Category Archives: Interior Design

Bode Gets a Job — Proving Press

Dr. Bobby Moore returned to Proving Press to produce the sequel to his work The Book of Bode. In the new release, Bode Gets a Job, Bode tries out many different jobs, including work as a rescue dog, a show dog, and a guide dog.

Dr. Bobby Moore brought his own illustrations to the project.  Columbus Publishing Lab took those illustrations and created a flawlessly formatted interior layout and cover.  

With a keen eye for detail, the Columbus Publishing Lab team copyedited, proofed and created an e-book version of Bode Gets a Job. Once the final product was executed to perfection, we distributed the book as a paperback, hardback and e-book, so that children can get excited about reading, and of course, dogs.

Find Bode Gets a Job at these retailers or ask for the book at your local bookstore.

 

Dream of a Lifetime: Ten Years in the Upper Amazon — Proving Press

Norman Walters brought a wealth of life experiences to Columbus Publishing Lab in Dream of a Lifetime: Ten Years in the Upper Amazon.  Musician, songwriter, artist, and the owner of a tourist destination along the Amazon river in the heart of the Peruvian jungle, Norman Walters had adventures to share, and he trusted Columbus Publishing Lab to produce his memoir.

The Columbus Publishing Lab team edited the manuscript, designed the interior and the cover, proofread it, and distributed Dream of a Lifetime: Ten Years in the Upper Amazon to all major retailers in paperback and e-book editions.  The end result?  Norman’s escapades can now be read by a worldwide audience in an attractive, professionally published book.

“Interspersed with tales of his gloriously misspent youth, one of the hardest-working hippies of his generation recounts the genesis of his remarkable achievement–the creation of an eco-sensitive tourist lodge in Peru’s Amazon jungle.”  — Amazon reviewer

Find Dream of a Lifetime: Ten Years in the Upper Amazon at these retailers or ask for the book at your local bookstore.

The Foreigner’s Tale – Proving Press

The Foreigner's Tale CoverJohn Scott Brinkerhoff has worked with our company before—The Cloud Fisher, a book of poems, was released on January 23, 2018. So when John was ready to publish The Foreigner’s Tale, an epic fantasy novel, he already understood the importance of having his book produced by a team of professionals who cared about his finished product, all while retaining creative control over his work. We were more than happy to deliver.

The Columbus Publishing Lab team proofread the manuscript, laid out the interior of the book, and built a beautiful cover that reflected the content and tone of John’s novel. We then handled the distribution of The Foreigner’s Tale to major print retailers. The resulting product is an artistic, accurate realization of the author’s intent for the book.

The Foreigner’s Tale is now available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble in hardcover and paperback formats, as well as available to brick-and-mortar bookstores around the world. John Scott Brinkerhoff collects a quarterly check for his sales, without the hassle of running to the post office, storing and warehousing orders, or paying for them upfront.

Throughout the entire publishing process, John had a dedicated point of contact to answer his questions and provide him with updates. Calls were answered or returned, emails were read and promptly answered, and a close-knit team who actually cared about his book brought the project to fruition. This level of service is standard procedure at Columbus Publishing Lab.

If you’re interested in making your book project a reality, we invite you to contact us by clicking here. We’re happy to sit down with you for a free consultation or answer your questions via email/phone.

Welcome to Doxieville – Children’s Book by Darrin Todd Martin

Todd and Trudi Martin came to us with a passion and an idea. They love their dachshunds at home, which they’ve bred for years, and they wrote a children’s book which celebrates the personality of each pup and brings them to the page.

As a first-time author, working with a first-time illustrator they’d met locally, they had a lot of questions—they were committed to publishing a great book. Our team was happy to answer questions, provide good advice, and coach them through the process to make sure that the results exceeded their expectations.

“The hardcover books just arrived, they are BEAUTIFUL! You guys did a great job!” – Trudi Martin, co-creator of Welcome to Doxieville.

