022 187 1182
BOUTIQUE BOOK PUBLISHER: LOWER HUTT briar@briarsbooks.nz
Editing, cover design, layout, printing, marketing advice, Kindle print & ebooks. BriarsBooks will guide you through.
Find the best way forward for YOUR book and get it looking the way you want it. Hands-on for the client.
BriarsBooks is a design and book production agency in Lower Hutt, NZ, offering comprehensive professional support services to NZ self-publishing authors.
Front and Back covers
Graeme Axford has been battling Government bureaucracies for the last 30 years. His profound dyslexia has turned him into a sharp, logical thinker on his feet and in courtrooms and tribunals and Government departments throughout New Zealand. He has helped over 10,000 people navigate the Public Service obstacle course seeking redress. The Subtle Game of Obstruction identifies the tactics used by Government Ministries to avoid accountability when they are cornered. 100 copies - print on demand. Cover by Briar's Books and Graeme Axford(using AI).
The story of 3 generations of a family, starting in Somerset, England in 1912, through 10 years in South Africa, to NZ in 1923. The author is a former secondary teacher of English and Literature and the family is her own, though the account is fictionalised from true incidents where necessary. The cover was created using Gemini AI and the author was amazed and moved at the real likenesses of her mother (the child on the cover) and the child's mother that could be created by AI from a few carefully crafted text prompts. Cover Design BriarsBooks with AI. 100 copies for distribution over the author's family and networks with print on demand options.
A second book by Graeme Axford after he was asked to submit his findings on client experience with Government Social Service Ministries to a Parliamentary Select Committee. He decided to turn his case into an 88-page book,Who Dares WINZ (Work & Income, NZ). As a severely dyslexic man the author tried to use AI and assistive technology to create his book. He almost succeeded but not knowing the requirements of print (or the shortcomings of AI) his use of text prompts fell short and he needed BriarsBooks to rescue him. Cover design by BriarsBooks and Graeme Axford/AI. Print-on-demand by Copypress, Nelson.
A book by a NZ man about gaining and retaining a retentive memory. Don’t You Forget It is a positive and practical guide for people of all ages. Hodge draws from years of studying and observing memory and how it works and has created simple daily habits and hands-on techniques to help maintain mental clarity and an active, engaged and organised mind. Hodge is a builder and lives in Northland. This book went to print in NZ, Kindle-print-on-demand (KDP) and e-book versions. Cover design by BriarsBooks. 50 copies distributed through the author's networks
AI has greatly simplified the creation of illustrations, for children's books particularly. I have a client who is working on a children's book about a small worm that meets many different creatures. Text prompts are the key: The first image was generated from the prompt, "cute brown and orange worm on a path through a green field talking to a sheep that is bending down to listen." The AI program I was using also allowed me to convert the image into video. I have not given the video any audio - at this stage - so there is no sound, but for small movies for kids the possibilities are amazing.
Have you looked carefully at the differences between the two? Check them out here. What is self-publishing?
Why do you want to self-publish?
If you are self-publishing you will be in full control of the process. Traditional publishers will meet your costs, but you will have to surrender your copyright and partial control. IN self-publishing you will need to pay the designer and printer yourself
Choose a book design and production agency you want to work with: and start with a consultation. Search this website for helpful information.
Kindle Digital Publishing (for print) is intended to be user-friendly. Many new authors find KDP a bit daunting and need some help with the technology and getting a professional outcome. BriarsBooks offers this service.
If you decide to take the KDP route you will be offered the chance to upload your book as an e-book as well. Learn more about it... BriarsBooks will be able to help you through the KDP e-book process or prepare and upload an e-book for you.
This topic usually makes self-publishing authors nervous. Some helpful tips about marketing.
BriarsBooks has been helping NZ authors get their books to print over the last 20 years. Books range all the way from small booklets to large complex books: fantasy, counselling, educational, fiction & historical fiction, autobiographies, children's books, christian, poetry, genealogies, science, sociology, theology, recreation, crime and recipe books. BriarsBooks has produced about 70 books over that time. [on the menu bar click on View Briar's Books. ]
Briar's books services authors all round the country and (even) overseas. 022 187 1182
About Briar's Books