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The Alliance of Independent Authors - Partner Member
We are a Partner Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, which uniquely represents the interests of self-publishing authors and requires best business practices from those who provide them with services.

W3X XHTML

The XHTML and CSS
code that we implement in
creating each of our
clients' ebooks is
independently checked
and verified by the W3C as being fully compliant


W3 XHTML

Operating Systems

We guarantee that our conversions are 100% compatible with the major operating systems used
by desktop and laptop
computers and mobile
devices

typekeys

Your manuscript format choices


Handwritten manuscripts
Due to the huge variations that occur in the decipherability and legibility of connective (i.e. joined-up) handwritten originals, we are currently unable to accept that form of ms for conversion.

Where only a handwritten original exists, the best option is to have it recreated in the form of a Word or other text file. Individuals and companies offering that service can be found in the classified ads of The Author and other publications.

Typewritten manuscripts
Writers in particular often have a 'legacy' collection of typewritten manuscripts—including perhaps drafts of partly finished works—created in the days before comparatively inexpensive personal computers and word processing software became available.

We can often process typewritten manuscripts in single or double spacing through our high-end OCR software to produce a core Word file that can then be converted to a Kindle or epub ebook or a paperback. Faded top copies or carbon copies of typewritten manuscripts are not usually capable of OCR conversion.

As originals of manuscripts will have to be mailed to our London office (though they can be delivered by hand by arrangement), we strongly advise posting or sending a good quality photocopy of the work rather than the original.

PC, Mac and Linux WP or document files
You can provide us with your manuscript in the form of a Word document or other file of virtually any type, regardless of whether it has been produced on a laptop or desktop running under the Windows, Mac or Linux operating systems.

Acceptable file types include .txt, .rtf, .pdf, DAT, Word, WordPad, WordPerfect, LibreOffice, Text Edit, OpenOffice, and StarOffice.

PDF files configured for the production of a hardback or paper-paperback may embody hidden printing codes that makes uncorrupted extraction of the text for coding difficult if not impossible. We are always pleased to assess a PDF file's suitability without charge.

When requesting a quote using the Inquiry Form, you may if you wish upload a copy of your manuscript file (up to 100,00 words/2MB) so that we can have a better idea of the work involved. Zip or RAR versions can also be uploaded.

Legacy WP files
Some writers and publishers may have works captured in the form of legacy electronic files on old-style media from the 1970s and 1980s—such as Amiga 3.5in and 5in floppy discs and Amstrad 3in floppy discs for PCW and CPC computers, typically in the form of Locoscript files.

We can provide details of third party specialists able at reasonable cost to harvest the textual data on legacy media and transfer it to a PC/Mac floppy disc or USB stick. For further information, please use the Inquiry Form to provide details of the type of legacy media you want remastered for the purpose of conversion to an ebook or paperback.

Printed hardbacks and paperbacks
Many published authors whose original manuscripts were in the form of typescript may have mislaid or lost a copy; cannot retrieve the original top copy used by their publisher; or want to republish as an ebook or paperback the printed version of their work because it will embody sub-editing as well as corrections and amendments made to proofs.

We can OCR scan a hardback or paperback and from that produce a text file in any of the popular word processor formats—including Word, WordPerfect, OpenOffice and, LibreOffice. We then supply the author with a copy of that document file, to allow further revisions or updating before our work on producing an ebook or paperback begins.

Where the work is comparatively modern and replaceable, we typically disassemble the hardback or paperback for ease of scanning. If the volume is valuable or irreplaceable, we use a purpose-designed, open-edge scanner that allows the volume to be left wholly intact and for pages to be captured one at a time, without stressing the spine.

Hard media options
Some authors may prefer to present their manuscripts (including illustrations where applicable) to us in the form of CD-Rs, DVD-Rs, memory cards or USB memory sticks.

We are happy to accept manuscripts in any of those forms but as they will have to be entrusted to the post (though they can by arrangement be delivered by hand to our London office), please make sure that you have made at least one back-up copy on the hard drive of your desktop or laptop computer or on another CD-R, DVD-R or USB stick.

Adobe InDesign masters
Most book and magazine publishers, as well as production houses such as ourselves, use Adobe InDesign software to produce the print-ready PDF files (which must comply with strict technical specifications) to produce magazines, paperbacks and hardbacks using the litho, web offset or gravure printing processes. We master our clients' paperbacks and hardbacks in Adobe InDesign and can also accept InDesign file sets for reinterpretation as flowing or fixed-format ebooks, or as part of the process of self-publishing a paperbacks or hardback.




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Nielsen
Our clients' ebooks
can be assigned a unique
ISBN identifier issued by the official licensing
authority. They may also
be registered with the Nielsen BookData database, which serves booksellers and
libraries in more than
100 countries.

Bowker
Our clients' ebooks
are registered with the BowkerGlobal database,
which serves more
than 100 countries.

idpf
Our Kindle and ePub-
format ebook conversions
conform 100% to the official coding protocols specified by Amazon and the International Digital
Publishing Forum
respectively.

UJ
We are a London firm
and all work is produced
in-house. To ensure confidentiality and consistency, we do not outsource coding or
other work to
third
parties in the UK or overseas.