The Columbus Publishing Lab team edited the manuscript, worked with the illustrations to lay out the interior of the book, proofread the book, and built a cover with the provided artwork. The resulting book is gorgeous, error-free, and an amazing representation of Todd and Trudi’s passion.

Welcome to Doxieville is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Sony/Kobo in hardcover, paperback and digital formats, as well as available to brick-and-mortar bookstores around the world.

We also built a custom WordPress website at www.DoxievilleBooks.com, and provided guidance and consultation as they set out to market their book.

If you’re thinking about self-publishing, it’s OK that you don’t know how to complete every part of the publishing process. That’s why we’re here.  Our authors bring their passion to the table, and we fill in the gaps to ensure that their books are better than the books coming out of the big, traditional publishing houses.

Todd and Trudi could have taken this book to a traditional publishing house. But by working with Columbus Publishing Lab, they maintained creative control of their work, they produced a better book, and now they’re in a position to make more than 10x the royalties per book sold.

Do you have a passion that you’d like to see on the page? Let’s start a conversation. Contact us today.

The Deceived — Proving Press

The Deceived by E. C. Fisher is a work of dark, biblical fantasy. The book opens with the death of God, and then launches readers into an epic good-versus-evil story that pits the Archangel Michael against monsters, demons and Lucifer. Set in the post-apocalyptic landscape of the Rapture, Michael and his ragtag group of followers set off on a desperate journey to save the souls of all humanity.

The Deceived tells a story E. C. Fisher felt compelled to write. He wrote the book quickly, his manuscript taking shape around his own frustrations with the real-world troubles humanity grapples with today. After receiving favorable feedback from his peers, Fisher began the process of finding a publisher who would allow him to retain creative control over his debut novel, and his relationship with Columbus Publishing Lab began.

Fisher chose the Catalyst package–everything he needed for a professionally produced novel, with the extra support of a marketing foundation to help boost his work into the hands of readers. Learn more about publishing packages here. 

We got right to work. Fisher worked with an outside copy editor prior to contracting Columbus Publishing Lab, and so our first step was to take his raw manuscript file and create a custom interior design for The Deceived. Our designer chose an aesthetic to reflect the dark tones of the book, while maintaining a simple, readable layout.

Writers spend a lot of time in the worlds they create for their characters. Fisher wanted The Deceived cover to represent his ideation of Lucifer, and he provided detailed notes describing what he was looking for–down to the facial structure and hairstyle of his antagonist.  These instructions were then provided to one of our professional illustrators, who transformed Fisher’s words into a provocative, illustrative cover.

After the interior design was complete our proofreader combed through the manuscript again, searching for any last-minute errors, while also checking design elements like page numbers, headers and spacing. Our e-book designer then created a digital version of The Deceived that’s readable across all major e-book platforms.

While the book was in production, our web developer created an author website designed to be a tool to reach more readers, and a showcase for current and future work by E. C. Fisher. Built on a simple WordPress platform, Fisher’s website is easy to update, customize, and blog from at any time.

Check out E. C. Fisher’s author site here.

Given the thrilling story line and thought-provoking themes in the book, The Deceived was sure to garner some attention. But with so much self-promotion work needed to make even the most exciting new release stand out, Fisher enlisted the help of Columbus Publishing Lab to boost his marketing efforts in the critical time following his book’s release. We created printed marketing materials he could hand out at readings and conferences, helped with content creation, social media management, and acted as his publicist to help solicit reviews.

Learn more about our marketing services here.

The Deceived is distributed through our Proving Press imprint to all major retailers. E. C. Fisher collects a quarterly check for his sales, without the hassle of running to the post office, storing and warehousing orders, or paying for them upfront. This leaves him time to market his debut novel, and work on his second one.

Find The Deceived on Amazon.com here.

Throughout the entire publishing process Fisher had a dedicated point of contact to answer his questions and provide him with updates. He never had to wonder if his emails were being read, or if his project would be completed on time. This level of service is standard procedure at Columbus Publishing Lab.

