Use the IBPA Industry Standards Checklist to Ensure Your Self-Published Book Looks Professional
You’ll be following the same standards as traditional publishers.
Want to make your self-published book stand out? Start by making sure it looks identical to a traditionally published book.
The Independent Book Publishers Association recently released their Industry Standards Checklist for a Professionally Published Book, a 62-item checklist that takes self-publishers through every step of the book production process.
Don’t know how to format a half-title page? It’s on the checklist.
Want to know whether to use AP, MLA, or Chicago style? It’s on the checklist. (Spoiler alert: most traditionally published books use Chicago style.)
Before you publish your next book, take a quick look through the IBPA checklist and see if you can check off all 62 items. The checklist applies to both ebooks and print books—and if you’re publishing your ebook through Pronoun, their ebook formatting will meet the IBPA’s design standards.
If you’ve already self-published a book, how does it stack up against the IBPA checklist? Is there anything you wish you had done differently? If you can’t check off the majority of the IBPA’s recommendations, remember that you can always release a new edition with a few professional tweaks!
Nicole Dieker is a freelance writer, a senior editor at The Billfold, and a columnist at The Write Life. Her debut novel, The Biographies of Ordinary People, published in May 2017; you can follow her on Twitter @hellothefuture.
