General Information

Bublish is a complete self-publishing solution that enables authors to retain their copyright and control of their book project while working with a professional publishing partner. We offer ghostwriting, multi-level editing, cover and book design, publishing and marketing services as well as global distribution to more than 40,000 retail and wholesale channels. If you are working on a book and need assistance, feel free to make an appointment with one of our publishing experts via this link:

https://meetings.hubspot.com/sean-kilkenny

Bublish offers self-published authors all the services they need to create, publish, and market their books. This includes ghostwriting, editing, cover and interior design, eBook conversion, global distribution, marketing, advertising, and so much more. To have our catalog of services emailed to you, simply fill out this form:

https://share.hsforms.com/1csQlMHQnQdymDnzX9zOuBA3rrky

Yes, we can. Most of our services are for authors who distribute their books through Bublish. However, we do offer Facebook ads, press release creation and distribution, sell sheets, and website design to non-distributing authors. You can also check out our Book Bubble technology, which enables you to share enriched book excerpts with 600,000 readers each week. At only $99 a year, it’s offers affordable and effective book marketing. Start your two-week free trial via this link:

https://bublish.com/account/create_account?user_type_requested=3&free_trial=1

Just Getting Started

Yes, we can. We offer a wide range of publishing, marketing, and positioning consultations to answer all your questions. We encourage you to set up an appointment with one of our publishing experts to learn more. Here’s the link:

https://meetings.hubspot.com/sean-kilkenny

This depends on which services you need and where you are in the publishing process. When you request a services proposal from us, the timeline for each service is always listed.

This depends on the services you need. We offer a la carte services and publishing packages and can work with a wide variety of budgets. We encourage you to set up an appointment with one of our publishing experts to learn more. Here’s the link:

https://meetings.hubspot.com/sean-kilkenny

Yes, we do. Bublish was founded by a veteran editor and ghostwriter, so this is a strength for us. To learn more about our ghostwriting and co-writing programs, we encourage you to set up a free, 20-minute consulation with one of our publishing experts.

https://meetings.hubspot.com/sean-kilkenny

The earlier, the better! We often suggest that authors create their covers while they’re still writing their book. It’s a great asset to start promoting your forthcoming title. Unfortunately, we see too many self-published authors wait too long to promote their work. Consider signing up for one of our consultations for assistance in putting together an effective, pre-launch marketing plan.

https://meetings.hubspot.com/sean-kilkenny

Manuscript Ready

Bublish was founded by a veteran editor, so professional editing is a strength here at Bublish. We offer developmental, line editing, copy editing, and proofreading. Here’s a link to a blog post on the different types of editing.

https://bublish.com/blog/2020/02/what-type-of-edit-does-your-book-need/

It depends on the type of editing your manuscript needs? Bublish offers read-throughs, which take about three weeks, developmental and line editing, which take about a month, and copy editing and proofreading, which take a couple of weeks. The length and complexity of a manuscript can impact these general timelines. If you request an editing proposal from Bublish, it will show more specific timelines for each edit.

Great question! If you have already signed a contract that includes editing, your project manager will request that you send your manuscript over in a Microsoft Word document. Our editors use Microsoft Track Changes for editing, so this is the only file formast we can accept for editing.

We do not. Our editors use Microsoft Word Track Changes to execute all edits, so Microsoft Word is the only type of file we will accept for editing.

Ready to Publish

While we can accept them, Microsoft Word documents are highly preferred. Apple Pages files must be converted Word. Unfortunately, the conversion can introduce formatting mistakes. We encourage you to submit a Microsoft Word file instead.

Currently Working with Bublish

Your publishing proposal and contract will list the specific timelines for each type of edit you have requested. Developmental edits typically take about a month while copy editing and proofreading can be delivered in about two weeks. Length or complexity can impact these general timelines, so we encourage you to review your proposal and contract.

Our editors use Microsoft Word Track Changes to make their suggestions. Your book project manager will deliver the edited manuscript as an editable Word document (.docx).