Do you have a book that you felt compelled to write? We want to hear about it. Click here to contact us and learn more about the personal publishing experience we create for our authors.

Maman — Boyle & Dalton

Maman weaves the life story of a Jewish-Iranian woman whose identity is fiercely bound to her family, her country and her faith. Married at a very young age, Maman raised seven children in the midst of poverty and the chaos of political upheaval in Iran. Moris Niknam, one of those seven children, tells his mother’s story with a nostalgic love through memories both sweet and heart-wrenching.

We worked with Boyle & Dalton, the publisher of Maman, to provide editing, design and marketing services, so the finished book would reflect the heartfelt effort Moris Niknam put into chronicling his mother’s extraordinary life.

The first step in the publishing process was a developmental edit. After reading the entire manuscript, an experienced developmental editor provided Moris with a detailed report containing recommendations to improve areas of concern. As a result, Moris was able to act on the suggestions of our editor to vastly improve Maman before the book was released to readers.

Next, a professional copy editor combed through the manuscript correcting spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes, as well as standardizing the manuscript to a style guide. Our editor worked closely with the author to ensure the Persian language used throughout the book was formatted accurately.

After the copy edit was complete, our interior designer set to work creating a custom aesthetic to be both elegant and readable. We also incorporated pictures provided by Moris to better illustrate his upbringing in Iran, seamlessly building them into the design.

As soon as the interior design was complete our proofreader checked the entire manuscript a final time, searching through the text and the design for any last-minute errors.

Our cover designer worked with Moris and his publisher to incorporate several family photographs, creating a dynamic cover design that commemorates Maman while attracting passing readers to her story.

We distributed Maman in paperback and e-book formats to all major retailers as soon as Moris was completely happy with his final files. Maman is readily available to readers, and Moris collects a quarterly check for his sales without the need to store, ship or purchase copies of his book up front.

Find Maman on Amazon.com here.

Moris spread the word to his friends and family about the release of Maman, but wanted to expand the reach of his story. Columbus Publishing Lab provided marketing services to Moris following the release of his book to help get Maman into the hands of more readers.

Throughout the entire publishing process Moris had a dedicated point of contact for questions and updates. Calls were answered or returned, emails were read and promptly answered, and a close-knit team who actually cared about his book brought the project to fruition.

If you’re interested in making your book project a reality, we invite you to contact us by clicking here. We’re happy to sit down with you for a free consultation, or answer your questions via email/phone.

Call Me Bud — Custom Publishing Package

Often when we publish books it’s because authors are trying to reach larger audiences–sharing their story with the world. But sometimes the smaller the audience the more profound the impact.

Such was the case with Call Me Bud, the memoir of 95-year-old WWII veteran Bud Embree.

Sharon Embree, Bud’s daughter-in-law, contacted us about publishing the memoir she had compiled from Bud’s writings over the years, along with photographs and documents from Bud’s time as an artillery pilot in WWII.

The completed book was to be presented to Bud as a surprise at his upcoming birthday party. With this deadline on our radar, we got to work.

Our interior designer took the materials provided by Sharon and created a custom aesthetic, separating the memoir into chapters by dates in Bud’s life. We kept the design simple and readable, while incorporating design elements that reflected Bud’s service in the air force.

After the text had been professionally laid out, we created a gallery of photos and documents at the end of the book, sharpening the images as needed to make them stand out in print.

Our cover designer took several of the photos taken during the time of Bud’s service (including a dashing photo of Bud in uniform), combining them into a custom cover design.

After Sharon was completely happy with the final files, we uploaded the book to the printer and shipped the book copies off in time for Bud’s birthday surprise, ready to be handed down to grandchildren and to generations still to come.

“I wrote this down so that my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren would learn about the Great Depression and World War II, and so they could come to understand my life a little better.”

