Felicity Press Author Requirements for Trade Books

General File Requirements: Files may be sent to us physically (via CD or DVD), or better, electronically as an attachment to an email sent to

CustomerServices@CommercialServicesCorp.com.

We can also provide you with an FTP address, but generally this is reserved for very large files. If in doubt, send an international toll-free FAX to Felicity Press 1-888-866-4929.

The required file format for the body of the book is PDF. There is no required format for covers/casewraps/jackets as explained below.

Default resolution for images: 300 dpi. For best results, scan images close to the same size they will be used in the book.

Margins: Give your pages comfortable margins; we suggest a minimum of ¾” in the gutter (center) and ½” on the other three sides.

Text Preparation: Provide PDF files for the book text pages in black on white. There should be one file for the entire body of the book (i.e., everything but the cover and the first six pages)

We will print your PDF file and submit the book to the printer with the first six pages added, both electronically and in printed form. You must provide certain information for the first six pages, as follows

Page 1: Inner Title page (content is our responsibility)

Page 2: About the Author(s) (content is your responsibility)

Page 3: Full title page with author(s) and imprint (content is our responsibility)

Page 4: Technical page (authorized layout and content is our responsibility)

Page 5: Dedication (your responsibility, but no dedication is required -- if none, this page is blank)

Page 6: Acknowledgements, if any (content is your responsibility)

Please note that acknowledgements does not take the place of proper attributions/credits throughout the book. You are legally responsible, not Felicity Press, for giving proper credit to others if you use their work. When you submit your book for printing you must include a signed, physical letter stating:

1) The title of the book,

2) The name of the editor (for a collection of authors) or the name of the author(s) if there is no editor, and

3) The following statement: "I understand that the editor/author/authors of the book submitted are alone responsible for making proper attributions and giving appropriate credit to others for any work used directly or indirectly in this book. I understand that the editor/author/authors of the book submitted are alone responsible for obtaining permission, in writing, for any material that has been previously copyrighted. Further, the editor/author/authors agree to indemnify Felicity Press for any claims against it if the editor/author/authors have failed to provide such attributions, credits and permissions." You may eliminate the two words which do not apply in the phrase "the editor/author/authors."

While all books start with some kind of word processing program like MS Word, NO printing process (other than the printer on your desk) can print directly from these files. Files must be either converted into PDF format or flowed into a page layout program and then converted to PDF Remember: a file created in Microsoft anything, is not usable as is.

In PDF save as printing press option not web use.

Preparation of the Cover (for softbound) and Jacket/Casewrap (for hardbound) All covers/jackets/casewraps must eventually be created in one piece including front, spine, and back (flaps also for hardbound). Generally it is better to let us do this for you because you must correctly calculate the thickness of the spine in order for the submitted cover to be acceptable. Simply provide us with the words and or graphics in PDF or even in .doc format laid out approximately the way you would like it to appear. We will create a photoready image for the printing process. We cannot guarantee that the layout will be exactly as you ask because sometimes (especially with long book titles) some truncations or rearrangement of cover elements must be performed. We also add the Felicity Press imprint to the spine and back cover.

The cover is usually two-color – that is, a background color and a text color. Please specify your preference regarding color and we will show you what it will look like. Three color covers are also available, but each color adds cost to you.

Sending Files:

One file is preferred for the entire book and as many as three (if you wish) for the front cover, back cover, and spine. For hardbound books an additional file is needed for the flaps. Be sure to label your disks if you are using disks for submission. Or, be sure the file names convey the same information (main text, front cover, spine, rear cover, etc.) There will be up to three additional small files for the first six pages, as explained above (about author, acknowledgements, dedication).

All components should be sent at one time. Keep a copy of what you send. We are not responsible for erased or damaged files. You may be asked to submit more than once !

Don’t compress your files unless necessary, and if you do be sure your file is self-extracting.

Fonts and graphics:

Using the “bold”, “italic” or “underlined” command from the toolbar can have unpredictable results. It is better to use italics or bold by selecting the real font, i.e. Times New Roman Bold, Times New Roman Italic, etc.

Be careful when creating rules. Be sure not to create rules that are too thin. Don’t use a printout from your laser as a guide to the thickness of the rule. The thickness of the rule your printer outputs depends on its resolution. Being lower resolution than an imagesetter, a hairline output from your printer will look a lot thicker than the same rule output on an imagesetter. Do not use any rule thinner than .5

Graphics: Save all graphics as EPS or Tiff files.

Imposition: Do not impose your files.

Important Press Issues for graphics:

Be aware of press gain. Expect midtone and above tint values to increase 20% or more. (This is the opposite of most desktop printers, so be careful.) A tint value of 80% for instance, might very well be completely obliterated if set inside a solid background.

Type can also be affected by press gain and fine line graphics as well when placed into solid areas. Consider creating a new color (i.e.” rich black”) when doing large solid areas of black (100% black with 60% cyan) on your cover/jacket/casewrap. Some items do not separate correctly. Fluorescent colors and metallics and many Pantone colors are impossible to separate and print in process inks.

Give the printer a fighting chance: Don't create something that is difficult to print. It is very difficult for instance, to trap a color piece to a black outline if the outline is very fine. Any element created too close to the trim may not look a uniform distance from the trim due to tolerances needed in printing and in trimming.

Be aware that color looks different under different lighting conditions (daylight, incandescent, fluorescent). Your monitor is not an accurate representation of what the printed piece will look like.

Low-end scanners are often not good for high quality work. These scanners have a tendency of having uneven lighting over the scan area and this will cause noticeable defects in your scan especially in light areas.

Make sure the original artwork you supply is of good quality. For example, if the original is lacking in detail, you cannot expect us to put in what's not there in the first place. Using Photoshop you can compensate for a myriad of problems, but there are limits.

Although the use of color within the body of the book is not discouraged, it does add complications and increases the cost substantially. Most works in mathematics, operations research, statistics, etc., can avoid color altogether. Please consider completing your work in black/white/grayscale.

Payment:

We will provide you with an estimate of cost soon after you provide us with an estimated number of pages, page size, use of color, number of books to be printed, etc. Then, after you have converted your files to PDF and know exactly how many pages you have, we will give you a firm quote in US Dollars, which is good for 30 days. After 30 days we will try to honor the original quote, but the biggest variable is freight. We cannot get a commitment on freight more than 30 days out.

If you are sending your manuscript to us more than three days after receiving a firm quote, ask for a new quote. You must do this because we are going to need more than 20 days to print the book and, although we can set the cost of production, we cannot control the cost of freight beyond 30 days.

You must pay the entire quoted cost of the book either when the file(s) are submitted or a few days later when we notify you that it is ready to go to press. This must be done in US Dollars.

Additional questions regarding production and quotes:

Email to: CustomerServices@CommercialServicesCorp.com Please indicate “Felicity Press” in the subject line. From the USA, international toll free FAX and Voice Mail: 1-888-866-4929

Effective: December 15, 2007