We design across a range of genres, from simple and straight-forward novels to highly designed academic books, theses and dissertations with complex tables, graphics, indexes, footnotes, languages, scripts and non-standard layouts.

Every book we design, layout and typeset includes:

Every book is assessed and priced individually. Check out our portfolio for examples, and ask for an estimate.

First impressions count, and a well-designed cover is essential. Our cover design service will create an eye-catching, stand-out and professional impression. We retain no copyright on the cover designs that we do on your behalf.

We can handle all your graphics needs from photoshopping to charts, graphs and logos; in the correct colour mode, resolution and file type for print or screen.

We retain no copyright on the graphics, graphs, illustrations and prepared image files that we do on your behalf.

You have two options in printing your book —

• You can have it printed by a traditional printer in a print run of at least several hundred, with an option to have a later, second print-run at a cheaper ‘run-on’ price. This type of printing is capable of producing the highest quality print.
  

or

• you can have it digitally printed by a Print-On-Demand printer, such as CreateSpace, who work with Amazon, and have each copy printed only as it is ordered. This type of printing requires by far the least amount of financial investment.
  

Printer’s and Draft Proofs

A final draft PDF of the entire book, for review, and the printer’s press-ready hi-res PDF are both included in the price for the book design, layout and typesetting.

PDFs from your own formatted files

We can create a print-ready PDF from your formatted Word document to your printer’s specification.

Carrigboy do not supply editing and proofreading services in-house, but we can refer you to qualified and experienced editors and proofreaders through their professional trades-bodies and agencies.

As a logically organised guide to the location of words, concepts or other items in the book, an index is not merely a list of all the words in the book, nor just a more elaborate table of contents.

Carrigboy can create an accurate and comprehensive index from the author's brief.

As creative, authored works, indexes are granted copyright registration. Carrigboy do not retain any rights over a paid-for index that we have created. But where an outside or freelance indexer is used it is vital that the question of copyright is dealt with at the outset.

ISBN

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, and is an internationally recognised numbering system for cataloguing and indexing books used world-wide by book retailers, distributors, libraries, etc.

You will need one for each edition or version, Paperback, Hardback and eBook.

You may buy your ISBNs from us and be an imprint of Carrigboy. That is, Carrigboy will be the registered publisher and the name you choose to be your publishing name will be registered as an imprint, or subsidiary publisher, of Carrigboy. This is a common route for small or first-time self-publishers.

British Library Registration

As a self-publisher, you may want to include your book title information into the British Library’s Cataloguing-In-Publication (CIP) Programme, which appears as a statement printed on the imprint (copyright) page like this -

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

The CIP Programme provides records of new and forthcoming books in advance of publication. It serves publishers as a bridge to the library book-buying market.

If you are purchasing your ISBN from Carrigboy, we will register your book with the British Library for you when we issue your book with its ISBN. There is no extra charge for this.

Legal Deposit

Publishers in the United Kingdom have a legal obligation to send one copy of each of their publications to the Legal Deposit Office of the British Library within one month of publication. This would normally be the author’s/self-publisher’s responsibility

• The International Standard Book Number is an internationally recognised numbering system for cataloging and indexing books used world-wide by book retailers, distributers, libraries, etc. You will need one for each edition or version, Paperback, Hardback and eBook.
  
• You may buy your ISBNs from us, and be an imprint of Carrigboy, or you can buy your own ISBNs, from the Nielson UK ISBN Agency.
  

• All copyrights belong to the creator, the author, unless working as an employee for an employer. Carrigboy will retain no rights at all to any of your work, nor any of the files, layouts etc that you have paid for. They are yours to do with what you will.
  
• There is no legal requirement to register copyright although it may be advisable to do so should proof of copyright be a concern.
  

• We can find a printer for you and arrange proofs and delivery.
  
• Or, you can arrange for your book to be printed by a Print-On-Demand service, such as CreateSpace, and each book will be printed as it is sold through Amazon.
  

• We can help you get your books distributed throughout the UK with the country’s leading retail, trade and academic distributers and retailers such as Gardners, Bertrams and Waterstones, as well as Amazon.
  