Preliminary front cover concepts typically take a week or two. Once you decide which concept you like, the revision process begins. Once you approve the final front cover design, we’ll finish the rest of the cover design (spine and back cover). This can take an additional five to seven business days. Once you approve the final cover design, we’ll create publishable files for all formats and distribution channels, including Amazon’s KDP platform, IngramSpark, and Lulu.

After the design team delivers your cover or interior layout files, you’ll receive instructions on how to submit revisions. As a rule of thumb, preliminary cover concepts, interior samples, and inital interior layout files typically take two weeks. eBook files take approximately one week to create. It is best not to submit revisions before you receive files from the design team.

Best publishing practices require that certain pages of a book’s front and back matter (title page, copyright page, dedication, foreword, acknowledgements, author bio, etc.) start on a right page. This might require certain left pages to remain blank. In the body of your book, blank pages are only introduced at the author’s request.

It typically takes about 5 to 7 business days to convert the interior layout file into an eBook. However, the complexity of the book’s design can sometimes impact this timeline.

Marketing & Advertising

No. It is the author’s responsilility to proofread the cover text for typos and grammar. If you would like our editors to do this work or write a synopsis for your book, please request a proposal via this link:

https://share.hsforms.com/1csQlMHQnQdymDnzX9zOuBA3rrky

Print on Demand (POD) printers do not allow us to print on the inside of the cover. However, hardcover dust jackets have inside and outside flaps that are folded over the board stock that is used to print hardcovers. The book’s description and author’s bio and photo typically go on these flaps.

Our cover artists primarily use stock images to create designs. If you have illustrations or art that you’d like to have us incorporate into the cover design, this is possible, as long at the imagery meets required printing specifications. If you need a piece of art or illustration created for your cover, we do offer this service. Contact support@bublish.com for more information.

That’s okay! Bublish’s designers use stock photos to create cover designs. You are not required to send any images though we always like to see examples of book covers you like.

Yes, we do. We offer illustrations for children’s picture books, cover art, and interior graphic art. Prices vary, as we work with agented and unagented illustrators/artists. Contact support@bublish.com for more information.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept files that are two-page spreads because our print-on-demand partners do not accept these files.

We would highly recommend opening and viewing your PDF proof files with Adobe Acrobat.

Print on demand gives you the aflexibility to change the price of your book when needed. This is why we do not place prices on our covers unless requestedby. If you do request to have the price on your cover and decide to change that price later, you will be asked to pay revision fee.

Bublish offers free ISBNs to all distributing authors, but does not pursue additional copyright protection. If you are interested in pursuing additional copyright protection for your book, please visit:

https://www.copyright.gov/registration/literary-works/

Yes, authors can publish under a pen name.

The term “series” describes a collection of books published under different titles that share the same secondary title.

Distribution

This enables distribution for you as an author. Once you have an Authorpreneur Dashboard you can select certain titles to distribute with us. With this premium dashboard, you’ll have access to all your Sales & Royalty Reports, Bublish’s award-winning marketing technology and metrics as well as the eBook Creator.

Yes. You will maintain all rights to your book in all formats. By signing a distribution agreement, you are granting Bublish the right to distribute your book(s) at online retailers as well as wholesalers.

You will receive 85% of your net royalties from online retailers and wholesalers (wholesalers sell primarily to the bookstore and library markets.) Bublish takes only 15% of net sales, you keep the rest.

We will need the following files to begin uploading your book:

    1. Interior file in PDF format
    2. Print cover file in PDF format
    3. eBook file in EPUB format
    4. eBook cover file in JPEG format

You’ll receive additional information on these requirements during the upload process. If you need help creating any of these files, please visit our Author Services page here. [MIGHT CHANGE THIS AS THIS PAGE MIGHT NOT EXIST ON NEW SITE]

Yes, you will need an ISBN for each format of your book. You can provide your own ISBNs or ask us to provide ISBNs to you for free. You’ll be asked which is your preference during the sign up process.

Yes. We can walk you through the transfer process, so that Bublish can become your distributor. Previously published paperbacks will require a new ISBN. If you don’t want to purchase your own ISBNs, Bublish can provide a new ISBN for your paperback for free, once you’ve signed a distribution contract with us.

