If your book is typewritten
Not everyone types on a word processor or computer keyboard. Many of Empower's first time authors are publishing books they wrote before there were word processing computers. We are able to take those typewritten pages and turn them into digital files and then format them in book form. It does take a couple extra steps. Here are some guidelines to help you understand how this works.
- Turning typewritten pages into digital files requires scanning every page, then turning the scans into workable Word files. For that reason, we have to charge for the scan and then the conversion process. Also it will take us an extra two weeks to complete your process.
- A breakdown of the costs is on our Contract and Prices page. Basically, in addition to the regular setup cost ($295), it will cost $1.00 per page. So if your book is 100 pages long, your setup cost will be $395. This is still a few thousand dollars less than most self-publishers charge, and most won't work with typewritten manuscripts.
- You can help us by holding handwritten corrections and notations on the manuscript to a minimum. The computer will try to figure out what you mean and invariably that will slow down the process.
- Once we finish with your original manuscript, we mail it back to you along with any photos, illustrations or art you sent with it.
- To know what to expect after you send us your manuscript, click here.
If your book is handwritten
Most self-publishers won't work with handwritten manuscripts. Empower does have certain limitations, namely, we have to be able to read your writing. We also need an extra month if we are working with handwritten books. As you'll see on our Contract and Prices page, we charge $2.00 per handwritten page to convert your manuscript to a printable format. For example, if your book is 100 handwritten pages, the setup cost will be the basic $295, plus $200 to convert the pages, for a setup total of $495.
Sometimes the original pages of handwritten books can simply be scanned rather than typed out, which drops the setup price considerable. This can work with cookbooks (as when you've handwritten out the recipes), children's books (as when you have hand printed the words) or other special books like journals or scrapbooks where handwritten script is legible and attractive.
To find out what happens after your book is converted to computerized text, click here.
