
Professional Book Design
By Nancy Starkman, book designer
Nancy Starkman is more than a graphic artist … She is a book designer
Book Design for Authors & Publishers
An Author, Book Designer and Entrepreneur; Nancy Starkman offers services to create professional looking books. She wrote Book Design: Simple & Professional for self-publishers and graphic artists. It teaches design and printing for offset book production. In 1999, Nancy and Edward Starkman founded Star Print Brokers printing high-quality books in Asia (never in China.) SPB has a solid reputation for the best offset book printing in signatures, with custom options. Some of these options are very hard-to-find anywhere else.

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My goal for self-publishers is to make it simple to create beautiful book layouts and files that print well on press. A working knowledge of Adobe InDesign is necessary. We do not provide individual InDesign lessons.
Also, my goal for graphic artists is to give them information in one place that can advance their careers. A true professional can earn higher fees than a graphic artist, or even a desk-top publisher.
Did you know that very few schools teach in-depth book design specifically for books?
Even if graduating from art school, graphic artists can learn more. Learn to create a pleasing cover, dust jacket, interior pages, printed endpapers, hardcover as well as soft cover set-ups. Learn about design options and set-ups for all kinds of books, like flaps on hardcover book, or French fold dust jackets.
The most artists learn in college is design as it relates to logos, typesetting, brochures, posters, and perhaps corporate annual reports. But, layout as it pertaining to offset printing, and where to place specific information. Is the standard to have that page be a right- or left-hand page?
You need only know the basics of Adobe InDesign.
A self-publisher or graphic artist needs to know so much more than typography and converting images when preparing to publish. There are certain conventions commonly used when laying out a book. Nancy brings it all together showing you how to create a professionally designed book as well as preparing books that are technically ready to print.
When hiring Nancy, there is no need to learn advanced Adobe InDesign unless you want to take it on. It is not easy to learn. Nancy has decades of professional experience specific to book printing and publishing. She focuses not only on typography, but also CMYK color reproduction, set-ups for different design situations, and many other elements that go into professional book manufacturing.