Please note: If you have a publishing contract with another organization, you might not have the right to distribute your book. Please contact your current publisher about the terms of your agreement before proceeding.

About Bublish

Bublish is a publishing technology company that offers cloud-based tools, metrics and resources to equip today’s business-savvy authors for success. An innovative, award-winning platform, Bublish empowers “authorpreneurs” by providing a complete social marketing and digital publishing solution. Launched at Book Expo America in June of 2012, Bublish is changing the way writers share their stories and reach their readers. Thousands of authors around the world are already using Bublish to promote their work and build their brand. www.bublish.com Follow us: @BublishMe , Facebook and Google+

You can reset your password by logging in and then selecting View Profile on your author dashboard. To retrieve a forgotten password, select “Already a Member? Sign In!” link at the top right of the page. The Sign In form will display. Select the “Forgot your password?” link and follow the displayed steps.

Click on the “view by” in the bottom middle of the book bubble. You can also view the bubble stream by genre or by the latest bubble created.

Books and Bubbles

Only books in the .epub format can be uploaded into Bublish. Other formats, such as .pdf or .mobi currently cannot be used, although this may change in the future.

One of the main benefits of Bublish is that you can use the text of your book to share hundreds of book bubbles to share with readers. Each highly visual, highly shareable book bubble contains an excerpt accompanied by an author insight (what we like to call “the story behind your story”). For this reason, you need to upload your entire book into Bublish.

Readers do not have access to your book, and only see the book bubbles that you publish and share with them. Most authors on the Bublish platform have uploaded their entire book so that they can create book bubbles from every chapter. However, if you prefer not to upload your entire book to Bublish, you can create and upload an .epub file with a few sample chapters. If you have a paid Authorpreneur account, you can simply cut and paste excerpts of your manuscript into the Bublish ePub Creator and create book bubbles from there.

No, you do not have to upload your entire book to Bublish, though it is recommended and most authors do. The only requirement for Bublish is that you upload a file in the .epub format. That allows Bublish to work it’s magic. Most authors do upload their entire book so that they can create book bubbles from every part of their books. However, you can upload sample chapters as long as they’re in the .epub format.

No. Your book is password protected and stored in a hardened, Tier 4 (the top level) hosting facility that is monitored 24/7 for uptime and security by onsite operations personnel. You are the only person able to view your entire book. Readers can only view the excerpts that you select and publish in the book bubbles you create and share.

Currently, Bublish only accepts books in the .epub format. To see how to
convert your PDF to the .epub format, read this article:

Free Software to Create EPUB Digital Books.

Here are some links to some free conversion tools and resources:

Please note that Bublish does not endorse or provide technical support for these tools.

Currently, there are two plans available on Bublish: our Free Emerging Author Dashboard and Bublish’s subscription-based Authorpreneur Dashboard.

The Free Emerging Author Dashboard allows authors to upload one book (in the .epub format) and create and share unlimited book bubbles to promote their book across multiple social channels.

Our subscription-based Authorpreneur Dashboard allows you to upload unlimited books, create unlimited bubbles from all of them, track engagement with through a variety of real-time metrics, access exclusive content and programs and share your author profile with readers. The Authorpreneur Dashboard also enables authors to write their book in Bublish and use book bubble to start promoting their book while they write. If you are currently using the free Emerging Author Dashboard you can upgrade to Bublish’s Authorpreneur Dashboard.

It’s easy to change your book’s cover on Bublish. Go to your Author Dashboard and select Book Info for the book whose cover you wish to change. In the Book Info window, select Change below the image of your current cover art, and follow the steps.

Sometimes a book cover is not available after you upload a book due to slight variations in the formatting of ePub files. To add the cover separately, select Book Info screen on your author dashboard. In the top left-hand of the Book Info window, you will see a generic cover image instead of your book cover. Select Change and follow the prompts to upload your book’s cover image.

