How the production process works

1 — Sign-up and book submission

You complete our online order process and upload your manuscript or ready-to-print book. We review all your materials to be sure everything is complete and usable. You can check the status of your book in your author panel at any time, and we’ll email you to let you know if there are any problems.

2 — Book production

We’ll format your manuscript and your cover according to the choices you made in your order, and proofread it thoroughly before a proof goes out to you. We will generate PDF files of both cover and book block, and post them online for you to download from your author panel. This usually takes 10–15 business days.

3 — Author proofreading

This is your opportunity to make sure that your book was formatted as you intended, and to catch any typos or other changes you wish to make. (Please review our Corrections Policy for more details.) We suggest you proofread several times before uploading your corrections. There is no time limit on this step; it’s completely up to you. Take as much time as you need to be sure everything is the way you want it.

4 — Corrections and final approval

When we receive your corrections, we’ll make the changes you request and generate another PDF proof file. It will be posted online as before, and you’ll be able to review it again. You may approve the book to move on to printing, or make additional changes. Usually two rounds of proofs and corrections are sufficient. Each round of changes or corrections in excess of the usual two proofs incurs an alterations fee, with the exception of any errors introduced during the actual corrections process. We’ll make your corrections in 1–3 days, and you can take as much time as you need to review your proof.

5 — Printing

Once you give your final approval, your book files go to our POD printer. In 10–15 business days, your book will be “Print-Ready.” You’ll be notified by email, and you can check your book’s status at any time in your Three Moons author panel. You’ll now receive an author log-in at BookSurge, our POD printer, and you’ll be able to order your book at your author discount in BookSurge’s author panel. You book will be listed in BookSurge’s online bookstore immediately. Listings in the other marketing avenues usually take longer.

Variables

This is the typical progress of a book from submission to sale. There can unpredictable problems that change this timeline. We’ll make every effort to keep you informed if we run into anything that may delay your book and we’ll work with you to get things back on track as quickly as possible.

The biggest variables in the production process are in your hands. Submitting clean files, prepared according to the guidelines, will speed the formatting stage. The most variation will be in the author’s proofreading time. However, it’s better to take more time and proof as carefully as you can, than to rush and have to make more changes later.

Ready-to-Print Book Submissions

Because you are submitting files that are expected to be fully formatted and press-ready, your production cycle is much shorter. There is no proof/corrections/approval process. We will review your files to be sure they meet specifications. If they do, your book will move directly to printing. From submission to hard copy can take as little as 15 business days.