Brian Willson grew up in Austin, Texas, in the 1950s and '60s. He bounced around the Austin music scene a while before snagging a Radio/TV/Film degree from The University of Texas in 1979. The next year he became a father and promptly high-tailed it with his little family to coastal Maine, where he worked as a broadcast and print journalist for many years. Willson founded 3IP in 1989 to self-publish a book of pretentious nature essays. Soon after, he found himself tinkering with type design, and 3IP has since become known for its library of authentic-looking handwriting fonts—many of them modeled after historical penmanship—and antique text simulations. In his free time, Willson enjoys birding, hiking, cycling, and nature photography. For the past year or two, he's been fiddling around with fiction. And from the distant shores of Penobscot Bay, he remains a rabid Texas Longhorns fan.
Designing and Publishing Your First eBook
While authors have been able to cheaply create traditional books an individual can now also distribute their work easily. Made possible through the advent of eBooks, this segment of the publishing marketplace has now become the fastest growing. While this new paradigm has empowered the individual author, there are many aspects of the publishing workflow that need to be considered in a comprehensive plan. With over 30 years experience in all aspects of publishing, Brian Willson brings a unique perspective to this workshop, from writing to editorial to design and distribution. Strategies for the individual publisher in all of these areas are covered. While the class focuses on publishing to an iPad, all other platforms and distribution strategies are discussed, including the Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, Android and iPhone. Students look into depth of EPUB, an open source software solution for eBooks. While the workshop concentrates on text-based publications, the embedding of images and other graphics is also covered.
Students should bring projects and be prepared to leave with a fully-functional eBook and a strategy for distribution. Some experience with Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word software is useful although not required.
Instructors
