Evelyn Steps
Once your contract is signed, we will be doing a deep edit of your manuscript. This will take a while. Here are things you can and should study and research in the meanwhile. Upload each one individually through your Author Landing Page.
Author Photo
The first thing we will need from you is a photo. This is a friendly passport-like photo: shoulder/head shot, the background can be interesting but should not be distracting or inappropriate, and appropriate clothing, jewelry, and make-up for your chosen audience. It cannot have any other human in the picture. (If you have a writing partner or an illustrator and you would like the both of you in the picture, clear it with us first.) Each photo needs to be a jpg or a png, not a pdf. Take a look at our author page for examples. Some extend beyond shoulders because what they reveal helps connect their books with their audiences.
If you cannot do digital photos, send me (po box 973 Eagle Lake, FL 33839) a few real photos. We can scan them and promise to return the originals to you unharmed.
Your photo will be used in your book beside your bio, on the publishing house website, and on various advertisements and promotions that will be sent out to help sell your book and set up book events. You should also use one of them for your Amazon Authors page (more on that later).
They do not have to be professionally done, but they do have to be professional in quality.
On your Author Landing page, scroll down to the Addendums box, click Author Photo and attach one at a time. Don't forget to fill out your name before you submit each one.
If your book has an illustrator and/or another author, make sure they do the same. Use your Author Landing, but type their name in rather than yours.
3 photos per person involved in your book: our team will make the final decision on which one will be used, so don’t send us one you don’t want us to use.
By sending us the three photos, you are permitting us to post them on various media.
Once we have your 3 photos, move on to your next assignment.
Author Bio
We need you to provide us with your author bio. This will be used inside the book and as part of your Press Release and promotions which we’ll need to help set up book events.
You may research how to write an author’s bio online. We prefer your bio to be between 100-150 words, written at the reading level of your book or expected audience, and either in first person (I am …) or third person (He is…). Write it with your audience in mind. Tell them why you wrote the book, or something interesting about yourself that pertains to your book. Do not list the names of any minors. Do not give your home address or phone number but do provide them with a way to contact you. Most of our authors rely on ShelteringTreeMedia.com’s contact boxes. You may give them your website if you like, but providing email addresses only begs someone to hack it. Try to come across as trustworthy and likeable.
Once you have your bio the way you want it, edited to perfection and just as pleasing as possible, type it as a Word document. Go to your Author Landing. Click Author Bio (or Illustrator Bio). Type in your name (or illustrator's name) and upload the Word doc bio.
Then move on to the next assignment.
Dedication or In Memoria AND Addendums
A dedication is a three-four lines shoutout to someone who has supported you through this writing process or through a specific part of your life. You may dedicate the book to your children, spouse, parents, friends, publisher (no, just kidding!), or to a group of people (like teachers, preachers, those who have gone through specific situations, etc.) It is short and focused; this is not the Oscars where you have to thank everyone who came into your life.
If the person is no longer living, you may call it one of these things (in place of Dedication):
In Loving Memory
Dedicated to the Memory
In Remembrance
In Honor
To the Memory
In Memoria
Use first and last names where possible. Do not include last names of any minors unless the parent/guardian specifically gives you permission to do so.
You may or may not include a dedication.
Once you have it exactly the way you want it, type it onto a Word document and type it as a Word document. Go to your Author Landing. Click Dedication. Type in your name and upload the document.
This is also the time to write or gather any other front of the book addendums – Reviews from professionals (which must have their title, first/last name, business/academy name if appropriate, and location), Acknowledgements, Foreword; or back of the book addendums – Glossary, References, PostScript, For More Information, etc. Identify them precisely and uplaod them through the addendum feature on your Author Landing.
Once you have uploaded ALL the above mentioned addendums - if you are planning on them being in your book - then move on to the next assignment.
Discussion Guide
A discussion guide is a set of about 15-20 questions which helps the reader evaluate how the book changed their life. (If a book doesn’t impact someone’s life, it is just a grocery list.) It can be used for small groups, class studies, or individual contemplation and journaling. These are the type of questions book clubs would use, so that’s a selling/promotion point.
It is not a test of how well the audience read the book or a ego-trip (what did you like best about my book) situation. It is a set of higher-order-thinking-skill questions which are open-ended and help the reader discover their own answers and opinions from your book. It is your chance to make sure the reader “got it.”
If the question can be answered yes/no, or with a specific word/phrase from a specific page in your book, it is just comprehension. Don’t use those questions.
Discussion questions lead to discussions – why do you think… If you had done so-and-so, how would you have… Explain what you thought happened on page 79… In what way has this book changed the way you live/interact with others/worship/shop? etc.
For children’s books, do some research to find specific standardized goals and objectives for the grade level range of your book. Type into your search engine the grade level, the words LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARD, and your state or country. For example: Third Grade in Florida focusses on Sequence, Cause/Effect, how does the text convey Mood/Setting, etc.
If your book is based on a specific faith, try to tie your book concepts into the main tenets of that faith.
Remember, if you can answer your question with one or two words, that is not a discussion guide. Of the five types of questions (Recall, Analysis, Comparison, Inference, and Evaluation), the higher order questions are Compare, Inference, and Evaluation.
The purpose of the Discussion Guide (which is a hallmark of our publishing house) is to make sure that “Our readers, once they finish one of our books, will be able to get up and face the world wiser, stronger, centered, and with the assurance that we are not alone: we are all a part of the Sheltering Tree on Earth.”
Here are some sites which should offer examples and further explanations:
https://www.weareteachers.com/higher-order-thinking-questions/
https://helpfulprofessor.com/higher-order-thinking-questions/
Feel free to contact us to ask questions and send sample questions. Test them with your friends that have or have not read your book. Then finalize your questions (edit) in a Word document. On your Author Landing, click Discussion Guide. Type in your name and upload the document.