–Bud Embree, Call Me Bud

From books designed to reach the masses, to those special projects that mean the most to just a few,  Columbus Publishing Lab handles each project with care, attention to detail and personalized service that shows in the final product. If you have a book project on the shelf, large or small, we invite you to contact us.

Hockey Daze — Proving Press

Rolf Remlinger is a funny guy who loves hockey. For the past 25+ years he’s been illustrating the humor he finds on the ice, delighting sports fans with hockey comics in the style of Gary Larson. His work has been featured in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Hockey Ink, Hockey Stop and Michigan Hockey.

When Rolf came to Columbus Publishing Lab he had a stack of paper comics succumbing to the ravages of time. To accompany these he also had a host of extras: press passes, article clips and insider hockey knowledge.  Rather than let his work be lost to fading ink and yellowing paper, we were ready to preserve his collection forever by publishing Hockey Daze.

After an initial consultation, Rolf decided the Solution Package best fit his needs. Our first step was to copy edit the text that accompanied Rolf’s comics, correcting errors of spelling, grammar and punctuation, as well as standardizing it to a style guide.

Learn more about our self-publishing packages here.

After the text had been professionally edited, the bulk of our work went into arranging the materials Rolf had provided in a fun, readable way. Our interior book designer matched each comic with a caption containing behind-the-scenes information about its creation, and added fun details like extra pen-and-ink illustrations, copies of press passes and articles Rolf had accumulated over the years.

After the interior files had been created, a proofreader combed through the book files, catching any last errors in the text or layout. We also created an e-book version of the book, designed specifically to be readable across all major e-book platforms.

Rolf provided his own cover design, and our team added the final elements like the barcode and book description, while ensuring the cover was formatted correctly for print.

As soon as Rolf was completely happy with the final files, we distributed Hockey Daze  in paperback and e-book formats to all major retailers. Rolf collects a check, and we handle all the hard work. The convenience of our distribution services gets Hockey Daze in the hands of hockey fans without the need for Rolf to miss a single game.

Find Hockey Daze for sale here. 

Our distribution services also include setup with our printer. Rolf can purchase books in any quantity from us at a significant discount off the list price, which allows him to offer special signed copies to friends and family, and through his existing website.

Throughout the entire publishing process, Rolf had a dedicated point of contact for questions and updates. He never had to wonder if his emails were being read, and a friendly Ohioan was available to take his calls every time.

If you’re interested in making your book project a reality, we invite you to contact us by clicking here. We’re happy to sit down with you for a free consultation, or answer your questions via email/phone.

We produce great books of all kinds. Will yours be next?

Colorblind — Proving Press

Doug Fernbacher is a father, entrepreneur, star of TLC’s reality show Rattled, and an perf8.000x8.000.inddauthor. He’s a busy guy with an appreciation for work done well the first time.

Doug wrote a children’s book called Colorblind to teach kids (and parents too!) that although families may not look alike, we all have more in common than we think. After his reality TV stint Doug wanted to utilize the platform of fans and followers he’d gained and convert them into readers. He worked with an illustrator who created artwork for the Colorblind storyline, after which Doug had a small test run of books printed.

But the quality of the books and a lack of distribution was limiting Doug’s reach. Every media appearance was an opportunity, but he had no way to connect his potential readers with a high-quality, easily accessible product.

Enter: Columbus Publishing Lab

When Doug contacted us he needed two things: The ability to have professional-quality books printed at an affordable cost, and an outlet for readers to purchase Colorblind that didn’t suck time and energy from Doug’s life. With the next season of Rattled set to air, buzz about the show was growing. It was time to act fast or lose PR.

Just hours after meeting with Doug and learning his situation, the Columbus Publishing Lab team started working to produce a paperback, hardback and e-book version of Colorblind. Our interior designer reformatted the artwork files from Doug’s illustrator, making sure everything was sized, laid out, and formatted correctly for print. Instead of a flimsy stapled paperback, Doug’s books would be professionally bound and printed in vibrant full color, complete with an ISBN, barcode and Library of Congress number.

