Authoring - 101

Explore essential publishing terminology, including 24-page minimums on platforms like CDP by Amazon and trim size dimensions. Understand bleed vs no-bleed layouts, where edge-to-edge content meets a defined border.

Explore the foundations of fiction by mastering plot stages (exposition to resolution), themes, figurative language, point of view, setting, and character development with practical guiding questions.

Explore nonfiction writing through rigorous research from books, libraries, and the internet, cite reliable sources, avoid unreliable ones, and organize information with chapters, diagrams, graphs, and statistics to clarify concepts.

Learn how to craft a manuscript as a rough draft that becomes the final product, organize chapters, and use transitions, pacing, and point of view to guide readers.

Learn practical editing and proofreading for manuscripts through peer feedback, social media, online resources, and self-editing to improve grammar, pacing, and clarity.

Use illustrations to visualize graphs, images, and diagrams in nonfiction and set mood in fiction for younger readers. Apply color, contrast, and cover design with Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate, and Canva.

Self publish with KDP; compare platforms like CDP, pricing, and marketing; assess accessibility and upload ease, and use templates to publish Kindle, paperback, or hardcover.

Explore using the 8-by-10 book templates from the site, edit titles and fonts, apply colors and alignment, and insert pictures to create nonfiction or fiction layouts.