Here are lightning source and ingram spark cover template generator pages that an author has to fill in in order to receive the cover template through their email. Lightning source requires the covers to be submitted using their template which they send my artist in pdf format and she created the submittable pdf using indesign 9780999561805perfect. A graduate course and definitive guide for advanced pod publishing. Hardcovers, paperbacks, and ebooks in color or black and white. If you want to prepare a book in both color formats, you must prepare two different color cover files. Lightning source book cover templates for diy selfpublishers including instructions in how to get them and how to use them to lay out your. As recommended in book formatting for selfpublishers, place guides on the template, so that you can see where these safety zones are when you cover the template with your. Youll earn more money per book because it costs less to print. They also have operations in maurepas, france and melbourne, australia. We recommend using the template for all cover submissions. The template displays bleed and safety areas, and it also provides a free barcode. Perfect bound pages and paperback cover glued together at spine saddle stitch pages and paperback cover stapled together along spine, one inside the other 48 pages max and premium color only. The screenshots shown in the tutorial use scribus 1.
Printondemand may offer significant cost savings over using traditional printers for ultrashort runs under 100 copies. Pressbooks generates files ready to print at ingramspark and lightning source. However, the most significant advantage of using a true pod printer is the direct tiein with the. One alternative is lightning sourceingram who distributes print books to. Kevin sivils, author, selfpublishing with amazons createspace. Lightning source will charge you 15 cents per page, depending on how the book is distributed, and 90 cents per cover. They are used by many traditional publishers, and by competitive selfpublishers who want to make use of ingrams distribution channels one of the really neat features of their otherwise routine and businessoriented web. Once you complete the required fields a cover template will be emailed to. Advertisement lightning source has free book cover templates, spinewidth calculators, and bar codes, and visibly higherquality printing. Books come in all shapes and sizes, so theres a wide variety of standard dimensions. In fact, type in the isbn of any book, and it will show you how many ingram has on hand. Pressbooks is easytouse book formatting software that lets you create a book in all the formats you need to publish.
The company is a business unit of ingram content group. One platform for all your print and ebook distribution needs worldwide. In fact, publishing a book is as simple as getting it formatted and designed, then uploading it to a printondemand service like amazon or lightning source. The other problem with distribution to gardners, say, is the discount i set through lightning source. Lightning source book printing services for publishers. Lightning press is a g7 master qualified certified book printer and pass rigorous tests quarterly. Once you complete and submit the data below, we will email you back a template and support files to be used to build your cover. Standard or premium color cover template from the lightning source website premium color paper stock is thicker, thus the spine of the book is wider.
Lightning press book printing services custom book. Creating and designing print ready digital files for your book. Why selfpublishers should consider using lightning source. Leave me a comment if youd like to suggest other topics for future reports, id love to hear which areas of. Heres how to place guides on the template so you can place your cover image correctly on the. Lightning source was founded in 1997 and is the largest printer of books in the world, having printed over 100 million books for nearly 25,000 publishers including many on this website. Cover template generator use this to generate a template for your cover design, complete with support files, email instructions, and more useful info. New lightning source cover templates format a book. Case laminate covers can have the most variation between the template and the bound book.
Heres an example of a new lightning source template. The coupon code you entered is expired or invalid, but the course is still available. How to make a full print pod book cover for ingram spark. Use this to generate a template for your cover design, complete with support files, email instructions, and more useful info. The very basics of covers with lightning source print on demand. Create book cover pdf using lightning sources template. A printed book interior is the set of physical pages for a book you could purchase in the store. Oh, and theres one more issue between lightning source and createspace. How to make a full print cover for lightning source using a free.
While lightning source can produce a hardcover book, the binding and cover options are very limited and moderate quality. Judging by printing price alone, createspace is a better choice. How to transfer a book from one account to another account. Lightning source digital cover creation ingram content group. Createspace is a webbased service that provides selfpublishing services to authors.
