both have access to your Named Google Folder with your social media posts, and I’ll do an initial light edit for spelling, grammar, and formating as a “suggested edit”.

You can see what I’ve done as it appears, and approve the edits or suggest something different within the Google Document. That’s the content in your “low content” journal/book.

In addition, you’ll need to decide if you want additional pages like lists of suggested books, resources, an introduction and exit page, etc. You’ll create these pages in separate Google Docs within your folder, which I will then edit/format. These are the only additional pieces of writing that can wait till stage 2 – I recommend a maximum of five of these types of pages. These pages must be complete and in Your Named Google Folder before the editing of posts is finished.

Also to be decided is if you want lined pages for your readers to write on or blank pages, and other styles of pages such as checkboxes, etc. We can discuss options on our Stage 2 Details Call.

It’s important that the words we put into this low-content book/journal are your words – that the words belong to no one else and all content conforms to copyright laws. If any of the words in your posts are questionable, or you don’t remember where they’re from, it’s better to leave them out or completely re-word the posts. All Scripture in your book/journal will have the appropriate citation in the intro pages.

All interior pages will be in black and white. (no color).

No more than two fonts on the cover of your book/journal and one font in posts is ideal. Sometimes the header font is different from the body of the posts. No worries, I’ll provide options from which you can choose. You may choose to pair your font choices with what you use on your website, to have a continuity of style. The first and foremost goal in this process is to make sure your readers can read your words easily.

 All interior images/graphics in your low-content book will be black-and-white. There will be no page numbers.

It’s possible to use your own images/photos in a grey-scale – depending… Let’s talk.

Do you have any preference for graphic shapes or icons or styles? If so, let me know as we do our Stage 2 Details Call – otherwise you can provide examples in the “Stage 2 Details” Google Doc. If you don’t have a preference, then I can suggest some options.

It’s best, but not necessary to have images/icons/graphics to enhance the lined or blank pages on which your readers will be documenting their thoughts, or answering the prompts. Each page in your low-content book/journal needs some kind of design – even if it’s simply a line.

To complete this Stage 2, please download and print this checklist 

Login to your Named Google Folder, and let’s get going!

Once Stage 2 is complete (everything on your Checklist is filled out and finished – everything is in your Named Google Folder), I’ll create/design your PDF interior and cover PDF for uploading, and we will schedule a call to upload them.