Typesetting and layout in digital form -
Most people these days use a word-processor to write their book. Rightly so. The problem is, most of the common ones are not directly compatible with professional printing processes. Some POD publishers and digital printers will accept files from certain word-processor packages, but these are not optimised for book production and can cause text to run into the binding, jump frames or pages and other annoying things. Infinity Junction uses commercial software which outputs in a digital form that most large printing concerns use and which is designed specifically to work accurately with modern print machinery. It is also possible to manipulate settings such as spacing between individual words, adjust layout in a far more subtle and effective way, show accurate alignment marks where cuts should be made during production, make separations for colour printing, etc; facilities not available to most people.
Editorial advice -
The quantity of our editorial input is partly dependent on the subject matter being within our sphere of interests. The reason is simply that knowledge of facts, idiom, etc, employed with different types of work is limited by personnel available at the time. For works outside our normal areas, editing is limited to obvious corrections and minor changes to improve ease of reading, etc.
Authors buying our standard typesetting service who do fall within our general interest areas can also receive suggestions, where appropriate, for changes which might improve story flow, comprehension, and the way it reads. Occasionally we might even suggest actual story or sequence changes where we spot something that we think could work better. Of course, if you are self-publishing or using POD, it's entirely up to you whether to accept our suggestions. Indeed if you don't want them, say so and we'll keep quiet!
The package, as well as correcting errors we spot, includes tweaking the layout to optimise readability and visual impact. It is not a proof reading service as such, although we do read and, where we see errors still exist, mark our draft print before sending it to you for you to go through too. Note: beyond the general knowledge of the person actually doing the typesetting/editing, we do not check factual or other references specific to the work in question, nor spelling of names, unusual or foreign words. (We can put authors in touch with UK proof readers if requested, but that is not part of our deal and you would have to pay the proof reader separately.)
Better your chances
Infinity Junction, with editors, writers, other publishers, and self-publishers to call on, has a wealth of experience to share. This has been distilled into a comprehensive guide to writing, improving and marketing your book, screenplay, short story, etc. Even if you are already at the stage of trying to sell your work, there is much in here that will help you. What is more, this Budding Bestseller guide is very regularly modified to keep it bang up to date. It is printed on demand, so you know it's the very latest version. It is office produced and therefore the cover and binding are a little primitive, but the text is in high quality laser print, probably better than most paperbacks. Make sure you are already at the Infinity Junction website before clicking for more details of Budding Bestseller guide.
Selling via our website
Infinity Junction's website is very well visited and rated on all English language search engines worth knowing. We can offer suitable books a free advertising page and sales connections both to our on-line shop for use with credit and debit cards and via mail order. We take a very modest commission, that's all. More details upon request - email us.
Compatibility issues -
Not all digital texts are compatible with modern typesetting. Infinity Junction cannot undertake to fix major compatibility problems at the standard prices we charge. More compatibility details.
Print on demand production -
Infinity Junction can pass you to a recommended POD company, we do not make POD style production runs ourselves, preferring to concentrate on commercial length runs. Please E-mail us, (link below.)
Terms and prices -
Please understand that Infinity Junction does not actually print or bind POD books; we can prepare your book and pass it on, then liase with the chosen POD concern as necessary. We take no responsibility for production in these cases.
First Infinity Junction has to know all about the book, the length, subject matter, etc, we'd also like to know something about the author, and preferably have a digital copy of the whole work as it is now before we can be certain that we can handle it efficiently. Different things complicate matters and might need alteration, negotiation, or even refusal. (We cannot guarantee that we will typesest or edit all offered work. We also reserve the right reject texts which we find offensive, or believe to be misleading, or with possible legal snags.) For example, we don't very often handle non-UK POD authors simply because of the time delays and extra costs invloved with posting proofs, and also quite often problems with foreign words, fonts, accents etc. This doesn't mean we won't do it, but we need to see it first.
There is a very competitive 'blanket price,' but it is subject to several conditions and possible variations. For a start, it is based on a simple monochrome text, received in compatible digital format, without pictures, without foreign letters or accents and limited to 75,000 words. If not, then we can only quote a price once we've seen it. The price is subject to limitations on time involved. For example it does not take account of anything other than standard typesetting, corrections and a few minor alterations after the typsetting has been started. It does include making a draft correction print of the typeset and sending it to you for further checking. More than that adds to the cost. The whole scheme is laid out on a printed 'plain English' document which we can send once we've seen the original digital file and you say you're definitely interested. Or we can e-mail the main points only.
E-mail us for more detail. Also for production quotes for POD, self-publishing, or collaborative publishing, (as opposed to preparation mentioned in this document.)
Further information -
There is a very comprehensive help section with links to all sorts of information. You need to be already at Infinity Junction's website for it to work- if not, log onto the internet and click: go to Infinity Junction Website - or jump directly to the Infinity Junction SUPER-HELP page.
OR click next link for specific information on self-publishing.
OR see the whole Infinity Junction books for sale list.
Contact us -
Our preferred method is E-mail because this is quick, cheap and flexible. You can attach a chapter or two with your first contact if you like, but always make sure you label any attachment clearly and mention it in the body of your email text. If we don't recognise the attachment it may be deleted as part of virus security.
E-mail click: Infin-Info at Infinity Junction dotCom
By post: - please enclose a stamped addressed envelope if you want a postal reply
Infinity Junction
PO Box 64
Neston DO
CH64 0WB
and if outside Britain, add: UK
Compatibilty explained in more detail -
One of the commonest problems is an old PC 'feature' due the incompatibilty of certain native file types to modern mainstream. In these cases it becomes necessary to save as 'text.' However doing this sometimes puts fixed line returns into saves where the text reaches the right edge of the screen. It shouldn't! It is mainly associated with older software such as Works, Claris Works, Outlook Express and some others. The trouble is, with these it becomes impossible to distinguish between introduced line returns and intentional ones. Such digital texts are simply not worth our time fixing. MS Works did, at least in some versions of it, allow you to save as 'DOS text' which often cured the problem when this was reloaded into a newer version of Word etc. Other alternatives are to save as 'plain text without line returns,' or ASCII text. Again this can sometimes be loaded into other software without the unwanted returns. Where you can do either of these with the messed-up texts, we can probably use them, but no guarantees.
There are other compatability problems- some include fonts which are different to the English versions, accents which don't work, 'smart quotes' and other non-alpha-numeric characters which come out as something quite different. There is no 100% certainty that any text will load perfectly into any other software, but the two most compatible, provided they are saved from recent software, are third millennium RTF and ASCII text. Turn off smart (curly) quotes, don't use unusual characters, fonts, or accents, and use the modern full rather than 'home' or 'lite' versions, and then problems will be minimised.
Very occasionally we come accross texts where the writer has put line returns in by hand at the edges, instead of letting the computer do it. We've even seen double spacing done like this for manuscripts. Usually it is somone who has converted from an old fashioned typewriter without learning how to use the word-processor properly. These files are unlikely to be acceptable.