CEO Alex Allan on how a publishing consultant can save your organisation in the long run

So, you or your organisation are thinking about telling your story by publishing a book.

As publishing specialists, Fremantle Press is engaged by individuals and organisations wanting impressive, bespoke books created for them. Our clients range from community organisations and corporations to prestigious art collections, city councils and education suppliers – all benefiting from almost 50 years of publishing experience.

While hiring a publishing consultant can seem like a big expense, it’s an investment that will ultimately save you time, money and resources. As the old saying goes: If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur.

So here are Fremantle Press’s recommendations for anyone who’s thinking about producing a book.

When to hire a professional?

Experience in editing or designing short documents is not transferable to editing or designing books, and many graphic designers and copyeditors are unaware of the unique requirements of book publishing, such as ISBNs, barcodes and NLA classifications. The intricacies of editing, proofreading, briefing designers, printing specifications, paper stock, colour proofs, indexing, delivery and distribution – all takes specialist knowledge.

Sadly, many people only discover this when they suddenly find themselves over time and over budget on a book that doesn’t reflect the aims of their organisation. It’s at this point that we often receive a panicked email or phone call asking for help – and the later this happens, the more costly it is likely to be!

Reaching out to a publishing consultant for a quote should be done before you set your budget and your project timeline – not after.

Timing

The closer you are to your deadline, the more costly a book is likely to be. If your organisation has a major anniversary in two to five years, now is the time to reach out to us for a realistic timeline and budget.

Building your team

Books are made by people. Once we’ve signed an agreement, at Fremantle Press we appoint a project manager to help get your content ready for production. But you’ll need to appoint your own people, too. Think about whether there will be one point of contact at your organisation or a team of people. Who has the final say or sign-off on the project?

Creating content

It’s crucial to start planning your content early. Begin by outlining your aims and drafting an overview of the story you want told. Who will write the book? Will you do this yourself or do you need to hire a professional writer? If your book is going to be photographic, then who is going to source, sort or scan your images into a suitable digital format? Who will be in charge of writing the captions?

Pre-production

For Fremantle Press, this is when the fun (and hard work) begins! Your text and captions get edited to meet Australian publishing standards. Design concepts and covers are created for your review. The content is typeset and the layouts reviewed, then the book is proofread and indexed. We work closely with the printers to guide your book through the final stages of production and quality control. It’s a real team effort, involving our skilled team of project managers, editors, designers and printers – and of course you, our client.

Production

Fremantle Press works with a network of onshore and international printers, and can advise on the best location for production to ensure we meet your print specifications, timeline and budget. Your book will print and ship alongside our trade publications, benefiting from economies of scale on paper and shipping costs, with access to FSC materials, advanced printing technology and high-quality products, all in line with international standards.

Distribution

How you are going to get your book into the hands of your readers is something you should also consider early. We can deliver your glorious books to a destination of your choice – but where will the books go from there? Think about who your readers are and how many people will want a copy of the book. Is the book a giveaway or do you want people to buy it and, in that case, where do they buy it from? If you want your book to be available online and in bookstores, then for some books we may be able to offer distribution services as well.

Corporate responsibility

All income from Fremantle Press’s consultancy work goes right back into our core purpose.

Proudly not for profit, Fremantle Press invests in storytellers from all walks of life and ensures that all Australians get to see themselves represented in books. We improve literacy by getting books into the hands of young readers through philanthropic programs such as Books for Little Bookaburras. We keep Western Australian culture alive by publishing important local stories and making sure Western Australian stories are recognised nationally and internationally.

For more guidelines or to review samples of our consultancy projects, we hope you’ll take a look at our Custom Publishing site.