Budget: 27000 UAH Deadline: 21 days
Hello, Ekaterina.
I have studied the technical specifications. This is a wonderfully crafted document, but as a practitioner who prepares books for Amazon KDP, I can immediately see where the AI went wrong and why the previous attempt failed.
The main problem: the AI suggests doing the final print layout (PDF with mirrored margins and bleeds) in MS Word. With a volume of 500,000 characters, Word will inevitably "break" the layout: footnotes will start to detach from the words, images with formulas (from the second volume) will fly to other pages, and the line spacing will jump.
I specialize in publishing layout (Startfire Studio). My experience working at the global printing giant RR Donnelley guarantees that we will pass Amazon's moderation (both electronic and print) on the first try.
My technical pipeline for your 4 volumes:
1. Print version (Adobe InDesign): I will import your text into InDesign. I will set up strict styles (Paragraph, Character), mirrored margins for the 6x9” format, and "firmly" anchor images-formulas to the text (Anchored Objects) so they never shift.
2. EPUB 3.0 version (Clean code): I will not do an automatic export from Word (this produces dirty code). I will assemble the EPUB with clean CSS. Footnotes will have cross hyperlinks (back and forth), as required by Kindle.
3. Reporting: You will receive the requested PDF report with all metrics (fonts, indents, point size) so you can monitor the standards.
My relevant cases (Books for the European/US market and PDF distribution):
• Design and prepress preparation of the book "Change the highway lane" (Europe):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zI8dn9C_Eo
• Layout of the electronic book (Interactive PDF/EPUB): Google Drive
• System multi-page layout (KREATIV-art Magazine): Google Drive
Cost estimation and timelines:
The AI's estimate (7-13 hours per book) is too optimistic for a volume of half a million characters with formulas and footnotes.
• Volume No. 1 (Creating Master Template, design system, layout PDF + EPUB + Report): 6000 UAH.
• Volumes No. 2, 3, and 4 (Layout based on the ready template): 4500 UAH per volume.
• Timelines: 4-6 days for the First volume (until the structure is fully approved). The other volumes — 3-4 days each.
Please send the 1st volume (or the part with the most complex footnotes). I will assemble 3-5 pages in InDesign for free and export a test EPUB so you can open it on your device and assess the quality of the font and footnotes before the project starts. Ready to work!