Best selfpublishing resources and tutorialslightning. Preparing the art the easiest way to bring the art into your full print cover template, is to make the front, spine and back art unique, 1. Originally incorporated in 1996 as lightning print inc. Createspace specializes in enabling authors to move their unformatted manuscripts to a final format that is ready to be printed as a published book. This is a soughtafter recognition of excellence in color printing, given to those who have successfully proven capable of providing the highest quality color reproduction for book printing, from the most modern digital printing technology, techniques and process controls available in the graphic. If i havent yet signed on with ls, can i still get a template for my books cover.
Lsi cover builder python script that builds a book cover page in scribus for the lightning source cover template. If lightning source discovers a logo, initial, or claim of certification in or on a book, lightning source will remove the certification claim at the publishers expense. A little guide to making a full print diy book cover for your print on demand book using lightning source ingramsparks automatic book template generator, and photoshop for design. Morris rosenthal, author, printondemand book publishing a tremendous amount of information that will benefit an author who self publishes not only through lightning source but by any other method. Lightning source is a printer and distributor of printondemand books. Luckily, your client should already know what they need. Lilys ride is 206 pages long counting the last page, which must be left blank for pod to put print information and an interior bar code.
Lightning source is very competitive in price, and their distribution system is the most efficient available. They have printing facilities in various parts of the world, but are headquartered in tennessee usa. Simply fill in the required fields and a custom template will be. Jacketed case laminate pages glued to hardcover at ends with the option to design what prints on the cover beneath the jacket.
In addition the template provides information such as spine width and document size. Ipage is an ingram website that lets you check your books inventory. How to make a full print cover for lightning source using. But what if you cant afford a professional book designer. Build your cover image on the cover template createspace covers lightning source covers building a cover on the template cropping a cover on the template create book covers using scribus appendix b set up a custom profile in preflight format a book series 3 volumes. Enter 120 for the page count when using the cover template generator on lightning sources site, but submit your book interior pdf file at 119 pages. This informs the framework to allow restricted items, such as tags, which arent allowed in regular components for example, a sample app has a np. The cover template generator is a tool publishers and their designers may use to see specifications for a particular cover. The case laminate cover template contains two areas that must be taken into consideration when designing the cover, the hinge gutter and the wrap.
Components that implement this interface appear in the custom templates section of the lightning. Preparing your book for print with scribus onebookshelf. Once you complete and submit the form below, lightning source will email you a template with support files to help build your book cover. A company spokesperson told the weekly book newsletter that the exact location of the. Paperback covers for lightning source and ingram spark. Place your text in our online interface, apply one of our predesigned themes, upgrade and export publishready book files with the click of a button. I publish the books using a worldwide publishing company named lightning source division of ingram publishing. Simply follow lsis instructions on the template, and keep your important text and images within the pink areas. New lightning source cover templates format a book lightning source book cover templates for diy self publishers. The combination of lightning source pod technology and one stop, direct distribution make it possible for us to keep titles in print that we couldnt normally justify warehousing. Well go through everything you need to do to format a book from scratch for printready pdfs you can use with print on demand publishing services like createspace or. This is part 1 of a twopart video in which i discuss some of the very basic information regarding lightning source book cover templates, how to. Download creating a pdf for lightning source in indesign cs4 pdf 868 kb.
Is anyone making money with lightning source print. Microsoft word microsoft publisher adobe pagemaker. In this video i show you how to calculate your full print cover for createspace and lightning source. Lightning source offers digital cover creation for both black and white and color books. This interface has no effect except when used within lightning experience and the salesforce app. Lightning source book cover templates for diy selfpublishers. Free book design templates and tutorials for formatting in. Book printing price and cost example lightning press.
Download the creating a pdf for lightning source report. One book or thousands print what you need and nothing more. Ensure your digital book cover file meets all necessary requirements. It is associated with ingram content group, a major book printerwholesaler, and is the selfpublishing branch of lightning source, inc. Check out some of these helpful articles to help you on your way.