File Requirements
We will need your high-quality 300dpi files with 3mm (.125”) bleed on the top, bottom, and outer edge of your illustrations. For example, adding bleed to 8.5W X 8.5H would make it 8.625W X 8.75H. You do not need to add bleed to your gutter. We do not need crop marks. We recommend that any important images and text are at least .375” past the bleed line, or .5 inches from the outside edge to ensure they are not cut off in binding.
All interior pages should be in one PDF file, and the cover file will be separate. If you don’t already have one, please request your custom cover template from us. All files should be in CMYK color profile. For more help, please watch our cover formatting video, here. If you still have questions, you can email us at info@authorpreneurcentral.com.
Do you need help with formatting? You can get a designer to format your files for you, or if your illustrator has experience with formatting, they may be able to do it for you as well. We also offer formatting services in house, if you need. We charge $200 for formatting one version of a standard size children’s picture book (print -or- ebook) or $250 for both print and ebook. With formatting; we add bleed to your images, make sure they are the correct size and color profile, format the cover to a custom template, add end pages, and prepare the PDF file for printing. With ebooks we provide you with a PDF and .mobi file with KDP interactive text (for smaller size text).
Submitting Your Files
We ask authors to send their PDF book file via WeTransfer.com to prevent email downgrading the quality. It is a free, easy way to send files, and you should not need to make an account. Additionally, you can send your files via google drive or Dropbox, but if you choose to go this route, please make sure link sharing is ON, as we will need to forward the link to our formatting team to download. The best email to send your files to would be info@authorpreneurcentral.com.
Other Helpful Tools:
Check out these reference images for a proper picture book layout. Please note that self-ended is our standard printing option, unless separate-ended is specifically requested.