Now move on to the next assignment.
Industry Standard Title
I am not saying to change your title. I am letting you know that you need to evaluate your title and make any changes now which you believe - through your own research - will be the best title for your project which complies with these industry standards of what a title should have:
Industry Standards of Titles
- No more than 5 words in length (applies to books, not articles)
- No punctuation (colon only if what follows is the subtitle)
- Each word is spellable on or below an 8thgrade level
- Is not used as a title of a book, album, group, or game by more than 3 artists/authors.
- Does not infringe on the copyright or trademark of another entity.
Do a search on Amazon for #4.
Do a Google search for #5.
Just type in the title you have now or the title you want it to be.
Once you have made your final decision about your title, type it up on a Word doc - double-checking the spelling, capitalization, etc. Click the Title box on your Author Landing, type in your name, and upload the document.
Now move on to the next assignment.
Back of the Book Blurb
The back of the book blurb begins with a solid hook and then reels the reader in with 100-150 words. The purpose of the blurb is to entice potential readers to buy your book. It is used on the back of your physical book, on your Press Release, on your Book Trailer, and on each and every bookstore promotion.
It should be something you can memorize and spout forth when someone asks, “What’s your book about?” It should be something an event moderator could read briefly and easily as they invite you to the stage.
This is not a summation of your book. This is a tease of what your book offers a bored and jaded reader so that they will fork over good money to buy it.
Begin with one or two sentences which make the reader STOP and THINK. Then another 100 words to reel them in.
Why 100 words? That’s 15 seconds.
And what is so important about 15 seconds? Our brain keeps everything it experiences for 15 seconds in fluid memory (short term).[1] After 15 seconds, it either shifts the experience into crystalized memory (long term) or disregards it. Your blurb is going to capture the fluid attention of your reader for only as long as their memory remains fluid, and then allow them to shift into the decision mode – to buy or not to buy, which will help consolidate your book’s blurb into a long term or crystal memory. You have 15 seconds to make an impression and to sell your book.
You will find that this is harder than writing your entire book was. Don’t be afraid. We’ll be happy to read your drafts and offer suggestions.
Once your blurb is exactly the way you want it, type a final copy - checking spelling, grammar, punctualtion, etc. - in a Word document. On your Author Landing, click Blurb, type in your name, and upload the document
Then move on to the next assignment.
[1] Mauro Manassi and David Whitney, “Our Brains Keep Us 15 Seconds 'in The Past' to Help Us See a Stable World, Says Study.” Science Alert. ScienceAlert.com 30 January 2022.
Book Cover
Do not be fooled by self-publishing innocents. The cover is not one document that fits all. It is pieced together like a mosaic, layered like a quilt, chromatically adjusted and enhanced for visual pleasure, sized and resized to accommodate the e-book, paperback, hardcover, audio, and Dyslexic Friendly versions of your book. Then it is reformatted into one fixed project and applied to your book.
So, when I ask you what you want for your book cover, do not send me a photo-shopped slice-and-dice document.
(Real publishers and most bookstore owners can look at any book’s cover and tell immediately if it was self-published.)
Go to your Author Landing. Go to the Addendums section. Click on the Button which is called Book Cover Survey. Follow the directions on it.
PLEASE NOTE: We do not put quotations of praise on the front or back cover of your book. Blurbs of Praise are considered too old-fashioned. It is no longer an accepted practice in publishing. Please do your own research to help you understand that publishers no longer post quotations of praise on the front or the back covers.
If you are still not convinced (especially if you paid some famous person hundreds of dollars for his/her approval), please read these current and valid articles which support our declination for your request:
https://lithub.com/in-a-dazzling-move-simon-schuster-is-dropping-their-blurbs-requirement/
https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2025/02/12/the-book-world-is-in-a-serious-debate-over-blurbs
Illustrations
Do you want any illustrations inside the book? These include maps, charts, or symbols to be used to mark a change in scene (usually delineated by an extra line space).
You may search for them yourself or give me a specific list of what you are considering. We also have illustrators and photographers publishing with us, so you may reach out to some of them for hired assistance.
As you know, the images must be royalty free, or of your own creation*, or paid for by you with the artist’s consent to publish. (*You may no longer create the images through a CoPilot or AI program. You may use these programs to assist you – but the end result must be your creation. If you go this route, you must tell me which program you used so I can give proper credit in the book and maintain documentation on AI use for our publishing house.) You may also wish to look through this archive of photos which are now in the public domain: https://pdimagearchive.org/ Again, copy the credit information; public domain items still need to be given proper citations.
When you have collected your illustrations, upload them individually through your Author Landing.
This time, rather than typing your your name in the name box, type your INITIALS and then Image 001. Upload that image (which is also named 001). Continue doing so: Click ILLUSTRATIONS; upload each one individually but identified numberically.
Then, on a Word Doc, type in the following information to help me know exactly where you want each illustration. Do not tell me you want it on a certain page. Tell me what 2 sections of TEXT you want it between.
Image 001 between “It was a dark and stormy night.” And “Blow, wind, blow!”
I'll say this again: I need you to quote the exact text before and the exact text after the spot you want your illustration to be placed, not page numbers, since those will change with editing and formatting.
Make sure that the jpg or png itself matches your identifying number.
Continue filling out the Word Doc until you have them all listed. Save as Illustrations. Click on illustrations on your Author Landing page. Type in your name. Upload this doc.
When All Tasks are Done
The next step - and I'm afraid it will take some time - is to wait on your writing coach to edit your manuscript.
Don't hesitate to email me in the meantime if you have any questions.
While you wait, please begin writing your next book!