• We will consult with you and advise, providing samples, custom designed from your brief and needs. Carrigboy have been doing this for over 20 years, and we know how to bring out the best of your book with clarity, consistency and professional quality.
  

• We can convert your print book into an eBook, or make an ebook straight from your own files. We make two eBook files, an epub version (the industry standard ebook format) used by Apple, Nook and most other eBook sellers and eBook readers, and a mobi version, used by Amazon and its Kindle eBook readers.
  

• First impressions count, and people really do judge a book by its cover. A well-designed cover is essential and unless you are very confident in your own abilities it should be professionally designed. Our cover design service will create an eye-catching, stand-out and professional impression.
  

• PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It is a digital version of the exact layout of your book, with all the fonts and graphics embedded. Most printers – traditional and P.O.D. – print the book from a final PDF. Also, Amazon require one for their Search-Inside- and Look-Inside-The-Book programs. Draft and final proofs will be in PDF format. PDF readers are free to download from Adobe.com.
  

• Yes. There are different types of editors. E.g., copy-editors, who will correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, word usage, consistency and contradiction, repetition and irrelevancies, etc.; structural-editors, who look deeper into the material of the book, objectively critiquing the material, length, strength or weakness – and obviously there are as many different types of structural editor as there are types of book. Unless you are confident in the skills of yourself or the colleagues who will edit your book, you should seriously consider paying a professional. Carrigboy do not supply editing and proofreading services directly, but we can help you find one through their professional trades bodies and agencies, and their memberships of qualified and experienced editors and proofreaders.
  

• Yes, and by as many different people and as often as possible. It is very difficult to proofread your own work. An author reads what they think they wrote, what should be there, not what is there. And unless you are confident in the skills of yourself and the colleagues who will proofread your book, you should seriously consider paying a professional. Carrigboy do not supply editing and proofreading services directly, but we can help you find one through their professional trades bodies and agencies, and their memberships of qualified and experienced editors and proofreaders.
  

• Wherever possible we have listed here on this site a guide price for our services so you can gauge the cost – and know in advance how much any ‘extras’ might be, such as corrections, additions, amendments, additional PDFs etc.
  

• The Society for Editors and Proofreaders is UK based, it has an online directory of over 500 qualified and experienced editors and proofreaders and can be found here.
  
• Editcetera, a US based association of freelance publishing professionals and specialists, offering editorial and other services for independent authors and scholars. Their website can be found here. 
  
• The Publishing Training Centre (PTC) is UK based providing editorial skills training, and also many other related courses such as: digital and web, copyright law and rights, marketing and publicity. Their website can be found here.
  
• Editorial Training is UK based and provides training in editorial skills to people who work on many different kinds of publications. Their website can be found here.
  

The Nielsen UK ISBN Agency issues ISBNs for UK publishers in blocks of ten or more. There website can be found here.  

The Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP) Programme provides records of new and forthcoming books in advance of publication in the United Kingdom and Ireland, which are included in the British National Bibliography (BNB).

• Include your book title information into the British Library’s Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP) Programme here. 
  
• Access the CIP Data here. 
  

Publishers in the United Kingdom have a legal obligation to send one copy of each of their publications to the Legal Deposit Office of the British Library within one month of publication. The Legal Deposit Office website can be found here.

There is no legal requirement to register copyright in the UK. All copyrights belong to the creator or author, unless working as an employee for an employer. However, the purpose of copyright registration is to place on record a verifiable account of the date and content of the work in question. There are several commercial agencies in the UK, three of which can be found, here, here and here.

CreateSpace are the P.O.D. printers used by Amazon and their website can be found here.  

• Kindle Direct Publishing – Sell your eBooks through Amazon for the Kindle here. 
  
• PubIt – Barnes and Noble’s portal that allows you to submit your eBook to be sold on the Nook here.
  
• iTunes Connect – Sell your eBooks in the Apple’s iBookstore on the iPad here. 
  

Bertram Publisher Services are the UK’s leading book supplier to retailers large and small and the largest specialist library supply business in the UK. Their website can be found here, and their Publisher's Guidlines are available as a downloadable PDF from here.  

Gardners, Britain’s leading independent wholesaler can be found here.

Waterstones. To sell through their branches it is necessary to register. The form can be downloaded from here.