Within two weeks of that first meeting with Doug our distribution services had Colorblind up for sale on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. And just like that, when Doug plugs his book in interviews, media appearances and on social media, his followers can easily find, order and receive Colorblind in a seamless process that takes no time from Doug’s busy life.

Check out Colorblind on Amazon here.

Because Colorblind is set up with our printer, book copies are available to Doug at a significant discount off the list price. When Doug and his wife Marsadie took Colorblind on the road to conventions, we were able to ship books to venues across the country, ready for them to sign and sell.

Along every step of the publishing process Doug had a personal contact at Columbus Publishing Lab, ready to respond to phone calls and emails without delay, answer questions and provide updates as needed.

“I really appreciate the stellar customer service you’ve shown us so far–you really don’t get it as much these days!”

With the help of Columbus Publishing Lab, Doug Fernbacher was able to publish a beautiful book, make it easily available to readers, and have printed copies readily available for his promotion efforts. He owns 100% of his rights, and the only upkeep to deal with is cashing a check for quarterly sales.

Learn more about our publishing packages and services here. 

Whether you want control over every step of your book project, or you’re short on time and need us to handle the details, Columbus Publishing Lab can provide a custom publishing experience to fit your needs. Don’t let that manuscript sit in a drawer.

Contact us here.

The Black Lens — Boyle & Dalton

Christopher Stollar spent over three years gathering research for his novel, The Black Lens9781633370722 (Boyle & Dalton, 2016). He conducted interviews with sex trafficking survivors, social workers and police officers, in addition to volunteering with several non-profit organizations.

Find a copy of The Black Lens here, or ask for it at your favorite bookstore.

With so much care, hard work and passion put into the writing of this book, Christopher knew the production part of the publishing process had to be handled with equal care and attention. We worked with Christopher and Boyle & Dalton (the publisher of the book), to provide editing, design and marketing services for The Black Lens.

Christopher invested a lot of time in his manuscript, but he knew it wasn’t reader-ready yet. The first step in the publishing process was rigorous developmental editing by a professional developmental editor. Our editor provided Christopher with a detailed report of problem areas and suggestions, and worked closely with him to provide the guidance needed for a rewrite. The result? A publication-ready version of The Black Lens.

After the developmental edit was complete, our copy editor combed through the manuscript, correcting grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes, while standardizing the text to a style guide.

After our editors cleaned up the manuscript, our interior designer got to work creating a professional layout for the interior of the book. Not only is the interior design visually appealing, it’s simple enough to maintain readability for all audiences. Our proofreader gave the finished interior a final check, and we moved on to creation of an e-book.

The Black Lens takes an unflinching look at sex trafficking. It was extremely important to the author that the harsh realities of this horrific crime were reflected in the book’s cover, while being mindful of how triggering provocative imagery can be. Our designer ultimately created a cover that respectfully conveys the nature of the issues covered in the book, while keeping the aesthetic starkly modern to jump out at the passing reader.

Using the book’s newly created branding, our web designer created a custom website for Christopher to showcase his work, blog, and connect with new readers. Check it out for yourself here: ChristopherStollar.com

To help get The Black Lens out to as many readers as possible, we worked with Christopher on a marketing plan that would best suit his needs, including getting the book into the hands of the right reviewers. One of our marketing consultants worked closely with Christopher along the way to ensure energy was being expended in the right outlets.

The Black Lens was only released a few months ago, but it has already garnered attention from the press, reviewers and those who have experienced this horrific crime firsthand. To read what’s been said in the press about this new release, click here.

We love working with passionate authors like Christopher. If you’re ready to take your book project to the next level, we invite you to contact us by clicking here. You’ll have a dedicated point of contact throughout every step of the publishing process, and your manuscript will be handled with the same care you’ve invested in it already.

We produce great books. Will yours be next?