No. Your book is password protected and stored in the Amazon Cloud, one of the safest cloud environments on the planet. You are the only person able to view your entire book. Readers are only able to view the excerpts that you select for your the book bubbles.

Yes, you can use a pen name on Bublish. You can sign up with a pen name or change your name once you have signed up for your Bublish account. In order to change your name, select Edit Profile on your author dashboard. Change your name information and select Submit at the bottom of the form. This will update your name site-wide on your existing and future books and bubbles.

The length of the excerpts you select can vary. Since the author insight is designed to enrich your book excerpt and tell the story behind the book excerpt you select, it is best to select an entire scene or conversation rather than decide upon a set length. In every bubble, you should give readers a long enough excerpt to get a good taste of your writing as well as a great author insight that will show what went in to crafting the part of your book you are sharing.

Currently, Bublish can only work with one author name per account. If you write under several pen names, you’ll need to open a separate account for each name. Each account will require a different email address.

To create a book bubble, go to your author dashboard and select Create Bubble below the cover image of the book with which you’d like to work. Follow the three steps to create a bubble:

      1. select an excerpt from your book
      2. write the author insight (this is the “story behind your story” and is what turns an excerpt into an engaging piece of fresh content)
      3. preview your book bubble

If you are ready to publish your bubble, use the social icons at the bottom, right-hand of the “Preview” screen to share your bubble to
Twitter, Facebook or via email. The moment you share your book bubble socially, it is also published on bublish.com. If you’d like to create a book bubble, but are not ready to publish it, just select “Back To My Books.” A pop-up will appear letting you know that your book bubble has not been published, but will be saved on your author dashboard in an unpublished state.

On your author dashboard, click the “edit” button next to the title of the bubble you’d like to change. Once the bubble has opened, use the back arrow at the bottom of the bubble to go back through the creation process and fix the parts of your bubble that need attention. (Note: You can’t change your bio, book synopsis, photo or cover art in this process. In order to make those changes, you must either visit your bio or book info.) When you have finished updating your bubble, you must publish it again via the social icons in the bottom, right-hand corner of the preview. Once you have done this, the bubble will be updated.

Buy links are added by the team at Bublish – all you have to do is indicate which online retailers are selling your book and we take care of adding the links.

When you are uploading your book, you will be asked to select the online retailers where your book is available. This action alerts the team at Bublish to add the buy links. We add special links to improve how your book is tracked in the Bublish system. It usually takes no more than 24 hours for us to get those links live. You can still create book bubbles while you are waiting for your buy links to be added. Once the links are live, they will appear in all the book bubbles you have created for your book, even those that you’ve already published.

Social Sharing

Yes, you can. We strongly encourage authors to open a Twitter and/or Facebook account. Growing an audience via these channels is much easier with Bublish. Book bubbles provide highly visual and shareable content that authors can use to start conversations with new social followers, grow their audience and build a strong author brand. Having a Facebook and Twitter account will allow you to maximum your Bublish account. However, even without these accounts, you can still share book bubbles with your friends via email. You can also embed book bubbles on your website.

Currently, book bubbles do not present the same way on a Facebook fan page as they do on a personal page. There are, however, a couple of workarounds for this issue. Here are the steps to follow:

      1. Go to your author dashboard and select View Bubble to pull up a previously published book bubble.
      2. Click the Twitter icon (yes, we know that’s weird) and when the window pops up, copy the link in the window.
      3. Open your fan page on Facebook and post what you want to say to introduce your bubble as well as the link you’ve copied. (The preview will show you how the link will display).

You can also use the “Comment on this Bubble” feature to post to your Facebook fan page. To do this, sign in to Facebook then select the bubble stream as a reader. Find the bubble you’d like to share on your fan page. Select “Comment on this Bubble.” Below the “Leave a Comment” area, you will see the words “Posting as…” You can select to post on your fan page here.

Readers and authors who are not connected on Facebook can use this feature to leave comments on a bubble. This feature is integrated with Facebook, so each person who comments on the bubble will see their comment appear on their Facebook timeline. To use this feature, make sure you are logged in to Facebook.